CN110783368B

CN110783368B - Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display terminal

Info

Publication number: CN110783368B
Application number: CN201811295217.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 崔志远
Original assignee: Yungu Guan Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Yungu Guan Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2018-11-01
Filing date: 2018-11-01
Publication date: 2022-10-18
Anticipated expiration: 2038-11-01
Also published as: CN110783368A

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of display devices, in particular to a display panel, a manufacturing method of the display panel and a display terminal. A display panel may include: a flexible substrate having a display area and a non-display area, the non-display area including a fan-out area; etching the barrier layer to cover the upper surface of the flexible substrate; the buffer layer is positioned in the display area and covers the upper surface of the etching barrier layer; and a TFT device layer disposed over the buffer layer and in the display region; the TFT device layer comprises an M3 metal layer for externally connecting an active region, and the M3 metal layer is formed by etching an M3 metal film; in the fan-out area, the M3 metal film covers the upper surface of the buffer layer, and the etching selection ratio of the M3 metal film to the etching barrier layer is greater than or equal to 10, so that when the M3 metal layer is formed, the etching barrier layer is utilized to protect the flexible substrate, and the flexible substrate is effectively prevented from being over-etched.

Description

Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display terminal

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of display devices, in particular to a display panel, a manufacturing method of the display panel and a display terminal.

Background

With the rapid development of electronic devices, the requirements of users on screen occupation ratio are higher and higher, so that the comprehensive screen display of the electronic devices is concerned more and more in the industry.

For conventional electronic devices such as mobile phones, tablet computers, and the like, since devices such as a front camera, an earpiece, an infrared sensor element, and the like need to be integrated, it is necessary to open a slot (notch) or a hole on a display screen to dispose the devices in a slot area or a hole area. However, neither the grooved area nor the perforated area is used for displaying the screen.

Therefore, these electronic devices are not all full-screen in the true sense, and cannot display in each area of the whole screen, for example, the camera area cannot display the picture. Meanwhile, the flexible substrate of the fan-out area is over-etched during the preparation of the metal layer, so that the bending performance of the flexible substrate is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, it is necessary to provide a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof, and a display terminal for solving the above technical problems, so as to effectively improve the over-etching effect on the flexible substrate of the fan-out region (i.e., the bending region) during the manufacturing process of the device in the display region, and further improve the display performance of the display device.

An embodiment of the present application provides a display panel, which may include:

a flexible substrate having a display area and a non-display area, the non-display area including a fan-out area;

the etching barrier layer covers the upper surface of the flexible substrate;

the buffer layer is positioned in the display area and covers the upper surface of the etching barrier layer; and

a TFT device layer disposed over the buffer layer and in the display region;

the TFT device layer comprises an M3 metal layer for externally connecting an active region, and the M3 metal layer is formed by etching an M3 metal film; in the fan-out region, the M3 metal thin film covers an upper surface of the buffer layer, an

And the etching selection ratio of the M3 metal film to the etching barrier layer is more than or equal to 10.

In an alternative embodiment, the flexible substrate comprises:

a substrate;

a first adhesive film adhered to an upper surface of the substrate; and

a first buffer film covering an upper surface of the first adhesive film;

and the etching barrier layer covers the upper surface of the first buffer film.

In an alternative embodiment, the flexible substrate comprises:

a substrate;

a first adhesive film adhered to the upper surface of the substrate;

a first buffer film covering an upper surface of the first adhesive film; and

a second adhesive film adhered to an upper surface of the first buffer film;

wherein the etching barrier layer covers the upper surface of the second adhesive film.

In an optional embodiment, the M3 metal layer is a TiAlTi layer, and the buffer layer is an oxide layer.

In an optional embodiment, the material of the etching barrier layer is a material with water and oxygen blocking capability.

In an optional embodiment, the material of the etching barrier layer is Al ₂ O ₃ 、HfO ₂ And ZrO ₂ At least one of (1).

In an alternative embodiment, the thickness of the etching barrier layer is 1nm to 10nm.

