Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display device

Abstract

The invention discloses a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. The display panel comprises a substrate, a pixel definition layer, a light emitting unit and a partition structure, and the partition structure is located in a non-opening area and arranged on the pixel definition layer; the partition structure is used for partitioning the bottom electrodes of the two adjacent light-emitting units when the bottom electrodes are subjected to whole-surface deposition; the partition structure comprises a partition upper portion and a partition lower portion, the partition upper portion is arranged on the partition lower portion, and the radial width of the partition upper portion is larger than that of the partition lower portion. According to the display panel, the partition structure is arranged, so that the bottom electrode in the light-emitting unit is deposited on the whole surface through the partition structure, an etching step is not needed, the possibility that active metal in the bottom electrode is oxidized or process residues exist in the process is reduced, the light-emitting efficiency of the light-emitting unit is improved, and the quality of the display panel is improved.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display devices are widely used in various fields due to their light weight, wide viewing angle, fast response, low temperature resistance, high luminous efficiency, and the ability to produce curved flexible displays. As mass production technology becomes increasingly mature, OLED display panels are gradually becoming mainstream real panels.

[0003] Existing organic light-emitting display panels mainly include two categories, one is an upright organic light-emitting display panel, wherein the light-emitting unit in the upright organic light-emitting display panel includes an anode, a light-emitting functional layer and a cathode stacked in sequence from a base substrate; the other is an inverted organic light-emitting display panel, which includes a cathode, a light-emitting functional layer and an anode stacked in sequence from a base substrate. For an upright organic light-emitting display panel, the active metal in the cathode is easily corroded by water and oxygen, resulting in a reduction in the life of the display panel. For an inverted organic light-emitting display panel, the active metal in the cathode is also easily oxidized during the manufacturing process or has problems such as process residues, resulting in low luminous efficiency of the inverted organic light-emitting display panel. In this regard, the art is in urgent need of a solution to the above problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device; by setting a partition structure, the bottom electrode in the light-emitting unit is deposited through the entire surface of the partition structure without the need for an etching step, thereby reducing the possibility of active metals in the bottom electrode being oxidized during the process or having process residues, thereby improving the luminous efficiency of the light-emitting unit and improving the quality of the display panel.

[0005] The present application discloses a display panel, comprising a base substrate, a pixel definition layer and a light-emitting unit, wherein the pixel definition layer is arranged on the base substrate and is provided with a plurality of openings, wherein the positions of the openings are opening areas, and the light-emitting unit is arranged on the base substrate and is located within the opening areas; the display panel also comprises a partition structure, wherein the partition structure is located in a non-opening area and is arranged on the pixel definition layer; the light-emitting unit comprises a bottom electrode, a light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode, wherein the bottom electrode is arranged on the base substrate, the light-emitting functional layer is arranged on the bottom electrode, and the top electrode is arranged on the light-emitting functional layer; the partition structure is used for isolating the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units when the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface; wherein the partition structure comprises a partition upper portion and a partition lower portion, wherein the partition upper portion is arranged on the partition lower portion, and the radial width of the partition upper portion is greater than the radial width of the partition lower portion.

[0006] Optionally, the lower portion of the partition is formed of an insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; the lower portion of the partition is used to insulate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units; wherein, in each of the opening areas, the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light-emitting functional layer, and the light-emitting functional layer is used to separate the end of the bottom electrode from the end of the top electrode.

[0007] Optionally, the upper portion of the partition is formed of a metal material, and the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium; the upper portion of the partition is used to connect the top electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units.

[0008] Optionally, the thickness of the bottom electrode is greater than or equal to 100 angstroms and less than or equal to 300 angstroms; the thickness of the lower part of the partition is between 0.05um and 0.2um, and the thickness of the upper part of the partition is between 0.03um and 0.1um; on the side of the partition structure close to the opening area, the distance that the upper part of the partition exceeds the lower part of the partition is between 0.1um and 1um.

[0009] Optionally, the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, formed of one or both of magnesium material and silver material; the top electrode is formed of a reflective metal material, and a plurality of the light-emitting units share the top electrode; the light-emitting direction of the light-emitting unit is from the top electrode toward the bottom electrode; the top electrode is an anode, and the bottom electrode is a cathode; the light-emitting functional layer includes an electron transport layer, a light-emitting layer and a hole transport layer, the electron transport layer is arranged on the cathode, the light-emitting layer is arranged on the electron transport layer, the hole transport layer is arranged on the light-emitting layer, and the anode is arranged on the hole transport layer.

