CN110620191B

CN110620191B - Electronic device and method of manufacturing the same

Info

Publication number: CN110620191B
Application number: CN201910755405.9A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 于锋; 李素华; 李阳; 李勃
Original assignee: Hefei Visionox Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hefei Visionox Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-08-15
Filing date: 2019-08-15
Publication date: 2022-03-08
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-15
Also published as: CN110620191A

Abstract

The invention provides an electronic device and a manufacturing method thereof, wherein the manufacturing method comprises the following steps: providing a laminated structure, wherein the laminated structure comprises a substrate, a driving device layer, an electrode layer and a light-emitting functional layer which are sequentially stacked along a first direction, a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the laminated structure, and the light-emitting functional layer is exposed out of the through hole; and forming an encapsulation layer covering the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting functional layer. The embodiment of the invention improves the reliability of the electronic equipment.

Description

Electronic device and method of manufacturing the same

Technical Field

The embodiment of the invention relates to the technical field of display, in particular to electronic equipment and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) have the characteristics of self-luminescence, wide viewing angle, short response time, high luminous efficiency, wide color gamut, and low operating voltage.

The flexible OLED display device can be folded or curled, narrow-frame display or frameless display can be achieved after the edge of the flexible OLED display device is folded, and the screen occupation ratio of the display device is improved. When the flexible OLED display device is applied to a mobile terminal product, a mounting hole is usually required to be formed in a display area of the flexible OLED display device for mounting a front camera, an earphone or a Home key.

The performance of current electronic devices remains to be improved.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the invention provides electronic equipment and a manufacturing method thereof, which can improve the performance of the electronic equipment and improve the reliability of the electronic equipment.

To solve the above problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic device, including: providing a laminated structure, wherein the laminated structure comprises a substrate, a driving device layer, an electrode layer and a light-emitting functional layer which are sequentially stacked along a first direction, a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the laminated structure, and the light-emitting functional layer is exposed out of the through hole; and forming an encapsulation layer covering the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting functional layer.

Forming a through hole in advance before forming a light emitting function layer; therefore, the packaging layer covering the top and the side wall of the luminous functional layer can be formed, the packaging layer can provide good sealing protection effect for the luminous functional layer, water and oxygen are prevented from invading from the side wall of the luminous functional layer to influence the performance of the luminous functional layer, and the reliability of the formed electronic equipment is improved.

In addition, the light emitting function layer includes a light emitting unit and a conductive layer on the light emitting unit; the method for forming the laminated structure and the through hole comprises the following steps: forming the through hole, and then forming the light-emitting functional layer on the electrode layer; or, the light-emitting functional layer is formed first, and then the through hole is formed; alternatively, the light emitting unit in the light emitting function layer is formed first, then the through hole is formed, and after the through hole is formed, the conductive layer in the light emitting function layer is formed.

In addition, before the electrode layer is formed, a first through hole is formed in the driving device; the step of forming the electrode layer and the through-hole includes: forming a first electrode layer on the driving device layer, wherein the first electrode layer exposes the first through hole; forming the third via after forming the first via; and after the third through hole is formed, forming a second electrode layer on the first electrode layer, wherein the second electrode layer exposes the third through hole, the second electrode layer and the first electrode layer form the electrode layer, and the electronic device is internally provided with a second through hole penetrating through the electrode layer. Therefore, the second electrode layer does not need to be subjected to the process step of forming the third through hole, and the top surface of the second electrode layer is ensured to have a good interface state, so that the interface performance between the second electrode layer and the light-emitting function layer is improved.

In addition, the process step of forming the third via hole includes: forming a photoresist layer on the first electrode layer; etching the substrate to form the third through hole by taking the photoresist layer and the first electrode layer as masks; removing the photoresist layer; preferably, the substrate is etched by a dry etching process, and the first electrode layer and the substrate are etched by the dry etching processThe etching selection ratio of the substrate is greater than or equal to 10; preferably, the process parameters of the dry etching process include: the etching gas comprises O₂And fluorine-based gas, O₂The gas flow is 10 sccm-10000 sccm, the fluorine-based gas flow is 10 sccm-2000 sccm, the pressure is 10 mtorr-200 mtorr, the temperature is 0-80 ℃, and the bias voltage is 0.5 KV-30 KV. After the photoresist layer is consumed, the first electrode layer can be continuously used as a mask for etching the substrate, and the smooth proceeding of the process step of forming the third through hole by etching is ensured.

In addition, the process steps of forming the stacked structure and the via hole include: providing a substrate and a driving device layer positioned on the substrate, wherein the driving device layer is internally provided with a first through hole; forming an electrode layer on the driving device layer, wherein a second through hole communicated with the first through hole is formed in the electrode layer; etching the bottom of the first through hole, and forming a third through hole in the substrate; preferably, after the electrode layer and the second through hole are formed, the bottom of the first through hole is etched to form the third through hole.

In addition, in the process step of forming the driving device layer, the first through hole penetrating through the driving device layer is formed.

In addition, the bottom of the through hole is positioned in the driving device layer; or the bottom of the through hole is positioned in the substrate; or the bottom of the through hole is positioned at the interface of the driving device layer and the substrate; preferably, the bottom of the through hole is located in the substrate, and after the encapsulation layer is formed, the method further includes the steps of: and cutting the substrate positioned at the bottom of the through hole to form a communication hole communicated with the through hole.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides an electronic device, including: the laminated structure comprises a substrate, a driving device layer, an electrode layer and a light-emitting functional layer which are sequentially stacked along a first direction, wherein a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the laminated structure, and the light-emitting functional layer is exposed out of the through hole; and the packaging layer covers the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting functional layer.

