Flexible Substrate Insulating Layer Segmentation for Crack Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Flexible display devices face reliability issues due to cracks in the insulating layer extending to critical components, leading to poor contact and short circuits, which affect the performance and lifespan of the devices during bending operations.
Innovation Solution
A flexible substrate design where the insulating layer is separated into distinct regions using a spacer region, preventing cracks from extending to conductive via holes and capacitor components, ensuring reliable contact and prolonged service life.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the insulating layer is made continuous and uniform, then the manufacturing process is simplified, but cracks can easily extend to critical components during bending operations
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating layer is segmented into a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer with different material compositions. The first insulating layer contains organic insulating material while the second insulating layer contains inorganic insulating material. This segmentation allows each layer to provide different functional properties, with the inorganic layer providing crack resistance and the organic layer providing flexibility, thereby preventing crack propagation to critical components during bending operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs composite materials by combining organic insulating material and inorganic insulating material in a layered structure. The inorganic insulating material provides high mechanical strength and crack resistance, while the organic insulating material provides flexibility and stress absorption. This composite structure resolves the contradiction between ease of manufacture and crack resistance by integrating the advantages of both material types.
2Length of moving object
If the insulating layer is made thinner to reduce device thickness, then the device becomes more flexible, but the insulating layer becomes more prone to cracking
Solution Approach 1:
By using composite materials with organic and inorganic insulating layers, the patent achieves both thinness and crack resistance. The inorganic layer provides the necessary mechanical strength to prevent cracking even at reduced thickness, while the organic layer maintains flexibility. This allows the device to be thinner and more flexible without compromising insulating layer integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the insulating structure are assigned different material qualities - the inorganic insulating layer is positioned to provide local reinforcement and crack resistance at critical areas, while the organic insulating layer provides local flexibility. This local differentiation of material properties allows the overall structure to be thinner while maintaining reliability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the insulating layer is made more flexible to accommodate bending, then the device can be bent more easily, but cracks are more likely to form in the insulating layer
Solution Approach 1:
The insulating layer is divided into two functional segments: an organic insulating layer that provides flexibility and stress absorption during bending, and an inorganic insulating layer that provides crack resistance and structural integrity. This segmentation allows the structure to bend easily while preventing crack formation, resolving the contradiction between bending capability and insulating layer durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The composite structure of organic and inorganic insulating materials enables the insulating layer to be more flexible without sacrificing durability. The organic material accommodates bending stresses through its flexibility, while the inorganic material prevents crack propagation, thereby achieving both adaptability and reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention provides a flexible substrate, a flexible display panel and a flexible display device. The flexible substrate includes an on-off element and an insulating layer, wherein a part of the insulating layer serves as a part of the on-off element, and the part of the insulating layer serving as a part of the on-off element is separated from rest part of the insulating layer. In the flexible substrate, the part of the insulating layer serving as a part of the on-off element is separated from the rest part of the insulating layer, such that cracks generated in the reset part of the insulating layer are unlikely to extend to the region where the on-off element is located, namely the cracks are unlikely to extend from the rest part of the insulating layer to the part of the insulating layer serving as a part of the on-off element, and thus the poor contact or abnormal on-off phenomenon of the on-off element can be avoided, so as to not only guarantee the reliability of the on-off element, but also prolong the service life of the on-off element and ensure the normal work of the flexible substrate.