CN111755627B

CN111755627B - Display device, display panel and manufacturing method thereof

Info

Publication number: CN111755627B
Application number: CN202010652160.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 秦成杰; 张嵩; 曹方旭; 张子予; 孙韬
Original assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Current assignee: BOE Technology Group Co Ltd
Priority date: 2020-07-08
Filing date: 2020-07-08
Publication date: 2023-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-08
Also published as: CN111755627A

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a display device, a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof, and relates to the technical field of display. The manufacturing method comprises the following steps: forming a flexible substrate on a substrate; forming a display layer on the surface of the flexible substrate, which is far away from the substrate, wherein the display layer is provided with a through hole penetrating through the flexible substrate; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib; forming an encapsulation layer covering the display layer, wherein the encapsulation layer covers the side wall of the through hole and at least partial region of the substrate in the through hole; removing the area of the packaging layer covering the inner ring surface of at least one convex rib so as to break the packaging layer; and peeling the base plate and the flexible substrate.

Description

Display device, display panel and manufacturing method thereof

Technical Field

The disclosure relates to the technical field of display, in particular to a display device, a display panel and a manufacturing method of the display panel.

Background

Packaging is an important process in the manufacturing process of the display panel, and the internal structure of the display panel is protected through the packaging layer, so that the normal work of the display panel is guaranteed. However, due to the process, the film layer for packaging may be damaged, which affects the packaging effect, even causes the package to fail, and affects the normal operation of the display panel.

It is to be noted that the information disclosed in the above background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and thus may include information that does not constitute prior art known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure is directed to overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, and provides a display device, a display panel and a method for manufacturing the display panel, which can reduce the risk of package failure.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method of manufacturing a display panel, including:

forming a flexible substrate on a substrate;

forming a display layer on the surface of the flexible substrate, which is far away from the base plate, wherein the display layer is provided with a through hole penetrating through the flexible substrate; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib;

forming an encapsulation layer covering the display layer, wherein the encapsulation layer covers the side wall of the through hole and at least partial region of the substrate in the through hole;

removing the area of the packaging layer covering the inner annular surface of at least one rib so as to break the packaging layer;

and peeling the base plate and the flexible substrate.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, removing a region of the encapsulation layer corresponding to an inner annular surface of at least one of the ribs includes:

forming a photoresist layer covering the packaging layer, wherein the photoresist layer extends to the surface of a target convex edge deviating from the substrate, and the orthographic projection of the area, positioned in the through hole, of the photoresist layer on the substrate is positioned within the orthographic projection of the target convex edge on the substrate; the target lug is one of the lugs;

etching the packaging layer which is not covered by the photoresist layer to at least expose the inner ring surface of the target convex rib;

and removing the photoresist layer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the disclosure, the number of the ribs is plural, and the target rib is the rib closest to the substrate.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, forming an encapsulation layer covering the display layer includes:

forming a first inorganic layer covering the display layer, wherein the first inorganic layer covers the side wall of the through hole and at least partial area of the substrate in the through hole;

forming an organic layer outside the through hole on a part of the surface of the first inorganic layer facing away from the flexible substrate;

forming a second inorganic layer covering the organic layer and a region of the first inorganic layer exposed by the organic layer, the second inorganic layer being stacked with the first inorganic layer within the through hole.

In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the display layer includes a plurality of pixel islands having a light emitting region and a transition region surrounding the display region, and a spacer region separating the pixel islands, the via hole being located at the spacer region;

forming a display layer on the surface of the flexible substrate, which faces away from the substrate, and the display layer comprises:

forming a driving layer corresponding to the light emitting region, the transition region and the spacing region on the surface of the flexible substrate, which is opposite to the substrate;

forming a flat layer on the surface of the driving layer, which faces away from the flexible substrate, in an area corresponding to the light emitting area;

forming a first electrode layer in an area, corresponding to the light emitting area, of the surface of the flat layer facing away from the flexible substrate;

forming a pixel defining layer exposing the first electrode layer in an area, corresponding to the light emitting area, of the surface of the flat layer, facing away from the flexible substrate;

forming a through hole exposing the substrate in the region of the driving layer corresponding to the spacer region; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib;

forming a light emitting layer covering the pixel defining layer and the first electrode layer, wherein the light emitting layer covers at least partial region of the substrate in the through hole;

forming a second electrode layer covering the light emitting layer;

the first inorganic layer covers the second electrode.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, forming a display layer on a side of the flexible substrate facing away from the base substrate further includes:

forming an annular blocking dam surrounding the light emitting region in an area corresponding to the transition region on the surface of the driving layer facing away from the flexible substrate;

the first inorganic layer covers the second electrode and the blocking dam, and the organic layer is defined in an annular region surrounded by the blocking dam.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the protruding ribs is plural, and the protruding ribs are distributed at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the substrate;

the orthographic projection of the inner ring surface of the convex edge closest to the substrate on the substrate is superposed with the edge of the light-emitting layer in the through hole;

in two adjacent convex ridges, the orthographic projection of the inner annular surface of the convex ridge far away from the substrate on the substrate surrounds the orthographic projection of the inner annular surface of the convex ridge near to the substrate on the substrate.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a flexible substrate is formed on a substrate, including:

sequentially forming a plurality of substrate unit layers on a substrate, wherein each substrate unit layer comprises a flexible base layer and a buffer layer laminated on the surface of the flexible base layer, which is far away from the substrate;

the area of the driving layer corresponding to the interval area is provided with a through hole exposing the substrate, and the through hole comprises:

etching at least partial areas of the driving layer and each substrate unit layer corresponding to the interval area to form a through hole exposing the substrate;

the areas of the buffer layers corresponding to the through holes are sequentially reduced towards the substrate, and the areas of the flexible base layers corresponding to the through holes are sequentially reduced towards the substrate; in the same substrate unit layer, the area of the buffer layer corresponding to the through hole is smaller than the area of the flexible base layer corresponding to the through hole;

the area of each buffer layer extending out of the flexible base layer is the convex rib.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a display panel including:

a flexible substrate;

the display layer is arranged on one side of the flexible substrate and is provided with a through hole penetrating through the flexible substrate; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib;

and the packaging layer covers the display layer, deviates from the surface of the flexible substrate, covers the side wall of the through hole and exposes at least one inner annular surface of the convex edge.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the encapsulation layer includes:

the first inorganic layer covers the display layer and the side wall of the through hole, and the inner annular surface of at least one convex rib is exposed;

the organic layer is arranged on a part of the surface of the first inorganic layer, which is far away from the flexible substrate, and is positioned outside the through hole;

and a second inorganic layer covering the organic layer and a region of the first inorganic layer exposed by the organic layer, the second inorganic layer being stacked with the first inorganic layer in the through hole.

In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the display layer includes a plurality of pixel islands having a light emitting region and a transition region surrounding the display region, and a spacer region separating the pixel islands;

the display layer includes:

the driving layer is arranged on one side of the flexible substrate and corresponds to the light emitting area, the transition area and the spacing area; the through hole is formed in the area, corresponding to the spacing area, of the driving layer;

the flat layer is arranged in a region, corresponding to the light emitting region, of the surface, facing away from the flexible substrate, of the driving layer;

the first electrode layer is arranged in a region, corresponding to the light emitting region, on the surface, away from the flexible substrate, of the flat layer;

the pixel defining layer is arranged in an area, corresponding to the light emitting area, of the surface, away from the flexible substrate, of the flat layer, and the first electrode layer is exposed;

a light emitting layer covering the pixel defining layer and the first electrode layer;

a second electrode layer covering the light emitting layer;

the first inorganic layer covers the second electrode.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the display layer further includes:

the annular blocking dam is arranged in the region, corresponding to the transition region, of the driving layer and surrounds the light emitting region; the light emitting layer covers the blocking dam, and the organic layer is defined in an annular region surrounded by the blocking dam.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the number of the protruding ribs is plural, and the protruding ribs are spaced apart in a direction perpendicular to the flexible substrate;

in two adjacent ribs, the orthographic projection of the inner ring surface of the rib close to the display layer on the display layer surrounds the orthographic projection of the inner ring surface of the rib far away from the display layer on the display layer.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the flexible substrate includes:

the substrate unit layers comprise a flexible base layer and a buffer layer positioned on the surface, close to the display layer, of the flexible base layer; the regions of the buffer layers corresponding to the through holes are sequentially reduced along the direction departing from the display layer, and the regions of the flexible base layers corresponding to the through holes are sequentially reduced along the direction departing from the display layer;

in the same substrate unit layer, the area of the buffer layer corresponding to the through hole is smaller than the area of the flexible base layer corresponding to the through hole;

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a display device including the display panel of any one of the above.

According to the display device, the display panel and the manufacturing method of the display panel, the convex ribs are formed in the areas, corresponding to the flexible substrates, of the through holes, the packaging layers are disconnected at the inner ring surfaces of the convex ribs, when the base plate is peeled, tearing of the packaging layers caused by peeling of the base plate can be limited to one side, close to the base plate, of the convex ribs, normal packaging of the areas, corresponding to the display layers, of the through holes is guaranteed, the influence of tearing of the packaging layers on the display layers is avoided, and therefore the risk of packaging failure is reduced.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the disclosure.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with the present disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure. It should be apparent that the drawings in the following description are merely examples of the disclosure and that other drawings may be derived by those of ordinary skill in the art without inventive effort.

Fig. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a manufacturing method of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 is a flowchart of step S120 in an embodiment of the manufacturing method of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 is a partial top view of an embodiment of a display panel according to the present disclosure.

Fig. 4 isbase:Sub>A cross-sectional viewbase:Sub>A-base:Sub>A of the display panel of fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view corresponding to step S120 before the through-hole is opened.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view corresponding to step S120 after the through-hole is opened.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view corresponding to step S130.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view corresponding to step S1410.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view corresponding to step S1420.