In addition, in the first direction, the electrode layer includes: a first transparent electrode layer, a metal electrode layer, a second transparent electrode layer and a second electrode layer stacked in this order; preferably, the hardness of the second transparent electrode layer is greater than the hardness of the metal electrode layer; the material of the second electrode layer is the same as that of the second transparent electrode layer.

In addition, the sum of the thickness of the second transparent electrode layer and the thickness of the second electrode layer is a preset thickness; the ratio of the thickness of the second electrode layer to the preset thickness is 0.3-0.6.

Compared with the prior art, the technical scheme provided by the embodiment of the invention has the following advantages:

among the above-mentioned technical scheme, the luminous functional layer can be fine is covered by the encapsulated layer, improves the problem that current water oxygen invades from luminous functional layer lateral wall, avoids appearing the problem that electronic equipment performance becomes poor or became invalid, improves electronic equipment's reliability.

Drawings

One or more embodiments are illustrated by corresponding figures in the drawings, which are not to be construed as limiting the embodiments, unless expressly stated otherwise, and the drawings are not to scale.

Fig. 1 to 8 are schematic cross-sectional views corresponding to steps of a method for manufacturing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention;

fig. 9 to 14 are schematic cross-sectional structures corresponding to steps of a method for manufacturing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

As is known in the background art, the performance of the current electronic devices is still to be improved.

Analysis shows that a light-emitting functional layer in an electronic device, such as an OLED device, is sensitive to water vapor and oxygen, and in order to prevent water and oxygen from invading, a thin film encapsulation or other encapsulation methods are generally adopted to protect the light-emitting device, for example, a thin film encapsulation layer is formed to cover the top and the side walls of the OLED device. However, the protection strength of the thin film encapsulation layer on the OLED devices around the mounting hole is limited, so that the OLED devices at the position are susceptible to water and oxygen, and the service life of the electronic equipment is shortened.

Further analysis reveals that the mounting holes are generally formed after the OLED device is manufactured. Specifically, the electronic equipment comprises a flexible driving backboard and an OLED device positioned on the flexible driving backboard; the forming step of the display panel comprises the following steps: manufacturing a flexible driving back plate; manufacturing an OLED device on the flexible driving backboard; then, forming a thin film packaging layer covering the OLED device; and then, forming mounting holes in the thin film packaging layer, the OLED device and the flexible driving back plate. Because the flexible driving back plate is not provided with the hole before the OLED device is prepared, the mounting hole is formed after the OLED device is prepared, and the side wall of the OLED device is positioned around the mounting hole, the side wall of the OLED device is exposed when the mounting hole is formed and is not protected by the thin film packaging layer any more, the risk of incomplete packaging of the OLED device exists, water and oxygen easily invade from the side wall of the OLED device, the OLED device is invalid or performance is attenuated, and the reliability of electronic equipment is poor.

In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an electronic device, in which before forming a light emitting functional layer, a through hole for placing an auxiliary component is formed, and then an encapsulation layer covering a top surface and a sidewall surface of the light emitting functional layer is formed, so that the encapsulation layer has a good sealing effect on the light emitting functional layer, and the light emitting functional layer is placed in a failure state or performance degradation state.

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more apparent, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that in various embodiments of the invention, numerous technical details are set forth in order to provide a better understanding of the present application. However, the technical solution claimed in the present application can be implemented without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the following embodiments.

Fig. 1 to 8 are schematic cross-sectional structures corresponding to steps of a method for manufacturing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the invention.

The method for manufacturing the electronic device includes: and providing a laminated structure, wherein the laminated structure comprises a substrate, a driving device layer and an electrode layer which are sequentially stacked along a first direction so as to form a light-emitting functional layer, a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the laminated structure, and the light-emitting functional layer is exposed out of the through hole. In particular, the light-emitting functional layer exposes the bottom and the sidewalls of the through-hole, i.e. the light-emitting functional layer is only on top of the electrode layer, e.g. on the entire top of the electrode layer, or may also be on top of a portion of the electrode layer.

The light-emitting functional layer comprises a light-emitting unit and a conductive layer positioned on the light-emitting unit; the method for forming the laminated structure and the through hole comprises the following steps:

forming the through hole, and then forming a light-emitting functional layer on the electrode layer; for example, before forming the light emitting function layer, a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the electrode layer, and the position of the bottom of the through hole can be controlled according to actual requirements, which can be referred to the detailed description of the following embodiments; after the formation of the through-holes, a light-emitting functional layer is formed on top of the electrode layer.

Or, forming a light-emitting functional layer first and then forming a through hole; for example, a light emitting function layer is formed on the entire top or a part of the top of the electrode layer; after the light-emitting functional layer is formed, a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed, when the light-emitting functional layer is arranged right above the area where the through hole is to be formed, the light-emitting functional layer in a partial area is required to be removed before the through hole is formed, and when the light-emitting functional layer is not arranged right above the area where the through hole is to be formed, the light-emitting functional layer is not required to be removed correspondingly.

Or, forming the light-emitting unit in the light-emitting function layer first, then forming the through hole, and after forming the through hole, forming the conductive layer in the light-emitting function layer; for example, the light emitting unit is formed on the entire top or a part of the top of the electrode layer; forming a through hole penetrating the electrode layer after forming the light emitting unit; after the via hole is formed, a conductive layer is formed on the light emitting cell layer.

In this embodiment, the following description will be made in detail with reference to an example in which a light-emitting functional layer is formed first and then a through hole is formed.

In this embodiment, an example in which the electronic device is an OLED electronic device is given.

