Display panel manufacturing method and display device

Abstract

The present application provides a method for manufacturing a display panel and a display device. The method comprises the following steps: providing a substrate, the substrate comprising a display area and a non-display area; disposing a display layer on the display area and defining a cutting indicator groove on the non-display area; disposing an encapsulation layer on the display layer and the non-display area, the encapsulation layer covering the display layer and the non-display area of ​​the substrate; and cutting the substrate along the cutting indicator groove to remove a portion of the substrate away from the display area. The method for manufacturing a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application prevents the encapsulation layer of the display panel from being affected by the cutting process and cracking, thereby preventing cracks in the encapsulation layer from extending toward the display area and causing encapsulation failure, thereby ensuring the encapsulation effect of the display panel.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of display technology, and in particular to a method for manufacturing a display panel and a display device. Background Art

[0002] AMOLED (active matrix organic light-emitting diode) display panels have the advantages of self-luminescence, fast response, wide viewing angle, high brightness, and lightness, so their potential market prospects are optimistic in the industry. With the development of display technology, display technology with a higher screen-to-body ratio has gradually become a hot field in the display industry. In the preparation process of AMOLED display panels, in order to increase the screen-to-body ratio of the display panel, it is usually necessary to partially cut the non-display area of ​​the packaged panel to finally complete the preparation of the display panel. However, in the related art, since the structure of the panel is too simple, cracks are easily generated on the encapsulation layer of the panel during cutting, which ultimately affects the encapsulation effect of the display panel. Summary of the Invention

[0003] Embodiments of the present application provide a method for manufacturing a display panel and a display device to solve the problem that cracks are easily generated on the encapsulation layer of the panel in the existing method for manufacturing a display panel.

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, the method comprising the following steps:

[0005] Providing a substrate, the substrate comprising a display area and a non-display area;

[0006] A display layer is provided on the display area, and a cutting indicator groove is provided on the non-display area;

[0007] Disposing an encapsulation layer on the display layer and the non-display area, wherein the encapsulation layer covers the display layer and the non-display area of ​​the substrate;

[0008] The substrate is cut along the cutting indicator groove to remove a portion of the substrate away from the display area.

[0009] Optionally, the depth of the cutting indicator groove is set to 2 μm-5 μm.

[0010] Optionally, the step of providing a substrate includes:

[0011] Providing a substrate;

[0012] providing an organic layer on the substrate;

[0013] providing a protective layer on the organic layer;

[0014] The step of forming a cutting indicator groove on the non-display area of ​​the substrate comprises:

[0015] etching a first groove segment on the protective layer;

[0016] A second trench segment is etched in the organic layer.

[0017] Optionally, the step of providing a substrate includes:

[0018] providing an organic substrate;

[0019] A spacer layer is provided on the organic substrate.

[0020] Optionally, the cross-section of the second slot segment is larger than the cross-section of the first slot segment.

[0021] Optionally, a step is formed at the connection between the first slot section and the second slot section.

[0022] Optionally, in a cross section of the substrate, an angle formed between the side wall of the first groove segment and the transverse direction of the substrate, and an angle formed between the side wall of the second groove segment and the transverse direction of the substrate are both 85°-95°.

[0023] Optionally, the ratio between the width and depth of the second groove section is less than 5:1.

[0024] Optionally, before providing the encapsulation layer on the display layer, the method further includes the following steps:

[0025] A blocking protrusion is provided on the non-display area of ​​the substrate, wherein the blocking protrusion is provided between the cutting indicator groove and the display area.

[0026] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application further provides a display device, comprising a controller and a display panel manufactured by any of the above manufacturing methods; the controller is connected to the display panel.

[0027] The manufacturing method of the display panel provided in the embodiment of the present application opens a cutting indicator groove on the non-display area, so that the encapsulation layer is disconnected at the cutting indicator groove. Therefore, when the substrate is cut along the depth direction of the cutting indicator groove to obtain the display panel, the encapsulation layer of the display panel that needs to be retained will not be cut, so that the encapsulation layer of the display panel will not be affected by the cutting work and cracked, thereby avoiding the situation where cracks in the encapsulation layer extend toward the display area and cause encapsulation failure, thereby ensuring the encapsulation effect of the display panel. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for describing the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. Those skilled in the art can also derive other drawings based on these drawings without inventive effort.

[0029] In order to more completely understand the present application and its beneficial effects, the following description will be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals represent the same parts.

[0030] Figure 1 A schematic flow chart of a method for manufacturing a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0031] Figure 2 for Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S10 in FIG.

