Flexible OLED Display Structure for High-Resolution Color Patterning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible substrates used in displays are prone to deformation, making it difficult to achieve precise and selective formation of light-emitting layers and color filters, which hinders the production of high-resolution, full-color displays.
Innovation Solution
A light-emitting device structure is proposed where a color filter and thin film transistor are initially formed on a plane substrate, such as glass, and then transferred to a plastic substrate with an adhesive, allowing for the formation of a white-emissive light-emitting element, ensuring high-resolution full-color display capability while maintaining flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a flexible substrate is used to reduce weight and enable curved display, then the device becomes lightweight and flexible, but the substrate deforms and twists making it difficult to achieve precise formation of light-emitting layers and color filters
Solution Approach 1:
The element formation layer including the color filter and thin film transistor is formed in advance on a plane substrate (glass substrate) where precise patterning can be achieved, before transferring to the flexible plastic substrate. This preliminary formation on a rigid substrate ensures high manufacturing precision that would be difficult to achieve directly on the flexible substrate.
Solution Approach 2:
A plane substrate (glass substrate) serves as an intermediary medium during the manufacturing process. The element formation layer is first created on this rigid intermediate substrate with precise control, then transferred to the flexible plastic substrate. This intermediary allows precise formation while ultimately achieving flexibility.
2Ease of manufacture
If the color filter is formed directly on the flexible substrate, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but the color filter releases gas that contaminates the white-emissive light-emitting element
Solution Approach 1:
The device structure is segmented into distinct functional layers with the color filter layer separated from the light-emitting element by protective insulating films. This segmentation isolates the harmful gas-releasing color filter from the sensitive light-emitting element while maintaining the overall manufacturing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
Protective insulating films are introduced as intermediary layers between the color filter and the white-emissive light-emitting element. These intermediary films block the harmful gas from the color filter from reaching and contaminating the light-emitting element, while allowing the manufacturing process to remain relatively simple.
3Reliability
If multiple protective insulating films are added to protect the light-emitting element from color filter gas, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The protective insulating films serve multiple functions simultaneously: they act as barriers to block gas from the color filter, provide electrical insulation, and serve as part of the overall device structure. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate protective components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity.
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 enables the production of flexible light-emitting devices that can display full-color images with high resolution and improved reliability by protecting the white-emissive light-emitting element from contaminants and gas released from the color filter.
Implementation Method 1
an insulating layer formed over the plastic substrate with an adhesive sandwiched between the plastic substrate and the insulating layer
Data Source
AI summary
A lightweight flexible light-emitting device which is able to possess a curved display portion and display a full color image with high resolution and the manufacturing process thereof are disclosed. The light-emitting device comprises: a plastic substrate; an insulating layer with an adhesive interposed therebetween; a thin film transistor over the insulating layer; a protective insulating film over the thin film transistor; a color filter over the protective insulating film; an interlayer insulating film over the color filter; and a white-emissive light-emitting element formed over the interlayer insulating film and being electrically connected to the thin film transistor.