CN112489586A

CN112489586A - Electronic device

Info

Publication number: CN112489586A
Application number: CN202010639181.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 罗闵馨; 廖宏昇
Original assignee: Innolux Corp
Current assignee: Innolux Corp
Priority date: 2019-09-12
Filing date: 2020-07-06
Publication date: 2021-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 2040-07-06
Also published as: CN112489586B

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes a light emitting pixel including a light emitting unit, a driving transistor, and a storage capacitor. The driving transistor is used to control a driving current through the light emitting unit. The storage capacitor is electrically connected with the driving transistor and comprises a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are electrically isolated from each other. The first conductive layer includes a plurality of first main portions connected by at least one first connection portion, and the second conductive layer includes a plurality of second main portions connected by at least one second connection portion. In a top view of the light emitting pixel, one of the first main portions overlaps one of the second main portions. The light-emitting pixel of the embodiment of the disclosure has better yield.

Description

Electronic device

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices, and particularly to a light-emitting pixel structure of a panel in an electronic device.

Background

As the applications of electronic devices continue to expand, the related art of panels disposed in electronic devices is also continuously improving, wherein the yield of light-emitting pixels in the panels is always an important consideration.

Disclosure of Invention

The present disclosure provides a light-emitting pixel in an electronic device with better yield.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a light emitting pixel of an electronic device includes a light emitting unit, a driving transistor, and a storage capacitor. The driving transistor is used to control a driving current through the light emitting unit. The storage capacitor is electrically connected with the driving transistor and comprises a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer. The first conductive layer and the second conductive layer are electrically isolated from each other. The first conductive layer includes a plurality of first main portions connected by at least one first connection portion, and the second conductive layer includes a plurality of second main portions connected by at least one second connection portion. In a top view of the light emitting pixel, one of the first main portions overlaps one of the second main portions.

In order to make the aforementioned and other features and advantages of the disclosure more comprehensible, embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a light emitting pixel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a first conductive layer of the storage capacitor of FIG. 2 in a top view of a light emitting pixel;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a second conductive layer of the storage capacitor of FIG. 2 in a top view of a light emitting pixel;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the storage capacitor of FIG. 2 in a top view of a light emitting pixel;

FIGS. 6-8 schematically illustrate repair of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a schematic layout diagram of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a layout diagram of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Description of the reference numerals

100: a light emitting pixel;

110: a light emitting unit;

120: a drive transistor;

122: a first end;

124: a second end;

126: a third end;

130. 130': a storage capacitor;

130A: a capacitance section;

132. 132': a first conductive layer;

132C, 132 CX: a first connecting portion;

132M, 132 MX: a first main portion;

132G: a first pitch;

134. 134': a second conductive layer;

134M, 134 MX: a second main portion;

134C, 134 CX: a second connecting portion;

134G: a second pitch;

140: a switching transistor;

142: a first end;

144: a second end;

146: a third end;

CL 1: a first connecting line;

CL 2: a second connecting line;

CM: a damaged part;

DL: a data line;

EA: an electrode;

EB: an electrode;

SL 1: a first signal line;

SL 2: a second signal line;

vdd: a power source;

x, Y, Z: a shaft.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

The term "a structure (or a layer, a component, a substrate) on/above another structure (or a layer, a component, a substrate) as used in the present disclosure may mean that two structures are adjacent and directly connected, or may mean that two structures are adjacent and not directly connected, and the indirectly connected structure means that at least one intermediate structure (or an intermediate layer, an intermediate component, an intermediate substrate, an intermediate space) is disposed between the two structures, the lower surface of one structure is adjacent or directly connected to the upper surface of the intermediate structure, the upper surface of the other structure is adjacent or directly connected to the lower surface of the intermediate structure, and the intermediate structure may be a single-layer or multi-layer solid structure or a non-solid structure, without limitation. In the present disclosure, when a structure is disposed "on" another structure, it may be directly on the other structure or indirectly on the other structure, that is, at least one structure is sandwiched between the other structure and the certain structure.

The electrical connection or coupling described in the present disclosure may refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection, in which case, the terminals of the two circuit components are directly connected or connected with each other by a conductor segment, and in which case, the terminals of the two circuit components have a switch, a diode, a capacitor, an inductor, a resistor, other suitable components, or a combination of the above components, but is not limited thereto.

It is to be understood that the following illustrative embodiments may be implemented by replacing, recombining, and mixing features of several different embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Features of the various embodiments may be combined and matched as desired, without departing from the spirit or ambit of the invention.