Description of the reference numerals:

100. a substrate; 200. a photoresist layer; 1. a flexible substrate; 11. a substrate unit layer; 101. a flexible base layer; 102. a buffer layer; 2. a display layer; 201. a pixel island; 2011. a light emitting region; 2012. a transition zone; 202. a spacer region; 21. a drive layer; 211. an active layer; 212. a gate insulating layer; 213. a gate electrode; 214. an insulating layer; 215. a dielectric layer; 216. a source electrode; 217. a drain electrode; 218. a first electrode plate; 219. a second polar plate; 22. a planarization layer; 23. a first electrode layer; 24. a pixel defining layer; 25. a light emitting layer; 26. a second electrode layer; 27. a blocking dam; 3. an encapsulation layer; 31. a first inorganic layer; 32. an organic layer; 33. a second inorganic layer; 001. a through hole; 002. and (7) a rib.

Detailed Description

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Example embodiments 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, and will fully convey the concept of example embodiments to those skilled in the art. The same reference numerals in the drawings denote the same or similar structures, and thus their detailed description will be omitted. Furthermore, the drawings are merely schematic illustrations of the present disclosure and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Although relative terms, such as "upper" and "lower," may be used in this specification to describe one element of an icon relative to another, these terms are used in this specification for convenience only, e.g., in accordance with the orientation of the examples described in the figures. It will be appreciated that if the device of the icon were turned upside down, the element described as "upper" would become the element "lower". When a structure is "on" another structure, it may mean that the structure is integrally formed with the other structure, or that the structure is "directly" disposed on the other structure, or that the structure is "indirectly" disposed on the other structure via another structure.

The terms "a," "an," "the," "said," and "at least one" are used to indicate the presence of one or more elements/components/parts/etc.; the terms "comprising" and "having" are intended to be inclusive and mean that there may be additional elements/components/etc. other than the listed elements/components/etc.; the terms "first" and "second" are used merely as labels, and are not limiting on the number of their objects.

In the related art of the present disclosure, for a display panel having an opening, if there is a crack in the encapsulation layer at the opening, the display panel may be encapsulated and failed. In manufacturing, a display panel is formed on a substrate, and the encapsulation layer extends to the substrate along the sidewall of the opening. When the substrate is peeled off, the substrate can pull the packaging layer, so that the packaging layer is torn, and an area originally covered by the packaging layer is exposed, so that the packaging effect is influenced, and the display device is easy to fail or even fail.

The present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a display panel, which may be an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display panel. As shown in fig. 1, the manufacturing method includes steps S110 to S150, in which:

step S110, forming a flexible substrate on a substrate;

step S120, forming a display layer on the surface of the flexible substrate, which is far away from the base plate, wherein the display layer is provided with a through hole penetrating through the flexible substrate; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib;

step S130, forming a packaging layer covering the display layer, wherein the packaging layer covers the side wall of the through hole and at least partial area of the substrate in the through hole;

step S140, removing the area of the packaging layer covering the inner annular surface of at least one rib so as to break the packaging layer;

and S150, peeling the base plate and the flexible substrate.

According to the manufacturing method of the embodiment of the disclosure, the rib is formed in the region of the through hole corresponding to the flexible substrate, and the packaging layer is disconnected at the inner annular surface of the rib; the tearing of the packaging layer caused by the stripping of the substrate can be limited on one side of the rib close to the substrate when the substrate is stripped, the normal packaging of the through hole corresponding to the area of the display layer is guaranteed, the influence of the tearing of the packaging layer on the display layer is avoided, and the risk of packaging failure is reduced.

The following describes in detail the steps of the manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the present disclosure:

in step S110, a flexible substrate is formed on a substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and 5, the substrate 100 is a flat plate structure, and the material thereof may be a hard material such as glass for supporting the display panel. The flexible substrate 1 is a flexible structure, can be stretched and bent, and can be a single-layer or multi-layer structure, and is not particularly limited herein.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, the flexible substrate 1 is a multi-layer structure, which may include a plurality of substrate unit layers 11, each substrate unit layer 11 includes a flexible base layer 101 and a buffer layer 102, wherein the material of the flexible base layer 101 may include one or more of polyimide, negative photoresist, and positive photoresist, but of course, other flexible materials may also be used. The buffer layer 102 is stacked on a surface of the flexible base layer 101 facing away from the substrate 100, and a material thereof may include silicon nitride and the like, which is not limited herein. Accordingly, the flexible base layer 101 and the buffer layer 102 may be alternately stacked on the base substrate 100 to form a plurality of substrate unit layers 11 at the time of manufacturing.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the thickness of the flexible base layer 101 may be 2 μm to 10 μm, such as 2 μm, 3 μm, 5 μm, or 10 μm, etc.; the buffer layer 102 may have a thickness of 0.2 μm to 0.8 μm, such as 0.2 μm, 0.5 μm, or 0.8 μm. Accordingly, the thickness of the substrate cell layer 11 may be 2.2 μm-10.8 μm, such as 2.2 μm, 3 μm, 5 μm, or 10.8 μm, etc. Of course, the thicknesses of the flexible base layer 101 and the buffer layer 102 may also be in other value ranges.

Of course, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the substrate unit layer 11 may have only one layer.

In step S120, forming a display layer on a surface of the flexible substrate facing away from the base plate, the display layer having a through hole penetrating through the flexible substrate; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib.