Referring to fig. 1 to 5, a method of forming an electronic device includes: a substrate 101, a driving device layer 102 on the substrate 101, and an electrode layer 106 on the driving device layer 102 are provided, and the electrode layer 106 has a through hole 100 penetrating through the electrode layer 106.

In this embodiment, the bottom of the through hole 100 is located in the substrate 101. In other embodiments, the bottom of the via may also be located within the driver device layer, or alternatively, the bottom of the via may be located at the interface of the driver device layer and the substrate.

Specifically, the forming steps of the substrate 101, the driving device layer 102, the electrode layer 106, and the through hole 100 include: providing a substrate 101 and a driving device layer 102 on the substrate 101, wherein the driving device layer 102 has a first through hole therein; forming an electrode layer on the driving device layer 102, wherein the electrode layer is internally provided with a second through hole communicated with the first through hole; the bottom of the first through hole is etched, and a third through hole is formed in the substrate 101, wherein the first through hole, the second through hole and the third through hole form the through hole 100.

In this embodiment, after the electrode layer and the second through hole are formed, the bottom of the first through hole is etched to form a third through hole as an example. The formation process of the substrate 101, the driving device layer 102 and the electrode layer 106 will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 1, a substrate 101 and a driving device layer 102 on the substrate 101 are provided, and the driving device layer 102 has a first via 10 therein.

In this embodiment, the electronic device is applied to a flexible display device, the corresponding substrate 101 is a flexible substrate, and the material of the flexible substrate is Polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), or Polyimide (PI). The flexible substrate may also be an ultra-thin glass substrate having a thickness of less than 50 μm.

Take the substrate 101 as a PI substrate as an example. The substrate 101 may include a first polyimide layer 11, a barrier layer 12, and a second polyimide layer 13, the barrier layer 12 may function as a water-oxygen barrier, and the barrier layer material may be silicon oxide, silicon nitride, amorphous silicon, or the like.

The driving device layer 102 provides driving signals for the display panel. In this embodiment, the driving device layer 102 has a Thin Film Transistor (TFT) therein. The driving device layer 102 includes a multi-layer film structure, and in order to reduce the difficulty of the process for forming the first via 10 and reduce the problem of the etching load (loading effect) for forming the first via 10, in the process step for forming the driving device layer 102, the first via 10 penetrating through the driving device layer 102 is formed. For example, when the driving device layer 102 includes a plurality of Planarization Layers (PLN), an etching process is performed once for each Planarization layer, and an opening for forming the first via is formed in the Planarization layer.

In this embodiment, the first via 10 penetrates through the driving device layer 102, such that the first via 10 exposes the top surface of the substrate 101. It should be noted that in other embodiments, the first via may also be located in a partial thickness of the driving device layer, that is, the bottom of the first via is located inside the driving device layer.

In this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the first through-hole 10 is an inverted trapezoid, that is, the opening size of the first through-hole 10 toward the electrode layer 106 is larger than the opening size toward the substrate 101. It is understood that in other embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the first through-hole may be any shape, such as a square, a trapezoid, etc.

Referring to fig. 2 and 3, an electrode layer 106 is formed on the driving device layer 102, and the electrode layer 106 has a second through hole 20 therein, which is communicated with the first through hole 10.

In this embodiment, the electrode layer 106 serves as an anode layer of the display panel. The formation step of the electrode layer 106 will be described below taking the electrode layer as 106 as an example of a stacked structure:

referring to fig. 2, a first transparent electrode film 103 is formed on the bottom and sidewalls of the first via hole 10 (refer to fig. 1) and the driving device layer 102; forming a metal electrode film 104 on the first transparent electrode film 103; a second transparent electrode film 105 is formed on the metal electrode film 104.

The first transparent electrode film 103 and the second transparent electrode film 105 are both made of a transparent conductive material; the metal electrode film 104 is made of a metal material.

In this embodiment, the first transparent electrode film 103 is made of ITO, the metal electrode film 104 is made of Ag, and the second transparent electrode film 105 is made of ITO. In other embodiments, the first transparent electrode film may be made of IZO, the metal electrode film may be made of Au or Pt, and the second transparent electrode film may be made of IZO.

Referring to fig. 3, an electrode layer 106 is formed on the top surface of the driving device layer 102, and the electrode layer 106 exposes the first via hole 10.

Specifically, the electrode layer 106 has a second through hole 20 penetrating the electrode layer 106, and the second through hole 20 communicates with the first through hole 10. In this embodiment, the second through hole 20 is located right above the first through hole 10.

The step of forming the electrode layer 106 includes: the first transparent electrode film 103, the metal electrode film 104 and the second transparent electrode film 105 positioned at the bottom and the side wall of the first through hole 10 are removed, and the first transparent electrode film 103 positioned on the top surface of the driving device layer 102 is left as a first transparent electrode layer 113, the metal electrode film 104 positioned on the top of the first transparent electrode layer 113 is left as a metal electrode layer 114, and the second transparent electrode film 105 positioned on the top of the metal electrode layer 114 is left as a second transparent electrode layer 115.

The first transparent electrode layer 113, the metal electrode layer 114, and the third transparent electrode layer 115 collectively constitute the electrode layer 106.

In this embodiment, a wet etching process is used to remove the second transparent electrode film 105, the metal electrode film 104, and the first transparent electrode film 103 located in the first through hole 10 and directly above the first through hole 10. In other embodiments, a dry etching process may be used to etch and remove the second transparent electrode film, the metal electrode film, and the first transparent electrode film at the corresponding positions of the first through holes to form the electrode layers.

It is understood that in other embodiments, the electrode layer may have a single-layer structure or a double-layer structure.

