Patterned Buffer Layer for Foldable OLED Crack Suppression
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing organic light emitting display devices face challenges in suppressing the generation and spread of cracks due to folding, which leads to reduced reliability and driving failures, especially when using an inorganic film buffer layer with low flexibility.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of an organic light emitting display device with a patterned buffer layer, including a color filter layer and a black matrix, reduces the stress on the buffer layer during folding, effectively suppressing the generation and spread of cracks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an inorganic film buffer layer is used to protect components, then barrier characteristics are improved, but flexibility deteriorates and crack generation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buffer layer is divided into multiple separate buffer regions instead of being a continuous layer. These buffer regions are spaced apart to create stress relief zones that prevent crack propagation while maintaining protective barrier functions in each local area.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the buffer layer have different structures - buffer regions provide protection while spaces between them provide flexibility. This local variation in structure allows the same layer to simultaneously provide barrier characteristics and resist crack generation during folding.
2Reliability
If the buffer layer is made continuous to protect all components, then protection is improved, but stress during folding increases and cracks spread
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous buffer layer is segmented into discrete buffer regions separated by spaces. This segmentation creates stress relief zones that reduce overall folding stress while maintaining protective coverage over critical components through the distributed buffer regions.
Data Source
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AI summary
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, an organic light emitting display device (100, 200, 300, 400, 500) includes an organic light emitting display panel including a plurality of sub pixels (SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4), a pattern buffer layer (160, 260, 360, 460, 560) disposed on the organic light emitting display panel and patterned so as to overlap at least one sub pixel of the plurality of sub pixels (SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4), a color filter layer (170) disposed on the pattern buffer layer (160, 260, 360, 460, 560) and including a plurality of color filters (171, 172, 173, 174) corresponding to the plurality of sub pixels (SP1, SP2, SP3, SP4), and a black matrix (180, 480, 580) disposed on the same plane as the pattern buffer layer (160, 260, 360, 460, 560) and dividing the plurality of color filters (171, 172, 173, 174). Accordingly, generation and spread of cracks when the display device (100, 200, 300, 400, 500) is folded may be effectively suppressed. Therefore, the driveability of the display panel and the reliability of the organic light emitting display device (100, 200, 300, 400, 500) may be improved.