In an alternative embodiment, a display terminal may include:

an apparatus body having a device region;

the display panel as described in any one of the above, covering the device body;

the display panel is provided with a display area and a non-display area, the fan-out area is arranged in the non-display area, a slotted area is arranged in the display area, and the photosensitive device which penetrates through the slotted area to collect light is arranged in the device area.

In an optional embodiment, a main display area is further arranged in the display area;

the screen body in the main display area is an AMOLED screen body, and the screen body in the slotted area is a PMOLED screen body or an AMOLED-like screen body.

In an alternative embodiment, the light sensing device comprises a camera and/or a light sensor.

In an alternative embodiment, a method for manufacturing a display panel may include:

providing a substrate, wherein the substrate is provided with a display area and a non-display area, and the non-display area comprises a fan-out area;

preparing a flexible substrate on the upper surface of the substrate;

preparing an etching barrier layer and a buffer layer which are sequentially overlapped on the upper surface of the flexible substrate;

forming a residual buffer layer in the fan-out region after forming an interlayer dielectric layer on the buffer layer in the display region; the residual buffer layer is a part of the buffer layer which is remained after over-etching to the buffer layer when the interlayer dielectric layer is formed by etching;

preparing an M3 metal film, wherein the M3 metal film covers the exposed surface of the interlayer dielectric layer and the exposed surface of the residual buffer layer; and

etching and removing part of the M3 metal film to form an M3 metal layer in the display area and simultaneously removing the residual buffer layer;

and the etching selection ratio of the M3 metal layer to the etching barrier layer is more than or equal to 10.

In an alternative embodiment, the step of preparing the flexible substrate on the upper surface of the substrate includes:

preparing a first adhesive film and a first buffer film which are sequentially stacked on the upper surface of the substrate;

preparing a first adhesive film, a first buffer film and a second adhesive film which are sequentially stacked on the upper surface of the substrate;

In an optional embodiment, the material of the etching barrier layer is a material with a water-oxygen blocking capability.

In an optional embodiment, the material of the etching barrier layer is Al ₂ O ₃ 、HfO ₂ And ZrO ₂ At least one of (a).

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural view of a composite full-face screen;

FIGS. 2 to 3 are schematic views of the flow structure of the M3 metal layer prepared in the conventional screen structure;

FIGS. 4-5 are schematic views illustrating the flow structure for preparing M3 metal layer in an alternative embodiment of the present application;

FIGS. 6-7 are schematic views of the flow structure for preparing M3 metal layer in another alternative embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a TFT device layer in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for fabricating a display panel according to an alternative embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a display terminal in one embodiment;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural view of the apparatus body shown in fig. 10;

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of the structure of the display body shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an AMOLED-like screen in an embodiment.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the invention, the invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

In describing positional relationships, unless otherwise specified, when an element such as a layer, film or substrate is referred to as being "on" another film layer, it can be directly on the other film layer or intervening film layers may also be present. Further, when a layer is referred to as being "under" another layer, it can be directly under, or one or more intervening layers may also be present. It will also be understood that when a layer is referred to as being "between" two layers, it can be the only layer between the two layers, or one or more intervening layers may also be present.

Where the terms "comprising," "having," and "including" are used herein, another component may be added unless a specific limiting term is used, such as "only," "consisting of 8230; \8230composition," etc. Unless mentioned to the contrary, terms in the singular may include the plural and are not to be construed as being one in number.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

It will also be understood that when interpreting elements, although not explicitly described, the elements are to be interpreted as including a range of errors which are within the acceptable range of deviation of the particular values as determined by those skilled in the art. For example, "about," "approximately," or "substantially" may mean within one or more standard deviations, without limitation.

Further, in the specification, the phrase "plan view" refers to a drawing when the target portion is viewed from above, and the phrase "sectional view" refers to a drawing when a section taken by vertically cutting the target portion is viewed from the side.

Furthermore, the drawings are not 1:1, and the relative dimensions of the various elements in the figures are drawn for illustration only and not necessarily to true scale.