The subsequent steps comprise: the bottom of the first through hole 10 is etched to form a third through hole in the substrate 101. Specifically, the step of forming the third via hole includes:

referring to fig. 4, a photoresist layer 107 is formed on the electrode layer 106.

In this embodiment, the process of forming the photoresist layer 107 includes: forming a photoresist film on the electrode layer 106, wherein the photoresist film is also located in the first through hole 10 and the second through hole 20; the photoresist film is exposed and developed, and the photoresist film in the first through hole 1 and the second through hole 20 is removed to form a photoresist layer 107.

Referring to fig. 5, the substrate 101 is etched using the photoresist layer 107 (see fig. 4) as a mask to form a third via 30; the photoresist layer 107 is removed.

The first through hole 10, the second through hole 20, and the third through hole 30 together constitute a through hole 100.

Specifically, the substrate 101 is exposed at the bottom of the first through hole 10, and the substrate 101 exposed by the first through hole 10 is correspondingly etched to form the third through hole 30. It is understood that in other embodiments, when the first via is located in the partial-thickness driver layer, the driver layer at the bottom of the first via needs to be etched first, and then the substrate needs to be etched.

In order to prevent the etching process from damaging the electrode layer 106 and prevent the photoresist layer 107 from being consumed prematurely, in the present embodiment, the relationship between the thickness of the photoresist layer 107 and the depth of the third through hole 30 before the substrate 101 is etched is: the thickness of the photoresist layer 107 is greater than or equal to the depth of the third through hole 30, that is, the thickness of the photoresist layer 107 is greater than or equal to the thickness of the substrate 101 to be etched.

Therefore, the probability that the photoresist layer 107 is completely consumed and removed when the third through hole 30 is not completely formed can be reduced, the electrode layer 106 is effectively prevented from being exposed in an etching environment, and the top surface of the electrode layer 106 is ensured to have good surface performance, so that good interface performance between the electrode layer 106 and a subsequently formed light-emitting function layer is ensured.

In this embodiment, the third through hole 30 has an arc-shaped sidewall, and the arc-shaped sidewall protrudes outward in a direction away from the central axis of the third through hole 30. The benefits of such an arrangement include: subsequently, the substrate 101 below the third through hole 30 can be cut to form a communication hole communicated with the third through hole 30; since the third through-hole 30 has an arc-shaped sidewall, a process window for cutting the substrate 101 is relatively large, thereby being advantageous to reduce the cutting difficulty. It is understood that in other embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the third through-hole may also be square or inverted trapezoid.

In this embodiment, a dry etching process is used to etch the substrate 101 with a certain thickness to form the third via 30. In particular, the etching gas may include O₂The bottom of the third via 30 may be located in the second polyimide layer 13 or may be located in the first polyimide layer 11.

After the electrode layer 106 and the second via hole 20 are formed, the bottom of the first via hole 10 is etched to form the third via hole 30, which is beneficial to preventing the process step of forming the electrode layer 106 from damaging the flexible substrate 101, preventing the third via hole 30 from being exposed in the process step of forming the electrode layer 106, and ensuring that the flexible substrate 101 has good performance all the time.

In other embodiments, the bottom of the first via may be etched to form the third via before forming the electrode layer. Specifically, after the driving device layer and the first through hole are formed, etching the substrate to form a third through hole; then, an electrode layer is formed on the top surface of the driver device layer, and a second through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the electrode layer.

When the photoresist layer 107 remains on the electrode layer 106 after the third via 30 is formed, the remaining photoresist layer 107 is removed by an ashing or wet removal process. In other embodiments, the photoresist layer may be completely consumed in the process step of forming the third via hole.

Referring to fig. 6, a light emitting function layer 108 is formed on the electrode layer 106.

The substrate 101, the driving device layer 102, the electrode layer 106, and the light emitting function layer 108 together form a stacked structure 110 stacked along the first direction a, the stacked structure 110 has a through hole 100 (refer to fig. 5) penetrating through the electrode layer 106, and the light emitting function layer 108 exposes the through hole 100. Taking the bottom of the through hole 100 in the substrate 101 as an example, and the light emitting function layer 108 exposing the bottom and the sidewall of the through hole 100, specifically, the light emitting function layer 108 may be located on the entire top of the electrode layer 106, or may be located on a part of the top of the electrode layer 106.

In this embodiment, the light emitting function layer 108 includes a light emitting unit 118 and a conductive layer 128. Wherein the light emitting unit 118 includes: a Hole Injection Layer (HIL), a Hole Transport Layer (HTL) on the Hole injection Layer, an emission Layer (EML) on the Hole Transport Layer, an Electron Transport Layer (ETL) on the emission Layer, and an Electron Injection Layer (EIL) on the Electron Transport Layer.

In other embodiments, the light emitting unit may have a three-layer structure of a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transport layer, or may have a single-layer structure of a light emitting layer, or may have a double-layer structure.

In this embodiment, the material of the conductive layer 128 is an Ag/Mg alloy. In other embodiments, the material of the conductive layer may also be Al, Li, Ca, In, ITO, or IZO.

The light emitting function layer 108 may be located on the entire top surface of the electrode layer 106, or may be located on a part of the top surface of the electrode layer 106.

Referring to fig. 7, an encapsulation layer 109 covering the top and sidewall surfaces of the light emitting function layer 108 is formed.

In this embodiment, the Encapsulation layer 109 is formed by a Thin-Film Encapsulation (TFE) technique. In other embodiments, the encapsulation layer may also be formed by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), or Inkjet printing (IJP).

