Flexible OLED Encapsulation with Interlayer Color Film
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing organic light-emitting display devices face challenges in achieving a thinner and flexible form while maintaining effective encapsulation and color representation, as traditional glass substrates are not compatible with encapsulation thin films and require a minimum thickness to planarize the display surface.
Innovation Solution
An organic light-emitting display device is designed with a substrate, a display unit, and an encapsulation thin film comprising stacked insulating layers, where a color film is interposed between the insulating layers to fill concave portions and provide color adjustment, with the color film being thicker at the center of emission regions and having chromogenic materials to match the emitted colors, and the encapsulation thin film is formed to cover the display unit, allowing for flexible and planarized surfaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If an encapsulation thin film is used instead of a glass substrate, then the device thickness is reduced and flexibility is improved, but the device cannot be planarized effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The encapsulation thin film is segmented into multiple stacked insulating layers (first insulating layer, second insulating layer, etc.) with the color film positioned between them. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized independently - the thin film structure maintains overall thinness while the intermediate color film layer provides surface planarization, resolving the contradiction between reduced thickness and maintained planarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The color film serves as an intermediary element between the stacked insulating layers of the encapsulation thin film. It fills the concave portions on the display surface and provides a planarized intermediate surface, allowing the thin encapsulation structure to achieve both thickness reduction and surface planarity simultaneously.
2Manufacturing precision
If the encapsulation thin film thickness is increased to planarize the surface, then surface planarity is improved, but the device thickness increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single thick encapsulation layer, the structure is segmented into multiple thin insulating layers with the color film in between. This allows the planarization function to be distributed across the stacked structure rather than requiring a single thick layer, maintaining thin overall device profile while achieving surface planarity.
Solution Approach 2:
The color film positioned between the insulating layers serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides surface planarization by filling concave portions, acts as an encapsulation layer protecting the display, and contributes to the overall thin structure. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for additional dedicated planarization layers that would increase thickness.
3Measurement precision
If a color filter is adhered to the inner surface of a glass substrate, then color accuracy is improved, but the device cannot be made thin or flexible
Solution Approach 1:
The traditional rigid glass substrate with adhered color filter is replaced by flexible thin film encapsulation layers with integrated color films. The color films are formed between stacked insulating thin films, creating a flexible, thin structure that maintains color accuracy while enabling device flexibility and thinness.
Solution Approach 2:
The color filter function and encapsulation function are merged into a single integrated structure. The color films are positioned between the insulating layers of the encapsulation thin film, combining color filtering with encapsulation protection in one unified thin film structure, eliminating the need for separate glass substrate and color filter assembly.
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 configuration enables the production of thinner, flexible organic light-emitting display devices with improved color representation and reduced layer thickness, effectively addressing the limitations of traditional glass substrates by using a color film to complement the encapsulation thin film and enhance light emission directionality.
Implementation Method 1
a color film that is interposed between the insulating layers of the encapsulation thin film and that is formed to at least fill a concave portion corresponding to each of the openings
Implementation Method 2
a display unit comprising a plurality of emission regions in which organic light-emitting devices are disposed
Data Source
AI summary
An organic light-emitting display device and a method of manufacturing the same are presented. The organic light-emitting display device includes substrate; a display unit comprising a plurality of emission regions in which organic light-emitting devices are disposed, and a pixel-defining layer having openings defining the emission regions, the emission regions and the pixel-defining film being formed on the substrate; an encapsulation thin film that covers the display unit on the substrate and that comprises a plurality of stacked insulating layers; and a color film that is interposed between the insulating layers of the encapsulation thin film and that is formed to at least fill a concave portion corresponding to each of the openings.