Patterned Substrate Guiding Liquid Drop Spread for Display Pixels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing substrate manufacturing methods face challenges in achieving uniform liquid drop distribution due to hydrophobic properties of substrates, leading to incomplete filling of pixels and reduced light extraction efficiency in display panels.
Innovation Solution
A substrate with patterns on the base layer, such as linear grooves and ridges, is used to guide the spread of liquid drops, enhancing their spreadability and uniform application without requiring adjustments in viscosity or surface energy, and allowing for improved light scattering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If plasma treatment is performed to ensure uniform liquid drop filling in pixels, then liquid drop spreadability is improved, but liquid drops may overflow to the outside due to high surface energies and hydrophilic properties of partitioning walls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating patterns with different surface energy characteristics in specific locations. The patterns include hydrophilic regions (to attract and spread liquid drops uniformly within pixels) and hydrophobic regions (to prevent overflow at partitioning walls). This spatial variation in surface properties allows simultaneous achievement of uniform filling and overflow prevention without requiring global plasma treatment of the entire substrate.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If the substrate surface is made hydrophobic to prevent liquid drop overflow, then liquid drop containment is improved, but liquid drops cannot spread evenly inside pixels
Solution Approach 1:
The patterned substrate creates local hydrophobic regions at partitioning walls to prevent overflow while maintaining local hydrophilic regions within pixel areas to enable uniform liquid drop spreading. This localized differentiation resolves the contradiction by providing opposite surface properties in different spatial locations rather than applying a uniform surface treatment across the entire substrate.
3Manufacturing precision
If the amount of liquid drop is increased to ensure complete pixel filling, then pixel filling completeness is improved, but liquid drop overflow to adjacent areas increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patterned substrate with hydrophilic regions within pixels and hydrophobic regions at partitioning walls allows the liquid drop to spread uniformly to fill the pixel completely while being contained by the hydrophobic barriers. This eliminates the need to compromise between filling completeness and overflow prevention, as the patterned surface guides the liquid drop behavior spatially.
4Ease of manufacture
If conventional inkjet printing is used without patterns, then manufacturing process simplicity is maintained, but liquid drop distribution uniformity is poor due to substrate hydrophobicity
Solution Approach 1:
The patterned substrate is prepared in advance before the inkjet printing process. The patterns, formed by lithography, imprinting, or etching, pre-establish the surface energy distribution that will guide liquid drop spreading during printing. This preliminary preparation enables uniform liquid drop distribution without requiring complex adjustments to the printing process itself, maintaining relative manufacturing simplicity while improving precision.
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
The substrate with patterns ensures uniform liquid drop distribution and increased light extraction efficiency, enabling high-quality, high-resolution display modules at lower costs compared to conventional methods.
Implementation Method 1
patterns located in each of the pixel regions of the base layer, and guiding spread of a liquid drop discharged to the base layer
Implementation Method 2
Each of the partitioning walls is required to be kept hydrophobic so that even if ink is discharged to an area adjacent to the partitioning wall, the ink is injected into the pixel
Data Source
AI summary
A substrate, a display panel, and a substrate manufacturing method are proposed. The substrate includes a base layer; partitioning walls located on the base layer and dividing the base layer into a plurality of pixel regions, and patterns located in each of the pixel regions of the base layer, and guiding spread of a liquid drop discharged to the base layer.