Display panel and manufacturing method therefor, and display apparatus

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to the technical field of display, and provides a display panel and a manufacturing method therefor, and a display apparatus, which can solve the problem of slope angles of existing reflective structures being unable to be flexibly adjusted due to the limitation of the thickness of support layers. The display panel of the present disclosure comprises: a base substrate: a support layer, located on the base substrate, and comprising a plurality of support sub-layers stacked along a side facing away from the base substrate, wherein the support layer has cup-shaped structures passing through the plurality of support sub-layers along the thickness direction, a side wall of each cup-shaped structure comprises a plurality of sub-side walls sequentially connected in a direction away from the base substrate, and a corner structure is formed at a connecting portion of any two adjacent sub-side walls; and a plurality of light-emitting devices in one-to-one correspondence with the cup-shaped structures, wherein each light-emitting device comprises a first electrode, a light-emitting layer, and a second electrode sequentially arranged along a direction away from the base substrate, the first electrode at least covers the bottom of the corresponding cup-shaped structure, and at least a part of the first electrode further covers the side wall of the cup-shaped structure.

Description

Display panel and its manufacturing method, display device Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure belongs to the field of display technology, specifically relating to a display panel and its manufacturing method, and a display device. Background Technology

[0002] OLED and QLED display panels are widely used in various display scenarios due to their advantages such as high contrast, wide color gamut, and fast response speed. OLED devices and QLED devices, as the core components of OLED and QLED display panels respectively, both include an anode, a light-emitting layer, and a cathode. The light-emitting layer of OLED devices is made of organic light-emitting materials, while the light-emitting layer of QLED devices is made of quantum dot light-emitting materials.

[0003] However, the light extraction efficiency of both OLED and QLED devices is limited by two mechanisms: waveguide mode (WM) and surface plasmon polariton (SPP). Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention aims to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. In one aspect, it provides a display panel, comprising: a substrate; a support layer located on the substrate, comprising a plurality of support sub-layers stacked along a side away from the substrate, the support layer having a cup-shaped structure extending through the thickness direction of the plurality of support sub-layers; the sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure comprising a plurality of sub-sidewalls sequentially connected along a direction away from the substrate, the connection point of any two adjacent sub-sidewalls forming a corner structure; a plurality of light-emitting devices corresponding one-to-one with the cup-shaped structure; each light-emitting device comprising a first electrode, a light-emitting layer, and a second electrode sequentially disposed along a direction away from the substrate; the first electrode at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure, and at least a portion of the first electrode also covers the sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure.

[0005] In some optional embodiments, each of the support sublayers has a cup-shaped substructure extending through its thickness direction, the cup-shaped structure comprising each cup-shaped substructure, and the plurality of sub-sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure comprising at least the sidewalls of each cup-shaped substructure; the diameter of the cup-shaped structure gradually increases in a direction away from the substrate, and the maximum diameter of the i-th cup-shaped substructure is not greater than the minimum diameter of the (i+1)-th cup-shaped substructure; i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N-1, N is the number of the support sublayers, and is an integer not less than 2; the i-th cup-shaped substructure is closer to the substrate than the (i+1)-th cup-shaped substructure.

[0006] In some optional embodiments, the plurality of support sublayers include a first support sublayer and a second support sublayer stacked sequentially in a direction away from the substrate, wherein the maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the first support sublayer is equal to the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer; the plurality of sub-sidewalls respectively include a first sub-sidewall and a second sub-sidewall; the first sub-sidewall and the second sub-sidewall are respectively the sidewalls of the cup-shaped substructures of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer.

[0007] In some optional embodiments, the angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate is a first included angle, and the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate is a second included angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate, and the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate; the thickness of the first support sub-layer is greater than the thickness of the second support sub-layer, and the first included angle is greater than the second included angle; or, the thickness of the first support sub-layer is less than the thickness of the second support sub-layer, and the first included angle is less than the second included angle.

[0008] In some optional embodiments, the thickness of the first support sublayer and the thickness of the second support sublayer are both between 0.5 μm and 3.5 μm, and the sum of the thicknesses of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer is not greater than 4 μm; the first included angle and the second included angle are both between 20° and 75°.

[0009] In some optional embodiments, the plurality of support sublayers include a first support sublayer and a second support sublayer stacked sequentially along a direction away from the substrate. The maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the first support sublayer is smaller than the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer. The surface of the first support sublayer exposed by the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer away from the substrate is a first connecting surface. The plurality of sub-sidewalls respectively include a first sub-sidewall, the first connecting surface, and a second sub-sidewall. The first sub-sidewall and the second sub-sidewall are respectively the sidewalls of the cup-shaped substructures of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer.

[0010] In some optional embodiments, the angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate is the first included angle, and the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate is the second included angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate, and the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate; the thickness of both the first and second support sub-layers is between 0.5 μm and 3.5 μm, and the sum of the thicknesses of the first and second support sub-layers is not greater than 4 μm; the first and second included angles are both between 20° and 75°; the difference between the minimum aperture of the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sub-layer and the maximum aperture of the cup-shaped substructure of the first support sub-layer is not greater than 8 μm.

[0011] In some optional embodiments, the angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate is the first included angle, and the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate is the second included angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate, and the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate; the thickness of both the first and second support sub-layers is between 0.5 μm and 6 μm; and both the first and second included angles are between 20° and 85°.

[0012] In some optional embodiments, N is greater than or equal to 3, and the maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the i-th support sublayer is equal to the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the (i+1)-th support sublayer.

[0013] In some optional embodiments, the plurality of support sublayers include a first support sublayer and a second support sublayer disposed sequentially along a direction away from the substrate; the first support sublayer has a first cup-shaped substructure; the second support sublayer includes a first portion located on the side of the first support sublayer away from the substrate and a second portion covering the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure; the second support sublayer has a second cup-shaped substructure extending through the thickness direction of the first portion and the second portion; the sidewall of the second cup-shaped substructure forms the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure.

[0014] In some optional embodiments, the sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure include a first sub-sidewall and a second sub-sidewall connected sequentially in a direction away from the substrate; the angle between the tangent at a first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate is a first angle, and the angle between the tangent at a second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the plane containing the substrate is a second angle; the angle between the tangent at a third intersection point on the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure and the surface of the first support sublayer near the substrate is a third angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate, the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the first sub-sidewall, and the third intersection point is the intersection point of the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure and the surface of the first support sublayer near the substrate; the first angle is equal to the third angle, and the second angle is greater than the first angle.

[0015] In some alternative embodiments, both the first included angle and the second included angle are between 25° and 80°.

[0016] In some optional embodiments, the sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure include a first sub-sidewall, a second sub-sidewall, and a third sub-sidewall connected sequentially in a direction away from the substrate; the angle between the tangent at a first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate is a first angle; the angle between the tangent at a second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the plane containing the substrate is a second angle; the angle between the tangent at a fourth intersection point on the third sub-sidewall and the plane containing the substrate is a fourth angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate, the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the first sub-sidewall, and the fourth intersection point is the intersection point of the third sub-sidewall and the second sub-sidewall; the first angle is smaller than the second angle, and the fourth angle is smaller than the first angle.

[0017] In some optional embodiments, the first included angle and the second included angle are both between 25° and 80°; the fourth included angle is between 20° and 50°.

[0018] In some optional embodiments, it further includes: a pixel defining layer located on the side of the first electrode away from the substrate, having pixel openings that correspond one-to-one with the cup-shaped structure and penetrate along the thickness direction of the pixel defining layer, the pixel openings exposing at least a portion of the corresponding first electrode, the light-emitting layer being disposed in the pixel openings, the second electrode being located on the side of the pixel defining layer away from the substrate; the surface of the pixel openings near the substrate is a concave surface recessed towards the substrate.

[0019] In some optional embodiments, the distance between the surface of the pixel defining layer facing away from the substrate and the surface of the support layer facing away from the substrate is between 0.3 μm and 1.5 μm.