In a conventional electronic device such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc., since a front camera, a headphone, an infrared sensing element, etc. need to be integrated, a slot (Notch) is formed in a display screen, and the camera, the headphone, the infrared sensing element, etc. are disposed in the slot area. However, the slotted region is not used for displaying pictures, such as a bang screen in the prior art, or a hole is formed in the screen, and for an electronic device implementing a camera function, external light can enter the photosensitive element located below the screen through the hole in the screen. However, these electronic devices are not all full-screen in the true sense, and cannot display in each area of the whole screen, for example, the camera area cannot display the picture.

In view of the above problems, the technical staff have developed a display screen, which realizes the full-screen display of the electronic device by setting a transparent display panel in a slotted area. The OLED may be classified into a PMOLED (Passive Matrix OLED) and an AMOLED (Active Matrix OLED) according to a driving method. Taking PMOLED as an example, the same property electrode of the same row of display units of the PMOLED display array is shared, and the same property electrode of the same column of display units is also shared. Specifically, the PMOLED display panel is a matrix of cathodes and anodes, pixels in the array are illuminated in a scanning manner, each pixel is operated in a short pulse mode to emit light at an instantaneous high brightness. Research shows that the PMOLED display panel has high light transmittance due to the absence of a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) backplane and metal wiring, and thus can be applied to the transparent display panel.

In general, the PMOLED display panel needs to form isolation barriers between two adjacent rows and columns by a photolithography process to avoid short circuit between cathodes of the two adjacent rows and columns. The inventor researches and discovers that in the process of forming the cathode layer by sputtering, the cathode layer is formed on the side wall of the isolation retaining wall due to the fact that the moving direction of metal atoms is not fixed, the formed cathode layer is good in adhesion with the side wall of the isolation retaining wall and is not easy to fall off, the cathode layer on the isolation retaining wall and the cathode layer on the light emitting layer are connected into a whole, and further the adjacent row and column cathodes are short-circuited. Meanwhile, when other structural film layers are formed by evaporation, the height of the isolation barrier needs to be the same as that of a support layer (SPC) for supporting the mask plate (for example, 1.6 μm) due to consideration of a shadow effect of the evaporation. The isolation retaining wall in the existing design is usually formed by adopting a photoetching technology and is limited by the height, materials and equipment of the isolation retaining wall, for example, the inclined angle of the side wall of the inverted trapezoidal isolation retaining wall in the existing design cannot be smaller, the difficulty of blocking the cathode is further increased, and the full-screen normal display is not facilitated.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a composite full-face screen. As shown in fig. 1, for an electronic device such as a mobile phone and a tablet computer, when a slot (notch) is formed in a display screen 1 or a hole is formed in the display screen, and devices such as a front camera, an earpiece and an infrared sensing element are disposed in a slot region 114 or a hole region (not shown in the figure) to increase a screen ratio, a screen body located in the slot region 114 or the hole region may be a PMOLED screen body with high transparency, and a screen body in another region (i.e., a main display region 112) may still be an AMOLED screen body, so as to ensure a display effect while realizing a full-screen display of the display screen 1.

Based on the above-mentioned full-screen design, when the flexible screen is prepared, fan-out areas capable of being bent, namely, as shown in fig. 1, a fan-out area 118 corresponding to the main display area 112 and a fan-out area 116 corresponding to the slotted area 114, are prepared at the side edges of the display screen 1. Because the bending characteristics of the fan-out

regions

116 and 118 directly affect the subsequent dot screen quality, in order to ensure the bending reliability of the prepared fan-out region, in the process, when an interlayer dielectric layer (ILD) of the display region is formed by etching, an over-etching process or a partial etching process of adding a step of the second buffer layer (BL-2) is required to be performed, so that the buffer layer is remained in the fan-out region, namely the remained part after the second buffer layer is partially etched, and the remained buffer layer is used for protecting the second organic glue (PI-2) layer in the fan-out region when an M3 metal film is formed by subsequent etching and is over-etched.