Fig. 1 is a circuit diagram of a light-emitting pixel of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In fig. 1, the light emitting pixel 100 can be applied to any electronic device that needs to emit light to achieve a desired function. The electronic device may include a display device, an antenna device, a sensing device, or a tile device, but is not limited thereto. In addition, the electronic device can also be a bendable or flexible electronic device. Examples of the electronic device include, but are not limited to, a Light Emitting Diode (LED); the light emitting diode may include, for example, an Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED), a sub-millimeter light emitting diode (mini LED), a micro light emitting diode (micro LED), or a quantum dot light emitting diode (QLED or QDLED), or may include a fluorescent material (fluorescent material), a phosphorescent material (phosphor), other suitable materials, or any combination thereof, but is not limited thereto. The antenna device may be, for example, a liquid crystal antenna, but is not limited thereto. The splicing device may be, for example, a display splicing device or an antenna splicing device, but is not limited thereto. It should be noted that the electronic device can be any permutation and combination of the foregoing, but not limited thereto.

The light emitting pixel 100 includes a light emitting unit 110, a driving transistor 120, and a storage capacitor 130. The driving transistor 120 is used to control whether the light emitting unit 110 can be electrically connected to the power supply Vdd, in other words, the driving transistor 120 is used to control a driving current through the light emitting unit 110. The storage capacitor 130 is electrically connected to the driving transistor 120. In some embodiments, the driving transistor 120 is, for example, a three-terminal device, wherein the storage capacitor 130 is electrically connected between the first terminal 122 and the second terminal 124 of the driving transistor 120, the second terminal 124 of the driving transistor 120 is electrically connected to the power Vdd, and the light emitting unit 110 is electrically connected to the third terminal 126 of the driving transistor 120. When the signal received by the first terminal 122 of the driving transistor 120 is an on signal, the second terminal 124 and the third terminal 126 of the driving transistor 120 are conductive, thereby allowing the light emitting unit 110 to be electrically connected to the power Vdd to emit light. In some embodiments, the light emitting unit 110 may be a light emitting diode, such as, but not limited to, the types of light emitting diodes described above.

In the present embodiment, the storage capacitor 130 may include a plurality of capacitor portions 130A, and the capacitor portions 130A include an electrode EA and an electrode EB. The electrode EA and the electrode EB can be arranged oppositely, and a dielectric layer is arranged between the electrode EA and the electrode EB to form a capacitor structure. The electrode EA of the capacitance part 130A may be electrically connected to the first terminal 122 of the driving transistor 120, and the electrode EB of the capacitance part 130A may be electrically connected to the second terminal 124 of the driving transistor. In addition, the light emitting pixel 100 may further include a switching transistor 140, and the electrode EA of the capacitor portion 130A is electrically connected between the switching transistor 140 and the driving transistor 120, for example, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The first terminal 142 of the switching transistor 140 can be used for receiving the scan signal, the second terminal 144 of the switching transistor 140 can be electrically connected to the data line DL, and the third terminal 146 of the switching transistor 140 can be electrically connected to the first terminal 122 of the driving transistor 120. In this way, the switching transistor 140 can be used to control whether the first terminal 122 of the driving transistor 120 receives the data signal from the data line DL.

In some embodiments, the operation of light emitting pixel 100 may include a scan phase and a light emitting phase. In the scan phase, the first terminal 142 of the switching transistor 140 can be inputted with a scan signal to turn on the switching transistor 140. At this time, the data signal on the data line DL can be transmitted to the first terminal 122 of the driving transistor 120 through the turned-on switching transistor 140. In the light emitting stage, the driving transistor 120 may be turned on after the first end 122 thereof receives the data signal to allow the light emitting unit 110 to be electrically connected to the power Vdd, and the light emitting unit 110 emits light due to the passing of the driving current. In addition, the storage capacitor 130 can maintain the voltage at the first end 122 of the driving transistor 120, so that the light emitting unit 110 can stably emit light. The above-mentioned light emitting operation is only for illustration purpose, and the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the associated circuit elements for controlling the operation of the driving transistor 120 may include more transistors, more capacitors, or other circuit elements.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The structure of the storage capacitor of fig. 2 can be regarded as an embodiment of the storage capacitor in the light emitting pixel of fig. 1, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In fig. 2, the storage capacitor 130 includes a first conductive layer 132 and a second conductive layer 134, and the first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 are electrically isolated from each other. In some embodiments, one or more insulating layers may be disposed between the first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 to ensure that the first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 are electrically isolated from each other. The first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 are patterned to define a plurality of capacitor portions 130A. For example, the first conductive layer 132 may include a plurality of first main portions 132M connected by at least one first connection portion 132C, and the second conductive layer 134 may include a plurality of second main portions 134M connected by at least one second connection portion 134C. One first main portion 132M and one of the second main portions 134M constitute one capacitive portion 130A.