[0010] Optionally, the partition structure is also used to separate the light-emitting functional layer and cathode of two adjacent light-emitting units when the light-emitting functional layer is deposited on the entire surface; in each of the opening areas, the cathode covers the light-emitting functional layer, and the end of the cathode is also in contact with the lower part of the partition.

[0011] The present application also discloses a method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising the steps of:

[0012] Providing a substrate;

[0013] forming a pixel definition layer on the base substrate, and patterning the pixel definition layer to form a plurality of opening areas;

[0014] forming a partition structure on the pixel definition layer;

[0015] The bottom electrode material is deposited on the entire surface, and the partition structure is used to separate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units;

[0016] Sequentially forming a light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode in the opening area to form a plurality of light-emitting units;

[0017] Among them, the partition structure includes a partition upper part and a partition lower part, the partition upper part is arranged on the partition lower part, and the radial width of the partition upper part is greater than the radial width of the partition lower part, and the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer are made in the same vacuum environment.

[0018] Optionally, the lower part of the partition is formed of an insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; the upper part of the partition is formed of a metal material, and the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum and titanium.

[0019] The present application also discloses a display device, comprising a driving circuit and the above-mentioned display panel, wherein the driving circuit is used to drive the display panel to display.

[0020] The present application utilizes a partition structure. When a bottom electrode is formed in a light-emitting unit, the partition structure is utilized to partition the bottom electrodes of a plurality of light-emitting units, so that the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units are not connected to each other. In the process of forming the bottom electrode, it is not necessary to remove the excess bottom electrode material through an etching process. The next step of the light-emitting functional layer process can be directly performed after the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface, thereby reducing the impact of the etching process on the bottom electrode. In particular, when the bottom electrode includes active metal materials, the problems of oxidation and residue of the active metal in the etching process are avoided, the film interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer is improved, the light-emitting efficiency of the light-emitting unit is improved, and the display effect of the display panel is improved. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] The included drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the embodiments of the present application, which constitute a part of the specification, are used to illustrate the implementation methods of the present application, and together with the text description, explain the principles of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work. In the drawings:

[0022] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a display panel according to a first embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the cross section along the cutting line AA;

[0024] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a light-emitting unit of the present application;

[0025] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the partition structure of the present application;

[0026] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a second display panel of the present application;

[0027] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the steps of the method for manufacturing the display panel of the present application;

[0028] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of the display panel of the present application;

[0029] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a display device of the present application.

[0030] Among them, 100, display panel; 101, opening area; 102, non-opening area; 110, base substrate; 120, pixel definition layer; 130, light-emitting unit; 131, anode; 132, light-emitting functional layer; 1321, electron transport layer; 1322, light-emitting layer; 1323, hole transport layer; 1324, electron injection layer; 1325, hole blocking layer; 1326, electron blocking layer; 1327, hole injection layer; 133, cathode; 134, cathode auxiliary electrode; 135, cathode redundant part; 140, partition structure; 141, partition upper part; 142, partition lower part; 150, drive circuit layer; 200, display device; 210, drive circuit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] It should be understood that the terms used herein, the specific structures and functional details disclosed are only for describing specific embodiments and are representative, but the present application can be implemented in many alternative forms and should not be construed as being limited to only the embodiments described herein.

[0032] In the description of the present application, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and cannot be understood as indicating relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of the features; "multiple" means two or more. In addition, the terms "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", etc. indicating orientation or positional relationships are described based on the orientation or relative positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the simplified description of the present application, rather than indicating that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0033] The present application is described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and optional embodiments.

[0034] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a display panel according to a first embodiment of the present application, Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the cross section along the cutting line AA, see Figure 1-2 As shown, the present application discloses a display panel, the display panel 100 includes a base substrate 110, a pixel definition layer 120 and a light-emitting unit 130, the pixel definition layer 120 is arranged on the base substrate 110, and is provided with a plurality of openings, the position of the openings is an opening area 101, the light-emitting unit 130 is arranged on the base substrate 110, and is located in the opening area 101, the display panel 100 also includes a partition structure 140, the partition structure 140 is located in the non-opening area 102, and is arranged on the pixel definition layer 120; the light-emitting unit 130 includes a bottom electrode The bottom electrode is arranged on the base substrate 110, the light-emitting functional layer 132 is arranged on the bottom electrode, and the top electrode is arranged on the light-emitting functional layer 132; the partition structure 140 is used to separate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units 130 when the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface; wherein the partition structure 140 includes a partition upper part 141 and a partition lower part 142, the partition upper part 141 is arranged on the partition lower part 142, and the radial width of the partition upper part 141 is greater than the radial width of the partition lower part 142.