However, in the actual process of manufacturing, when the M3 metal layer is formed by etching, a certain amount of over-etching is performed on the ILD layer in the display area, that is, the etching selection ratio of the M3 metal layer to the ILD layer, the BL-2 layer and the PI-2 layer is high. The BL-2 layer is made of silicon oxide (SiO), the ILD layer is made of silicon nitride (SiN) and silicon oxide (SiO), the M3 metal layer is of a titanium-aluminum-titanium (TiAlTi) structure, the selection ratio of TiAlTi etching gas to SiO and SiN is smaller than or equal to 1, the selection ratio to PI is far smaller than 1, therefore, when the M3 metal layer is formed through etching, the PI-2 layer can be continuously etched after the buffer layer is remained in the fan-out area through etching, hole perforation can even occur in the subsequent thinning of the PI-2 layer, and therefore the bending performance of the flexible substrate of the finally prepared fan-out area is reduced.

Fig. 2 to 3 are schematic views of the flow structure of the M3 metal layer prepared in the conventional screen structure. As shown in fig. 2 to 3, the display panel 10 has a fan-out area 101 and a display area 102, and the display panel 10 includes a flexible substrate 12 and a TFT device layer 14 formed in the display area 102. The flexible substrate 12 includes a substrate composite layer 120 and a PI layer (e.g., PI-2 layer) 122 covering the substrate composite layer 120, and when the M3 metal layer 162 in the TFT device layer 14 is prepared, the M3 metal film 16 may be prepared first, that is, as shown in fig. 2, the M3 metal film 16 is located on the PI layer 122 in the fan-out region 101 and also covers the upper surface of the interlayer dielectric layer 142 of the TFT device layer 14 in the display region 102. When part of the M3 metal film 16 is removed by subsequent etching and is over-etched into the interlayer dielectric layer 142, at least part of the PI layer 122 is etched and removed in the fan-out region 101, so that the thickness of the PI layer 122 is reduced, the bending performance of the flexible substrate 12 is reduced, and the subsequent dot screen quality is affected.

In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present application provides creatively that an etching blocking layer is formed on a PI-2 layer, and the etching blocking layer has a higher etching selection ratio relative to an M3 metal layer, so that when the M3 metal layer is subsequently prepared, a P1-2 layer in a fan-out region can be effectively protected from being etched and removed, so as to ensure thicknesses of the PI-2 layer and film layers below the PI-2 layer, so that a bending region has bending performance required by design, and dot screen quality of a display panel is improved.

Fig. 4 to 5 are schematic views of the flow structure for preparing the M3 metal layer in an alternative embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4 to 5, in the embodiment of the present application, a display panel is provided, and the display panel 20 may have a fan-out area 201 and a display area 202, that is, the display panel has the display area 202 and a non-display area (not shown), and the fan-out area 201 is disposed in the non-display area. Meanwhile, as shown in fig. 5, the display panel 20 described above may include a flexible substrate (not shown), an etch stopper layer 24, a buffer layer 25, and a TFT device layer 26; the flexible substrate may include a substrate (not shown) and a first adhesion film (e.g., PI-1) 21, a first buffer film (e.g., BL-1) 22 and a second adhesion film (e.g., PI-2) 23 sequentially stacked on the substrate (e.g., glass), an etch barrier layer 24 may cover an upper surface of the second adhesion film 23, a buffer layer (e.g., BL-2) 25 covers an upper surface of the etch barrier layer 24, and a TFT device layer 26 is disposed on the buffer layer 25, i.e., in the structure of the finally formed display panel, the etch barrier layer 24, the buffer layer 25 and the TFT device layer 26 are all located in the display region, and portions in the fan-out region 201 are all removed. The buffer layer 26 includes an M3 metal layer 262 for externally connecting the active region.

As shown in fig. 4, in the process of preparing the M3 metal layer 262, a first adhesion film 21, a first buffer film 22, a second adhesion film 23, an etching barrier layer 24, and a buffer layer 25 may be sequentially prepared on a substrate, and a TFT device dielectric layer (not marked in the figure) and an M3 metal film 260 covering the TFT device dielectric layer are formed on the buffer layer 25 in the display area 202, where the M3 metal film 260 covers an upper surface of the buffer layer 25 in the fan-out area 201 and an upper surface of the M3 metal film 260 and fills an M3 metal trench (not marked in the figure) in the TFT device dielectric layer.

