Thin OLED Fabrication via Support Structure and UV Protection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for fabricating thin organic light emitting displays face challenges such as increased fabrication process time, low production yield, high costs, and substrate damage due to the thinness of glass substrates, which makes it difficult to produce displays thinner than 1mm without compromising quality and increasing the risk of bending or damage during the process.
Innovation Solution
The solution involves forming a support and bonding agent on one side of the substrate to enhance rigidity, using a non-transmissive layer to protect from UV radiation, and an anti-friction layer to prevent substrate damage during bonding, allowing for simultaneous semiconductor and organic thin layer processing, thereby reducing the fabrication time by 50% and preventing substrate bending or damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If glass substrates are made thinner to reduce display thickness below 1mm, then the display becomes thinner and lighter, but the substrate becomes more prone to bending and damage during fabrication
Solution Approach 1:
A support structure is formed on the glass substrate before the semiconductor and OLED layers are deposited. This preliminary structural reinforcement prevents bending and damage during subsequent fabrication processes while allowing the final display to remain thin below 1mm thickness
Solution Approach 2:
The glass substrate is combined with a support structure to create a composite construction. This composite provides both the thinness required for modern displays and the structural integrity needed to prevent damage during manufacturing, resolving the contradiction between thickness reduction and reliability
2Length of moving object
If element layers are formed on two glass substrates and then bonded together, then the display can achieve thinness, but the fabrication process time greatly increases due to etching or grinding steps
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is formed in advance on the substrate before element layer deposition. This preliminary action eliminates the need for subsequent etching or grinding steps to remove substrate material, thereby reducing fabrication time while maintaining thin display profile
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts and eliminates the time-consuming etching or grinding steps from the fabrication process by using a support structure approach instead of material removal, thereby reducing overall process time while achieving the same thinness goal
3Length of moving object
If glass substrates are bonded together during fabrication, then thin displays can be produced, but production yield decreases due to substrate and device damage during bonding
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is formed before bonding operations. This preliminary reinforcement protects the glass substrate and delicate element layers during bonding, reducing damage and improving production yield while maintaining thin display construction
4Manufacturing precision
If UV radiation is used during semiconductor layer formation, then semiconductor layers can be formed effectively, but UV radiation damages the organic light emitting diode layers
Solution Approach 1:
The fabrication process is segmented into separate stages: semiconductor layer formation on one substrate, then bonding to the OLED-containing substrate. This segmentation allows UV radiation to be applied during semiconductor formation without exposing the OLED layers to damaging radiation
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure acts as an intermediary that enables sequential processing. It allows the first substrate to receive UV radiation for semiconductor formation, then facilitates bonding to the second substrate containing OLEDs, protecting them from UV damage while maintaining manufacturing precision
Data Source
Figure 1~2b
Figure 3a~3b
Figure 4
AI summary
An organic light emitting display (101) including a substrate (110), a semiconductor layer (130) formed on the substrate (110), an organic light emitting diode (190) formed on the semiconductor layer (130), an encapsulant (240) formed on a periphery of the substrate (110) which is an outer periphery of the organic light emitting diode (190) and the semiconductor layer (130); and an encapsulation substrate (250) attached to the encapsulant (240).