[0032] Figure 3 for Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S11 in FIG.

[0033] Figure 4 A schematic cross-sectional view of a panel to be cut provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0034] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the enlarged structure at point A in the middle. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0036] The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a display panel to solve the problem that cracks are easily generated on the encapsulation layer of the panel in existing display panel manufacturing methods.

[0037] In the first embodiment, see Figure 1 、 Figure 4 and Figure 5 , Figure 1 A schematic flow chart of a method for manufacturing a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 4 A schematic cross-sectional view of a panel to be cut provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 5 for Figure 4 A schematic diagram of the enlarged structure of the display panel at point A. The manufacturing method of the display panel includes the following steps:

[0038] S10, providing a substrate 100, the substrate 100 including a display area 101 and a non-display area 102;

[0039] S20, disposing a display layer 200 on the display area 101, and opening a cutting indicator groove 103 on the non-display area 102;

[0040] S30 , disposing an encapsulation layer on the display layer 200 and the non-display area 102 , wherein the encapsulation layer 300 covers the display layer 200 and the non-display area 102 of the substrate 100 ;

[0041] S40 , cutting the substrate 100 along the cutting indicator groove 103 to remove a portion of the substrate 100 away from the display area 101 .

[0042] In step S10, refer to Figure 2 and Figure 3 , Figure 2 for Figure 1 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S10 in FIG. Figure 3 for Figure 2 FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S11 in FIG. 1 . The substrate 100 can be obtained by the following steps:

[0043] S11, providing a substrate;

[0044] S12, disposing an organic layer 130 on the substrate;

[0045] S13, providing a protective layer 140 on the organic layer 130;

[0046] The substrate 100 can be obtained by the following steps:

[0047] S101, providing an organic substrate 110;

[0048] S102 , disposing a spacer layer 120 on the organic substrate 110 .

[0049] Specifically, the organic substrate 110 is made of an organic material, such as polyimide, to serve as a flexible substrate. The spacer layer 120 can be made of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or other inorganic materials, such as silicon dioxide. The organic layer 130 is also made of an organic material, such as polyimide. The spacer layer 120 separates the organic layer 130 from the organic substrate 110 to prevent continuous stacking of organic materials and excessive stress within the organic material layer, thereby facilitating subsequent film formation. The protective layer 140 can also be formed of silicon dioxide or other inorganic materials to prevent moisture from entering the display layer 200 on the upper layer of the substrate 100 from the organic layer 130, thereby protecting the display layer 200. Regarding the manufacturing process, both the spacer layer 120 and the protective layer 140 can be deposited using chemical vapor deposition, while the organic layer 130 can be deposited using a coating process.

[0050] In step S20, the display layer 200 may include a driving circuit layer 210, a flat layer 220, an anode layer 230, a pixel definition layer 240, an RGB light-emitting layer 250, a cathode layer 260 and an optical film layer 270. The specific formation method of each film layer can adopt existing process technology, such as evaporation technology, etc., and the specific details will not be repeated one by one. The driving circuit layer 210 is a driving circuit. The electrons provided by the anode layer 230 and the cathode layer 260 are recombined in the RGB light-emitting layer 250 and then emitted in the form of light to form red, green and blue light. Among them, the flat layer 220 is an organic material, which is used to flatten the uneven shape formed by the circuit below, so that the anode film above is uniform and the light-emitting effect is guaranteed; the pixel definition layer 240 is also an organic material, which is used to define the pixel light-emitting area and form RGB light-emitting sub-pixels; the optical film layer 270 uses an organic material with a high refractive index to improve the light-emitting effect.

[0051] The step of forming the cutting indicator groove 103 in the non-display area 102 may include the following steps: etching a first groove segment 104 in the protective layer 140; and etching a second groove segment 105 in the organic layer 130. Specifically, the etching method for etching the first groove segment 104 and the second groove segment 105 may adopt a dry etching process to etch the first groove segment 104 and the second groove segment 105 of corresponding dimensions as required. It should be noted that the length direction of the cutting indicator groove 103 is parallel to the side of the display area 101, and the width direction of the cutting indicator groove 103 is perpendicular to the side of the display area 101.