[0035] The present application utilizes a partition structure 140. When the bottom electrode is formed in the light-emitting unit 130, the partition structure 140 is utilized to partition the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units 130, so that the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units 130 are not connected to each other. In the process of forming the bottom electrode, it is not necessary to remove the excess bottom electrode material through an etching process. The next step of the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be directly performed after the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface, thereby reducing the impact of the etching process on the bottom electrode. In particular, when the bottom electrode includes active metal materials, the oxidation and residue of the active metal in the etching process are avoided, the film interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132 is improved, the light-emitting efficiency of the light-emitting unit 130 is improved, and the display effect of the display panel 100 is improved.

[0036] Specifically, the partition lower portion 142 in the partition structure 140 in the present application is formed of an insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; the partition lower portion is used to insulate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units.

[0037] The partition lower portion 142 of the partition structure 140 in this embodiment is formed of an insulating material, so that the lower portion of the partition structure 140 has a high insulating property, so that when the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface, even if the evaporation angle is not controlled, when the bottom electrode material contacts the partition lower portion 142, no electrical connection occurs, and the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units 130 are insulated by the partition lower portion 142. In addition, by controlling the evaporation angle of the bottom electrode material, the bottom electrode material contacts the partition lower portion 142 as little as possible, and the electrical crosstalk of the bottom electrodes between adjacent light-emitting units 130 is prevented through the insulating property of the partition lower portion 142.

[0038] Specifically, the partition structure 140 is arranged around the opening area 101. When forming the bottom electrode, the whole-surface evaporation process is used to form the bottom electrode in the opening area 101, and a bottom electrode redundant part is formed on the partition structure 140. The bottom electrode redundant part is isolated from the bottom electrode by the partition structure 140. Specifically, the bottom electrode redundant part is arranged on the partition upper part 141. Since the width of the partition upper part 141 isolates the lower part 142, the bottom electrode material cannot extend continuously on the side of the partition structure 140, and is thus isolated by the partition structure 140. Since the partition lower part with insulating properties is provided, when the bottom electrode, the light-emitting functional layer and other film layers are subsequently formed, even if the film layer is overlapped with the partition lower part, there will be no conductive crosstalk problem.

[0039] It is worth mentioning that the display panel 100 of this embodiment is a bottom-emitting display panel 100, wherein the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, the top electrode is formed of a reflective metal material, and the top electrode is shared by a plurality of the light-emitting units 130. The top electrode in this embodiment is a high-reflectivity light-impermeable electrode, and the bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, so that all the light emitted by the light-emitting functional layer 132 is emitted from the bottom electrode, and the light emitted by the light-emitting unit 130 is emitted from one side of the base substrate 110.

[0040] In this embodiment, the bottom electrode is patterned through the partition structure 140, and the light-emitting functional layer 132 is directly formed after the bottom electrode is patterned, which reduces other steps in the process of the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132, such as the etching step, and greatly improves the film interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132. More importantly, the process of the bottom electrode and the process of the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be completed in the same vacuum environment, reducing the film problem between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132.

[0041] The bottom-emitting display panel 100 also has the advantage that the top electrode side does not need to emit light. The thickness of the top electrode can be very large and can be formed on the entire surface. All light-emitting units 130 share the top electrode of the entire reflective metal material. Compared with the top electrode formed of indium tin oxide in the top-emitting display panel 100, the resistance drop is lower, and the components at different positions are more uniform, avoiding different voltages at different positions. Moreover, after the light-emitting unit 130 completes the process, the emitted light of the light-emitting unit 130 does not need to pass through the subsequent encapsulation layer. Therefore, the selectivity of the material and process of the encapsulation layer is greater, and better encapsulation of the light-emitting unit 130 can be achieved.

[0042] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the light-emitting unit of the present application, see Figure 3 As shown, specifically, in order to further improve the luminous efficiency of the bottom-emitting display panel 100, the present embodiment inverts the luminous functional layer 132. Specifically, the top electrode is the anode 131, and the bottom electrode is the cathode 133; the luminous functional layer 132 includes an electron transport layer 1321, a luminescent layer 1322, and a hole transport layer 1323, wherein the electron transport layer 1321 is disposed on the cathode 133, the luminescent layer 1322 is disposed on the electron transport layer 1321, the hole transport layer 1323 is disposed on the luminescent layer 1322, and the anode 131 is disposed on the hole transport layer 1323.

