Maskless OLED pattern-forming device and pattern-forming method

Abstract

The present invention relates to a maskless OLED pattern-forming device capable of selectively depositing organic light emitting bodies without using a mask, and a pattern-forming method. The maskless OLED pattern-forming device according to the present invention comprises: a substrate comprising anode pads; an OLED source releasing OLED molecules; a substrate-charging electron gun for emitting electrons toward the substrate; an OLED-charging electron gun for emitting electrons toward the OLED molecules released from the OLED source; and a vacuum chamber in which the substrate, the OLED source, the substrate-charging electron gun, and the OLED-charging electron gun are arranged.

Description

Maskless OLED pattern forming device and method for forming a pattern

[0001] The present invention relates to a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus and a method for forming a pattern, and more specifically, to a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus and a method for forming a pattern capable of selectively depositing an organic light-emitting element without using a mask.

[0002] Generally, when using a deposition method to selectively form red, blue, and green organic light-emitting diodes for OLED display pixel formation, a mask is used. Such a mask may be referred to as a shadow mask or a fine metal mask (FMM).

[0003] Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional OLED pattern forming apparatus or a method for forming a pattern is described as follows: a portion (3) requiring deposition exists on a substrate (1), and a mask (5) with a hole formed in the portion (3) requiring deposition is placed on the upper part of the substrate (1). An organic light-emitting element irradiated through an OLED source (7) can pass through the mask (5) and reach the portion (3) requiring deposition. Additionally, other portions cannot be reached because they are blocked by the mask (5), thus allowing the required pattern to be formed.

[0004] Manufacturing such masks consumes a significant amount of time and cost. Additionally, when producing large displays, the mask becomes larger, which can lead to many problems during production, such as sagging of the mask and difficulties in alignment.

[0005] Therefore, methods for forming OLED patterns or using masks required additional processes, resulting in high costs and time consumption, as well as limitations on fabrication. Additionally, there were issues with the inability to form fine patterns and a decline in overall quality.

[0006] The present invention aims to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus and a method for forming a pattern that can selectively deposit OLED molecules onto a substrate without using a mask.

[0007] A maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus according to the present invention comprises a substrate including an anode pad, an OLED source emitting OLED molecules, an electron gun for substrate charging that irradiates electrons toward the substrate, an electron gun for OLED charging that irradiates electrons toward the OLED molecules emitted from the OLED source, and a vacuum chamber in which the substrate, the OLED source, the electron gun for substrate charging, and the electron gun for OLED charging are arranged.

[0008] In addition, the substrate may further include a deposition line connected to the anode pad to be electrically grounded or to which a positive voltage is applied.

[0009] Additionally, the anode pad is divided into a first anode pad, a second anode pad, and a third anode pad, and the deposition line includes a first deposition line connected to the first anode pad, a second deposition line connected to the second anode pad, and a third deposition line connected to the third anode pad, and any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line may be electrically grounded or have a positive voltage applied, and the others may be electrically floating.

[0010] In addition, the substrate and the OLED source may be positioned facing each other, the electron gun for substrate charging may be positioned on one side of the OLED source, and the electron gun for OLED charging may be positioned on one side of the substrate so as to be positioned facing each other.

[0011] Meanwhile, the method for forming a maskless OLED pattern according to the present invention involves placing a substrate in a vacuum chamber, electrically grounding or applying a positive voltage to a deposition line connected to an anode pad formed in the substrate, driving an electron gun for substrate charging to irradiate electrons toward the substrate, driving an electron gun for OLED charging to irradiate electrons, and opening the OLED source to emit OLED molecules so that OLED molecules charged with electrons can be deposited on the anode pad.

[0012] Additionally, the anode pad is divided into a first anode pad, a second anode pad, and a third anode pad, and the deposition line includes a first deposition line connected to the first anode pad, a second deposition line connected to the second anode pad, and a third deposition line connected to the third anode pad, and any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied to it, while the others are electrically floating, and an OLED molecule charged with electrons can be deposited on any one of the anode pads that is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied.

[0013] Additionally, an electron-charged OLED molecule may be deposited on any one of the above anode pads, and any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line may be electrically grounded or have a positive voltage applied to it, while the others are electrically floating, and an electron-charged OLED molecule may be deposited on any one of the other anode pads that is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied to it.