As shown in fig. 3, 4 and 6, the surface of the flexible substrate 1 facing away from the base plate 100 may be the surface of the buffer layer 102 furthest from the base plate 100 facing away from the base plate 100. If the number of the substrate unit layers 11 is one, the surface of the flexible substrate 1 facing away from the substrate 100 is the surface of the buffer layer 102 facing away from the substrate 100.

The display layer 2 is disposed on a surface of the flexible substrate 1 facing away from the substrate 100, and is used for displaying images. The display layer 2 is provided with a through hole 001, and the through hole 001 penetrates through the display layer 2, extends into the flexible substrate 1, penetrates through the flexible substrate 1, and exposes the substrate 100. The number of the through holes 001 is not particularly limited.

As shown in fig. 3, 4 and 6, the region of the sidewall of the through hole 001 located in the flexible substrate 1 has at least one annular rib 002, and the surface of the rib 002 may include a surface close to the base plate 100, a surface facing away from the base plate 100, and an inner annular surface. The surface of the via 001 is a portion of the sidewall of the via 001.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, the display panel is a stretchable display panel, and in an extending direction of the display layer 2, that is, a direction parallel to the substrate 100, the display layer 2 may include a plurality of pixel islands 201 and a spacing area 202 separating the pixel islands 201, the pixel islands 201 have a light emitting area 2011 and a transition area 2012 surrounding the light emitting area 2011, and the light emitting area 2011 has a plurality of light emitting units therein. For example, the light emitting units may be OLED light emitting units, and each light emitting unit may include a first electrode layer, a light emitting layer, and a second electrode layer, which are sequentially stacked, and the light emitting layer may be caused to emit light by applying an electrical signal to the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer. The through holes 001 may be provided in the spacers 202 so that the display panel may be stretched and bent after peeling the substrate 100.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, the display layer 2 may include a plurality of film layers in a direction perpendicular to the flexible substrate 1, and specifically, may include a driving layer 21, a planarization layer 22, a first electrode layer 23, a pixel defining layer 24, a light emitting layer 25, and a second electrode layer 26.

Further, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 6, the number of the ribs 002 may be plural, and the ribs 002 are spaced apart in a direction perpendicular to the substrate 100, that is, the ribs 002 are arranged in multiple layers.

Of the two adjacent ribs 002 in the direction perpendicular to the substrate 100, the orthographic projection of the inner annular surface of the rib 002 farther from the substrate 100 on the substrate 100 is surrounded by the orthographic projection of the inner annular surface of the rib 002 closer to the substrate 100 on the substrate 100, that is, the annular region surrounded by each rib 002 is different in size and is arranged in a reduced manner toward the substrate 100. Meanwhile, the orthographic projection of the inner ring surface of the rib 002 closest to the substrate 100 on the substrate 100 coincides with the edge of the light-emitting layer 25 in the through hole 001, so that the range of the light-emitting layer 25 on the substrate 100 can be limited by the inner ring surface of the rib 002 closest to the substrate 100.

Accordingly, as shown in fig. 2, the step S120 of forming a display layer on the surface of the flexible substrate facing away from the base plate includes steps S1210 to S1270, where:

step 1210, forming a driving layer corresponding to the light emitting region, the transition region and the spacing region on the surface of the flexible substrate, which is far away from the substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and fig. 6, the driving layer 21 may be disposed on a surface of the flexible substrate 1 facing away from the substrate 100, and correspond to the light emitting region 2011, the transition region 2012 and the spacer region 202, that is, the light emitting region 2011, the transition region 2012 and the spacer region 202 all have the driving layer 21. The driving layer 21 may include a pixel driving circuit, and the pixel driving circuit may include a plurality of driving transistors, and each of the light emitting cells may be connected to one of the driving transistors to emit light under the driving of the pixel driving circuit. The driving transistor may be a top gate type structure or a bottom gate type structure.

As shown in fig. 4 and fig. 6, taking the top gate type structure as an example, the driving transistor includes an active layer 211, a gate insulating layer 212, a gate electrode 213, an insulating layer 214, a dielectric layer 215, a source electrode 216, and a drain electrode 217, wherein the active layer 211 is disposed on a surface of the flexible substrate 1 facing away from the substrate 100; the gate insulating layer 212 covers the active layer 211, and the gate electrode 213 is arranged in a region, corresponding to the active layer 211, of the surface of the gate insulating layer 212 facing away from the flexible substrate 1; an insulating layer 214 covers the gate electrode 213 and the gate insulating layer 212; dielectric layer 215 covers insulating layer 214; a source electrode 216 and a drain electrode 217 are provided on the surface of the dielectric layer 215 facing away from the flexible substrate 1 and are connected to both ends of the active layer 211.

Further, as shown in fig. 4 and 6, the driving layer 21 may further include a first plate 218 and a second plate 219 disposed opposite to each other, and the first plate 218 and the second plate 219 may form a capacitor. Wherein the first plate 218 and the gate electrode 213 can be disposed at the same layer so as to be formed simultaneously by a single patterning process, and the second plate 219 can be disposed at a side of the insulating layer 214 facing away from the flexible substrate 1 and opposite to the first plate 218.