[0052] It is worth noting that in step S20, there are at least two implementations: the first: first disposing the display layer 200 on the display area 101, and then forming the cutting indicator groove 103 on the non-display area 102; the second: first forming the cutting indicator groove 103 on the non-display area 102, and then disposing the display layer 200 on the display area 101. It should be noted that the first implementation can prevent the display layer 200 material from falling into the cutting indicator groove 103, resulting in the cutting indicator groove 103 not having sufficient space to accommodate the encapsulation material, and thus preventing the encapsulation layer 300 from being disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103. In other words, the first implementation is more conducive to ensuring that the encapsulation layer 300 is disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103, thereby ensuring the encapsulation effect of the display panel. In the second implementation, since the display layer 200 is prepared after the cutting indicator groove 103 is formed, the process of forming the cutting indicator groove 103 can be completely avoided. In the actual production of the display panel, different implementations can be selected according to actual circumstances, and are not strictly limited here.

[0053] In step S30, the encapsulation layer 300 may include three or five layers. For example, if the encapsulation layer 300 includes three layers, a first encapsulation layer 310 may be deposited on the display layer 200 using chemical vapor deposition. The material of the first encapsulation layer 310 may include one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride, such as silicon dioxide, to effectively block moisture and ensure the encapsulation effect. A buffer layer 320 may then be deposited on the first encapsulation layer 310 using chemical vapor deposition. The buffer layer 320 may be made of an inorganic material, such as silicon oxycarbide. A second encapsulation layer 330 may then be deposited on the buffer layer 320. The second encapsulation layer 330 may be made of an inorganic material, such as one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, and silicon oxynitride, such as silicon dioxide. The buffer layer 320 is disposed between the first encapsulation layer 310 and the second encapsulation layer 330 to buffer stress and ensure the stability of the entire encapsulation layer 300, thereby ensuring the encapsulation effect of the encapsulation layer 300.

[0054] Before preparing the encapsulation layer 300, the depth and width of the cutting indicator groove 103 can be reasonably set according to the preset thickness of the encapsulation layer 300, so that when preparing the encapsulation layer 300, the encapsulation material located above the cutting indicator groove 103 will fall into the cutting indicator groove 103 and will not be connected to the encapsulation material outside the groove, so that the encapsulation layer 300 is disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103.

[0055] In step S40, when cutting the substrate 100, the substrate 100 is cut downward along the depth direction of the cutting indicator groove 103. The panel to be cut, with the encapsulation layer 300 prepared, is cut into two parts. The part away from the display area 101 is removed to obtain the display panel. Because the encapsulation layer 300 is disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103, the encapsulation layer 300 of the display panel to be retained is not cut during the cutting of the substrate 100. As a result, the encapsulation layer 300 of the display panel is not affected by the cutting process and cracks are not generated. This prevents cracks in the encapsulation layer 300 from extending toward the display area 101 and causing encapsulation failure, thereby ensuring the encapsulation effect of the display panel.

[0056] The method for manufacturing a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application opens a cutting indicator groove 103 on the non-display area 102, so that the encapsulation layer 300 is disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103. Therefore, when the substrate 100 is cut along the depth direction of the cutting indicator groove 103 to obtain the display panel, the encapsulation layer 300 of the display panel to be retained will not be cut, so that the encapsulation layer 300 of the display panel will not be affected by the cutting work and cracked, thereby avoiding the situation where cracks in the encapsulation layer 300 extend toward the display area 101 and cause encapsulation failure, thereby ensuring the encapsulation effect of the display panel.

[0057] Regarding the depth of the cutting indicator groove 103 , in some examples, the depth of the cutting indicator groove 103 is set to 2 μm-5 μm. For example, the depth can be 3 μm, 3.5 μm, 4.0 μm, etc., and can be determined based on the thickness of the substrate 100 and the predetermined thickness of the encapsulation layer 300 to ensure that the cutting indicator groove 103 can accommodate sufficient encapsulation material and ensure that the encapsulation layer 300 is disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103 .

[0058] To further ensure that the cutting indicator groove 103 can accommodate enough packaging material, the cross section of the second groove section 105 is larger than the cross section of the first groove section 104. Furthermore, a step 106 is formed at the connection between the first groove section 104 and the second groove section 105. When the dry etching process is used to etch the first groove section 104 and the second groove section 105, the lengths of the first groove section 104 and the second groove section 105 are the same. Then, the width of the second groove section 105 can be controlled to be greater than the width of the first groove section 104, so that the cross-section of the second groove section 105 is greater than the cross-section of the first groove section 104. In this way, the cutting indicator groove 103 is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom in the depth direction. Compared with the square shape, it can accommodate more packaging materials, so that the packaging layer 300 can be disconnected at the cutting indicator groove 103 when the depth of the cutting indicator groove 103 is limited, so that the packaging layer 300 of the display panel will not be affected by the cutting work and cracks will not be generated, thereby avoiding the situation where cracks in the packaging layer 300 extend toward the display area 101 and cause packaging failure, thereby ensuring the packaging effect of the display panel.