[0020] In some optional embodiments, the plurality of light-emitting devices includes a plurality of first-color light-emitting devices, a plurality of second-color light-emitting devices, and a plurality of third-color light-emitting devices; among the plurality of light-emitting devices, the first electrode of a portion of the light-emitting devices covers the sidewall of the corresponding cup-shaped structure, and the portion of light-emitting devices meets one of the following conditions: the portion of light-emitting devices are all first-color light-emitting devices, or all second-color light-emitting devices, or all third-color light-emitting devices; some of the portion of light-emitting devices are any one of the first-color light-emitting devices, the second-color light-emitting devices, and the third-color light-emitting devices, and the others of the portion of light-emitting devices are another one of the first-color light-emitting devices, the second-color light-emitting devices, and the third-color light-emitting devices.

[0021] In some optional embodiments, when a certain portion of the light-emitting devices are any one of a first color light-emitting device, a second color light-emitting device, and a third color light-emitting device, and the others in the same portion of the light-emitting devices are another one of a first color light-emitting device, a second color light-emitting device, and a third color light-emitting device, the sidewall shape of the cup-shaped structure corresponding to a certain portion of the light-emitting devices is different from the sidewall shape of the cup-shaped structure corresponding to the others in the same portion of the light-emitting devices.

[0022] Based on the same inventive concept, in a second aspect, this disclosure provides a method for fabricating a display panel as described in any embodiment of the first aspect above, wherein the fabrication method includes: providing a substrate; forming a support layer on the substrate; the support layer including a plurality of support sub-layers stacked along a side away from the substrate, the support layer having a cup-shaped structure extending along the thickness direction of the plurality of support sub-layers; the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure including a plurality of sub-sidewalls sequentially connected along a direction away from the substrate, the connection between any two adjacent sub-sidewalls forming a corner structure; forming a light-emitting device corresponding to the cup-shaped structure on the side of the support layer away from the substrate; the light-emitting device including a first electrode, a light-emitting layer and a second electrode sequentially disposed along a direction away from the substrate; the first electrode at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure, and at least a portion of the first electrode also covers the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure.

[0023] Based on the same inventive concept, in a third aspect, this disclosure provides a display device including a display panel and a cover plate as described in any of the embodiments of the first aspect above, wherein the cover plate is disposed on the display side of the display panel. Attached Figure Description

[0024] Figure 1 is an exemplary planar schematic diagram of an OLED display substrate.

[0025] Figure 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the OLED display substrate along its thickness direction.

[0026] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the display substrate shown in Figure 1 along the AB direction.

[0027] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a display substrate using a reflective structure.

[0028] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary structure of the display panel provided in this disclosure.

[0029] Figure 6 shows an example of a cup-shaped structure in the first type of embodiment.

[0030] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the parameter settings for the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 6.

[0031] Figure 8 shows the simulation test results of the light emission efficiency of the reflective structure under different thicknesses of the first and second support sublayers.

[0032] Figure 9 shows a schematic diagram of parameter settings during simulation testing.

[0033] Figure 10 shows another example of the cup-shaped structure in the first type of embodiment.

[0034] Figure 11 shows another example of the cup-shaped structure in the first type of embodiment.

[0035] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary structure of the cup-shaped structure in the second type of embodiment.

[0036] Figure 13 shows the test results of different cup-shaped structures on the improvement of light extraction efficiency.

[0037] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary structure of the cup-shaped structure in the second type of embodiment.

[0038] Figure 15 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary structure of the pixel delimiting layer.

[0039] Figure 16 is a plan view of the display panel provided in this disclosure.

[0040] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the fabrication process of the display panel shown in Figure 10.

[0041] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of the fabrication process of the display panel shown in Figure 12.

[0042] The reference numerals in the figures are as follows: 1011, substrate; 1012, driving circuit layer; 1013a, pixel defining layer; 1015, first planarization layer; 1016, support layer; 1016a, first support sub-layer; 1016b, second support sub-layer; 1011a, polyimide layer; 1011b, first buffer layer; 1012a, first gate insulating layer; 1012b, second gate insulating layer; 1012c, interlayer dielectric layer; 1014, encapsulation layer; 1014a, first inorganic encapsulation layer; 1014b, organic encapsulation layer; 1014c, second inorganic encapsulation layer. Detailed Implementation

[0043] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0044] Unless otherwise defined, the technical or scientific terms used in this disclosure shall have the ordinary meaning understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. The terms “first,” “second,” and similar terms used in this disclosure do not indicate any order, quantity, or importance, but are merely used to distinguish different components. Similarly, the terms “an,” “a,” or “the,” and similar terms do not indicate a quantity limitation, but rather indicate the presence of at least one. The terms “including,” “comprising,” or “containing,” and similar terms mean that the element or object preceding the word encompasses the elements or objects listed following the word and their equivalents, without excluding other elements or objects. The terms “connected,” “linked,” or similar terms are not limited to physical or mechanical connections, but can include electrical connections, whether direct or indirect. The terms “upper,” “lower,” “left,” and “right,” etc., are used only to indicate relative positional relationships, and these relative positional relationships may change accordingly when the absolute position of the described objects changes.

[0045] As used herein, “parallel” and “perpendicular” include the described situation and situations that are similar to the described situation, within an acceptable range of deviation, which is determined by those skilled in the art taking into account the measurement under discussion and the error associated with the measurement of a particular quantity (i.e., the limitations of the measurement system). For example, “parallel” includes absolute parallelism and approximate parallelism, where an acceptable range of deviation for approximate parallelism may be, for example, within 5°; “perpendicular” includes absolute perpendicularity and approximate perpendicularity, where an acceptable range of deviation for approximate perpendicularity may also be, for example, within 5°.

[0046] It should be understood that when a layer or element is referred to as being on another layer or substrate, it can mean that the layer or element is directly on another layer or substrate, or that there is an intermediate layer between the layer or element and another layer or substrate.

[0047] In this article, "electrical connection" includes the situation where constituent elements are connected together by a component that has a certain electrical function. There are no particular restrictions on the "component that has a certain electrical function" as long as it enables the transmission and reception of electrical signals between the connected constituent elements. Examples of "components that have a certain electrical function" include not only electrodes and wiring, but also switching elements such as transistors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, and other components with various functions.

[0048] This document describes exemplary embodiments with reference to sectional views and / or plan views, which are idealized exemplary drawings. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions is enlarged for clarity. Therefore, variations in shape relative to the drawings are contemplated due to, for example, manufacturing techniques and / or tolerances. Therefore, exemplary embodiments should not be construed as limited to the shapes of the regions shown herein, but rather include shape deviations due to, for example, manufacturing processes. Thus, the regions shown in the drawings are schematic in nature, and their shapes are not intended to show the actual shapes of the regions of the device, nor are they intended to limit the scope of the exemplary embodiments.

[0049] Figure 1 is an exemplary planar schematic diagram of an OLED display substrate. As shown in Figure 1, the display substrate includes multiple pixel units PX arranged in an array. Each pixel unit PX includes multiple sub-pixels SP. For example, one PX may include three sub-pixels SP, namely a red sub-pixel R, a green sub-pixel G, and a blue sub-pixel B. Structurally, each sub-pixel SP includes a light-emitting device and a pixel driving circuit that provides driving signals to the light-emitting device.

[0050] Figure 2 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the OLED display substrate along its thickness direction. As shown in Figure 2, the display substrate includes a substrate 1011, a driving circuit layer 1012 formed on the substrate 1011, a light-emitting device layer 1013 located on the side of the driving circuit layer 1012 facing away from the substrate 1011, and an encapsulation layer 1014. The driving circuit layer 1012 includes pixel driving circuits for each sub-pixel SP, and the light-emitting device layer 1013 includes light-emitting devices for each sub-pixel SP.