Based on the structure shown in fig. 4, the M3 metal film 260 is etched through an etching process, so as to remove the M3 metal film 260 located in the fan-out region 201 and a portion of the M3 metal film 260 located in the display region 202, so as to form an M3 metal layer 262 shown in fig. 5 and located in the display region 202; the etching selection ratio between the M3 metal film 260 and the etching barrier layer 24 is a first etching selection ratio, the etching selection ratio between the M3 metal film 260 and the buffer layer 25 is a second etching selection ratio, the first etching selection ratio is greater than the second etching selection ratio, and the first etching selection ratio can be greater than or equal to 10, so that the etching barrier layer 24 cannot be etched in the process of forming the M3 metal layer 262 through etching, the second adhesion film 23 located below the etching barrier layer 24 can be effectively protected, the flexible substrate is effectively prevented from being etched and thinned, and the bending performance of the flexible substrate in the fan-out area is ensured.

Fig. 6-7 are schematic views of the flow structure for preparing the M3 metal layer in another alternative embodiment of the present application. In an alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 6 to 7, the TFT device layer 26 is directly disposed on the upper surface of the etching barrier layer 24, that is, the conventional buffer layer (BL-2) is directly replaced by the etching barrier layer, so as to reduce the process difficulty and cost.

In another alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 4-7, the material of the etching stop layer 24 may be Al ₂ O ₃ 、HfO ₂ Or ZrO ₂ And the like, so that the film layer covered by the etching barrier layer is protected from being over-etched, and a certain water and oxygen blocking effect can be achieved, and the sealing and isolating performance of the subsequently prepared device is improved. Meanwhile, in order to ensure that the etching barrier layer can play an etching barrier role and reduce the influence on the thickness of the finally prepared device as much as possible, the thickness of the etching barrier layer can be set to be 1 nm-10 nm (such as 1nm, 3nm, 6nm, 8nm or 10 nm), and the first etching selection ratio is adopted.

In an alternative embodiment, the material of the M3 metal layer may be TiAlTi, and the material of the buffer layer may be silicon oxide.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a TFT device layer in the embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 8, the TFT device layer 26 may include a dielectric layer 263, a GI layer 264, a CI layer 265, and an ILD layer 266 stacked in sequence, wherein a source (S) drain (D) structure is formed in the GI layer 264, an M1 metal layer is formed in the CI layer 265, an M2 metal layer is formed in the ILD layer 266, and an M3 metal layer 262 sequentially penetrates through the CI layer 265 and the CI layer 265 to the corresponding source drain structure in the GI layer 264, thereby forming the TFT device. The dielectric layer 263 and the ILD layer 266 may be a composite film formed by alternately stacking silicon nitride films and silicon oxide films.

It should be noted that the M1 metal layer in the embodiment of the present application may be used to represent a first metal layer in a TFT device structure layer, where the first metal layer may be used as a gate of a TFT device, a patch cord of a power supply, and the like; the M2 metal layer can be used for representing a second metal layer in the TFT device structure layer, and the second metal layer can be used as a grid electrode of the TFT device and a connecting wire of an external power supply; the M3 metal layer can be used for representing a third metal layer in a TFT device structure layer, and the third metal layer can be used as a connecting line between a TFT device source and drain and other devices or structures.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart illustrating a method for manufacturing a display panel according to an alternative embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 4 to 5 and fig. 9, a method for manufacturing a display panel may specifically include:

step 01, providing a substrate having a display area and a non-display area, wherein the non-display area includes a fan-out area capable of being bent.

Specifically, the substrate may be a flexible glass substrate.

And S02, preparing a flexible substrate on the upper surface of the substrate.

Specifically, a first adhesive film (e.g., PI-1) 21, a first buffer film (e.g., BL-1) 22, and a second adhesive film (e.g., PI-2) 23 are sequentially stacked on the substrate provided in step SO1 to constitute the above-described flexible substrate.

And S03, preparing an etching barrier layer and a buffer layer which are sequentially overlapped on the flexible substrate.

Specifically, the etching stop layer 24 and the buffer layer (e.g. BL-2) 25 are continuously prepared on the upper surface of the flexible substrate formed in step S02, that is, the etching stop layer 24 covers the upper surface of the second adhesive film 23. That is, the film layer structure in the display region 202 and the fan-out region 201 is identical.

