Integrated Touch and OLED Electrodes for Flexible Display Thickness Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional touch screens based on ITO material fail to meet the requirements of flexibility and foldability due to the inherent limitations of OLED technology and complex production processes, resulting in increased thickness and bonding issues.
Innovation Solution
A method for manufacturing a display screen that integrates first touch electrodes and anode electrodes at different or the same layers, with organic light emitting and cathode layers, using materials like titanium oxide, silver, and molybdenum, to reduce overall thickness and enable flexibility and foldability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a separate touch screen is adhered on the OLED through optical transparent glue, then the touch screen can be formed, but the overall thickness is increased and the bonding process is added
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the touch electrode layer and OLED electrode layer into a single integrated structure. The first touch electrodes are formed on the anode electrodes, and the second touch electrodes are formed on the cathode electrodes, creating a unified display component that eliminates the need for separate touch screen bonding and reduces overall thickness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements multi-functionality by making the OLED electrodes serve dual purposes: as electrical electrodes for light emission and as structural bases for touch electrodes. This allows the same layer to perform both display and touch sensing functions, eliminating redundant components.
2Reliability
If a separate touch screen is adhered on the OLED through optical transparent glue, then the touch screen can be formed, but the bonding process is added which is not beneficial for the overall lightness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the touch electrode formation process with the OLED electrode formation process. Both sets of electrodes are created within the same manufacturing sequence using the same deposition and patterning techniques, eliminating the need for separate bonding processes and reducing overall device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates multi-functional layers that serve as both OLED electrodes and touch electrodes simultaneously. This universal design allows a single manufacturing process to produce components that perform multiple functions, eliminating the need for additional bonding processes.
3Ease of manufacture
If conventional ITO material is used for touch screen, then the touch screen can be manufactured, but it fails to meet the requirements of flexibility and foldable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters by replacing conventional ITO with alternative materials such as metal nanowires, conductive polymers, or transparent conducting oxides with different mechanical properties. These material substitutions maintain electrical conductivity while providing the flexibility and foldability required for modern display applications.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure discloses a display screen and a manufacturing method thereof. The display screen includes: a TFT (thin film transistor) array substrate; a first planarization layer deposited on the TFT array substrate; a combining-structure layer deposited on the first planarization layer, the combining-structure layer includes a layer of first touch electrodes, a second planarization layer, and a layer of anode electrodes, the layer of the first touch electrodes and the layer of the anode electrodes are two different layers; an organic light emitting layer deposited on the combining-structure layer; a patterned cathode layer deposited on the organic light emitting layer includes a number of cathode electrodes used as second touch electrodes; and an encapsulation layer formed on the patterned cathode layer.