[0051] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional schematic diagram of the display substrate shown in Figure 1 along the AB direction. As shown in Figure 3, the substrate 1011 has a double-layer structure, including a polyimide layer 1011a and a first buffer layer 1011b stacked sequentially. The first buffer layer 1011b can be made of materials such as silicon nitride and silicon oxide to achieve the effect of blocking water, oxygen, and alkaline ions. Each pixel driving circuit in the driving circuit layer 1012 includes a thin-film transistor and a storage capacitor. The thin-film transistor includes an active layer AL, a first gate insulating layer 1012a, a gate GE, a second gate insulating layer 1012b, an interlayer dielectric layer 1012c, a source SE, and a drain DE. Specifically, an active layer AL can be formed on a first buffer layer 1011b. A first gate insulating layer 1012a covers the first buffer layer 1011b and the active layer AL. A gate GE is formed on the side of the first gate insulating layer 1012a away from the active layer AL. A second gate insulating layer 1012b covers the gate GE and the first gate insulating layer 1012a. An interlayer dielectric layer 1012c covers the second gate insulating layer 1012b. A source electrode SE and a drain electrode DE are formed on the side of the interlayer dielectric layer 1012c away from the substrate 1011 and are located on opposite sides of the gate GE, respectively. The source electrode SE and the drain electrode DE can contact the opposite sides of the active layer AL through vias (e.g., metal vias). The storage capacitor includes a first electrode C1 and a second electrode C2. The first electrode C1 and the gate GE are disposed on the same layer. The second electrode C2 is located between the second gate insulating layer 1012b and the interlayer dielectric layer 1012c and is disposed opposite to the first electrode C1. The gate electrode GE and the first electrode C1 and the second electrode C2 can be made of metallic or alloy materials, such as molybdenum, aluminum, and titanium. The source electrode SE and the drain electrode DE can be made of metallic or alloy materials, such as a single-layer or multi-layer metal structure formed of molybdenum, aluminum, and titanium. For example, the multi-layer structure is a multi-metal stack, such as a titanium, aluminum, and titanium three-layer metal stack (Ti / Al / Ti).

[0052] Referring again to Figure 3, before forming the light-emitting device, a first planarization layer 1015 is formed on the driving circuit layer 1012. This first planarization layer 1015 can be a single-layer structure or a multi-layer structure, and is usually made of organic materials, such as photoresist, acrylic polymers, silicon polymers, etc. The light-emitting device L includes a first electrode E1, a light-emitting layer EL, and a second electrode E2.

[0053] The first electrode E1 can be electrically connected to the drain electrode DE through a metal via. The first electrode E1 can be the anode, which can be a single-layer structure. Its material can be ITO (indium tin oxide), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc oxide (ZnO), etc. Of course, the anode can also be a multi-layer composite structure, such as a three-layer composite structure made of ITO / Ag / ITO, Ag / MoO3 / Ag, MoO3 / Ag, or MoO3, or a two-layer composite structure made of ITO / WO3, etc.

[0054] In addition to multiple light-emitting devices L, the light-emitting device layer 1013 also includes a pixel defining layer 1013a, which can cover the first planarization layer 1015. This pixel defining layer 1013a can be made of organic materials, such as photoresist, and has a pixel opening that exposes the first electrode E1.

[0055] The light-emitting layer (EL) is located within the pixel opening and formed on the first electrode E1. This EL comprises small-molecule organic materials or polymeric organic materials, and can be fluorescent, phosphorescent, or a combination of fluorescent and phosphorescent materials, emitting red, green, blue, or white light, etc. Alternatively, the EL can be a quantum dot light-emitting material, such as CdSe, CdS, ZnS, InP, ZnSe, CsPbX3 (X = Cl / Br / I), etc. The EL can be formed using processes such as vapor deposition or inkjet printing.

[0056] Furthermore, depending on the specific needs, in different examples, the light-emitting device L may further include functional layers such as an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a hole blocking layer, an electron blocking layer, and a charge generation layer. During fabrication, each functional layer of the light-emitting device L is formed using an open mask process, i.e., a deposition process that "uniformly covers all pixels across the entire surface." In other words, any one of the electron injection layer, electron transport layer, hole injection layer, hole transport layer, hole blocking layer, electron blocking layer, and charge generation layer is continuously disposed between different pixel openings. Further, when the light-emitting device L includes a charge generation layer, it may include two light-emitting layers EL located on both sides of the charge generation layer to form a "tandem (stacked)" light-emitting device L.

[0057] The second electrode E2 covers the light-emitting layer EL, and the polarity of the second electrode E2 is opposite to that of the first electrode E1. The second electrode E2 can be a cathode, which can be a single-layer structure, and the material can be, for example, lithium (Li), aluminum (Al), magnesium (Mg), silver (Ag) and alloys containing the above elements, or it can be a multi-layer composite structure, such as ZnO / Ag / ZnO, LiF / Al, etc.

[0058] Referring again to Figure 3, the encapsulation layer 1014 includes a first inorganic encapsulation layer 1014a, an organic encapsulation layer 1014b, and a second inorganic encapsulation layer 1014c, which are stacked sequentially. The first inorganic encapsulation layer 1014a and the second inorganic encapsulation layer 1014c can be made of inorganic materials such as silicon nitride and silicon oxide. The organic encapsulation layer 1014b is used to achieve planarization to facilitate the fabrication of the second inorganic encapsulation layer 1014c; this organic encapsulation layer 1014b can be made of materials such as acrylic polymers and silicone polymers.

[0059] When the light-emitting device L is a top-emitting OLED, the display substrate achieves high resolution, high color purity, and high brightness. However, the light extraction efficiency of top-emitting OLED devices is still limited by two mechanisms: waveguide mode and surface plasmon polarization. Waveguide mode refers to the restriction of light propagation laterally within the multilayer structure between the organic layer and the electrodes, preventing effective escape. Surface plasmon polarization refers to the electromagnetic mode formed by the coupling of light energy at the metal electrode surface and the dielectric interface, causing light energy to be confined to the metal surface. Both mechanisms limit the luminous efficiency of the display panel.

[0060] To address this, related technologies propose utilizing reflective structures to reduce optical loss caused by waveguide modes. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a display substrate employing a reflective structure. As shown in Figure 4, unlike the display substrate shown in Figure 3, the display substrate employing a reflective structure further includes a support layer 1016 disposed on the side of the first planarization layer 1015 facing away from the substrate 1011. This support layer 1016 has a cup-shaped structure CP corresponding to the first electrode E1 of the light-emitting device L and extending along the thickness direction of the support layer 1016. The first electrode E1 is formed on the side of the support layer 1016 facing away from the substrate 1011. Its shape matches the cup-shaped structure CP, so the first electrode E1 is also called a reflective structure. Unlike the structure shown in FIG3, the first electrode E1 shown in FIG4 includes not only the bottom wall portion E11, but also the side wall portion E12 surrounding the bottom wall portion E11. The side wall portion E12 is used to reflect the light (e.g., L1 and L2) that propagates laterally from the light-emitting layer EL to the pixel defining layer 1013a to the display side, thereby improving the light extraction efficiency. The pixel defining layer 1013a is formed on the side of the first electrode E1 facing away from the substrate 1011 and has a pixel opening that exposes at least a portion of the bottom wall portion E11 of the first electrode E1. The support layer 1016 and the first planarization layer 1015 are made of the same material and are fabricated using the same process, including photoresist coating, exposure, development, and curing.