Further, the buffer layer (e.g., BL-2) 25 may be further prepared on the upper surface of the etching stop layer 24, and the buffer layer 25 in the fan-out region 201 may be removed, that is, the buffer layer 25 is only located in the display region 202 as shown in fig. 5, or the buffer layer 25 in the fan-out region 201 may be removed by using a subsequent over-etching process without separately performing an etching process on the buffer layer 25.

And S04, forming an interlayer dielectric layer on the flexible substrate in the display area.

Specifically, based on the buffer layer 25 prepared in step S03, the process of preparing an interlayer dielectric layer in the TFT device layer may be continued in the display region 202, and the buffer layer 25 remains on the upper surface of the etching blocking layer 24 in the fan-out region 201, so as to protect the second adhesion film 23 in the subsequent metal etching process together with the etching blocking layer. Of course, the buffer layer 25 in the fan-out region 201 may also be completely removed.

And step S05, preparing the M3 metal film.

Specifically, the M3 metal film 260 may be prepared through a sputtering process, and the metal film 260 may cover the upper surface of the buffer layer 25 in the fan-out region 201 and the upper surface of the interlayer dielectric layer, and at the same time, the metal film 260 may also fill and fill the connection holes in the interlayer dielectric layer and the structure shown in fig. 4.

Step S06, etching the M3 metal film to form an M3 metal layer in the display area.

Specifically, the metal film 260 may be selectively etched to remove the metal film 260 in the fan-out region 201 and a portion of the metal film 260 in the display region 202, so as to form an M3 metal layer 262 as shown in fig. 5. Because the etching selection ratio between the M3 metal film 260 and the etching barrier layer 24 is a first etching selection ratio, the etching selection ratio between the M3 metal film 260 and the buffer layer 25 is a second etching selection ratio, the first etching selection ratio is greater than the second etching selection ratio, and the first etching selection ratio can be greater than or equal to 10, the etching barrier layer 24 cannot be etched in the process of forming the M3 metal layer 262 by etching, and the second adhesion film 23 positioned below the etching barrier layer 24 can be effectively protected to effectively prevent the flexible substrate from being etched and thinned, thereby ensuring the bending performance of the flexible substrate in the fan-out region; meanwhile, on the premise of no damage to the flexible substrate, the buffer layer in the fan-out region 201 can be completely removed, and a certain over-etching amount of SiN (i.e., an ILD layer) in the display region 202 under the M3 metal layer 262 can be ensured.

In another optional embodiment, in the above manufacturing method of the display panel, the TFT device layer 26 may also be directly disposed on the upper surface of the etching barrier layer 24, that is, the conventional buffer layer (BL-2) is directly replaced by the etching barrier layer, so as to reduce the process difficulty and cost (see fig. 6 to 7 in particular).

In the embodiment of the above display panel manufacturing method, an ALD process may be adopted to deposit a layer of 1-10 nm Al on the upper surface of the conventional PI-2 film layer ₂ O ₃ 、HfO ₂ Or ZrO ₂ And the etching barrier layer with water and oxygen resistance is arranged, and the etching selection ratio between the prepared M3 metal layer and the etching barrier layer is more than or equal to 10, so that the etching rate and the damage of the etching process to the etching barrier layer when the M3 metal layer is formed by etching are far less than that of the PI organic film layer and other inorganic film layers made of materials such as a-Si, siO, siN and the like. Meanwhile, in the manufacturing method of the display panel, an additional photomask is not needed, and the fan-out region can be directly etched to the surface of the etching barrier layer during ILD etching, so that an ILD2 etching step only aiming at the fan-out region is not needed, and a MASK process is omitted. In addition, the residual etching barrier layer is thin and has certain water and oxygen resistance, so that the bending performance of the fan-out area is ensured, and the water and oxygen corrosion resistance of the device can be improved.