[0043] The electron transport layer 1321 in this embodiment is connected to the cathode 133 through the electron injection layer 1324, and a hole blocking layer 1325 is further provided between the electron transport layer 1321 and the light-emitting layer 1322. The hole transport layer 1323 is connected to the anode 131 through the hole injection layer 1327, and an electron blocking layer 1326 is further provided between the hole transport layer 1323 and the light-emitting layer 1322. The inverted light-emitting functional layer 132 means that the electron transport layer 1321 is provided on the side close to the cathode 133, and the hole transport layer 1323 is provided on the side close to the anode 131. This is completely opposite to the light-emitting functional layer 132 in the light-emitting unit 130 of the upright organic light-emitting display panel 100. Relatively speaking, when the bottom-emitting display panel 100 uses the light-emitting functional layer 132 as a positive solution, due to the low luminous efficiency and the influence of the pixel driving layer opening of the bottom-emitting display panel 100, the luminous efficiency of the bottom-emitting display panel 100 with the positive light-emitting functional layer 132 is extremely low, and it is not suitable for display. However, for the inverted bottom-emitting display panel 100, the luminous efficiency is affected by the work functions of the anode 131 and the cathode 133. Generally speaking, the work function of the anode 131 is relatively high, and the work function of the cathode 133 is relatively low. When the anode 131 is selected as a reflective electrode and the cathode 133 is selected as a light-transmitting electrode, due to the characteristics of the materials, the work function of the anode 131 will be low, and the work function of the cathode 133 will be high, resulting in a low luminous efficiency of the inverted bottom-emitting display panel 100.

[0044] In this regard, in this embodiment, the cathode 133 is formed of one or both of a magnesium material and a silver material, and an active metal is used to form the cathode 133, and the light transmission capability is achieved by making the active metal thin. An indium tin oxide material (ITO) or indium zinc oxide material (IZO) with a higher work function is added to the anode 131, for example, a layer of ITO or IZO material is formed on the anode 131 to increase the work function of the anode 131.

[0045] In the case of adding active metal to the cathode 133, two aspects need to be considered. The first aspect is the light transmittance of the active metal. The transmittance of the metal is related to its lattice structure, which refers to the way in which metal atoms are arranged according to a specific rule. When the lattice structure of the metal is tight enough and there is not enough space for photons to pass through, the metal will show an opaque characteristic. If the thickness of the metal is reduced to a certain extent, photons may pass through the lattice structure of the metal, making the metal translucent. Another solution needs to consider the work function. While setting the thickness considering the light transmittance, the work function also needs to be taken into account, and its thickness also affects the work function. Generally speaking, taking the cathode 133 as an example of being formed of an active metal material, and the active metal material is magnesium or silver, the thickness of the cathode 133 needs to be smaller than the thickness of the reflective metal layer in the anode 131 to achieve a higher luminous efficiency. However, when the active metal material used for the cathode 133 is relatively thin, for example, 100 angstroms to 300 angstroms, it is easily oxidized during the deposition and etching steps in the process; specifically, in the etching process, there are also photoresist residues and etching problems, which will affect the work function of the cathode 133, thereby causing the inverted bottom-emitting display panel 100 to have a low luminous efficiency.

[0046] Therefore, when the thickness of the bottom electrode, i.e., the cathode 133, of the present embodiment is greater than or equal to 100 angstroms and less than or equal to 300 angstroms, the partitioning effect of the partitioning structure 140 allows the cathode 133 to form a plurality of independent and mutually unconnected cathodes 133 without etching, so that the cathodes 133 of adjacent light-emitting units 130 are completely separated. Even if a portion of the cathode redundant portion 135, i.e., the above-mentioned bottom electrode redundant portion, is formed on the partitioning structure 140, the portion of the cathode redundant portion 135 can be disconnected from the cathode 133 to prevent the problem of current crosstalk. And most importantly, the process of the bottom electrode and the process of the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be completed in the same vacuum environment, reducing the film layer problem between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132. In the present embodiment, the cathode 133 formed of an active metal material can reduce the work function of the cathode 133 to improve the phenomenon that the hole injection and the electron injection in the inverted organic light-emitting display panel 100 cannot be balanced, and solves the problem of low light-emitting efficiency of the current inverted organic light-emitting display panel 100.