The first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 are, for example, conductive layers distributed in an X-Y plane, and the first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 are spaced apart from each other in a Z-axis. The plurality of first main portions 132M in the first conductive layer 132 are arranged in a 2X 4 array, for example, in parallel in the X-Y plane, and the plurality of second main portions 134M in the second conductive layer 134 are arranged in a 2X 4 array, for example, in parallel in the X-Y plane. However, in the present disclosure, the shape, number and arrangement of the first main portion 132M and the second main portion 134M are not limited thereto. In a top view of the emissive pixel, i.e., viewing the emissive pixel along the Z-axis, one of the first plurality of main portions 132M may overlap one of the second plurality of main portions 134M. In other words, one first main portion 132M and one second main portion 134M may be disposed in pair (overlapped with each other) to constitute one capacitor portion 130A, and the first main portion 132M may be regarded as one of the electrode EA and the electrode EB in fig. 1, and the second main portion 134M may be regarded as the other of the electrode EA and the electrode EB in fig. 1. In fig. 2, the capacitor portion 130A is indicated only at the corners for clarity of the drawing, but in practice, a set of paired first main portion 132M and second main portion 134M may constitute one capacitor portion 130A. Taking the structure of fig. 2 as an example, fig. 2 shows, for example, eight pairs of the first main portion 132M and the second main portion 134M, so that eight capacitor portions 130A can be formed. However, the number of the capacitor portions 130A that can be formed by the first conductive layer 132 and the second conductive layer 134 may vary according to different structural designs, and the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the first conductive layer 132 of the storage capacitor of fig. 2 in a top view of a light-emitting pixel. Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 3, the first conductive layer 132 includes a plurality of first main portions 132M connected by at least one first connection portion 132C. In the present embodiment, each of the first main portions 132M has a substantially rectangular pattern in a top view of the light emitting pixel, i.e., viewed along the Z-axis direction, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality of first main portions 132M are arrayed on the plane of the X-Y axis, and adjacent ones of the first main portions 132M are spaced apart by a first pitch 132G. The first connection portions 132C may be disposed in the first pitch 132G, and adjacent two of the first main portions 132M are connected by at least one of the first connection portions 132C. Each first main portion 132M may be connected to an adjacent first main portion 132M in the X-axis direction and may also be connected to an adjacent first main portion 132M in the Y-axis direction. As such, the first connection portion 132C may electrically connect the plurality of first main portions 132M to each other. In addition, the first main portion 132M and the first connection portion 132C may be obtained by patterning a same conductive material layer, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the second conductive layer 134 of the storage capacitor of fig. 2 in a top view of a light-emitting pixel. Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 4, the second conductive layer 134 includes a plurality of second main portions 134M connected by at least one second connection portion 134C. In the present embodiment, each of the second main portions 134M has a substantially rectangular pattern in a top view of the light emitting pixel, i.e., viewed along the Z-axis direction, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. The plurality of second main portions 134M are arrayed on the plane of the X-Y axis, and adjacent two of the second main portions 134M are spaced apart by a second pitch 134G. The second connection portions 134C may be disposed in the second pitch 134G, and adjacent two of the second main portions 134M are connected by at least one of the second connection portions 134C. Each of the second main portions 134M may be connected to an adjacent second main portion 134M in the X-axis direction and may also be connected to an adjacent second main portion 134M in the Y-axis direction. As such, the second connection portion 134C may electrically connect the plurality of second main portions 134M to each other. In addition, the second main portion 134M and the second connection portion 134C may be obtained by patterning the same conductive material layer, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the storage capacitor 130 of fig. 2 in a top view of a light-emitting pixel. Referring to fig. 2 and 5, in the present embodiment, the first conductive layer 132 may be located below the second conductive layer 134, and the second conductive layer 134 may be closer to a user than the first conductive layer 132. In this way, the top view of the light-emitting pixel is viewed from the second conductive layer 134 to the first conductive layer 132 along the Z-axis direction. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, in a top view of the light emitting pixel, an area of the first main portion 132M of the underlying first conductive layer 132 may be larger than an area of the second main portion 134M of the second conductive layer 134. As such, the second main portion 134M can be fabricated on the larger area of the first main portion 132M, which makes the second main portion 134M substantially flat and provides more uniform capacitive coupling. However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the area of the first main portion 132M of the first conductive layer 132 may be equal to or smaller than the second main portion 134M of the second conductive layer 134 according to design requirements.