The encapsulation layer 109 also covers the sidewall surface of the electrode layer 106, thereby protecting the electrode layer 106. The encapsulation layer 109 can serve as a water and oxygen barrier to prevent moisture or oxygen from entering the electrode layer 106 or the light emitting functional layer 108, thereby improving the reliability of the display panel and preventing the display panel from being degraded or even failed due to water and oxygen invasion.

In this embodiment, the encapsulation layer 109 may also be located at the bottom and sidewalls of the via 100.

Since the through hole 100 is formed in the embodiment, in the process of forming the encapsulation layer 109, the formed encapsulation layer 109 can well cover the top surface and the sidewall surface of the light-emitting functional layer 108, so that an effective protection effect is provided for the light-emitting functional layer 108, water and oxygen are prevented from invading from the sidewall of the light-emitting functional layer 108, and the reliability of the display panel is improved.

In this embodiment, the bottom of the through hole 100 is located in the substrate 101, and an auxiliary component, which may be a camera, an earphone, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, or the like, may also be placed in the through hole 100. In this embodiment, the encapsulation layer 109 is formed first and then the auxiliary component is formed, and before the auxiliary component is placed, the encapsulation layer 109 at the bottom of the through hole 100 may be removed, or the encapsulation layer 109 at the bottom of the through hole 100 may be remained.

In other embodiments, the auxiliary component may be placed in the through hole first, and then the encapsulation layer is formed. In this way, the encapsulation layer can also seal the auxiliary component; it should be noted that, according to different performance requirements of the auxiliary component, the encapsulation layer on the auxiliary component may be removed after the encapsulation layer is formed.

It should be further noted that, as shown in fig. 8, the bottom of the through hole 100 (refer to fig. 5) is located in the substrate 101, and after the encapsulation layer 109 is formed, the method may further include the steps of: the substrate 101 at the bottom of the through hole 100 is cut to form a communication hole 111 communicating with the through hole 100, so that the auxiliary component is not required to be placed inside the through hole 100, and the external light can reach the auxiliary component through the through hole 100 and the communication hole 111 to be collected. Specifically, the substrate 101 is cut by using a laser cutting process, and since the laser cutting is only performed on the substrate 101, the driving device layer 102 can be prevented from being damaged by the cutting process, and the driving device layer 102 is ensured to have good performance all the time.

In the manufacturing method of the electronic device provided by this embodiment, since the through hole for placing the auxiliary component is formed first, and then the light emitting functional layer and the encapsulation layer are formed, the formed encapsulation layer can well seal the top surface and the side wall surface of the light emitting functional layer, effectively block water and oxygen intrusion, improve the service life of the light emitting functional layer, and further improve the service life of the electronic device.

It is understood that in other embodiments, the through hole may be formed before the light emitting function layer is formed after the electrode layer is formed; or after the electrode layer and the light-emitting units in the light-emitting function layer are formed and before the conductive layer in the light-emitting unit layer is formed, forming through holes; alternatively, the through-hole may be formed after the light-emitting unit and the conductive layer in the light-emitting functional layer are formed. For the method for forming the through hole, reference may be made to the description of the above embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

Correspondingly, the embodiment of the invention also provides the electronic equipment manufactured by the manufacturing method. As shown in fig. 7, the electronic apparatus includes: the stacked structure 110, the stacked structure 110 includes a substrate 101, a driving device layer 102, an electrode layer 106, and a light emitting functional layer 108 sequentially stacked along a first direction a, a through hole 100 penetrating through the electrode layer 106 is formed in the stacked structure 110, and the light emitting functional layer 108 exposes the through hole 100; and the packaging layer 109, wherein the packaging layer 109 covers the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting function layer 108.

It should be noted that, for the detailed description of each part of the display panel, reference may be made to the description of the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated herein.

The electronic device may be a display panel, or may also be a product or a component having a display function, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television, a display, a digital photo frame, or a navigator.

The light emitting function layer 108 includes a light emitting unit 118 and a conductive layer 128 on the light emitting unit 118. The electrode layer 106 may serve as an anode for the operation of the light emitting unit 118, and the conductive layer 128 may serve as a cathode for the operation of the light emitting unit 118.

In this embodiment, the bottom of the through hole 100 is located in the substrate 101. In other embodiments, the bottom of the through hole may be located in the driving device layer, or the bottom of the through hole may be located in an interface layer between the substrate and the driving device layer, or the through hole may penetrate through the substrate along the first direction.

In the electronic device provided by this embodiment, the encapsulation layer 109 covers the top surface and the sidewall surface of the light-emitting functional layer 108, so that the light-emitting functional layer 108 can be well protected, water and oxygen can be prevented from invading from the sidewall surface of the light-emitting functional layer 108, the performance degradation or failure of the light-emitting functional layer 108 can be avoided, and the service life and reliability of the electronic device can be further improved.

Another embodiment of the present invention further provides a method for manufacturing an electronic device, in which the process steps for forming the electrode layer, the second through hole and the third through hole in this embodiment are different from those in the previous embodiment. The following will describe in detail a method for manufacturing an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it should be noted that the same or corresponding portions as those in the previous embodiment can refer to the description of the previous embodiment, and are not repeated herein.

Referring to fig. 9, a substrate 201 and a driving device layer 202 on the substrate 201 are provided, and the driving device layer 202 has a first via hole 31 therein.

Referring to fig. 11, a first electrode layer 203 is formed on the driving device layer 202, and the first electrode layer 203 exposes the first through hole 31.

The first electrode layer 203 has a first opening (not labeled) penetrating through the first electrode layer 203, the first opening is communicated with the first through hole 31, and the first opening is located right above the first through hole 31.