[0014] According to the maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus and pattern forming method of the present invention, since a mask is not used, the process of separately manufacturing a mask can be omitted, which has the advantage of reducing significant costs and time.

[0015] In addition, it has the advantage of being able to form fine patterns and expect overall performance improvement.

[0016] FIG. 1 is a drawing illustrating an OLED pattern forming apparatus or a method for forming a pattern using a conventional mask.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating a maskless OLED pattern forming device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a substrate OLED driving circuit of a maskless OLED pattern forming device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] FIG. 4 is a drawing illustrating a method for forming a maskless OLED pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] FIGS. 5 and 6 are drawings illustrating a part of a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a deposition process by a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus and a pattern forming method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the concept of the present invention is not limited to the presented embodiments. Those skilled in the art who understand the concept of the present invention may easily propose other inventions that are inferior or other embodiments included within the scope of the concept of the present invention by adding, changing, or deleting other components within the same scope of the concept, and such are also to be considered to be included within the scope of the concept of the present invention.

[0023] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a maskless OLED pattern forming device (10) according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an OLED driving circuit of a substrate (30).

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2, the maskless OLED pattern forming device (1) according to the present invention includes a vacuum chamber (20), a substrate (30), an OLED source (40), an electron gun (50) for substrate charging, and an electron gun (60) for OLED charging.

[0026] The substrate (30), the OLED source (40), the electron gun for substrate counteraction (50), and the electron gun for OLED counteraction (60) can each be placed inside the vacuum chamber (20). For example, the substrate (30) and the OLED source (40) may be placed facing each other, the electron gun for substrate counteraction (50) may be placed on one side of the OLED source (40), and the electron gun for OLED counteraction (60) may be placed on one side of the substrate (30) so as to be placed facing each other.

[0027] Referring to FIG. 2, the substrate (30) and the OLED source (40) are arranged facing each other vertically. Additionally, the electron gun (50) for countering the substrate is positioned to the left of the OLED source (40), and the electron gun (60) for countering the OLED is positioned to the right of the substrate (30), so that they can be arranged facing each other diagonally.

[0028] The vacuum chamber (20) can be understood as a closed space capable of maintaining a vacuum inside. That is, the interior of the vacuum chamber (20) can be maintained in a vacuum state while other components are operating. Additionally, the vacuum chamber (20) is configured to be openable and closable so that the substrate (30) can be moved inside or outside the vacuum chamber (20). Furthermore, the OLED source (40), the electron gun for substrate charging (50), and the electron gun for OLED charging (60) can be fixedly installed inside the vacuum chamber (20).

[0029] The substrate (30) includes an anode pad (100) that requires the deposition of an OLED. Additionally, referring to FIG. 3, the substrate (30) includes a deposition line (D) connected to the anode pad (100) to be electrically grounded or to which a positive voltage is applied. CTRL It may further include , 200). This will be described in detail later.

[0030] The above substrate (30) may be configured as a multilayer structure due to the entire process, and a detailed description of the multilayer structure or driving circuit of the above substrate (30) is omitted as it is identical to the OLED substrate before a general pattern is formed.

[0031] The above OLED source (40) corresponds to a configuration that emits OLED molecules, and the above electron gun for substrate charging (50) and the above electron gun for OLED charging (60) correspond to a configuration that irradiates electrons. The above electron gun for substrate charging (50) and the above electron gun for OLED charging (60) can emit electrons from a heated cathode. In addition, a surface potentiometer may be installed near the substrate (30) to measure the charged voltage. Furthermore, a Faraday cup may be installed in the above electron gun for OLED charging (60) in an uninterfering space between the above electron gun for OLED charging (60) and the OLED source (40) to measure electron density.

[0032] At this time, each component may be provided in multiple units as needed and may be placed in the vacuum chamber (10). In particular, multiple electron guns (60) for OLED charging may be installed in the vacuum chamber (10) to emit electrons at a spatially uniform density.

[0033] Additionally, the electron gun (50) for substrate charging may be installed to irradiate electrons toward the substrate (30). As previously described, the electron gun (50) for substrate charging is positioned on one side of the OLED source (40) facing the substrate (30), and it can be understood that it is positioned approximately facing the substrate (30).