[0047] Specifically, the anode 131 is formed by depositing a reflective metal material on the entire surface, and the multiple light-emitting units 130 share the anode 131; in order to match the work function of the cathode 133 and the light-emitting functional layer 132, the anode 131 of this embodiment can first adopt a sputtering process to form a thinner layer of indium tin oxide material with a thickness of about 0.01mm to 0.1mm, and then vacuum evaporate a reflective metal material with high reflectivity, which can generally be a silver material, and the thickness of the reflective metal material of the anode 131 is much thicker than the active metal material in the cathode 133.

[0048] Of course, the solution of the present application can also be applied to the top-emitting display panel 100. For the top-emitting display panel 100, the bottom electrode of the display panel 100 is formed by a reflective electrode, and can also be evaporated by the partition structure 140 of the present application, so that no etching process is required. For example, the bottom electrode is formed by an opaque high-reflective electrode, and the top electrode is formed by a transparent electrode. The bottom electrode is the anode 131, and the top electrode is the cathode 133. The patterned bottom electrode is directly formed by the partition structure 140, and there is no need to form the bottom electrode before the pixel definition layer 120 is formed.

[0049] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of the partition structure of this application, see Figure 4 As shown, specifically, the thickness h1 of the partition lower part 142 is between 0.05um and 0.2um, and the thickness h2 of the partition upper part 141 is between 0.03um and 0.1um. The partitioning effect of the partition structure 140 of this embodiment also depends on the thickness of the partition lower part 142 and the partition upper part 141. When the overall thickness of the partition structure 140 is thin, when the corresponding cathode 133 is evaporated and deposited, the thickness of the cathode 133 exceeds the overall thickness of the partition structure 140, resulting in the partition structure 140 being unable to play the role of partitioning the cathode 133. In order to avoid electrical connection between the cathode 133 and the cathode redundant part 135, it is also necessary to limit the thickness of the partition structure 140. When the thickness of the cathode 133 is between 0.01um and 0.03um, the thickness of the partition structure 140 is at least greater than or equal to 0.03um. Of course, in order to further consider the partition effect of the partition structure 140, the thickness of the partition lower portion 142 should be set to at least greater than or equal to 0.05um, and considering that when the thickness of the partition structure 140 is too thick, the anode 131 will also be partitioned during the process of forming the anode 131. Therefore, the thickness of the partition lower portion 142 is less than or equal to 0.2um. For the partition upper portion 141, the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 is mainly related to the material. When the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 is thick, it is not conducive to etching.

[0050] Specifically, first, the material of the partition lower part 142 and the partition upper part 141 are partitioned on the entire substrate, and a patterned photoresist material is set to protect the position of the partition structure 140, and the partition upper part 141 material is etched, and the partition upper part 141 of the non-opening area 102 is retained. The partition upper part 141 is used as a protective layer to etch the partition lower part 142, for example, using an isotropic dry etching process to etch the partition lower part 142. In this process, the partition lower part 142 will be side-etched, so that the width of the partition lower part 142 is smaller than the width of the partition upper part 141, forming the partition structure 140. In this process, the partition upper part 141 and the partition lower part 142 need to use different materials, so that when the partition lower part 142 is etched, the partition upper part 141 will not be etched, and the partition upper part 141 will not be affected.

[0051] Specifically, on the side of the partition structure 140 close to the opening area 101, the distance w of the partition upper portion 141 beyond the partition lower portion 142 is between 0.05um and 1um. The distance in this embodiment refers to the distance between the projection edge of the partition upper portion 141 and the projection edge of the partition lower portion 142 on the orthographic projection of the base substrate 110.

[0052] In this embodiment, the distance that the partition upper portion 141 in the partition structure 140 exceeds the partition lower portion 142 will affect the distance between the cathode 133 and the partition lower portion 142 when the cathode 133 is partitioned. When the distance that the partition upper portion 141 exceeds the partition lower portion 142 is greater, the corresponding edge of the cathode 133 is farther from the partition lower portion 142, and during the patterning process of the cathode 133, the cathode 133 will not be connected to the partition lower portion 142 or the partition upper portion 141, and the cathode redundant portion 135 of the partition upper portion 141 can be controlled by controlling the evaporation angle so that the cathode redundancy portion 135 of the partition upper portion 141 is only at the edge of the partition upper portion 141.

