Stepped Conductive Layer for Display Sensor Light Blocking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current display panels face challenges in integrating sensor areas with high light transmittance and resolution, as they often compromise on image quality and structural integrity due to the presence of conductive layers and thin film transistors.
Innovation Solution
A display panel design featuring a substrate with both display and sensor areas, where the conductive layer has multiple steps and specific thickness variations to enhance light blocking and prevent defects, while maintaining connectivity for scan and driving voltage lines through contact holes, and utilizing different conductive materials with varying etch rates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a conductive layer is added between the TFT and substrate to improve light blocking and prevent defects, then light transmittance in sensor area is improved, but the panel structure becomes more complex and manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive layer is divided into multiple stepped regions with different thicknesses at different locations. The first conductive layer has a first thickness in the sensor area and a second thickness in the display area, while the second conductive layer has a third thickness in the sensor area and a fourth thickness in the display area. This segmentation allows optimized light blocking in the sensor area while maintaining appropriate transparency and structural integrity in the display area.
Solution Approach 2:
Different thicknesses of conductive layers are applied to different regions of the panel. The sensor area receives thicker conductive layers (first and third thicknesses) for enhanced light blocking to prevent defects, while the display area receives thinner conductive layers (second and fourth thicknesses) to maintain light transmittance and image quality. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by tailoring the light blocking properties to specific functional requirements of each region.
2Reliability
If conductive layers with varying thickness are used to optimize sensor area light blocking, then defect prevention is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The conductive structure employs a composite multi-layer design with two distinct conductive layers. The first conductive layer provides a base level of protection with its first thickness in the sensor area, while the second conductive layer adds an additional layer of protection with its third thickness in the sensor area. This composite structure enhances defect prevention through cumulative light blocking while distributing the manufacturing precision requirements across multiple layers, making the overall system more robust to variations in individual layer thickness.
Data Source
AI summary
A display panel is provided including a substrate including a display area comprising first pixels and a sensor area including second pixels and a transmission portion. A display element layer is disposed on the substrate, the display element layer comprising the first pixels electrically connected to a first thin film transistor and the second pixels electrically connected to a second thin film transistor. A conductive layer is disposed between the second thin film transistor and the substrate, the conductive layer having two or more steps at an edge thereof.