[0061] Referring to Figure 4, the angle α between the plane containing the sidewall portion E12 of the first electrode E1 and the bottom wall portion E11 is a crucial factor affecting the light reflection angle, thus requiring strict control. For ease of description, this paper refers to the angle α between the plane containing the sidewall portion E12 and the bottom wall portion E11 as the ramp angle. The inventors discovered that during the fabrication of the reflective structure, there is a mutually restrictive relationship between the ramp angle α and the thickness h of the support layer 1016. In other words, the thickness of the support layer 1016 determines the ramp angle α of the reflective structure. However, since the support layer 1016 is formed by coating photoresist and then exposing, developing, and curing, the fluidity of the photoresist material during exposure makes it impossible to fix its thickness. In particular, the support layer 1016, which is thicker, has greater material fluidity during fabrication, making it difficult to achieve the preset thickness. Consequently, the ramp angle α of the reflective structure also changes with the thickness of the support layer 1016, making it difficult to form a reflective structure with the preset ramp angle α. In other words, due to the fluidity of the support layer 1016 material during the exposure stage, there is a strong coupling relationship between the slope angle α of the reflection structure and the thickness h of the support layer 1016. The two cannot be controlled independently. This coupling relationship severely limits the flexibility of the reflection structure parameter design, making it difficult to achieve a structural design that maximizes optical efficiency and optimizes viewing angle brightness uniformity.

[0062] To address at least one of the aforementioned technical problems, this disclosure provides a display panel. Figure 5 is an exemplary structural schematic diagram of the display panel provided by this disclosure. As shown in Figure 5, the display panel provided by this disclosure includes a substrate 1011, a support layer 1016 located on the substrate 1011, and a plurality of light-emitting devices E. The support layer 1016 includes a plurality of support sub-layers stacked along one side away from the substrate 1011. In Figure 5, taking the support layer 1016 as an example, which includes a first support sub-layer 1016a and a second support sub-layer 1016b, the support layer 1016 has a cup-shaped structure CP extending along the thickness direction of the plurality of support sub-layers. The sidewalls CPS of the cup-shaped structure CP include a plurality of sub-sidewalls sequentially connected along the direction away from the substrate 1011. The connection between any two adjacent sub-sidewalls forms a corner structure AG. In Figure 5, taking the sidewalls CPS as an example, which include a first sub-sidewall S1 and a second sub-sidewall S2, the connection between the first sub-sidewall S1 and the second sub-sidewall S2 forms a corner structure AG. The corner structure AG is explained here, as shown in Figure 5. In a cross-section along the thickness direction of the display panel, the corner structure AG is formed because the two connected sub-sidewalls do not belong to the same plane or the same curved surface. Each light-emitting device E corresponds one-to-one with the cup-shaped structure CP, and the light-emitting device E specifically includes a first electrode E1, a light-emitting layer EL, and a second electrode E2 arranged sequentially along the direction away from the substrate 1011. The first electrode E1 at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure CP, and at least a portion of the first electrode E1 also covers the sidewall CPS of the cup-shaped structure CP.

[0063] The display panel provided in this disclosure has a support layer 1016 comprising multiple support sublayers. That is, the support layer 1016 is fabricated in layers, with each support sublayer formed sequentially. This design decouples the slope angle 'a' of the reflective structure from the height of the support layer 1016, freeing the slope angle 'a' from the thickness of the support layer 1016 and enabling independent control of both the slope angle 'a' and the height of the support layer 1016. Taking the structure shown in Figure 5 as an example, for a preset slope angle, a first support sublayer 1016a of corresponding thickness and opening can be formed to create a reflective structure with this preset slope angle. Then, a second support sublayer 1016b is formed on top of the first support sublayer 1016a to achieve the preset thickness of the support layer 1016. In other words, the first support sub-layer 1016a is used to flexibly set the slope angle α, freeing it from the constraint of the slope angle α being limited by the total thickness of the support layer 1016 in related technologies. The second support sub-layer 1016b is used to compensate for the thickness of the support layer, thus achieving the target thickness without changing the established slope angle α. Furthermore, based on the flexible adjustment of the slope angle α, the light extraction efficiency of the reflective structure can be precisely controlled, improving the viewing angle brightness uniformity of the display panel.

[0064] The following describes two embodiments of the support layer structure, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0065] First type of embodiment

[0066] In the first embodiment, each support sublayer has a cup-shaped substructure extending through its thickness direction. The cup-shaped structure CP includes each cup-shaped substructure, and the multiple sub-sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure CP include at least the sidewalls of each cup-shaped substructure. The aperture of the cup-shaped structure CP gradually increases in the direction away from the substrate 1011, and the maximum aperture of the i-th cup-shaped substructure is not greater than the minimum aperture of the (i+1)-th cup-shaped substructure. Here, i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N-1, and N is the number of support sublayers, which is an integer not less than 2. The i-th cup-shaped substructure is closer to the substrate 1011 than the (i+1)-th cup-shaped substructure. It should be noted that, referring to FIG5, the "aperture" of the cup-shaped structure CP mentioned herein refers to the size of the orthographic projection pattern of the cup-shaped structure CP along the X direction on the first plane, where the first plane refers to the XZ plane passing through the center of the cup-shaped structure CP.

[0067] Figure 6 shows an example of a cup-shaped structure in the first type of embodiment. As shown in Figure 6, in some examples, the support layer 1016 includes a first support sublayer 1016a and a second support sublayer 1016b. The first support sublayer 1016a has a first cup-shaped substructure CP1 extending through its thickness direction, and the second support sublayer 1016b has a second cup-shaped substructure CP2 extending through its thickness direction. The cup-shaped structure CP includes the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 and the second cup-shaped structure CP2. Correspondingly, the sidewall CPS of the cup-shaped structure CP includes a first sub-sidewall S1 of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 and a second sub-sidewall S2 of the second cup-shaped structure CP2. The maximum diameter of the first cup-shaped structure CP1 is equal to the minimum diameter of the second cup-shaped structure CP2.

[0068] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the parameter settings for the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 7, the angle between the tangent at the first intersection point O1 on the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the first support sub-layer 1016a near the substrate 1011 is the first included angle α1, and the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point O2 on the second sub-sidewall S2 and the surface of the second support sub-layer 1016b near the substrate 1011 is the second included angle α2. The first intersection point O1 is the intersection of the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the first support sub-layer 1016a near the substrate 1011, and the second intersection point O2 is the intersection of the second sub-sidewall S2 and the surface of the second support sub-layer 1016b near the substrate 1011. As shown in Figure 7(a), in some examples, the thickness h1 of the first support sub-layer 1016a is greater than the thickness h2 of the second support sub-layer 1016b, and the first included angle α1 is greater than the second included angle α2. As shown in Figure 7(b), in some other examples, the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a is less than the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b, and the first included angle a1 is less than the second included angle a2; Figure 7(c) is a physical slice of the structure shown in Figure 7(a). As can be seen from Figure 7(c), there is a corner structure at the connection between the first sub-sidewall S1 and the second sub-sidewall S2, or in other words, the slope at the connection between the first sub-sidewall S1 and the second sub-sidewall S2 changes abruptly.

[0069] Referring again to Figure 7(c), the display panel further includes a pixel defining layer 1013a disposed on the side of the first electrode E1 facing away from the substrate 1011. This pixel layer 1013a has pixel openings extending along its thickness direction, corresponding one-to-one with the cup-shaped structure CP. The pixel openings expose at least a portion of the corresponding first electrode E1, and the light-emitting layer EL is located within the corresponding pixel opening. The first electrode E1 includes a bottom wall portion E11, a side wall portion E12, and a connecting portion E13 connecting the bottom wall portion E11 and the side wall portion E12. In some examples, the minimum distance between the connecting portion E13 and the plane of the substrate 1011 is less than the minimum distance between the bottom wall portion E11 and the plane of the substrate 1011. That is, the portion of the first electrode E1 opposite to the portion of the pixel defining layer 1013a near the first planarization layer 1015 is recessed relative to the bottom wall portion E11.

[0070] Continuing with the example in Figure 7, the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness of the second support sublayer 1016b are both between 0.5 μm and 3.5 μm, and the sum of the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness of the second support sublayer 1016b is not greater than 4 μm. The first included angle α1 and the second included angle α2 are both between 20° and 75°. Generally, the first included angle α1 and the second included angle α2 are related to the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b, respectively, and the included angles increase with the increase of the thickness. As a specific example, when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a or the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is 0.5 μm, the first included angle a1 or the second included angle a2 is 20°; and so on, when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a or the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is 3.5 μm, the first included angle a1 or the second included angle a2 is 75°.