Step S1220, forming a flat layer in a region corresponding to the light emitting region on the surface of the driving layer facing away from the flexible substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, the flat layer 22 covers the light emitting region 2011 for achieving planarization so as to provide other film layers on the side of the driving layer 21 facing away from the flexible substrate 1. The flat layer 22 may be divided into a plurality of flat portions, and each flat portion corresponds to each light-emitting area 2011.

Step S1230, forming a first electrode layer in an area, corresponding to the light emitting area, on the surface of the planarization layer facing away from the flexible substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, the first electrode layer 23 is disposed on a surface of the planarization layer 22 facing away from the flexible substrate 1, and can serve as an anode of the OLED light-emitting unit and can be connected to the drain 217 of a driving transistor through a via hole passing through the planarization layer 22. The number of the first electrode layers 23 may be plural, and each of the first electrode layers 23 serves as an anode of a light emitting unit.

Step S1240, forming a pixel defining layer exposing the first electrode layer in an area, corresponding to the light emitting area, of the surface of the flat layer, which is away from the flexible substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, the pixel defining layer 24 is disposed on a surface of the planarization layer 22 facing away from the flexible substrate 1, and corresponds to the light emitting region 2011, i.e., the pixel defining layer 24 exposes a region of the driving layer 21 corresponding to the transition region 2012 and the spacer region 202. The pixel defining layer 24 is provided with openings exposing the first electrode layer 23, each opening corresponding to one light emitting cell.

Step S1250, forming a through hole exposing the substrate in the area of the driving layer corresponding to the interval area; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the flexible substrate 1 includes a plurality of substrate unit layers 11; correspondingly, the opening of the through hole exposing the substrate in the region of the driving layer corresponding to the spacer region, that is, step S1250, may include:

as shown in fig. 4 and 6, at least partial regions of the driving layer 21 and each of the substrate unit layers 11 corresponding to the spacer regions 202 are etched to form a via 001 exposing the substrate 100. The buffer layers 102 are sequentially reduced in area corresponding to the through hole 001 toward the substrate 100, and the flexible base layers 101 are sequentially reduced in area corresponding to the through hole 001 toward the substrate 100.

That is, the flexible base layer 101 and the buffer layer 102 form openings, each opening penetrates through the through hole 001, the size of the opening corresponding to the through hole 001 of each flexible base layer 101 is different, and the opening corresponding to the through hole 001 of each flexible base layer 101 is reduced toward the substrate 100; the sizes of the openings of the different buffer layers 102 corresponding to the through holes 001 are different, the openings of the buffer layers 102 decrease toward the substrate 100, the sizes of the openings of the different flexible base layers 101 corresponding to the through holes 001 are different, and the openings of the flexible base layers 101 corresponding to the through holes 001 decrease toward the substrate 100.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, in the same substrate unit layer 11, the region of the buffer layer 102 corresponding to the through hole 001 is smaller than the region of the flexible base layer 101 corresponding to the through hole 001, i.e., the region of the flexible base layer 101 corresponding to the through hole 001 surrounds the buffer layer 102 outside the region corresponding to the through hole 001; the area of each cushioning layer 102 extending beyond the flexible substrate 101 is a rib 002, and the length of each rib 002 extending beyond the flexible substrate 101 is different.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, as shown in fig. 6, the projection of the through hole 001 on the substrate 100 is a stripe shape extending along a straight line, a curved line or a broken line, and the maximum width S thereof may be 2 μm to 20 μm, for example, 2 μm, 5 μm, 10 μm or 20 μm, etc. The maximum width S of the through-hole 001 may be a width of a region of the flexible base layer 101 farthest from the substrate 100 corresponding to the through-hole 001.

In the same substrate unit layer 11, the width of the buffer layer 102 extending from the surface of the base substrate 100 beyond the flexible base layer 101, i.e. the width L1 of the rib 002 adjacent to the surface of the base substrate 100, may be 0.2 μm-1.5 μm, for example, 0.2 μm, 0.5 μm, 1 μm or 1.5 μm.

Any two adjacent substrate unit layers 11 are defined as a first substrate unit layer and a second substrate unit layer, and the second substrate unit layer is located on the surface of the first substrate unit layer, which is far away from the substrate 100. The buffer layer 102 of the first substrate unit layer extends beyond the width of the flexible base layer 101 of the second substrate unit layer away from the surface of the base plate 100, i.e. the width L2 of the rib 002 away from the surface of the base plate 100, may be 0.5 μm-5 μm, e.g. 0.5 μm, 0.8 μm, 2 μm or 5 μm, etc. Further, L1 may be smaller than L2 in the same rib 002.

During etching, the same etching solution can be used for simultaneously etching the flexible base layer 101 and the buffer layer 102, and the materials of the flexible base layer 101 and the buffer layer 102 are different; meanwhile, the etching rate of the etching solution to the flexible base layer 101 is higher than that to the buffer layer 102, and the etching degree to the flexible base layer 101 and the buffer layer 102 is gradually reduced with the increase of the etching depth, so that the through hole 001 and each rib 002 thereof are formed.