[0034] Since the surface of the substrate (30) is a dielectric and does not conduct electricity, incident electrons can be easily captured and charged as electrons. Specifically, electrons can be uniformly irradiated onto the substrate (30) from the electron gun (50) for charging the substrate, and electrons can be accumulated on the substrate (30) to maintain a negative surface potential. At this time, the anode pad (100) requiring the deposition of the OLED is electrically grounded or the electrons flow out to the deposition line (200) to which a positive voltage is applied, thereby maintaining a state in which no charge is accumulated.

[0035] The above-described electron gun (60) for OLED countermeasures may be installed to irradiate electrons toward OLED molecules emitted from the OLED source (40). As previously described, the above-described electron gun (60) for OLED countermeasures is positioned on one side of the substrate (30) facing the OLED source (40), and it can be understood that it is positioned approximately facing the OLED source (40).

[0036] Through this, the OLED molecules emitted from the OLED source (40) can be charged with electrons. Specifically, the OLED molecules emitted and sublimated from the OLED source (40) collide with electrons emitted from the electron gun (60) for charging the OLED, and electrons can be captured in the OLED molecules. In this process, the OLED molecules, which were electrically neutral, acquire a negative charge.

[0037] The above OLED molecules have very small kinetic energy, generally less than a few eV, when deposited. For example, if a sublimated OLED molecule is charged with one electron, and the substrate (30) is charged with electrons and the surface potential is maintained at a voltage greater than the kinetic energy of the material being deposited to form a sufficient repulsive force, the charged OLED molecule is not deposited due to the electrostatic repulsion between the charged charge of the substrate (30) and the charged charge of the substrate (30). That is, the electron-charged OLED molecule is not deposited on the surface of the substrate (30) which is also electron-charged.

[0038] At this time, if a part of the substrate (30) has an electrical potential of 0V or a positive voltage applied, negatively charged OLED molecules can be easily deposited. That is, electrons of the charged OLED molecules that arrive at the anode pad (100) escape to ground and maintain an electrically neutral state, so deposition continues.

[0039] Below, a method for forming a maskless OLED pattern based on the maskless OLED pattern forming device described above is explained in detail.

[0040] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a method for forming a maskless OLED pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] As shown in FIG. 4, the substrate (30) is placed in the vacuum chamber (20) (S10), and the deposition line (200) connected to the anode pad (100) formed in the substrate (30) is electrically grounded or a positive voltage is applied (S20).

[0042] Then, the electron gun (50) for charging the substrate is driven to irradiate electrons toward the substrate (30) (S30). As previously described, the substrate (30), excluding the anode pad (100), is charged by the electrons irradiated from the electron gun (50) for charging the substrate. At this time, the charging of the substrate (30) can be sustained until a discharge does not occur between the charged portion and the anode pad (100).

[0043] Then, the electron gun (60) for the OLED is driven to irradiate electrons toward the OLED source (40) or toward the path where the sublimated OLED molecules fly (S40), and the OLED source (40) is opened to emit OLED molecules (S50).

[0044] As previously explained, OLED molecules can be charged by capturing electrons and deposited on an anode pad (100) that is electrically grounded or to which a positive voltage is applied (S60). In other words, due to electrical repulsion, the charged OLED molecules are not deposited on other parts of the substrate (30) other than the anode pad (100).

[0045] As such, the present invention allows OLED molecules to be deposited only on specific parts, that is, on selected anode pads, without using a mask. At this time, the anode pad (100) is divided into a first anode pad (110), a second anode pad (120), and a third anode pad (130). These may correspond to Red, Green, and Blue anode pads, respectively. Below, the deposition of OLED molecules on each anode pad (100) will be described in detail.

[0046] FIGS. 5 and 6 are drawings illustrating a part of a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a drawing schematically illustrating a deposition process by a maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus and a method for forming a pattern according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0047] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the deposition line (200) includes a first deposition line (210) connected to the first anode pad (110), a second deposition line (220) connected to the second anode pad (120), and a third deposition line (230) connected to the third anode pad (130).

[0048] Additionally, as shown in FIG. 6, the first anode pad (110), the second anode pad (120), and the third anode pad (130) can form a single pixel (300). That is, the substrate (30) is provided with numerous pixels (300), and each pixel (300) includes the first to third anode pads (110, 120, 130).

[0049] In FIG. 6, only two pixels are shown for convenience of explanation, and they are distinguished as the left pixel (300) and the right pixel (300a). Additionally, the same reference numeral is assigned to identical configurations, and 'a' is added for distinction.