[0071] It should be noted that in the example provided in Figure 7, there is a significant difference in the thickness of the first support sublayer 1016a and the second support sublayer 1016b, but this does not constitute a limitation on the technical solution of this disclosure. For example, in other examples, the thickness of the first support sublayer 1016a and the second support sublayer 1016b can be approximately the same, and correspondingly, the first included angle a1 and the second included angle a2 can also be approximately the same.

[0072] As can be seen from Figure 7, the display panel provided by this disclosure can flexibly adjust the slope angle of the reflective structure by changing the thickness of the first support sublayer 1016a or the shape of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1. Compared with the related technology where the slope angle of the reflective structure is limited by the thickness H of the support layer, the display panel provided by this disclosure is more flexible in adjusting the light emission efficiency and has a wider range of applications.

[0073] In the above example, the total thickness of the support layer 1016 is limited to less than 4 μm, meaning that the support layer 1016 is relatively thin. In other examples, the support layer 1016 can be thicker. For example, the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b can both be between 0.5 μm and 6 μm. Correspondingly, the range of the first included angle α1 and the second included angle α2 will be expanded, both of which can be between 20° and 85°. As a specific example, when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a or the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is 0.5 μm, the first included angle α1 or the second included angle α2 is 20°. Similarly, when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a or the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is 6 μm, the first included angle α1 or the second included angle α2 is 85°.

[0074] Figure 8 shows the simulation test diagram of the light extraction efficiency of the reflective structure under different thicknesses of the first and second support sublayers; Figure 9 shows the parameter setting diagram during the simulation test. As shown in Figure 9, for the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 6, the inventors simulated the light extraction efficiency of the display panel based on the cup-shaped structure. Here, b1 represents the angle between the tangent line of the sidewall of the pixel opening through the intersection point op3 and the surface of the pixel defining layer 1013a near the substrate 1011, which is set to a fixed value of 60°; d3 represents the shortest distance between the intersection point op3 and the first intersection point O1, which is set to a fixed value of 2μm; h3 represents the distance between the surface of the pixel defining layer 1013a away from the substrate 1011 and the surface of the support layer 1016 away from the substrate 1011, which is set to a fixed value of 1μm; and the total thickness of the support layer 1016 is fixed at 4μm. Figure 8(a) shows the light extraction efficiency improvement when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b are both 1.5 μm; Figure 8(b) shows the light extraction efficiency improvement when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b are 1.5 μm and 2.5 μm, respectively; Figure 8(c) shows the light extraction efficiency improvement when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b are 2.5 μm and 1.5 μm, respectively; and Figure 8(d) shows the light extraction efficiency improvement when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b are both 2.5 μm. As can be seen from Figure 8, by preparing the support layer 1016 in layers, the slope angle of the reflective structure can be flexibly adjusted, thereby achieving precise control of the light extraction efficiency.

[0075] Figure 10 shows another example of the cup-shaped structure in the first type of embodiment. As shown in Figure 10(a), in some other examples, multiple support sublayers include a first support sublayer 1016a and a second support sublayer 1016b stacked sequentially along the direction away from the substrate 1011. The first support sublayer 1016a has a first cup-shaped substructure CP1 extending through its thickness direction, and the second support sublayer 1016b has a second cup-shaped substructure CP2 extending through its thickness direction. The sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 is a first sub-sidewall S1, and the sidewall of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 is a second sub-sidewall S2. The maximum aperture of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 is smaller than the minimum aperture of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2. The surface of the first support sublayer 1016a exposed by the second cup-shaped substructure CP2, facing away from the substrate 1011, is a first connecting surface CS1. The multiple sub-sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure CP respectively include a first sub-sidewall S1, a first connecting surface CS1, and a second sub-sidewall S2. Figure 10(b) is a cross-sectional view of the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 10(a). As can be seen from Figure 10(b), a step is formed at the connection between the cup-shaped substructures of the first support sub-layer 1016a and the second support sub-layer 1016b. A corner structure AG is formed between the first sub-sidewall S1 and the first connecting surface CS1, and a corner structure AG is also formed between the first connecting surface CS1 and the second sub-sidewall S2.

[0076] Referring again to Figure 10, the parameters of the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 10 can be set as follows: The angle between the tangent at the first intersection point O1 on the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the first support sub-layer 1016a near the substrate 1011 is the first included angle α1. The angle between the tangent at the second intersection point O2 on the second sub-sidewall S2 and the surface of the second support sub-layer 1016b near the substrate 1011 is the second included angle α2. The first intersection point O1 is the intersection of the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the first support sub-layer 1016a near the substrate 1011, and the second intersection point O2 is the intersection of the second sub-sidewall S2 and the surface of the second support sub-layer 1016b near the substrate 1011. The thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness of the second support sublayer 1016b are both between 0.5 μm and 3.5 μm, and the sum of the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a and the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is not greater than 4 μm. The first included angle α1 and the second included angle α2 are both between 20° and 75°. The difference between the minimum aperture of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 and the maximum aperture of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 is not greater than 8 μm. As a specific example, when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a or the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is 0.5 μm, the first included angle α1 or the second included angle α2 is 20°; and so on, when the thickness h1 of the first support sublayer 1016a or the thickness h2 of the second support sublayer 1016b is 3.5 μm, the first included angle α1 or the second included angle α2 is 75°.

[0077] Figure 11 shows another example of the cup-shaped structure in the first type of embodiment. In the examples shown in Figures 6 and 10, the support layer 1016 includes a first support sublayer 1016a and a second support sublayer 1016b. That is, the number N of support sublayers in the support layer 1016 is 2. In other examples, the number N of support sublayers can be greater than or equal to 3. As shown in Figure 11, in some specific examples, the support layer 1016 includes a first support sublayer 1016a, a second support sublayer 1016b, and a third support sublayer 1016c stacked sequentially along the direction away from the substrate 1011. The first support sublayer 1016a has a first cup-shaped substructure CP1 extending through its thickness direction, the second support sublayer 1016b has a second cup-shaped substructure CP2 extending through its thickness direction, and the third support sublayer 1016c has a third cup-shaped substructure CP3 extending through its thickness direction. The maximum diameter of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 is equal to the minimum diameter of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2, and the maximum diameter of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 is equal to the minimum diameter of the third cup-shaped substructure CP3.

[0078] It should be understood that in the first type of embodiment, the more support sub-layers there are, the more sub-sidewalls there are, and the more dimensions of the reflective surface formed by the sidewalls of the reflective structure, and the more dimensions of control over the light emission angle. However, there will also be more preparation steps. Therefore, in specific implementation, the number and shape of the support sub-layers can be designed according to factors such as preparation cost, preparation accuracy, and the efficiency of improving light emission efficiency.

[0079] The first type of embodiment described above can be summarized as follows: In the first type of embodiment, for two adjacent support sublayers, the one farther from the substrate 1011 is recessed relative to the other (e.g., Figure 10), or neither recessed nor expanded (e.g., Figures 6, 7, 11). It should be noted that in this text, "recessed" refers to compression in a direction away from the center of the cup-shaped structure, and "expanded" refers to expansion in a direction closer to the center of the cup-shaped structure.

[0080] Second type of embodiment

[0081] In simple terms, in the second type of embodiment, of the two adjacent support sublayers, the one farther from the substrate 1011 is extended outwards compared to the other. Two examples are provided below.

[0082] Figure 12 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary cup-shaped structure in the second type of embodiment. As shown in Figure 12, in some examples, multiple support sublayers include a first support sublayer 1016a and a second support sublayer 1016b sequentially arranged along the direction away from the substrate 1011. The first support sublayer 1016a has a first cup-shaped substructure CP1, and the second support sublayer 1016b includes a first portion P1 located on the side of the first support sublayer 1016a away from the substrate 1011 and a second portion P2 covering the sidewall S1 of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1. The second support sublayer 1016b has a second cup-shaped substructure CP2 extending through the thickness direction of the first portion P1 and the second portion P2. The sidewall of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 forms the sidewall CPS of the cup-shaped structure CP.