Step S1260, forming a light emitting layer covering the pixel defining layer and the first electrode layer, and the light emitting layer covers at least a partial region of the substrate located in the through hole.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, the light emitting layer 25 covers the pixel defining layer 24 and the first electrode layer 23, and may also cover the region of the driving layer 21 corresponding to the transition region 2012 and the spacer region 202. In addition, the light emitting layer 25 may also extend into the through hole 001 and cover the sidewall of the through hole 001 and the region of the substrate 100 located in the through hole 001.

Step S1270, a second electrode layer covering the light emitting layer is formed.

As shown in fig. 4 and 6, the second electrode layer 26 may cover the light emitting layer 25, and may constitute a light emitting unit with the first electrode layer 23 and the light emitting layer 25 corresponding to the opening of the pixel defining layer 24. The second electrode layer 26 is a continuous whole-layer structure, so that each light emitting unit can share the second electrode layer 26.

In step S130, an encapsulation layer covering the display layer is formed, and the encapsulation layer covers the sidewall of the through hole and at least a partial region of the substrate within the through hole.

As shown in fig. 4 and 7, the encapsulation layer 3 may be a multi-layer structure, for example, it may include a first inorganic layer 31, an organic layer 32 and a second inorganic layer 33, the organic layer 32 is wrapped inside the first inorganic layer 31 and the second inorganic layer 33 for making the encapsulation layer 3 flexible, and the first inorganic layer 31 and the second inorganic layer 33 are located to block water and oxygen to prevent the display panel from being corroded.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, forming an encapsulation layer covering the display layer, i.e., step S130, includes steps S1310 to S1330, wherein:

step S1310, forming a first inorganic layer covering the display layer, where the first inorganic layer covers the sidewall of the through hole and at least a partial region of the substrate located in the through hole.

As shown in fig. 4 and 7, the first inorganic layer 31 may cover the second electrode layer 26, extend into the through hole 001, and cover the sidewall of the through hole 001 and the region of the substrate 100 located in the through hole 001. The first inorganic layer 31 may cover the surface of the rib 002, that is, the surface of the rib 002 facing away from the substrate 100, the inner annular surface of the rib 002, and the surface of the rib 002 close to the substrate 100 may be covered by the first inorganic layer 31. Meanwhile, the first inorganic layer 31 also covers the area of the second electrode layer 26 on the substrate 100.

Step S1320, forming an organic layer outside the through hole on a part of the surface of the first inorganic layer, which is far away from the flexible substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and 7, the organic layer 32 is disposed on a surface of the first inorganic layer 31 facing away from the flexible substrate 1, and has a specified distance from an edge of the first inorganic layer 31; meanwhile, the organic layer 32 is located outside the via 001. When the organic layer 32 is formed, the liquid organic material can be coated on the first inorganic layer 31 to prevent the liquid organic material from flowing into the through hole 001 and affecting the normal stretching of the display panel.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, to define the position of the organic layer 32, step S120 may further include step S1280, wherein:

step S1280, forming an annular blocking dam surrounding the light emitting region in a region corresponding to the transition region on the surface of the driving layer facing away from the flexible substrate.

As shown in fig. 4 and 7, the blocking dam 27 may be located outside the via hole 001, and the organic layer 32 may be defined on a side of the blocking dam 27 facing away from the via hole 001. Taking the above-mentioned display layer 2 having a plurality of pixel islands 201 as an example, each pixel island 201 may be provided with an annular barrier dam 27, and the first inorganic layer 31 may cover the barrier dam 27 while covering the second electrode layer 26. The blocking dam 27 may be located at the transition region 2012 of the pixel island 201 and surround the light emitting region 2011 of the pixel island 201 where it is located, and the organic layer 32 may be defined in an annular region surrounded by the blocking dam 27. The organic layer 32 is defined in an annular region surrounded by the blocking dam 27 so that the organic layer 32 can be prevented from filling the via hole 001.

Further, as shown in fig. 4 and 7, the blocking dam 27 may be made of the same material as the pixel defining layer 24 and disposed in the same layer, and may be formed by the same patterning process, so as to simplify the process. In addition, the barrier dam 27 may be made of the same material and be provided in the same layer as the planarization layer 22. Of course, the dam 27 may be formed independently.

Step S1330 of forming a second inorganic layer covering the organic layer and a region of the first inorganic layer exposed by the organic layer, the second inorganic layer being stacked with the first inorganic layer in the through hole.

As shown in fig. 4 and 7, the second inorganic layer 33 may cover the organic layer 32 and the area of the first inorganic layer 31 not covered by the organic layer 32, as well as the first inorganic layer 31, so as to cover the organic layer 32 and prevent the organic layer 32 from leaking out. Meanwhile, the second inorganic layer 33 extends into the through-hole 001, and is stacked with the first inorganic layer 31 in the through-hole 001.

In step S140, a region of the encapsulation layer covering the inner annular surface of at least one of the ribs is removed, so that the encapsulation layer is broken.