[0050] The anode pads included in each pixel (300, 300a) can be connected to a single deposition line. That is, the first anode pad (110) belonging to the left pixel (300) and the first anode pad (110a) belonging to the right pixel (300a) can be connected together to the first deposition line (210). The second anode pad (120, 120a) and the third anode pad (130, 130a) can also be connected in the same way to the second deposition line (220) and the third deposition line (230).

[0051] Accordingly, when any deposition line is electrically grounded or a positive voltage is applied, all anode pads of each pixel connected thereto may be grounded or have a positive voltage applied. At this time, any one of the first deposition line (210), the second deposition line (220), and the third deposition line (230) may be installed so that one is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied, and the others are electrically floating.

[0052] For example, referring to FIG. 6, the second deposition line (220) is electrically grounded, and the first deposition line (210) and the third deposition line (230) are installed as electrically floating lines. Accordingly, referring to FIG. 7, incident electrons flow out of the second anode pad (120) and OLED molecules are deposited, while charged OLED molecules are not deposited on the first anode pad (110) and the third anode pad (130) due to repulsion.

[0053] Through this process, OLED molecules can be selectively deposited on the first anode pad (110), the second anode pad (120), and the third anode pad (130). That is, any one of the first deposition line (210), the second deposition line (220), and the third deposition line (230) is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied, while the others are electrically floating, and an OLED molecule charged with electrons can be deposited on any one of the anode pads that is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied.

[0054] Additionally, an electron-charged OLED molecule may be deposited on any one of the above anode pads, and any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line may be electrically grounded or have a positive voltage applied to it, while the others are electrically floating, and an electron-charged OLED molecule may be deposited on any one of the other anode pads that is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied to it.

[0055] And after all deposition is completed, the deposition line (200) can be disconnected. If the deposition line (200) is not disconnected, it does not operate properly.

[0056] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations are possible within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention as described in the claims.

Claims

1. A substrate including an anode pad; OLED source emitting OLED molecules; An electron gun for substrate charging that irradiates electrons toward the above substrate; An electron gun for OLED anti-vibration that irradiates electrons toward OLED molecules emitted from the above-mentioned OLED source; and A vacuum chamber in which the above substrate, the above OLED source, the above electron gun for substrate charging, and the above electron gun for OLED charging are arranged; A maskless OLED pattern forming device including 2. In Paragraph 1, A maskless OLED pattern forming apparatus characterized by the substrate further including a deposition line connected to the anode pad to be electrically grounded or to which a positive voltage is applied.

3. In Paragraph 2, The above anode pad is divided into a first anode pad, a second anode pad, and a third anode pad, and The above deposition line includes a first deposition line connected to the first anode pad, a second deposition line connected to the second anode pad, and a third deposition line connected to the third anode pad. A maskless OLED pattern forming device characterized in that any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied, and the others are electrically floating.

4. In Paragraph 1, The above substrate and the above OLED source are arranged facing each other, and A maskless OLED pattern forming device characterized in that the electron gun for substrate electrolysis is positioned on one side of the OLED source, and the electron gun for OLED electrolysis is positioned on one side of the substrate and positioned facing each other.

5. Place the substrate inside the vacuum chamber, and Electrically ground the deposition line connected to the anode pad formed within the substrate or apply a positive voltage, and An electron gun for substrate charging is driven to irradiate electrons toward the substrate, and Drive the electron gun for OLED to irradiate electrons, and By opening the above OLED source to emit OLED molecules, A method for forming a maskless OLED pattern characterized by depositing an electron-charged OLED molecule on the anode pad.

6. In Paragraph 5, The above anode pad is divided into a first anode pad, a second anode pad, and a third anode pad, and The above deposition line includes a first deposition line connected to the first anode pad, a second deposition line connected to the second anode pad, and a third deposition line connected to the third anode pad. Any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied, and the rest are electrically floating, and A method for forming a maskless OLED pattern characterized by depositing an electron-charged OLED molecule on either an anode pad that is electrically grounded or to which a positive voltage is applied.

7. In Paragraph 6, An electron-charged OLED molecule is deposited on any one of the above anode pads, and Any one of the first deposition line, the second deposition line, and the third deposition line is electrically grounded or has a positive voltage applied to it, and the rest are electrically floating, and A method for forming a maskless OLED pattern characterized by depositing an electron-charged OLED molecule on an anode pad that is electrically grounded or to which a positive voltage is applied.

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