Flexible Display Substrate Openings for Low-Resistance TFT Contacts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display devices face challenges in forming elements on flexible substrates due to their flexible nature, making it difficult to achieve optimal electrical connections and performance.
Innovation Solution
A display device design that includes a substrate with openings for buffer layers and semiconductor regions, where the substrate is formed on a supporting substrate, and the supporting substrate is separated using laser beams, allowing for improved electrical connections through specific contact regions with lower resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If elements are formed on a flexible substrate, then the display device achieves flexibility, but it becomes difficult to maintain electrical connections and control resistances
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is segmented by forming openings (first opening and second opening) that expose the underlying supporting substrate. This segmentation allows the flexible substrate to be divided into regions with different functional requirements, enabling reliable electrical connections through the openings while maintaining flexibility in other areas.
Solution Approach 2:
A buffer layer is introduced as an intermediary between the flexible substrate and the semiconductor elements. This buffer layer fills the openings in the substrate and provides a stable platform for forming electrical connections, mediating between the flexible substrate and the rigid electrical components to maintain connection reliability.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the substrate is made flexible, then the display device can be folded or bent, but manufacturing precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The supporting substrate is used to pre-establish a stable manufacturing platform before the flexible substrate is finalized. Elements are formed on the flexible substrate while it is supported by the rigid supporting substrate, ensuring manufacturing precision during the element formation process before the supporting substrate is removed.
Solution Approach 2:
The supporting substrate serves as an intermediary during manufacturing, providing mechanical stability and precision during element formation. After elements are formed with high precision on the supported flexible substrate, the supporting substrate is removed to leave the flexible substrate with precisely formed elements.
3Reliability
If openings are formed in the substrate to improve electrical connections, then resistance is reduced, but the substrate structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The substrate is segmented by forming openings that expose the supporting substrate underneath. This segmentation creates direct electrical connection pathways through the openings, reducing resistance while adding structural complexity only where needed for electrical connections, not throughout the entire substrate.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate structure is modified locally at specific positions where electrical connections are needed, rather than changing the entire substrate structure. The openings are formed only in regions requiring electrical access, maintaining simple substrate structure in non-critical areas while providing complex connection pathways where required.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the characteristics of elements in flexible display devices by improving contact resistance and mobility, leading to faster switching rates and reduced processing time in manufacturing.
Implementation Method 1
The buffer layer may fill the opening of the substrate
Implementation Method 2
separating the supporting substrate from the substrate by irradiating laser beams to lower surface of the supporting substrate
Data Source
AI summary
A display device includes a substrate including an opening, a buffer layer disposed on the substrate, a semiconductor disposed on the buffer layer, a gate electrode overlapping at least a portion of the semiconductor in a plan view, a source electrode and a drain electrode electrically connected to the semiconductor, and a light-emitting device electrically connected to the drain electrode. The opening of the substrate overlaps another portion of the semiconductor in a plan view.