As shown in fig. 4, 8 and 9, in order to avoid the package failure caused by the too large tearing range of the package layer 3 due to the pulling of the substrate 100, the tearing range of the package layer 3 is limited by breaking the package layer 3 at the region where the through hole 001 is located in the flexible substrate 1, thereby ensuring the packaging effect. Specifically, the encapsulation layer 3 covering the inner annular surface of the at least one rib 002 can be removed, that is, the area of the encapsulation layer 3 covering the inner annular surface of the at least one rib 002 is removed, so that the inner annular surface of the at least one rib 002 is exposed and not covered by the encapsulation layer 3, and the encapsulation layer 3 is broken, and when the substrate 100 is peeled, the encapsulation layer 3 on the side of the rib 002 away from the substrate 100 is not pulled and is retained, so that the encapsulation effect is ensured. In order to reduce the loss of the sealing layer 3 as much as possible and reduce the influence of the sealing effect as much as possible, if the number of the ribs 002 is large, only the sealing layer 3 on the inner circumferential surface of one rib 002 closest to the substrate 100 can be removed, and the range of the sealing layer 3 that can be pulled by the substrate 100 can be minimized.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the encapsulation layer 3 on the inner annular surface of the rib 002 may be etched by a photolithography process; specifically, the step S140 of removing the encapsulation layer 3 from the region covering the inner annular surface of the at least one rib 002 may include steps S1410-S1430, in which:

step 1410, forming a photoresist layer covering the encapsulation layer, wherein the photoresist layer extends to a surface of a target rib away from the substrate, and an orthographic projection of an area of the photoresist layer in the through hole on the substrate is within an orthographic projection of the target rib on the substrate; the target lug is one of the lugs.

As shown in FIG. 8, for more than a plurality of ribs 002, one rib 002 may be selected as the target rib; then, a photoresist layer 200 is formed on the surface of the encapsulation layer 3 away from the flexible substrate 1, and the photoresist layer 200 extends into the through hole 001 along the sidewall of the through hole 001 and extends to the surface of the target rib away from the substrate 100.

The orthographic projection of the area of the photoresist layer 200 in the through hole 001 on the substrate 100 can be located within the orthographic projection of the target rib on the substrate 100, so that the area of the packaging layer 3 covering the inner ring surface of the target rib and the side of the target rib close to the substrate 100 are not covered by the photoresist layer 200. Accordingly, the region of the substrate 100 located within the through hole 001 is not covered by the photoresist layer 200. Illustratively, the photoresist layer 200 may be formed by coating, exposing, and developing processes, etc., so as to form a pattern of the photoresist layer 200.

Step S1420, etching the encapsulation layer uncovered by the photoresist layer to expose at least the inner annular surface of the target rib.

The packaging layer 3 not covered by the photoresist layer 200 may be etched by using an etching solution, while the packaging layer 3 covered by the photoresist layer 200 is not etched, so that the packaging layer 3 may not extend continuously onto the substrate 100. Alternatively, as shown in fig. 9, dry etching may be performed in the through hole 001 along a direction perpendicular to the substrate 100 to remove the encapsulation layer 3 covering the inner annular surface of the target rib, and at the same time, a portion of the film layer on the region of the substrate 100 located in the through hole 001 may be removed. The specific etching method is not particularly limited, as long as the encapsulation layer 3 on the inner annular surface of the target rib can be removed.

In the through hole 001, the encapsulation layer 3 may include a first inorganic layer 31 and a second inorganic layer 33 that are stacked, and the first inorganic layer 31 and the second inorganic layer 33 may be etched using the same etching process.

In the etching process, the encapsulation layer 3 can be broken as long as the encapsulation layer 3 on the inner annular surface of the target rib can be removed, and there is no special limitation on whether the encapsulation layer 3 exists in the region where the substrate 100 is located in the through hole 001 and the region where the sidewall of the through hole 001 is located between the substrate 100 and the target rib, and the encapsulation layers 3 in the two regions can be completely removed, so that the region of the substrate 100 and the flexible substrate 1 corresponding to the through hole 001 is exposed, and can also remain, but the encapsulation layer 3 on the side of the target rib away from the substrate 100 is not pulled.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of ribs 002 is plural, and the target rib may be the rib 002 closest to the substrate 100 in a direction perpendicular to the substrate 100; the encapsulation layer 3 on the side of the target rib 002 away from the substrate 100 is covered by the photoresist layer 200, so that the loss of the encapsulation layer 3 is reduced, and the influence on the encapsulation effect is reduced to the greatest extent. Of course, in other embodiments of the present disclosure, the target rib may be any rib 002 located on the side of the rib 002 closest to the substrate 100 away from the substrate 100, that is, the target rib is close to the side of the substrate 100, and other ribs 002 may be present, but the encapsulation layer 3 on the rib 002 on the side of the target rib close to the substrate 100 may be completely removed or partially removed.

And step S1430, removing the photoresist layer.

As shown in fig. 4, the process of removing the photoresist layer 200 is not limited in particular, and the photoresist may be removed by a wet method or a dry method, as long as the photoresist layer 200 is removed and the film layer covered by the photoresist layer 200 is exposed.

In step S150, the base plate is peeled off from the flexible substrate.

As shown in fig. 4, the substrate 100 is peeled off from the flexible substrate 1 to obtain a display panel, and the specific process of peeling is not particularly limited herein. Since the encapsulation layer 3 is broken at the inner annular surface of the at least one rib 002, the encapsulation layer 3 is prevented from being excessively torn due to the pulling of the substrate 100, so that the encapsulation fails.

