OLED Encapsulation Using Water-Contact Heat Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high cost and difficulty in controlling the laser-based encapsulation process for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays lead to increased manufacturing costs and potential failures in encapsulation quality, affecting the performance and yield of OLED devices.
Innovation Solution
An OLED encapsulation method involving a water-contact-to-release-heat layer on the backing plate and frit coating on the cover plate, where high temperature sintering is followed by lamination in a vacuum environment and introduction of a water-containing gas to heat and melt the frit for bonding, eliminating the need for laser irradiation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If laser irradiation is used to melt and bond the frit, then the encapsulation bonding is achieved, but the manufacturing cost increases greatly and the process becomes hard to control
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the laser irradiation system with a heating plate-based thermal field system. Instead of using high-energy laser beams to melt the frit, the invention employs a heating plate that provides uniform thermal energy through the cover plate to the frit layer, achieving the same bonding effect through conventional thermal conduction rather than optical energy concentration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a heating plate as an intermediary thermal energy transfer medium between the heat source and the frit. The heating plate conducts thermal energy uniformly across the entire bonding area, mediating the heat transfer process and eliminating the need for direct laser-frit interaction, thereby improving process stability and reducing equipment cost.
2Manufacturing precision
If high temperature sintering is applied to the frit, then organic solvent and adhesive agent are removed, but the process requires subsequent laser irradiation which increases complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sintering function and the melting/bonding function into a single integrated heating process. By designing the heating plate to provide controlled thermal energy, the system performs both the removal of organic components (sintering) and the melting of frit for bonding in one continuous operation, eliminating the need for separate laser irradiation equipment and simplifying the overall process.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating plate serves multiple functions: it provides uniform heating for sintering the frit to remove organics, maintains temperature during the bonding process, and controls the melting of frit for encapsulation. This multi-functional thermal field device replaces the need for separate sintering equipment and laser irradiation systems.
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 method reduces manufacturing costs, improves encapsulation quality, and enhances product yield by providing a controlled and uniform heat source for bonding, thus simplifying the process and increasing the reliability of the encapsulation process.
Implementation Method 1
introducing a water-containing gas to cause reaction of the water-contact-to-release-heat layer to release heat for heating and melting the frit
Implementation Method 2
heating and melting the frit for bonding with the backing plate and the cover plate
Implementation Method 3
make the frit contacting the water-contact-to-release-heat layer
Implementation Method 4
bonding the cover plate and the backing plate
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides an OLED encapsulation method, which comprises frit coated on a cover plate to correspond to an outer circumference of an OLED device and a water-contact-to-release-heat layer formed on a backing plate to correspond to the frit. The cover plate and the backing plate are laminated together to make the frit contacting the water-contact-to-release-heat layer. Afterwards, a water-contained gas is introduced to cause reaction of the water-contact-to-release-heat layer to release heat so as to heat and melt the frit for bonding the cover plate and the backing plate, and compared to the prior art, there is no need of a laser based operation so that the cost of laser facility can be saved, the manufacturing cost can be reduced, and also, the heat generated by the water-contact-to-release-heat layer is controllable and uniform, so that the effect of encapsulation is good and product yield is high.