[0083] Specifically, referring to Figure 12, the sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 include a first sub-sidewall S1 and a second sub-sidewall S2 connected sequentially along a direction away from the substrate 1011. The angle between the tangent at the first intersection point O1 on the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the second portion P2 near the substrate 1011 is the first angle α1. The angle between the tangent at the second intersection point O2 on the second sub-sidewall S2 and the plane containing the substrate 1011 is the second angle α2. The angle between the tangent at the third intersection point O3 of the sidewalls of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 and the surface of the first support sublayer 1016a near the substrate 1011 is the third angle α3. Wherein, the first intersection point O1 is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the second part P2 near the substrate 1011; the second intersection point O2 is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall S2 and the first sub-sidewall S1; and the third intersection point O3 is the intersection point of the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 and the surface of the first support sublayer 1016a near the substrate 1011. Optionally, the first included angle a1 is equal to the third included angle a3, and the second included angle a2 is greater than the first included angle a1. As a specific example, both the first included angle a1 and the second included angle a2 are between 25° and 80°. The value of the second included angle a2 is related to the thickness of the first part P1. The thickness of the first part P1 is between 0.5μm and 3.5μm. When the thickness of the first part P1 is 0.5μm, the corresponding second included angle a2 is 25°, and so on. When the thickness of the first part P1 is 3.5μm, the corresponding second included angle a2 is 80°.

[0084] The inventors conducted simulation tests on the improvement effect of the light emission efficiency of the display panel on the examples shown in Figure 6 and Figure 10 in the first type of embodiment and the example shown in Figure 12 in the second type of embodiment. The parameter settings of each structure are as follows: the total thickness of the support layer 1016 is set to 3μm, d3 (i.e., the distance between the sidewall of the pixel opening in Figure 9 and the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure) is set to 2μm, the thickness of the first support sublayer 1016a is set to 2μm, the slope angle of the reflective structure (i.e., the first included angle a1) is set to 75°, b1 (refer to Figure 9) is set to 60°, and h3 is set to 1μm. Figure 13 shows the test results of different cup-shaped structures on the improvement of light extraction efficiency. In Figure 13(a), the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 6 (i.e., the second support sublayer 1016b is neither inward nor outward compared to the first support sublayer 1016a) improves the light extraction efficiency. In Figure 13(b), the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 10 (i.e., the second support sublayer 1016b is inward compared to the first support sublayer 1016a) improves the light extraction efficiency. In Figure 13(c), the cup-shaped structure shown in Figure 12 (i.e., the second support sublayer 1016b is outward compared to the first support sublayer 1016a) improves the light extraction efficiency. As can be seen from Figure 13, different cup-shaped structures have different effects on improving light extraction efficiency. In implementation, the design can be flexibly adjusted according to the requirements.

[0085] Figure 14 is a schematic diagram of another exemplary structure of the cup-shaped structure in the second type of embodiment. As shown in Figure 14, in some other examples, the sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 include a first sub-sidewall S1, a second sub-sidewall S2, and a third sub-sidewall S3 connected sequentially in a direction away from the substrate 1011. The angle between the tangent at the first intersection point O1 on the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the second portion P2 near the substrate 1011 is the first included angle α1. The angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall S2 and the plane containing the substrate 1011 is the second included angle α2. The angle between the tangent at the fourth intersection point O4 on the third sub-sidewall S3 and the plane containing the substrate 1011 is the fourth included angle α4. Here, the first intersection point O1 is the intersection of the first sub-sidewall S1 and the surface of the second portion P2 near the substrate 1011; the second intersection point O2 is the intersection of the second sub-sidewall S2 and the first sub-sidewall S1; and the fourth intersection point O4 is the intersection of the third sub-sidewall S3 and the second sub-sidewall S2. Optionally, the first included angle α1 is smaller than the second included angle α2, and the fourth included angle α4 is smaller than the first included angle α1. As a specific example, the first included angle a1 and the second included angle a2 are both between 25° and 80°, and the fourth included angle a4 is between 20° and 50°. Specifically, the first part P1 includes a first sub-part P11 and a second sub-part P12. The fourth included angle a4 is related to the thickness h4 of the first sub-part P11. The thickness of the first sub-part P11 is between 1μm and 3μm. When the thickness of the first sub-part P11 is 1μm, the fourth included angle a4 is 20°, and so on. When the thickness of the first sub-part P11 is 3μm, the fourth included angle a4 is 50°.

[0086] It should be noted that the two examples in Figures 12 and 14 above take the sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 as including two and three sub-sidewalls, respectively. However, the second type of embodiment is not limited to this. The sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 may include more sub-sidewalls, and the included angle between any two adjacent sub-sidewalls can be flexibly designed according to the requirements of the reflective surface of the reflective structure.

[0087] In summary, the above have introduced different embodiments of the cup-shaped structure and their parameter setting examples. The following section introduces other film layer structures of the display panel.

[0088] In some optional embodiments, the display panel further includes a pixel defining layer 1013a. FIG15 is an exemplary structural schematic diagram of the pixel defining layer. As shown in FIG15, the pixel defining layer 1013a is located on the side of the first electrode E1 away from the substrate 1011, and has a pixel opening corresponding one-to-one with the cup-shaped structure CP and penetrating along the thickness direction of the pixel defining layer 1013a. The pixel opening exposes at least a portion of the corresponding first electrode E1. The light-emitting layer EL is disposed in the pixel opening, and the second electrode E2 is located on the side of the pixel defining layer 1013a away from the substrate 1011. In the display panel provided in this disclosure, the surface of the pixel opening near the substrate 1011 is a concave surface recessed towards the side away from the substrate 1011. In other words, when exposing and developing the pixel defining layer 1013a to form a pixel opening, the exposure amount can be appropriately reduced so that some material remains at the bottom of the pixel opening, forming a "pixel defining layer protrusion D1" similar to that in Figure 15. By forming the pixel defining layer protrusion D1, the edge of the light-emitting layer EL located at the bottom of the pixel opening can generate a corresponding "slope", causing the light emitted from the edge to converge towards the center of the pixel opening, thereby improving the light emission efficiency.

[0089] Referring again to Figure 15, as an optional example, the distance between the surface of the pixel defining layer 1013a facing away from the substrate 1011 and the surface of the support layer 1016 facing away from the substrate 1011 is 0.3 μm-1.5 μm. The thickness of the first planarization layer 1015 is 0.5 μm-4 μm. The distance d3 between the sidewall of the pixel opening and the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure is 0.3 μm-2.5 μm, and the angle b1 formed by the sidewall of the pixel opening and the plane containing the substrate 1011 is between 15°-75°. The orthographic projection of the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP onto the substrate 1011 has a radial dimension d along the cup-shaped structure CP of 2 μm-6 μm.

[0090] Figure 16 is a plan view of the display panel provided in this disclosure. As shown in Figure 16, specifically, the plurality of light-emitting devices E include a plurality of first-color light-emitting devices RE, a plurality of second-color light-emitting devices BE, and a plurality of third-color light-emitting devices GE, wherein the first color, the second color, and the third color can be red, blue, and green, respectively.

[0091] As shown in Figure 16(a), in some examples, the first electrode of each light-emitting device E covers the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP. As shown in Figure 16(b), in other examples, only some of the light-emitting devices E have their first electrode E1 covering the sidewall of the corresponding cup-shaped structure CP. For example, only one of the first-color light-emitting devices RE, BE, and GE has its first electrode E1 covering the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP; or, for another example, only two of the first-color light-emitting devices RE, BE, and GE have their first electrode E1 covering the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP.