In a top view of the light emitting pixel, the first connection portion 132C may not overlap with any of the second connection portions 134C. As such, the first connection portion 132C may be exposed in a top view of the light emitting pixel. If the bottom view of the light-emitting pixel (for example, the light-emitting pixel is viewed from the first conductive layer 132 located below to the second conductive layer 134 along the Z-axis), the second connection portion 134C may be exposed in the bottom view of the light-emitting pixel. Specifically, when the light emitting pixel is viewed in the Z-axis direction, the first connection portion 132C and the second connection portion 134C may be staggered from each other without overlapping, which facilitates the repair of the storage capacitor 130.

Fig. 6 to 8 schematically illustrate the repair of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 6, there may be a defect CM located in the area of at least one first main portion 132M (e.g., first main portion 132MX) of first conductive layer 132 from the step of fabricating first conductive layer 132 to the step of fabricating second conductive layer 134. It should be noted that in the present disclosure, the damaged portion CM may be an abnormal material accumulation, a short abnormal material, a foreign particle, or a hole due to an etching process, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Such damage CM may cause a capacitor failure, such as an unwanted short circuit, by electrically connecting the first main portion 132MX and the subsequently formed second conductive layer 134 to each other. Therefore, if a damaged portion CM is found during the manufacturing process, the first conductive layer 132 may be repaired. In some embodiments, the repairing on the first conductive layer 132 may include disconnecting the first connection portion 132CX connected to the first main portion 132 MX. For example, the disconnection method includes performing laser cutting, mechanical cutting, etc. on the corresponding first connection portion 132 CX. After the corresponding first connection 132CX is disconnected, the first main portion 132MX having the damaged portion CM is not connected to the other first main portions 132M.

Next, as shown in fig. 7, after the second conductive layer 134 is formed on the repaired first conductive layer 132', the second main portion 134MX corresponding to the first main portion 132MX may be electrically connected to the first main portion 132MX through the damaged portion CM. Therefore, repair can be performed also on the second conductive layer 134. For example, the second connection portion 134CX corresponding to the second main portion 134MX of the first main portion 132MX may be disconnected by laser cutting, mechanical cutting, or the like, so that the second connection portion 134CX connected to the second main portion 134MX is disconnected. As such, the second main portion 134MX is not linked to other second main portions 134M. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the second linking moiety 134CX corresponding to the second main moiety 134MX is selectively not broken.

In fig. 8, the repaired storage capacitor 130' may include a repaired first conductive layer 132' and a repaired second conductive layer 134 '. The first conductive layer 132 'may include a plurality of first main portions 132M connected together and first main portions 132MX separated by repair, and the second conductive layer 134' may include a plurality of second main portions 134M connected together and second main portions 134MX separated by repair. In this way, the first main portion 132M and the second main portion 134M can still provide the capacitance function of the storage capacitor 130'. Therefore, the portion of the damage CM generated in the manufacturing process can be isolated without affecting the function of the storage capacitor 130'. In other words, the pixels with the storage capacitor 130' are not failed due to the existence of the failure portion CM, thereby increasing the yield of the pixels. In addition, although the disclosure is not limited thereto, fig. 6 to 8 schematically show a situation where the damage CM occurs on one of the first main portions 132 MX. In other possible embodiments, the damaged CM may occur on more than one first main portion 132M, and the repair may be performed for both the first main portion 132M and/or the corresponding second main portion 134M at the damaged CM. In addition, the damaged portion CM may be generated during the manufacturing of the first conductive layer 132', or may be generated during the manufacturing of the insulating layer between the first conductive layer 132' and the second conductive layer 134 '.

