Flexible Display Substrate With Stepped Encapsulation Edges
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenge in flexible display technology is ensuring the integrity and reliability of lateral packaging layers, particularly in narrow frame displays, while minimizing encapsulation edge size to enhance display quality and flexibility.
Innovation Solution
A flexible display substrate design featuring stepped structures on the substrate base layer, which facilitates easy breaking of film layers at these structures during manufacturing, ensuring the inorganic encapsulation layer extends laterally and maintains integrity, thereby improving encapsulation reliability and reducing encapsulation edge size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the encapsulation layer is extended laterally to ensure integrity, then encapsulation reliability is improved, but the encapsulation edge size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate base layer is divided into a display region and a non-display region, with the non-display region serving as a dedicated encapsulation buffer zone. This segmentation allows the encapsulation layer to extend into the non-display region without increasing the visible display area, thus maintaining encapsulation reliability while controlling encapsulation edge size in the display region.
Solution Approach 2:
The encapsulation layer is extended in the lateral direction (along the substrate plane) rather than increasing the vertical thickness. By utilizing the non-display region in the lateral dimension, the encapsulation reliability is improved without compromising the display area or increasing the perceived edge size of the functional display region.
2Ease of manufacture
If the film layer is made easily breakable at stepped structures to facilitate manufacturing, then ease of manufacture is improved, but the structural integrity may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The stepped structure creates localized regions with different thicknesses and mechanical properties. The film layer is designed to be easily breakable only at the stepped structure locations, while maintaining integrity in the flat display region. This local differentiation allows easy separation during manufacturing where needed without compromising overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The stepped structure is pre-formed on the substrate base layer before the functional film layers are deposited. This preliminary action creates predetermined weak points that guide where the film layers will naturally break during subsequent processing, facilitating easy separation without requiring additional force or complex manufacturing steps.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the substrate base layer includes multiple layers with staggered edges to form stepped structures, then adaptability for different encapsulation designs is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate base layer is segmented into multiple sub-layers (first substrate layer, second substrate layer, third substrate layer) with progressively staggered edges. This segmentation provides adaptability for different encapsulation designs by creating multiple levels of stepped structures, while each layer can be independently optimized for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The multi-layer substrate base layer with staggered edges serves multiple functions: it provides mechanical support, creates encapsulation buffer zones, establishes predetermined break points for film separation, and offers adaptability for various encapsulation layer configurations. This universal structure eliminates the need for separate components for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a flexible display substrate, including: a substrate base layer, peripheral side edges of the substrate base layer having a first stepped structure having a process performance, the first stepped structure being configured to enable a film layer covering the first stepped structure to be easily broken at the stepped structure when a force is applied; a functional layer provided on the substrate base layer and exposed to the outside of the first stepped structure; and an inorganic encapsulation layer covering side edges of the functional layer and extending to the first stepped structure of the side edges of the substrate base layer.