[0053] It is worth mentioning that, especially when the partition structure 140 is not only used to partition the cathode 133, when the partition structure 140 is also used to partition one or more layers in the light-emitting functional layer 132, such as one or more layers of the electron injection layer 1324, the electron transport layer 1321, the hole blocking layer 1325, the light-emitting layer 1322, the electron blocking layer 1326, the hole transport layer 1323 and the hole injection layer 1327 that are gradually arranged upward from the base substrate 110. At this time, the thickness between the partition upper part 141 and the partition lower part 142 also needs to meet the partition effect of the above-mentioned film layer, and by providing the insulating partition lower part 142, the problem of crosstalk between the above-mentioned film layers of two adjacent light-emitting units 130 can be prevented, and a certain insulation effect can be achieved.

[0054] The material of the partition upper portion 141 may be selected not only from an insulating material different from that of the partition lower portion 142 , but also from a metal material, wherein the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium.

[0055] In this embodiment, considering that the anode 131 is deposited on the entire surface, when one or more layers of the film in the light-emitting functional layer 132 are selected to be isolated, when the anode 131 is formed, the anode 131 may be partially or completely isolated. At this time, the partition upper part 141 is set on a metal material with a certain conductive property. When the anode 131 is partially or completely isolated, the partition upper part 141 connects the anode 131, so that the anode 131 will not be isolated, resulting in electrical connection failure or abnormal resistance. Of course, in order to avoid the anode 131 from being isolated, the thickness of the anode 131 can also be increased so that the thickness of the anode 131 is sufficient.

[0056] Specifically, when the partition upper portion 141 is formed of a metal material, the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 is between 0.03um and 0.1um, and the thickness of the partition upper portion 141 can be set to be relatively large, for example, 0.1um. In the process of forming the anode 131, even if the anode 131 is partitioned by the partition structure 140, the conductive partition upper portion 141 can be used to connect the anode 131. That is, the partition upper portion is also used to connect the top electrodes (anodes) of the two adjacent light-emitting units.

[0057] It is worth mentioning that in each of the opening areas, the cathode covers the light-emitting functional layer, and the end of the cathode is also in contact with the lower part of the partition. In this embodiment, by setting the partitioning capacity of the partition structure, the cathode, the light-emitting functional layer and the anode can be isolated, and in the process of isolating the light-emitting functional layer, the light-emitting functional layer cannot be in contact with the upper part of the partition, and in the process of isolating the anode, the anode needs to be partially in contact with the lower part of the partition.

[0058] In another embodiment, in each of the opening regions, the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light-emitting functional layer, and the light-emitting functional layer is used to separate the end of the bottom electrode from the end of the top electrode. The evaporation angle of the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer during evaporation can be controlled so that the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light-emitting functional layer, so as to avoid the situation in which the top electrode directly contacts and conducts electricity at the end of the bottom electrode due to the accumulation of the material of the top electrode when the top electrode is subsequently formed, thereby solving the problem of short circuit when the bottom electrode and the top electrode are formed simultaneously through the partition structure.

[0059] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of the second display panel of the present application, see Figure 5As shown, specifically, the display panel 100 of the present application also includes a cathode auxiliary electrode 134, which is formed of a transparent metal oxide material, and the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is arranged under the cathode 133 and electrically connected to the cathode 133; the cathode auxiliary electrodes 134 of two adjacent light-emitting units 130 are separated by the pixel definition layer 120.

[0060] In this embodiment, the function of the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is mainly to connect with the pixel active switch in the driving circuit layer 150 through a via. It can be understood that a driving circuit layer 150 is also provided on the base substrate 110. The driving circuit layer 150 generally includes a pixel driving circuit of the light-emitting unit 130, such as a pixel active switch (thin film transistor), a data driving line, a scanning control line, etc. The cathode 133 of each light-emitting unit 130 is connected to the pixel active switch through the cathode auxiliary electrode 134, and the voltage of the cathode 133 is controlled by the pixel active switch.

[0061] The cathode auxiliary electrode 134 may be made of one or both of indium tin oxide (ITO) and indium zinc oxide (IZO), which are metal materials with a light transmittance greater than 90%. Adding the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 can further improve the luminous efficiency of the inverted bottom-emitting display panel 100. Through the combination of the cathode 133 and the cathode auxiliary electrode 134, it is easier to achieve work function matching between the cathode 133 and the anode 131.