The first electrode layer 203 serves as a part of an electrode layer to be formed later, and in addition, when the photoresist layer is consumed in advance in a process step of forming a third through hole by subsequent etching, the first electrode layer 203 also serves as a mask for forming the third through hole by subsequent etching of the substrate 201. For this reason, the material of the surface material on the top of the first electrode layer 203, which is resistant to etching, is mainly characterized in that the etching rate of the subsequent etching process for etching the substrate 201 on the surface material on the top of the first electrode layer 203 is low.

In this embodiment, the first electrode layer 203 is a stacked structure, taking the first electrode layer 203 as a three-layer structure as an example, in a direction pointing to the driving device layer 202 along the substrate 201, the first electrode layer 203 includes: a first transparent electrode layer 213, a metal electrode layer 214, and a second transparent electrode layer 215 stacked in this order, the hardness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 being greater than the hardness of the metal electrode layer 214. The material of the first transparent electrode layer 213 includes ITO or IZO, the material of the metal electrode layer 214 includes Ag, Au, or Pt, and the material of the second transparent electrode layer 215 includes ITO or IZO.

In other embodiments, the first electrode layer may also be a double-layer structure or a single-layer structure, such as an ITO layer or a double-layer structure of ITO layer/Ag layer.

The process steps for forming the first electrode layer 203 include: forming a first electrode film on the driving device layer 202; the first electrode film located in the first through hole 21 and the first electrode film located right above the first through hole 21 are removed, and the first electrode film located on the top surface of the driver device layer 202 is left as the first electrode layer 203. The first electrode film located inside and directly above the first via hole 21 may be etched away using a wet etching process.

The subsequent process steps comprise: after the first via hole 21 is formed, a third via hole is formed. The process steps for forming the third via will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 12, a photoresist layer 207 is formed on the electrode layer.

Specifically, a photoresist layer 207 is formed on the first electrode layer 203.

Referring to fig. 13, the substrate 201 is etched using the photoresist layer 207 (see fig. 11) and the first electrode layer 203 as masks to form a third via hole 33; the photoresist layer 207 is removed.

And etching the substrate 201 by adopting a dry etching process to form a third through hole 33, wherein the bottom of the third through hole 33 is positioned in the substrate 201. In this embodiment, in the process step of etching the substrate 201 to form the third via hole 33, the photoresist layer 207 is simultaneously removed.

When the substrate 201 is a flexible substrate, the material of the flexible substrate is usually an organic material, so the material difference between the substrate 201 and the photoresist layer 207 is small, and therefore, the etching process for etching the substrate 201 has a small etching selection ratio between the photoresist layer 207 and the substrate 201, and therefore, the photoresist layer 207 is easily consumed and removed in the process of etching to form the third through hole 33. After the photoresist layer 207 is consumed, the exposed first electrode layer 203 can be used as a hard mask for etching to form the third through hole 33, so that the substrate 201 can be etched continuously by using the first electrode layer 203 as a mask until the third through hole 33 with a desired depth is formed.

That is, in the present embodiment, even if the photoresist layer 207 is insufficient to provide a sufficient masking effect for forming the third through hole 33, the first electrode layer 203 can continue to perform the masking effect, so that a new film layer does not need to be formed as a hard mask, and the photoresist layer 207 with a very thick thickness does not need to be formed, thereby saving the process cost.

It is to be understood that in other embodiments, if the photoresist layer remains after the third via is formed, the photoresist layer is correspondingly removed after the third via is formed.

In this embodiment, the etching selection ratio of the dry etching process to the first electrode layer 203 and the substrate 201 is greater than or equal to 10, and more specifically, the etching selection ratio of the dry etching process to the second transparent electrode layer 215 and the substrate 201 is greater than or equal to 10, for example, the etching selection ratio is 15, 20, 50.

In one embodiment, the process parameters of the dry etching process include: the etching gas comprises O₂And fluorine-based gas, O₂The gas flow is 10 sccm-10000 sccm, the fluorine-based gas flow is 10 sccm-2000 sccm, the pressure is 10 mtorr-200 mtorr, the temperature is 0-80 ℃, and the bias voltage is 0.5 KV-30 KV. The fluorine-based gas may be CF₄Or CH 3; sccm is standard cubic centrifuge per minute, indicated in milliliters per minute under standard conditions; mtorr refers to mtorr; KV means kilovolts.

In this embodiment, the dry etching process parameters are as follows: o is₂The flow rate is 50sccm to 500sccm, the flow rate of the fluorine-based gas is 100sccm to 400sccm, the pressure is 50mtorr to 100mtorr, the temperature is 30 ℃ to 60 DEG CThe bias voltage is 5 KV-10 KV. The dry etching is performed by adopting the process parameters, so that the etching damage to the top surface of the first electrode layer 203 is further reduced, and the performance of the manufactured electronic equipment is further improved.

Referring to fig. 13, after the third via hole 33 is formed, a second electrode layer 225 is formed on the first electrode layer 203, the second electrode layer 225 exposes the third via hole 33, and the second electrode layer 222 and the first electrode layer 203 constitute an electrode layer 206.

The second electrode layer 225 has a second opening (not labeled) penetrating through the second electrode layer 225, and the first opening and the second opening together form a second through hole 32 penetrating through the electrode layer 206. And the first through hole 31, the second through hole 32, and the third through hole 33 together constitute the through hole 30.

The material of the second electrode layer 225 is a transparent conductive material, such as ITO or IZO. In this embodiment, the material of the second electrode layer 225 is the same as that of the second transparent electrode layer 215.