Fig. 9 is a layout diagram of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In fig. 9, the structure of the storage capacitor 130 may refer to the description of the foregoing embodiment without being repeated. The storage capacitor 130 may include a first conductive layer 132 and a second conductive layer 134. The first main portions 132M of the first conductive layer 132 are arranged in a 2 × 4 array, and the second main portions 134M of the second conductive layer 134 are also arranged in a 2 × 4 array, for example, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In fig. 9, the first conductive layer 132 may be connected to the first signal line SL1 and the second conductive layer 134 may be connected to the second signal line SL 2. The first conductive layers 132 of one of the rows are respectively connected to the first signal line SL1 through a plurality of first connection lines CL1, and the second conductive layers 134 of one of the rows are respectively connected to the second signal line SL2 through a plurality of second connection lines CL 2. In the storage capacitor 130 and the wiring shown in fig. 9, one of the first signal line SL1 and the second signal line SL2 may be a trace connected to the power supply Vdd in the light-emitting pixel 100 shown in fig. 1, and the other may be a trace connected to the first end 122 of the driving transistor 120 in the light-emitting pixel 100 shown in fig. 1. In the embodiment, the first conductive layer 132 may be connected to the first signal line SL1 by a plurality of first connection lines CL1, and the second conductive layer 134 may be connected to the second signal line SL2 by a plurality of second connection lines CL2, which increases a signal transmission path of the storage capacitor 130 to help ensure signal transmission of the storage capacitor 130. However, in other embodiments, the storage capacitor 130 may be routed differently, taking into account different factors.

Fig. 10 is a layout diagram of a storage capacitor according to an embodiment of the disclosure. In fig. 10, the structure of the storage capacitor may refer to the description of the foregoing embodiment without being repeated. The storage capacitor 130 may include a first conductive layer 132 and a second conductive layer 134, and the first conductive layer 132 is connected to the first signal line SL1 through a first connection line CL1 and the second conductive layer 134 is connected to the second signal line SL2 through a second connection line CL 2. One of the first signal line SL1 and the second signal line SL2 may be a trace connected to the power supply Vdd in the light emitting pixel 100 of fig. 1, and the other may be a trace connected to the first end 122 of the driving transistor 120 in the light emitting pixel 100 of fig. 1. In the present embodiment, the number of the first connection lines CL1 and the number of the second connection lines CL2 may be respectively 1, which helps to simplify the circuit layout of the storage capacitor 130 and make the circuit design of the light emitting pixels more flexible, but it should be noted that, in fig. 9 and fig. 10, the number of the first connection lines CL1 is the same as that of the second connection lines CL2, but the disclosure is not limited thereto, and in some embodiments, the number of the first connection lines CL1 and the second connection lines CL2 or the circuit layout manner may be different.

In summary, in the light emitting pixel of the embodiment of the disclosure, the conductive layer of the storage capacitor includes a plurality of main portions connected by the connecting portion, and the connecting portions of the conductive layers of different layers do not overlap each other in the top view or the bottom view. When needed, the storage capacitor can be easily repaired, thereby being beneficial to improving the yield of the luminous pixel.

Finally, it should be noted that: the above embodiments are only used for illustrating the technical solutions of the present disclosure, and not for limiting the same; while the present disclosure has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that: the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments may still be modified, or some or all of the technical features may be equivalently replaced; such modifications and substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An electronic device comprising a light-emitting pixel, wherein the light-emitting pixel comprises:

a light emitting unit;

a driving transistor for controlling a driving current through the light emitting unit; and

a storage capacitor electrically connected to the driving transistor and including a first conductive layer and a second conductive layer electrically isolated from each other, the first conductive layer including a plurality of first main portions connected by at least one first connection portion, the second conductive layer including a plurality of second main portions connected by at least one second connection portion;

wherein in a top view of the light emitting pixel, one of the plurality of first main portions overlaps one of the plurality of second main portions.

2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one first connection portion does not overlap any of the at least one second connection portion in the top view of the light-emitting pixel.

3. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the first conductive layer underlies the second conductive layer and wherein the at least one first connection portion is exposed in the top view of the light emitting pixel.

4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the first conductive layer is positioned below the second conductive layer and wherein the at least one second connection portion is exposed in a bottom view of the light emitting pixel.

5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein adjacent two of the first main portions are connected by at least one of the at least one first connecting portion.

6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein adjacent two of the plurality of second main portions are connected by at least one of the at least one second connecting portion.

7. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein adjacent ones of the first plurality of main portions are separated by a gap.

8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein adjacent ones of the plurality of second main portions are separated by a gap.

9. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein one of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is electrically connected to a first end of the driving transistor, the other of the first conductive layer and the second conductive layer is electrically connected to a second end of the driving transistor, and the light emitting unit is electrically connected to a third end of the driving transistor.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the second terminal of the driving transistor is electrically connected to a power supply.