OLED Manufacturing Line for Maskless Patterning and Air-Free Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing manufacturing processes for organic light-emitting display devices face challenges such as low alignment accuracy with metal masks, difficulty in increasing pixel density and emission intensity, and the need for multiple equipment lines due to exposure to air, which affects material reliability and increases initial investment costs.
Innovation Solution
The development of manufacturing equipment that allows for successive processing of organic compound films without air exposure, using a cluster system with etching, plasma treatment, and deposition apparatuses, eliminating the need for metal masks and enabling in-line processing to form reliable and high-luminance organic EL elements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a metal mask is used for depositing light-emitting materials, then the manufacturing process can be performed, but the alignment accuracy is low and the area occupied by light-emitting devices in a pixel must be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the metal mask from the manufacturing process entirely. Instead of using a metal mask for material deposition, the invention employs a lithography process with photoresist patterns to define the light-emitting device areas, eliminating the alignment accuracy limitations and area occupation issues associated with metal masks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical metal mask system with a lithography-based patterning system. This substitution uses light and chemical processes (photoresist coating, exposure, and development) instead of mechanical mask alignment and material deposition through mask openings, thereby achieving higher precision and flexibility in defining pixel structures.
2Productivity
If lithography process is used to increase light-emitting device area, then the aperture ratio increases, but impurities from air enter the material lowering reliability
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the lithography process in an inert atmosphere (nitrogen or rare gas environment) rather than in air. This prevents water and oxygen from entering the organic light-emitting materials during the photoresist coating, exposure, and development steps, thereby maintaining material reliability while still enabling increased light-emitting device area through lithography patterning.
3Productivity
If multiple manufacturing equipment lines are prepared for metal mask cleaning and maintenance, then the manufacturing continuity is maintained, but the initial investment significantly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the metal mask component from the manufacturing system entirely. By eliminating the metal mask, the need for multiple equipment lines dedicated to mask cleaning, maintenance, and replacement is also eliminated. The lithography-based approach uses disposable or easily maintained photoresist patterns, significantly reducing equipment complexity and initial investment while maintaining manufacturing continuity.
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 approach enables the formation of high-reliability, high-luminance organic EL elements with increased aperture ratio and reduced manufacturing costs by preventing air exposure and simplifying the equipment setup, thus enhancing the efficiency and throughput of the manufacturing process.
Implementation Method 1
The organic compound film is processed into an island-shaped organic compound layer
Implementation Method 2
a plasma treatment apparatus, a standby chamber, a first deposition apparatus
Implementation Method 3
a first deposition apparatus, a second deposition apparatus
Data Source
AI summary
Manufacturing equipment in which processes from processing to sealing of an organic compound film can be successively performed is provided. A patterning process of a light-emitting device and a sealing process that is performed to prevent the surface and side surface of an organic layer from being exposed to the air can be performed successively, whereby a minute light-emitting device with high luminance and high reliability can be formed. Moreover, the manufacturing equipment can be incorporated in in-line manufacturing equipment where apparatuses are arranged in the order of processes for a light-emitting device, resulting in high throughput manufacturing.