The process steps for forming the second electrode layer 225 include: forming an electrode film on the first electrode layer 203, wherein the electrode film is also positioned at the bottom and the side wall of the through hole 30; the electrode films at the bottom and side walls of the through-hole 30 are removed, and the electrode film at the top surface of the first electrode layer 203 remains as the second electrode layer 225. Specifically, the electrode film at the bottom and the side wall of the via hole 30 may be etched and removed by a wet etching or dry etching process.

And forming a light emitting function layer on the surface of the second electrode layer 225. In this embodiment, the second electrode layer 225 is not subjected to the etching step to form the third through hole 33, so that adverse effects caused by the etching step to form the third through hole 33 are avoided, and the top surface of the second electrode layer 225 has good interface performance, thereby ensuring that the second electrode layer 225 and a subsequently formed light-emitting functional layer have a good interface state, and improving the performance of the formed display panel.

It is understood that the above-mentioned adverse effects may be generated during the etching process of the substrate 201, and may also be generated during the process of removing the photoresist layer 207; and the adverse effects may be the formation of impurities such as reaction by-products on the top surface of the second electrode layer 225, and may also be etching damage to the top surface of the second electrode layer 225.

For the stacked structure of the electrode layer 206 being a lower transparent electrode layer/a metal electrode layer/an upper transparent electrode layer, the second transparent electrode layer 215 and the second electrode layer 225 together form an upper transparent electrode layer, and the sum of the thickness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 and the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 is a predetermined thickness. The benefits of such an arrangement include:

on one hand, the etching process for forming the third through hole 33 by etching has a large etching selectivity ratio for the substrate 201 and the second transparent electrode layer 215, and the hardness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 is greater than that of the metal electrode layer 214, so that the top surface of the first electrode layer is less damaged by etching when the top surface of the first electrode layer is made of the material of the second transparent electrode layer 215 compared with when the top surface of the first electrode layer is made of the material of the metal electrode layer 214.

On the other hand, after the third through hole 33 is formed in the substrate 201, since the second electrode layer 225 is a part of the upper transparent electrode layer, the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 is relatively thin, and accordingly, the time required for removing the electrode film located in the third through hole 33 in the process of forming the second electrode layer 225 is relatively short, so that the substrate 201 can be ensured to be less affected by adverse effects, and especially when the substrate 201 is a flexible substrate which is easily damaged, it is more beneficial to ensure that the substrate 201 always maintains good performance. If the thickness of the second electrode layer is formed to be thicker, the time required for removing the electrode film located in the third through hole is longer correspondingly, that is, the time for exposing the substrate at the sidewall of the third through hole in the removing process step is longer, and the risk that the corresponding substrate is adversely affected is larger.

The sum of the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 and the thickness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 is a predetermined thickness, and the ratio of the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 to the predetermined thickness should not be too small or too large. If the ratio is too small, the thickness of the corresponding second electrode layer 225 is relatively thin, which has a limited effect on improving the top surface performance of the electrode layer 206; if the ratio is too large, the thickness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 is relatively thin, and there is a risk that the second transparent electrode layer 215 is completely consumed in the process of forming the third through hole 33 by etching.

For this, the ratio of the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 to the predetermined thickness is in the range of 0.3-0.6, such as 0.35, 0.5, 0.55.

In this embodiment, the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 is equal to the thickness of the second transparent electrode layer 215.

Referring to fig. 14, a light emitting function layer 208 is formed on the electrode layer 206; an encapsulation layer 209 is formed covering the top surface and the sidewall surface of the light-emitting functional layer 208.

The substrate 201, the driving device layer 202, the electrode layer 206, and the light emitting function layer 208 constitute a stacked structure (not shown) stacked in a first direction (not shown).

For the steps of forming the light emitting function layer 208 and the encapsulation layer 209, reference may be made to the corresponding description of the foregoing embodiments, which are not repeated herein.

The encapsulation layer 209 also covers the surface of the sidewall of the electrode layer 206 and may also be located at the bottom and sidewalls of the via 30. Since the encapsulation layer 209 covers the top and sidewall surfaces of the light-emitting functional layer 208, it is possible to provide a good sealing protection effect for the light-emitting functional layer 208, prevent water and oxygen from entering the light-emitting functional layer 208, and improve the reliability of the display panel.

Moreover, since the top surface of the electrode layer 206 is not subjected to the etching process to form the third through hole, the top surface of the electrode layer 206 has good interface performance before the light-emitting functional layer 208 is formed, which is beneficial to improving the interface performance between the light-emitting functional layer 208 and the electrode layer 206, and the interface state between the light-emitting functional layer 208 and the electrode layer 206 is controllable, thereby being beneficial to improving the performance of the formed display panel.

In addition, the first electrode layer comprises a first transparent electrode layer 213, a metal electrode layer 214 and a second transparent electrode layer 215 which are stacked in sequence, and the etching rate of the etching process for etching to form the third through hole to the second transparent electrode layer 215 is very low, so that even if the photoresist layer is consumed and removed in the etching process, the second transparent electrode layer 215 can be continuously used as a mask for etching the substrate 201 so as to form a third through hole which is as expected; in addition, an additional mask is not required, and the process cost is favorably reduced.

The subsequent process steps may further comprise: and cutting the substrate at the bottom of the through hole to form a communicating hole communicated with the through hole.

Accordingly, the present embodiment also provides an electronic device manufactured by the above manufacturing method.

Referring to fig. 14, the electronic device includes: the stacked structure comprises a substrate 201, a driving device layer 202 located on the substrate 201, and an electrode layer 206 located on the driving device layer 202, which are stacked along a first direction, wherein the electrode layer 206, the driving device layer 202, and the substrate 201 have a through hole 30 penetrating through the electrode layer 206 and the driving device layer 202; a light-emitting functional layer 208, the light-emitting functional layer 208 being located on the electrode layer 206; and an encapsulation layer 209, wherein the encapsulation layer 209 covers the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting function layer 208.

