OLED Encapsulation with Alternating Inorganic and Organic Layers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional OLED display panels suffer from poor encapsulation, leading to contact with water and oxygen, which results in improper display over time.
Innovation Solution
A display panel design featuring alternately stacked inorganic and organic encapsulating layers, where the organic layer enhances light transmittance, planarizes the surface, reduces stress, and improves flexibility, with a thickness of 0.5 to 1 μm, preventing contact with water and oxygen.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional encapsulant is used to encapsulate the display device, then the structure is simple, but the encapsulation performance is poor allowing water and oxygen contact
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies composite materials by combining multiple inorganic encapsulating layers (first, second, and third inorganic layers with different materials and properties) with an organic encapsulating layer to create a multi-layer encapsulant structure. This composite structure provides superior encapsulation performance against water and oxygen compared to conventional single-layer encapsulants, directly resolving the technical contradiction between reliability and device complexity.
2Reliability
If the inorganic encapsulating layer is made thicker to improve barrier performance, then water and oxygen protection is enhanced, but stress during bending increases and flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the thickness parameters of each inorganic encapsulating layer to specific ranges (first layer: 50-200 nm, second layer: 20-100 nm, third layer: 50-200 nm) to achieve the best balance between barrier performance and flexibility. This parameter optimization resolves the contradiction by providing sufficient protection without excessive thickness that would cause stress during bending.
Solution Approach 2:
The multi-layer composite structure distributes stress across different materials with varying mechanical properties, reducing overall stress concentration during bending while maintaining effective barrier performance against water and oxygen penetration.
3Reliability
If multiple inorganic layers are stacked to improve encapsulation, then barrier performance is enhanced, but manufacturing complexity and process difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulation function is segmented into multiple specialized inorganic layers, each with specific thickness and material properties optimized for different aspects of barrier protection. This segmentation allows for systematic manufacturing processes where each layer can be deposited using standard techniques, making the complex multi-layer structure manufacturable.
Solution Approach 2:
Each inorganic layer is designed with local quality - specific materials and thicknesses tailored to their position in the stack - allowing optimization of each layer's function while maintaining overall manufacturability through standardized deposition processes for each layer type.
4Illumination intensity
If an organic encapsulating layer is added to enhance light transmittance and planarize surface, then optical performance is improved, but the number of layers and device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The organic encapsulating layer is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: enhancing light transmittance for better optical performance, planarizing the surface for improved display quality, and providing additional encapsulation. This multi-functionality justifies the added layer by delivering multiple benefits from a single component.
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
Effectively seals the display device from water and oxygen, ensuring prolonged display integrity and performance by using a multilayer encapsulant structure that combines inorganic and organic materials for enhanced protection.
Implementation Method 1
the organic encapsulating layer is formed by forming an organic liquid film on the first inorganic encapsulating layer and exposing the organic liquid film with an ultraviolet light to cure the organic liquid film
Data Source
AI summary
A display panel and a manufacturing method thereof are provided. The display panel includes a substrate, a display device and an encapsulant, and the display device are arranged on the substrate. The encapsulant covers the edge of the display device and the substrate. The encapsulant includes at least two inorganic encapsulation layers and at least one organic encapsulation layer; the at least two inorganic encapsulating layers and the at least one organic encapsulating layer are alternately stacked with each other and integrated as a whole in a direction perpendicular to the substrate. Thus, the display device in the display panel can be prevented from contacting with water and oxygen.