[0092] It is understood that Figure 16(b) is only illustrated by the example of the first electrode E1 of the second color light-emitting device BE covering the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP, and the first electrode E1 of the first color light-emitting device RE and the second color light-emitting device BE covering the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP, and does not constitute a limitation on the embodiments of this disclosure. In specific implementation, the reflective structure can be set for the light-emitting devices RE of different colors according to the color gamut requirements of the display panel. For example, for a display panel with "blue light protection" requirements, only the first electrode E1 of the blue light-emitting device can be set to cover the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP; or, for a display panel that requires more red light, only the first electrode E1 of the red light-emitting device can be set to cover the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP. Of course, in other examples, the reflective structure can be set only for the light-emitting devices E in a certain area. For example, the display area can be divided into a middle area and an edge area, and only the first electrode E1 of the light-emitting devices E in the edge area can be set to cover the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP, thereby improving the light output efficiency of a certain area.

[0093] Furthermore, the cross-sectional shape of the cup-shaped structure CP corresponding to different light-emitting devices E can be different. For example, the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP corresponding to the first-color light-emitting device RE can be as shown in Figure 6, the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP corresponding to the second-color light-emitting device BE can be as shown in Figure 10, and the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure CP corresponding to the third-color light-emitting device GE can be as shown in Figure 12. In other words, different shapes of reflective structures can be set for light-emitting devices E of different colors to achieve precise control of the light emission efficiency of different colors.

[0094] Based on the same inventive concept, in a second aspect, this disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a display panel.

[0095] The following section uses the display panel shown in Figure 10 and the display panel shown in Figure 12 as examples to illustrate the manufacturing method of the display panel provided in this disclosure.

[0096] Figure 17 is a schematic diagram of the fabrication process of the display panel shown in Figure 10. As shown in Figure 17, the fabrication method for the display panel shown in Figure 10 includes:

[0097] Step S10: Provide a substrate 1011, and form a driving circuit layer 1012 and a first planarization layer 1015 on the substrate 1011, wherein the first planarization layer 1015 is located on the side of the driving circuit layer 1012 away from the substrate 1011.

[0098] Step S11: On the side of the first planarization layer 1015 away from the substrate 1011, an initial first support sublayer 1016a' is formed.

[0099] The material of the first initial support sublayer 1016a' includes photoresist, which is applied to the first planarization layer 1015 using a spin-coating process to form the initial first support sublayer 1016a'. The thickness of the initial first support sublayer 1016a' can be set according to the required slope angle of the reflective structure.

[0100] Step S12: Form a first cup-shaped substructure CP1 that penetrates the initial first support sublayer 1016a' to form the first support sublayer 1016a.

[0101] The steps for forming the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 include: using ultraviolet light to selectively irradiate the photoresist through a mask with a via pattern, causing a change in the chemical properties of the irradiated part (i.e., the part corresponding to the via pattern, i.e., the position corresponding to the first cup-shaped substructure CP1), such as making it soluble; then, using a developer to dissolve the soluble part of the photoresist, thereby forming the first cup-shaped substructure CP1; finally, heating to further harden the remaining photoresist to form the first support sublayer 1016a.

[0102] Step S13: On the side of the first support sublayer 1016a facing away from the substrate 1011, an initial second support sublayer 1016b' is formed. The material of the initial second support sublayer 1016b' includes photoresist.

[0103] Step S14: Form a second cup-shaped substructure CP2 that penetrates the thickness of the initial second support sublayer 1016b' to form the second support sublayer 1016b.

[0104] The steps for forming the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 are similar to those for forming the first cup-shaped structure CP1, with the only difference being the area of ​​the exposure region. For the display panel shown in Figure 10, the area of ​​the exposure region is larger when forming the second cup-shaped structure CP2.

[0105] Step S15: On the side of the support layer 1016 facing away from the substrate 1011, a light-emitting device E corresponding to the cup-shaped structure CP is formed. The light-emitting device E includes a first electrode E1, a light-emitting layer EL, and a second electrode E2 arranged sequentially along the side facing away from the substrate 1011. The first electrode E1 at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure CP, and at least a portion of the first electrode E1 also covers the sidewall CPS of the cup-shaped structure CP.

[0106] Figure 18 is a schematic diagram of the fabrication process of the display panel shown in Figure 12. As shown in Figure 18, the fabrication method for the display panel shown in Figure 12 includes:

[0107] Step S20: Provide a substrate 1011, and form a driving circuit layer 1012 and a first planarization layer 1015 on the substrate 1011, wherein the first planarization layer 1015 is located on the side of the driving circuit layer 1012 away from the substrate 1011.

[0108] Step S21: On the side of the first planarization layer 1015 away from the substrate 1011, an initial first support sublayer 1016a' is formed.

[0109] The material of the first initial support sublayer 1016a' includes photoresist, which is applied to the first planarization layer 1015 using a spin coating process to form the initial first support sublayer 1016a'.

[0110] Step S22: Form a first cup-shaped substructure CP1 that penetrates the initial first support sublayer 1016a' to form the first support sublayer 1016a.

[0111] The steps for forming the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 include: using ultraviolet light to selectively irradiate the photoresist through a mask with a via pattern, causing a change in the chemical properties of the irradiated part (i.e., the part corresponding to the via pattern, i.e., the position corresponding to the first cup-shaped substructure CP1), such as making it soluble; then, using a developer to dissolve the soluble part of the photoresist, thereby forming the first cup-shaped substructure CP1; finally, heating to further harden the remaining photoresist to form the first support sublayer 1016a.

[0112] Step S23: On the side of the first support sublayer 1016a facing away from the substrate 1011, an initial second support sublayer 1016b' is formed. The material of the initial second support sublayer 1016b' includes photoresist.

[0113] Step S24: Form a second cup-shaped substructure CP2 that penetrates the thickness of the initial second support sublayer 1016b' to form the second support sublayer 1016b.

[0114] The steps for forming the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 are similar to those for forming the first cup-shaped substructure CP1, the only difference being the area of ​​the exposure region. For the display panel shown in Figure 10, the area of ​​the exposure region is smaller when forming the second cup-shaped substructure CP2. It should be understood that since a portion of the initial second support sublayer 1016b' is deposited within the first cup-shaped substructure CP1, when the exposure region of the initial second support sublayer 1016b' is etched using a developer, due to the different morphologies at different locations, the portion deposited within the first cup-shaped substructure CP1 experiences different etching rates and amounts at different slopes. Therefore, the sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure CP2 will, as shown in Figure 18, include multiple sub-sidewalls, and a corner structure AG is formed between adjacent sub-sidewalls.

[0115] Step S25: On the side of the support layer 1016 facing away from the substrate 1011, a light-emitting device E corresponding to the cup-shaped structure CP is formed. The light-emitting device E includes a first electrode E1, a light-emitting layer EL, and a second electrode E2 arranged sequentially along the side facing away from the substrate 1011. The first electrode E1 at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure CP, and at least a portion of the first electrode E1 also covers the sidewall CPS of the cup-shaped structure CP.

[0116] Based on the same inventive concept, in a third aspect, this disclosure provides a display device comprising a display panel and a cover plate as described in any of the embodiments of the first aspect, wherein the cover plate is disposed on the display side of the display panel.

[0117] It is understood that the above embodiments are merely exemplary implementations used to illustrate the principles of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited thereto. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements are also considered to be within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A display panel, wherein, include: Substrate; A support layer, located on the substrate, includes a plurality of support sub-layers stacked along a side away from the substrate. The support layer has a cup-shaped structure extending through the thickness direction of the plurality of support sub-layers. The sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure include a plurality of sub-sidewalls connected sequentially along the direction away from the substrate, and the connection between any two adjacent sub-sidewalls forms a corner structure. Multiple light-emitting devices are provided, each corresponding to a cup-shaped structure. Each light-emitting device includes a first electrode, a light-emitting layer, and a second electrode arranged sequentially away from the substrate. The first electrode at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure, and at least a portion of the first electrode also covers the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure.