The electronic device may be a display panel, or a product or a component with a television function, such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a television, a display, a digital photo frame, or a navigator.

For detailed descriptions of the parts of the electronic device, reference may be made to the detailed descriptions of the aforementioned method parts, which are not repeated herein.

In the present embodiment, in the first direction a, the electrode layer 206 includes: a first transparent electrode layer 213, a metal electrode layer 214, a second transparent electrode layer 215, and a second electrode layer 225, which are sequentially stacked. The hardness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 is greater than that of the metal electrode layer 214, and the material of the second electrode layer 225 is the same as that of the second transparent electrode layer 215.

The material of the first transparent electrode layer 213 includes ITO or IZO, the material of the metal electrode layer 214 includes Ag, Au, or Pt, and the material of the second transparent electrode layer 215 includes ITO or IZO.

In other embodiments, the electrode layer may also be a double-layer structure or a triple-layer structure.

The sum of the thickness of the second transparent electrode layer 215 and the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 is a predetermined thickness, and the ratio of the thickness of the second electrode layer 225 to the predetermined thickness is 0.3-0.6, such as 0.35, 0.5, 0.55.

It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the foregoing embodiments are specific examples for carrying out the invention, and that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in practice. Various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing an electronic device,

providing a laminated structure, wherein the laminated structure comprises a substrate, a driving device layer, an electrode layer and a light-emitting functional layer which are sequentially stacked along a first direction, a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the laminated structure, and the light-emitting functional layer is exposed out of the through hole;

before the electrode layer is formed, a first through hole is formed in the driving device layer; the step of forming the electrode layer and the through-hole includes: forming a first electrode layer on the driving device layer, wherein the first electrode layer exposes the first through hole; forming a third via hole after forming the first via hole; after the third through hole is formed, forming a second electrode layer on the first electrode layer, wherein the second electrode layer exposes the third through hole, the second electrode layer and the first electrode layer form the electrode layer, and the electrode layer is internally provided with a second through hole penetrating through the electrode layer;

and forming an encapsulation layer covering the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting functional layer.

2. The manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the light-emitting functional layer includes a light-emitting unit and a conductive layer on the light-emitting unit; the method for forming the laminated structure and the through hole comprises the following steps: forming the through hole, and then forming the light-emitting functional layer on the electrode layer; or, the light-emitting functional layer is formed first, and then the through hole is formed; alternatively, the light emitting unit in the light emitting function layer is formed first, then the through hole is formed, and after the through hole is formed, the conductive layer in the light emitting function layer is formed.

3. The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the process step of forming the third via hole comprises: forming a photoresist layer on the first electrode layer; etching the substrate to form the third through hole by taking the photoresist layer and the first electrode layer as masks; and removing the photoresist layer.

4. The manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein the substrate is etched by a dry etching process, and an etching selection ratio of the first electrode layer to the substrate by the dry etching process is greater than or equal to 10.

5. The manufacturing method according to claim 4, wherein the process parameters of the dry etching process comprise: the etching gas comprises O₂And fluorine-based gas, O₂The gas flow is 10 sccm-10000 sccm, the fluorine-based gas flow is 10 sccm-2000 sccm, the pressure is 10 mtorr-200 mtorr, the temperature is 0-80 ℃, and the bias voltage is 0.5 KV-30 KV.

6. The method of manufacturing of claim 1, wherein the process step of forming the laminate structure and the via comprises: providing a substrate and a driving device layer positioned on the substrate, wherein the driving device layer is internally provided with a first through hole; forming an electrode layer on the driving device layer, wherein a second through hole communicated with the first through hole is formed in the electrode layer; and etching the bottom of the first through hole, and forming a third through hole in the substrate.

7. The manufacturing method according to claim 6, wherein after the electrode layer and the second via hole are formed, the bottom of the first via hole is etched to form the third via hole.

8. The manufacturing method according to claim 1 or 7, wherein the first via hole penetrating the driving device layer is formed in the process step of forming the driving device layer.

9. The method of manufacturing of claim 1, wherein the via bottom is located within the driver device layer; or the bottom of the through hole is positioned in the substrate; alternatively, the bottom of the through hole is located at the interface of the driving device layer and the substrate.

10. The method of manufacturing of claim 9, wherein the via bottom is located within the substrate, further comprising, after forming the encapsulation layer, the steps of: and cutting the substrate positioned at the bottom of the through hole to form a communication hole communicated with the through hole.

11. An electronic device formed by the manufacturing method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising:

the laminated structure comprises a substrate, a driving device layer, an electrode layer and a light-emitting functional layer which are sequentially stacked along a first direction, wherein a through hole penetrating through the electrode layer is formed in the laminated structure, and the light-emitting functional layer is exposed out of the through hole;

and the packaging layer covers the top surface and the side wall surface of the light-emitting functional layer.

12. The electronic device of claim 11, wherein in the first direction, the electrode layer comprises: the display device comprises a first transparent electrode layer, a metal electrode layer, a second transparent electrode layer and a second electrode layer which are sequentially stacked.

13. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein a hardness of the second transparent electrode layer is larger than a hardness of the metal electrode layer; the material of the second electrode layer is the same as that of the second transparent electrode layer.

14. The electronic device according to claim 12, wherein a sum of a thickness of the second transparent electrode layer and a thickness of the second electrode layer is a preset thickness; the ratio of the thickness of the second electrode layer to the preset thickness is 0.3-0.6.