[0059] In some examples, in a cross section of the substrate 100, the angle formed between the sidewall of the first groove section 104 and the transverse direction of the substrate 100, and the angle formed between the sidewall of the second groove section 105 and the transverse direction of the substrate 100, are both 85°-95°. For example, they can be 90°. This, on the one hand, facilitates the formation of the cutting indicator groove 103 and improves the convenience of manufacturing the display panel; on the other hand, after the substrate 100 is cut along the cutting indicator groove 103, the edge of the resulting display panel is highly regular, which is beneficial for the subsequent use of the display panel.

[0060] In some examples, the ratio between the width and depth of the second groove segment 105 is less than 5:1. For example, it can be 3:1, 4:1, etc. The ratio should not be too large, as it increases the difficulty of dry-engraving the second groove segment 105 and is not conducive to ensuring the stability and reliability of the second groove segment 105, thereby hindering the smooth and reliable production of the display panel. It should also not be too small, as it cannot ensure that the second groove segment 105 can accommodate enough packaging material, thereby hindering the disconnection of the packaging layer 300 at the cutting indicator groove 103. When opening, the ratio can be determined based on the thickness of the substrate 100 and the required thickness of the packaging layer 300.

[0061] To further improve the encapsulation effect of the display panel, in some examples, before providing the encapsulation layer 300 on the display layer 200, the following step is further performed: providing a blocking protrusion 107 on the non-display area 102 of the substrate 100, wherein the blocking protrusion 107 is provided between the cutting indicator groove 103 and the display area 101. The blocking protrusion 107 can be made of an organic material and formed in the non-display area 102 of the substrate 100 through a yellow light process. The blocking protrusion 107 can reduce the propagation of cracks in the encapsulation layer 300 on the non-display area 102 to the display area 101, further ensuring the encapsulation effect of the display area 101 and improving the encapsulation effect of the display panel.

[0062] An embodiment of the present application also proposes a display device, which includes a controller and a display panel manufactured by the above-mentioned manufacturing method; the controller is connected to the display panel. Since this display device adopts all the technical solutions of all the above-mentioned embodiments, it has at least all the beneficial effects brought by the technical solutions of the above-mentioned embodiments, which will not be repeated here one by one.

[0063] In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own focus. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0064] In the description of this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood to indicate or imply relative importance or implicitly specify the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, features specified as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features.

[0065] The above is a detailed introduction to the display panel provided in the embodiment of the present application. Specific examples are used herein to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method of the present application and its core idea. At the same time, for technical personnel in this field, based on the ideas of the present application, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a display panel, characterized in that: The steps include: Providing a substrate, the substrate comprising a display area and a non-display area; A display layer is provided on the display area, and a cutting indicator groove is provided on the non-display area; Disposing an encapsulation layer on the display layer and the non-display area, wherein the encapsulation layer covers the display layer and the non-display area of ​​the substrate; cutting the substrate along the cutting indicator groove to remove a portion of the substrate away from the display area; Before providing the encapsulation layer on the display layer, the method further includes the following steps: Disposing a blocking protrusion on the non-display area of ​​the substrate, wherein the blocking protrusion is disposed between the cutting indicator groove and the display area; The depth of the cutting indicator groove is set to 2 μm-5 μm.

2. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein: The step of providing a substrate includes: Providing a substrate; Disposing an organic layer on the substrate; providing a protective layer on the organic layer; The step of forming a cutting indicator groove on the non-display area of ​​the substrate comprises: etching a first groove segment on the protective layer; A second trench segment is etched in the organic layer.

3. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 2, wherein: The step of providing a substrate comprises: providing an organic substrate; A spacer layer is provided on the organic substrate.

4. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 2, wherein: The cross section of the second slot section is larger than the cross section of the first slot section.

5. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 4, wherein: A step is formed at the connection between the first slot section and the second slot section.

6. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 5, wherein: In a cross section of the substrate, an angle formed between the sidewall of the first groove segment and the transverse direction of the substrate, and an angle formed between the sidewall of the second groove segment and the transverse direction of the substrate are both 85°-95°.

7. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 5, wherein: The ratio between the width and depth of the second groove section is less than 5:

1.

8. A display device, characterized in that: It comprises a controller and a display panel manufactured by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 7; the controller is connected to the display panel.

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