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a display terminal in one embodiment, fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus body shown in fig. 10, and fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a display screen body shown in fig. 10. As shown in fig. 10-12, in an alternative embodiment, the present application further provides a display terminal 50, wherein the display terminal 50 may include a device body 52 and a display screen body 54, and the display screen body 54 is disposed above the device body 52 in the transmission direction of the external light 60, and the device body 52 and the display screen body 54 are connected to each other. The display screen body 54 may include the display panel described in any of the above embodiments, and is used for displaying data or signals sent by the device body 52 and/or controlling the device body 52 to perform various operations.

In an alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 10, the display panel body 54 may include a substrate, and an AMOLED display panel and a PMOLED display panel disposed on the substrate, wherein the AMOLED display panel is used to form a main display region, and the PMOLED display panel is used to form a sub-display region (e.g., a notch region); the AMOLED display screen is prepared on the substrate, the PMOLED display screen can be arranged on the substrate in a fitting mode or is fitted on the AMOLED screen body, and for example, the full-face screen is realized in a slot area in a manner of fitting a flexible transparent PMOLED.

In an alternative embodiment, referring to fig. 11, the apparatus body 52 may be formed with a non-device region 522 and a device region 524, and the device region 524 may be formed with a photosensitive device such as a camera 526 and a light sensor. With continued reference to fig. 12, the display body 54 may include a first display region 544 and a second display region 542. Referring to fig. 5 to 7, when the display panel 54 is attached and fixed on the apparatus body 52, the first display area (e.g., the slotted area) 544 is attached to the device area 524, so that the photosensitive devices such as the camera 526 and the light sensor can collect and sense external light 60 through the first display area 544. In the fan-out area of the display screen body 54, an etching barrier layer can be formed on the upper surface of the traditional PI-2 film layer by evaporation, and the etching selection ratio between the subsequently prepared M3 metal layer and the etching barrier layer is greater than 1, so that the etching rate and damage to the etching barrier layer by the etching process when the M3 metal layer is formed by etching are much smaller than those of the PI organic film layer and other inorganic film layers made of materials such as a-Si, siO, siN and the like, thereby achieving the purpose of protecting the PI-2 film layer and ensuring the bending performance of the bendable fan-out area.

In an alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 11, the light sensing device 526 may include a camera and/or a light sensor, and the display terminal 50 may be an electronic device such as a mobile phone, a personal computer, a smart watch, a smart bracelet, and the like.

In another alternative embodiment, as shown in fig. 12, the screen in the first display region 544 is a PMOLED screen or an AMOLED-like screen, and the screen in the second display region 542 is an AMOLED screen. The AMOLED-like panel refers to a pixel circuit including only one switching element (i.e., a driving TFT) and having no capacitor structure. The other structures of the AMOLED-like screen body are the same as those of the AMOLED display panel. The following description takes the screen body in the first display area 544 as an AMOLED-like screen body as an example:

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of an AMOLED-like screen in an embodiment. Referring to fig. 13, the AMOLED screen includes a substrate 610 and a pixel circuit 620 (i.e., a TFT array) disposed on the substrate 610. A first electrode layer is provided over the pixel circuit 620. The first electrode layer includes a plurality of first electrodes 630. The first electrodes 630 correspond to the pixel circuits 620 one to one. The first electrode 630 here is an anode. The AMOLED-like screen body further includes a pixel defining layer 640 disposed on the first electrode 630. The pixel defining layer 640 has a plurality of openings, and the light emitting structure layer 650 is disposed in the openings to form a plurality of sub-pixels, wherein the sub-pixels correspond to the first electrodes 630 one to one. A second electrode 660 is disposed above the light emitting structure layer 650, and the second electrode 660 is a cathode, which is a planar electrode, that is, a planar electrode formed of a planar electrode material. The pixel circuit 640 is provided with scan lines, data lines, and TFT switching elements. The scanning lines and the data lines are connected to the TFT switching elements. The scan lines control the switching elements of the TFTs to be turned on and off, and the data lines provide a driving current to the first electrodes 630 when the pixels are turned on, thereby controlling the sub-pixels to emit light.

In another alternative embodiment, each display region (i.e., the first display region 544 and the second display region 542) in the display screen body 54 can be used for displaying a dynamic or static image, and the display panel located in the first display region 544 can be transparent, and in order to increase the amount of light collected by the photo sensor device through the first display region 544, the first display region 544 can be in a non-display state when the photo sensor device is in operation, so as to increase the light transmittance of the first display region 544, and further improve the performance of the photo sensor device in collecting external light.