[0062] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the steps of the method for manufacturing the display panel of the present application, Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the manufacturing process of the display panel of the present application, see Figure 6 to Figure 7 As shown, the present application also discloses a method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising the steps of:

[0063] S110: providing a substrate;

[0064] S120: forming a pixel definition layer on the base substrate, and patterning the pixel definition layer to form a plurality of opening areas;

[0065] S130: forming a partition structure on the pixel definition layer;

[0066] S140: depositing a bottom electrode material on the entire surface, wherein the partition structure is used to partition the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units;

[0067] S150: sequentially forming a light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode in the opening area to form a plurality of light-emitting units;

[0068] Among them, the partition structure 140 includes a partition upper part 141 and a partition lower part 142, the partition upper part 141 is arranged on the partition lower part 142, and the radial width of the partition upper part 141 is greater than the radial width of the partition lower part 142, and the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer are made in the same vacuum environment.

[0069] In this embodiment, the partition lower portion 142 is formed of an insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; the partition upper portion 141 is formed of a metal material, and the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium.

[0070] The present application utilizes a partition structure 140. When the bottom electrode is formed in the light-emitting unit 130, the partition structure 140 is utilized to partition the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units 130, so that the bottom electrodes of the plurality of light-emitting units 130 are not connected to each other. In the process of forming the bottom electrode, it is not necessary to remove the excess bottom electrode material through an etching process. The next step of the light-emitting functional layer 132 can be directly performed after the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface, thereby reducing the impact of the etching process on the bottom electrode. In particular, when the bottom electrode includes active metal materials, the oxidation and residue of the active metal in the etching process are avoided, the film interface between the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer 132 is improved, the light-emitting efficiency of the light-emitting unit 130 is improved, and the display effect of the display panel 100 is improved. The partition lower portion 142 of the partition structure 140 in this embodiment is formed of an insulating material, so that the lower portion of the partition structure 140 has a high insulating property, so that when the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface, even if the evaporation angle is not controlled, when the bottom electrode material contacts the partition lower portion 142, no electrical connection occurs, and the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units 130 are insulated by the partition lower portion 142. In addition, by controlling the evaporation angle of the bottom electrode material, the bottom electrode material contacts the partition lower portion 142 as little as possible, and the electrical crosstalk of the bottom electrodes between adjacent light-emitting units 130 is prevented through the insulating property of the partition lower portion 142.

[0071] Before S120, the method further includes: forming a driving circuit layer on the substrate, the driving circuit layer including a plurality of thin film transistors and driving circuits, the thin film transistors and the driving circuits forming a driving circuit for driving the plurality of light-emitting units to emit light. In the process of forming the driving circuit layer, a via is provided corresponding to the thin film transistor driving the light-emitting unit, and the via is used to provide a cathode auxiliary electrode connected between the thin film transistor and the cathode of the light-emitting unit.

[0072] The step S120 also includes the following steps:

[0073] S121: depositing a cathode auxiliary electrode material on the substrate, and forming a cathode auxiliary electrode in the opening area after patterning;

[0074] S122: depositing and patterning a pixel definition layer on the cathode auxiliary electrode, the cathode auxiliary electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units are separated by the pixel definition layer, and a plurality of opening areas are formed, and the cathode auxiliary electrodes are exposed from the opening areas.

[0075] In this embodiment, after completing the process of the above-mentioned driving circuit layer 150, a cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is formed in the opening area 101, and at the via position of the driving circuit layer 150, the cathode auxiliary electrode 134 is connected to the output end of the thin film transistor to achieve voltage control of the cathode 133.

[0076] In one embodiment, the step S150 includes:

[0077] S151: Depositing the light-emitting functional layer material on the entire surface, and separating the light-emitting functional layers of two adjacent light-emitting units by a partition structure;

[0078] S152: depositing anodes on the entire surface to form a plurality of the light-emitting units.

[0079] In this solution, the light-emitting functional layer 132 of the light-emitting unit 130 is formed by the partition structure 140, and the light-emitting functional layer 132 may include an electron injection layer 1324, an electron transport layer 1321, a hole blocking layer 1325, a light-emitting layer 1322, an electron blocking layer 1326, a hole transport layer 1323 and a hole injection layer 1327 arranged in sequence from the cathode 133 toward the anode 131. In the process of forming the anode 131, the conductive partition upper part 141 may be used to connect the anodes 131 of each opening area 101 to form an anode 131 arranged on the entire surface.

[0080] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the display device of the present application, see Figure 7 As shown, the present application further discloses a display device, wherein the display device 200 includes a driving circuit 210 and a display panel 100 of any one of the above embodiments, wherein the driving circuit 210 is used to drive the display panel 100 to display.

[0081] It should be noted that the inventive concept of the present application can form a large number of embodiments, but the length of the application document is limited and it is impossible to list them one by one. Therefore, under the premise of no conflict, the embodiments or technical features described above can be arbitrarily combined to form new embodiments. After the embodiments or technical features are combined, the original technical effects will be enhanced.