When the substrate 100 is peeled off, the film layer on the region of the substrate 100 located in the through hole 001, for example, the light emitting layer 25, the second electrode layer 26 and the encapsulation layer 3 located in the region, may be carried away with the substrate 100; the encapsulation layer 3 on the region between the target rib and the substrate 100 of the sidewall of the through hole 001 may be partially or completely removed by the pulling of the substrate 100.

It should be noted that although the various steps of the methods of the present disclosure are depicted in the drawings in a particular order, this does not require or imply that these steps must be performed in this particular order, or that all of the depicted steps must be performed, to achieve desirable results. Additionally or alternatively, certain steps may be omitted, multiple steps combined into one step execution, and/or one step broken down into multiple step executions, etc.

The disclosed embodiments also provide a display panel, which may be an OLED display panel, as shown in fig. 3 and 4, and may include a flexible substrate 1, a display layer 2, and an encapsulation layer 3, wherein:

the display layer 2 is arranged on one side of the flexible substrate 1 and is provided with a through hole 001 penetrating through the flexible substrate 1; the region of the sidewall of the through-hole 001 inside the flexible substrate 1 has at least one annular rib 002;

the packaging layer 3 covers the surface of the display layer 2 away from the flexible substrate 1, and the packaging layer 3 covers the side wall of the through hole 001 and exposes the inner annular surface of the at least one rib 002.

Details and advantageous effects of each part of the display panel according to the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail in the embodiments of the manufacturing method, and specific reference may be made to any embodiment of the manufacturing method above, which is not described herein again.

In the above-described embodiment of the manufacturing method, the features of the rib 002, the buffer layer 102, and the like are limited with respect to the substrate 100, but the features of the rib 002, the buffer layer 102, and the like can be limited with respect to the display layer 2 only by the way of description since the substrate 100 is already peeled off in the display panel. For example: of the two adjacent ribs 002, the rib 002 farther from the substrate 100 is the rib 002 closer to the display layer 2; the buffer layer 102 is located on a surface of the flexible base layer 101 facing away from the substrate 100, that is, the buffer layer 102 is located on a surface of the flexible base layer 101 close to the display layer 2.

Embodiments of the present disclosure also provide a display device including the display panel of any of the above embodiments. For the specific structure and the beneficial effects of the display panel, reference may be made to the above manufacturing method and the implementation of the display panel, which are not described herein again. The display device can be used for electronic equipment such as mobile phones, tablet computers, televisions and the like.

Other embodiments of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the disclosure disclosed herein. This application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the disclosure following, in general, the principles of the disclosure and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the disclosure pertains. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims.

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing a display panel, comprising:

forming a flexible substrate on a substrate;

and peeling the base plate and the flexible substrate.

2. The method of manufacturing of claim 1, wherein removing the area of the encapsulation layer corresponding to the inner annular surface of the at least one fin comprises:

and removing the photoresist layer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the number of the ribs is plural, and the target rib is one of the ribs closest to the substrate.

4. The method of manufacturing according to claim 1, wherein forming an encapsulation layer covering the display layer comprises:

5. The manufacturing method according to claim 4, wherein the display layer includes a plurality of pixel islands and a spacer region separating the pixel islands, the pixel islands have a light-emitting region and a transition region surrounding the display region, and the via hole is located in the spacer region;

a through hole exposing the substrate is formed in the area of the driving layer corresponding to the spacing area; the region of the side wall of the through hole, which is positioned in the flexible substrate, is provided with at least one annular convex rib;

forming a second electrode layer covering the light emitting layer;

the first inorganic layer covers the second electrode.

6. The manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein forming a display layer on a side of the flexible substrate facing away from the base substrate further comprises:

forming an annular blocking dam around the light emitting region in a region corresponding to the transition region on the surface of the driving layer facing away from the flexible substrate;

the first inorganic layer covers the second electrode and the barrier dam, and the organic layer is confined in an annular region surrounded by the barrier dam.

7. The manufacturing method according to claim 5, wherein the number of the ribs is plural and is distributed at intervals in a direction perpendicular to the substrate;

the orthographic projection of the inner ring surface of the convex rib closest to the substrate on the substrate is superposed with the edge of the light emitting layer in the through hole;

8. The method of manufacturing according to claim 6, wherein forming the flexible substrate on a substrate comprises:

9. A display panel, comprising:

a flexible substrate;

10. The display panel according to claim 9, wherein the encapsulation layer comprises:

11. The display panel according to claim 10, wherein the display layer comprises a plurality of pixel islands and a spacer region separating the pixel islands, the pixel islands having a light emitting region and a transition region surrounding the display region;

the display layer includes:

a second electrode layer covering the light emitting layer;

the first inorganic layer covers the second electrode.

12. The display panel of claim 11, wherein the display layer further comprises:

13. The display panel according to claim 9, wherein the ribs are plural in number and spaced apart in a direction perpendicular to the flexible substrate;

14. The display panel according to claim 12, wherein the flexible substrate comprises:

15. A display device characterized by comprising the display panel according to any one of claims 9 to 14.