OLED Panel Bottom-Cut Structure for Laser Cutting Crack Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The encapsulation of OLED devices is compromised by water and oxygen ingress due to cracks and gaps in the inorganic protection film layer during laser cutting, which affects the longevity and performance of OLED display panels.
Innovation Solution
An OLED display panel design featuring a substrate with a first organic film layer, a metal film layer, and a second organic film layer forming an inverted trapezoid-shaped bottom-cut structure, where the metal film layer's width exceeds the organic film layer's width, creating an obtuse angle, and an inorganic film layer fills the space between the metal and substrate, facilitating crack termination during laser cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If laser cutting is used to separate OLED display panels, then productivity is improved, but cracks and gaps occur in the inorganic protection film layer compromising encapsulation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by forming a bottom-cut structure in the organic film layers and metal film layer before the laser cutting process. This pre-formed structure serves as a stress relief mechanism that prevents cracks from propagating into the inorganic protection film layer during subsequent laser cutting, thus maintaining encapsulation integrity while enabling efficient panel separation
Solution Approach 2:
The bottom-cut structure acts as a cushioning element that absorbs and distributes cutting stresses before they can reach the inorganic protection film layer. By creating this stress-absorbing structure in advance through the organic and metal film layers, the patent prevents harmful crack propagation while maintaining the protective encapsulation
2Manufacturing precision
If the metal film layer width is increased to form the bottom-cut structure, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the bottom-cut structure into distinct functional zones within the existing film layers. The organic film layers and metal film layer are selectively patterned to create the bottom-cut geometry, separating the stress-relief function from the protective encapsulation function, thereby achieving precision without adding overall 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 design enhances the encapsulation effect by preventing water vapor entry and extending the OLED device's lifetime by ensuring that cracks and gaps do not propagate into the inorganic film layer, thereby improving the panel's durability and performance.
Implementation Method 1
exposing the first organic thin film from a side of the first organic thin film distal to the substrate layer, such that a photochemical reaction is more intense at an upper layer part than at a lower layer part of an exposed region of the first organic thin film
Implementation Method 2
forming an inorganic film layer on the second organic film layer and the substrate layer, by employing a CVD (Chemical Vapor Deposition) process, wherein the inorganic film layer fills a space between the metal film layer and the substrate layer in the peripheral region
Data Source
AI summary
An OLED display panel and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. By successively forming a first organic film layer, a metal film layer, and a second organic film layer on a substrate layer, a width of the metal film layer is greater than a width of the first organic film layer in a peripheral region of the OLED display panel, to form an inverted trapezoid-shaped bottom-cut structure. An included angle between an edge of the first organic film layer and the metal film layer is relatively large, and if an inorganic film layer is further formed subsequently, the inorganic film layer may have a relatively small thickness at this position, which makes it easier for a crack to occur and a fracture to appear, as such, when cutting is performed using a laser, splitting of the inorganic film layer will be terminated at this position.