[0082] The above content is a further detailed description of the present application in combination with specific optional implementation methods, and it cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the present application is limited to these descriptions. For ordinary technicians in the technical field to which the present application belongs, several simple deductions or substitutions can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, which should be deemed to fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A display panel, comprising a base substrate, a pixel definition layer and a light-emitting unit, wherein the pixel definition layer is disposed on the base substrate and is provided with a plurality of openings, wherein the positions of the openings are opening areas, and the light-emitting unit is disposed on the base substrate and is located in the opening areas; characterized in that: The display panel further includes a partition structure, which is located in the non-opening area and is disposed on the pixel definition layer; The light-emitting unit comprises a bottom electrode, a light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode, wherein the bottom electrode is arranged on the substrate, the light-emitting functional layer is arranged on the bottom electrode, and the top electrode is arranged on the light-emitting functional layer; The partition structure is used to partition the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units when the bottom electrode is deposited on the entire surface; Wherein, the partition structure includes an upper partition part and a lower partition part, the upper partition part is arranged on the lower partition part, and the radial width of the upper partition part is greater than the radial width of the lower partition part.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, characterized in that: The lower part of the partition is formed by an insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; the lower part of the partition is used to insulate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units; Wherein, in each of the opening regions, the end of the bottom electrode is covered by the light-emitting functional layer, and the light-emitting functional layer is used to separate the end of the bottom electrode from the end of the top electrode.

3. The display panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: The upper part of the partition is formed of a metal material, and the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium; The partition upper portion is used to connect the top electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units.

4. The display panel according to claim 3, characterized in that: The thickness of the bottom electrode is greater than or equal to 100 angstroms and less than or equal to 300 angstroms; the thickness of the lower portion of the partition is between 0.05um and 0.2um, and the thickness of the upper portion of the partition is between 0.03um and 0.1um; on the side of the partition structure close to the opening area, the distance that the upper portion of the partition exceeds the lower portion of the partition is between 0.1um and 1um.

5. The display panel according to claim 2, characterized in that: The bottom electrode is a light-transmitting electrode, and is formed of one or both of magnesium material and silver material; The top electrode is formed of a reflective metal material, and a plurality of the light-emitting units share the top electrode; the light-emitting direction of the light-emitting unit is from the top electrode toward the bottom electrode; The top electrode is an anode, and the bottom electrode is a cathode; the light-emitting functional layer includes an electron transport layer, a light-emitting layer and a hole transport layer, the electron transport layer is arranged on the cathode, the light-emitting layer is arranged on the electron transport layer, the hole transport layer is arranged on the light-emitting layer, and the anode is arranged on the hole transport layer.

6. The display panel according to claim 4, characterized in that: The display panel further includes a cathode auxiliary electrode, the cathode auxiliary electrode is formed of a transparent metal oxide material, the cathode auxiliary electrode is arranged under the cathode and is electrically connected to the cathode; The cathode auxiliary electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units are separated by the pixel definition layer.

7. The display panel according to claim 6, characterized in that: The partition structure is also used to partition the light-emitting functional layer and cathode of two adjacent light-emitting units when the light-emitting functional layer is deposited on the entire surface; In each of the opening regions, the cathode is arranged to cover the light-emitting functional layer, and an end of the cathode is also in contact with the lower portion of the partition.

8. A method for manufacturing a display panel, characterized in that: Includes steps: Providing a substrate; forming a pixel definition layer on the base substrate, and patterning the pixel definition layer to form a plurality of opening areas; forming a partition structure on the pixel definition layer; The bottom electrode material is deposited on the entire surface, and the partition structure is used to separate the bottom electrodes of two adjacent light-emitting units; Sequentially forming a light-emitting functional layer and a top electrode in the opening area to form a plurality of light-emitting units; Among them, the partition structure includes a partition upper part and a partition lower part, the partition upper part is arranged on the partition lower part, and the radial width of the partition upper part is greater than the radial width of the partition lower part, and the bottom electrode and the light-emitting functional layer are made in the same vacuum environment.

9. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 8, characterized in that: The lower part of the partition is formed by an insulating material, and the insulating material includes one or more of silicon oxide, silicon nitride or silicon oxynitride; The upper part of the partition is formed of metal material, and the metal material includes one or more of aluminum, copper, molybdenum, and titanium.

10. A display device, characterized in that: It comprises a driving circuit and the display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the driving circuit is used to drive the display panel to display.

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