2. The display panel of claim 1, wherein, Each of the support sublayers has a cup-shaped substructure extending through its thickness direction, the cup-shaped structure including each of the cup-shaped substructures, and the plurality of sub-sidewalls of the cup-shaped structure including at least the sidewalls of each of the cup-shaped substructures; The diameter of the cup-shaped structure gradually increases in the direction away from the substrate, and the maximum diameter of the i-th cup-shaped substructure is not greater than the minimum diameter of the (i+1)-th cup-shaped substructure; i is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to N-1, N is the number of the support sublayers, which is an integer not less than 2; the i-th cup-shaped substructure is closer to the substrate than the (i+1)-th cup-shaped substructure.

3. The display panel of claim 2, wherein, The plurality of support sublayers include a first support sublayer and a second support sublayer stacked sequentially along a direction away from the substrate, wherein the maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the first support sublayer is equal to the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer. The plurality of sub-sidewalls include a first sub-sidewall and a second sub-sidewall; the first sub-sidewall and the second sub-sidewall are respectively the sidewalls of the cup-shaped substructures of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer.

4. The display panel according to claim 3, wherein, The angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate is the first included angle; the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate is the second included angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate, and the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate. The thickness of the first support sublayer is greater than the thickness of the second support sublayer, and the first included angle is greater than the second included angle; or, The thickness of the first support sublayer is less than the thickness of the second support sublayer, and the first included angle is less than the second included angle.

5. The display panel according to claim 4, wherein, The thickness of the first support sublayer and the thickness of the second support sublayer are both between 0.5μm and 3.5μm, and the sum of the thicknesses of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer is not greater than 4μm; the first included angle and the second included angle are both between 20° and 75°.

6. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein, The plurality of support sublayers include a first support sublayer and a second support sublayer stacked sequentially along a direction away from the substrate, wherein the maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the first support sublayer is smaller than the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer. The portion of the first support sublayer exposed by the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer, facing away from the surface of the substrate, is the first connection surface; The plurality of sub-sidewalls include a first sub-sidewall, a first connecting surface, and a second sub-sidewall; the first sub-sidewall and the second sub-sidewall are respectively the sidewalls of the cup-shaped substructures of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer.

7. The display panel according to claim 6, wherein, The angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate is the first included angle; the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate is the second included angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate, and the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate. The thickness of the first support sublayer and the thickness of the second support sublayer are both between 0.5 μm and 3.5 μm, and the sum of the thicknesses of the first support sublayer and the second support sublayer is not greater than 4 μm; the first included angle and the second included angle are both between 20° and 75°; the difference between the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the second support sublayer and the maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the first support sublayer is not greater than 8 μm.

8. The display panel according to claim 3, wherein, The angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate is the first included angle; the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate is the second included angle; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the first support sub-layer near the substrate, and the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the surface of the second support sub-layer near the substrate. The thickness of the first support sublayer and the thickness of the second support sublayer are both between 0.5μm and 6μm; the first included angle and the second included angle are both between 20° and 85°.

9. The display panel according to claim 2, wherein, N is greater than or equal to 3, and the maximum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the i-th support sublayer is equal to the minimum diameter of the cup-shaped substructure of the (i+1)-th support sublayer.

10. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein, The plurality of support sublayers include a first support sublayer and a second support sublayer arranged sequentially along a direction away from the substrate. The first support sublayer has a first cup-shaped substructure; The second support sublayer includes a first portion located on the side of the first support sublayer facing away from the substrate and a second portion covering the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure; the second support sublayer has a second cup-shaped substructure extending through the thickness direction of the first portion and the second portion; The sidewall of the second cup-shaped substructure forms the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure.

11. The display panel according to claim 10, wherein, The sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure include a first sub-sidewall and a second sub-sidewall connected sequentially in a direction away from the substrate. The first included angle is the angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate; the second included angle is the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the plane containing the substrate; the third included angle is the angle between the tangent at the third intersection point on the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure and the surface of the first support sublayer near the substrate; the first intersection point is the intersection point of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate; the second intersection point is the intersection point of the second sub-sidewall and the first sub-sidewall; and the third intersection point is the intersection point of the sidewall of the first cup-shaped substructure and the surface of the first support sublayer near the substrate. The first included angle is equal to the third included angle, and the second included angle is greater than the first included angle.

12. The display panel according to claim 11, wherein, Both the first included angle and the second included angle are between 25° and 80°.

13. The display panel according to claim 10, wherein, The sidewalls of the second cup-shaped substructure include a first sub-sidewall, a second sub-sidewall, and a third sub-sidewall connected sequentially in a direction away from the substrate. The first included angle is the angle between the tangent at the first intersection point on the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate; the second included angle is the angle between the tangent at the second intersection point on the second sub-sidewall and the plane containing the substrate; the fourth included angle is the angle between the tangent at the fourth intersection point on the third sub-sidewall and the plane containing the substrate; the first intersection point is the intersection of the first sub-sidewall and the surface of the second portion near the substrate; the second intersection point is the intersection of the second sub-sidewall and the first sub-sidewall; and the fourth intersection point is the intersection of the third sub-sidewall and the second sub-sidewall. The first included angle is smaller than the second included angle, and the fourth included angle is smaller than the first included angle.

14. The display panel according to claim 13, wherein, The first included angle and the second included angle are both between 25° and 80°; the fourth included angle is between 20° and 50°.

15. The display panel according to any one of claims 1-14, wherein, Also includes: A pixel defining layer is located on the side of the first electrode away from the substrate, and has pixel openings that correspond one-to-one with the cup-shaped structure and penetrate along the thickness direction of the pixel defining layer. The pixel openings expose at least a portion of the corresponding first electrode, and the light-emitting layer is disposed in the pixel openings. The second electrode is located on the side of the pixel defining layer away from the substrate. The surface of the pixel opening near the substrate is a concave surface that is recessed towards the substrate.

16. The display panel according to claim 15, wherein, The distance between the surface of the pixel defining layer facing away from the substrate and the surface of the support layer facing away from the substrate is 0.3μm-1.5μm.

17. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein, The plurality of light-emitting devices include a plurality of first-color light-emitting devices, a plurality of second-color light-emitting devices, and a plurality of third-color light-emitting devices; In a plurality of the light-emitting devices, the first electrode of a portion of the light-emitting devices covers the sidewall of the corresponding cup-shaped structure, and such portion of the light-emitting devices meets one of the following conditions: All of these light-emitting devices are either first-color light-emitting devices, second-color light-emitting devices, or third-color light-emitting devices; Some of the light-emitting devices in this part are any one of the first color light-emitting device, the second color light-emitting device, and the third color light-emitting device, while the others in this part are another one of the first color light-emitting device, the second color light-emitting device, and the third color light-emitting device.

18. The display panel according to claim 17, wherein, When a portion of the light-emitting devices are any one of the first color light-emitting devices, the second color light-emitting devices, and the third color light-emitting devices, and the others in the portion of the light-emitting devices are any other one of the first color light-emitting devices, the sidewall shape of the cup-shaped structure corresponding to a portion of the light-emitting devices is different from the sidewall shape of the cup-shaped structure corresponding to the others in the portion of the light-emitting devices.

19. A method for manufacturing a display panel, wherein the display panel is as described in any one of claims 1-18, wherein, The preparation method includes: Provide substrates; A support layer is formed on the substrate; the support layer includes a plurality of support sub-layers stacked along a side away from the substrate, and the support layer has a cup-shaped structure extending through the thickness direction of the plurality of support sub-layers; the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure includes a plurality of sub-sidewalls connected sequentially along the direction away from the substrate, and the connection between any two adjacent sub-sidewalls forms a corner structure. On the side of the support layer away from the substrate, light-emitting devices corresponding to the cup-shaped structures are formed; the light-emitting devices include a first electrode, a light-emitting layer and a second electrode arranged sequentially away from the substrate; the first electrode at least covers the bottom of the cup-shaped structure, and at least part of the first electrode also covers the sidewall of the cup-shaped structure.

20. A display device, wherein, The display panel and cover plate included in any one of claims 1-18, wherein the cover plate is disposed on the display side of the display panel.

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