It can be understood that the transparency of the display panel can also be realized by other technical means, and the structure of the transparent display screen can be applicable. When the display panel is in other functional requirement states, external light can irradiate the photosensitive device arranged below the display panel through the display panel so as to be used for sensing light or collecting images and the like.

In another optional embodiment, the pixel defining layer of the transparent display panel may be made of a light blocking material, so as to improve diffraction generated by the display module formed in the pixel opening on the pixel defining layer, and further reduce diffraction generated by the transparent display panel; meanwhile, in order to ensure the transparency of the transparent display panel, the light transmittance of each film layer in the transparent display panel may be greater than 90% (e.g., greater than 90%, 92%, 94%, 95%, and/or 98%), and the light transmittance of the entire display screen may be greater than 70% (e.g., greater than 70%, 76%, 80%, 88%, or 98%). In addition, the material of the conductive film layer in the transparent display panel can be ITO, IZO, ITO doped with Ag or IZO doped with Ag, etc., and the material of the insulating film layer in the transparent display panel can be SiO ₂ Film, siN _x Film and Al ₂ O ₃ A transparent insulating material such as a film to further ensure light transmittance of the transparent display panel.

The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A display panel, comprising:

the etching barrier layer covers the upper surface of the flexible substrate;

a TFT device layer disposed over the buffer layer and in the display region;

the TFT device layer comprises a third metal layer externally connected with the active region, and the third metal layer is formed by etching a third metal film; in the fan-out region, the third metal thin film covers an upper surface of the buffer layer, and

and the etching selection ratio of the third metal film to the etching barrier layer is more than or equal to 10.

2. The display panel of claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate comprises:

a substrate;

a first adhesive film adhered to an upper surface of the substrate; and

a first buffer film covering an upper surface of the first adhesive film;

wherein the etching barrier layer covers the upper surface of the first buffer film.

3. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the flexible substrate comprises:

a substrate;

a first adhesive film adhered to the upper surface of the substrate;

a first buffer film covering an upper surface of the first adhesive film; and

a second adhesive film adhered to an upper surface of the first buffer film;

4. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the third metal layer is a TiAlTi layer, and the buffer layer is an oxide layer.

5. The display panel according to claim 4, wherein the material of the etching barrier layer is a material having a water-oxygen blocking capability.

6. The display panel of claim 5, wherein the etch stop layer is made of Al ₂ O ₃ 、HfO ₂ And ZrO ₂ At least one of (1).

7. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the etch stopper layer has a thickness of 1nm to 10nm.

8. A display terminal, comprising:

an apparatus body having a device region;

the display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 7, overlaid on the device body;

the display panel is provided with a display area and a non-display area, the fan-out area is arranged in the non-display area, the display area is provided with a slotted area, and a photosensitive device which penetrates through the slotted area to collect light is arranged in the device area.

9. The display terminal according to claim 8, wherein a main display area is further provided in the display area;

10. The display terminal of claim 8, wherein the light sensing device comprises a camera and/or a light sensor.

11. A method for manufacturing a display panel is characterized by comprising the following steps:

preparing a flexible substrate on the upper surface of the substrate;

preparing a third metal film, wherein the third metal film covers the exposed surface of the interlayer dielectric layer and the exposed surface of the residual buffer layer; and

etching to remove part of the third metal film to form a third metal layer in the display area and simultaneously remove the residual buffer layer;

and the etching selection ratio of the third metal layer to the etching barrier layer is more than or equal to 10.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of preparing a flexible substrate on the upper surface of the base plate comprises:

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of preparing a flexible substrate on the upper surface of the base plate comprises:

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the third metal layer is a TiAlTi layer and the buffer layer is an oxide layer.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the etch stop layer is made of a material that is water and oxygen resistant.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the etch stop layer is Al ₂ O ₃ 、HfO ₂ And ZrO ₂ At least one of (1).

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the etch stop layer has a thickness of 1nm to 10nm.