CN113838994B

CN113838994B - Display panel, flexible display screen, electronic equipment and preparation method of display panel

Info

Publication number: CN113838994B
Application number: CN202110930115.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 魏山山; 龙浩晖; 方建平
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-11-29
Filing date: 2019-11-29
Publication date: 2022-07-22
Anticipated expiration: 2039-11-29
Also published as: CN112885870A; JP2023503668A; WO2021103979A1; JP7416940B2; KR20220105665A; CN113838994A

Abstract

The application provides a display panel, a flexible display screen, electronic equipment and a preparation method of the display panel. The display panel comprises a substrate, a thin film transistor layer, a pixel definition layer, at least two packaging structures and at least two pixel units, wherein the at least two packaging structures package the at least two pixel units. Superposing the substrate, the thin film transistor layer and the pixel defining layer; the pixel definition layer is provided with a pixel area and a side packaging area which is arranged around the pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure; the OLED light-emitting device of the pixel unit is arranged in the pixel area; the first packaging layer of the packaging structure is arranged on one side, close to the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device; the second packaging layer of the packaging structure is arranged on one side, far away from the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device and is in sealing contact with the first packaging layer in the side packaging area. The pixel units are packaged by the at least two packaging structures, so that the packaging structures can be prevented from cracking in the bending process, and the water and oxygen isolation effect is achieved.

Description

Display panel, flexible display screen, electronic equipment and preparation method of display panel

Technical Field

The application relates to the technical field of display, in particular to a display panel, a flexible display screen, electronic equipment and a preparation method of the display panel.

Background

An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display device has been classified as a next generation display technology with great development prospect due to its advantages of being thin, light, wide in viewing angle, active in light emission, continuously adjustable in light emission color, low in cost, fast in response speed, low in energy consumption, low in driving voltage, wide in working temperature range, simple in production process, high in light-emitting efficiency, capable of flexibly displaying, and the like.

The components such as moisture and oxygen in the air have a great influence on the lifetime of the OLED light emitting device in the OLED display device because: when the OLED light-emitting device works, electrons need to be injected from the cathode, the lower the work function of the cathode is, the better the work function of the cathode is, but the cathode is usually made of metal materials such as aluminum, magnesium, calcium and the like, has more active chemical properties and is very easy to react with water vapor and oxygen which permeate in. In addition, moisture and oxygen can chemically react with the hole transport layer and the electron transport layer of the OLED light emitting device, which can cause the OLED light emitting device to fail. Therefore, strict water-oxygen sealing encapsulation needs to be performed on the OLED light-emitting device, so that each functional layer of the OLED light-emitting device is sufficiently separated from components such as water vapor and oxygen in the atmosphere, the service life of the OLED light-emitting device is greatly prolonged, and the service life of the OLED display device is prolonged.

At present, when a display panel of an OLED display device is manufactured, a TFE (thin film encapsulation) technology is generally used for encapsulation. The display panel adopting TFE for whole-surface packaging is easy to generate cracks when being subjected to pressure or impact, so that water vapor and oxygen can enter a cathode (cathode material is MgAl generally) and other evaporation layers of an OLED light-emitting device along the cracks, the cathode loses an electrode function, in addition, the luminous efficiency of a luminous layer of the OLED light-emitting device is gradually reduced until the luminous device cannot emit light, the phenomenon of black spots or black spots is presented, and the display effect of the OLED display device is influenced.

Disclosure of Invention

The technical scheme of the application provides a display panel, a flexible display screen, an electronic device and a preparation method of the display panel, so as to improve the packaging characteristic of the display panel.

In a first aspect, the present application provides a display panel, which includes a substrate as a substrate, and a thin film transistor layer, a pixel definition layer, at least two package structures and at least two pixel units disposed on the substrate, where the at least two package structures are used for packaging the at least two pixel units. The thin film transistor layer is arranged on the substrate, the pixel definition layer is arranged on the thin film transistor layer and provided with a pixel area and a side packaging area, the side packaging area is arranged around a pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure, and the pixel area and the side packaging area are through holes arranged on the pixel definition layer. A part or all of the OLED light emitting device of the pixel unit may be disposed at the pixel region.

When the package structure is specifically arranged, the package structure comprises a first package layer and a second package layer. The first packaging layer is arranged on one side, close to the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device, and is exposed from the side packaging area; the second packaging layer is arranged on one side, far away from the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device and can pass through the side packaging area to be in sealing contact with the first packaging layer at the side packaging area. At least two pixel units are packaged by applying at least two packaging structures, so that a large packaging layer can be prevented from being formed on the display panel, and the problem that water and oxygen penetrate due to cracking of the packaging layer under the conditions of bending, curling, free deformation and the like of the flexible display screen comprising the display panel can be effectively solved.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, the number of the encapsulation structures may be the same as the number of the pixel units, and each encapsulation structure is used for encapsulating one pixel unit, so as to implement independent encapsulation of each pixel unit, which is beneficial to improving the bending characteristic of the display panel.

In addition, the first encapsulation layer may be a single-layer structure formed by inorganic material layers, or a multi-layer structure formed by alternately stacking inorganic material layers and organic material layers; the second encapsulation layer may be, but not limited to, a single layer structure formed of inorganic material layers, or a multi-layer structure formed of inorganic material layers and organic material layers alternately stacked. Wherein, the inorganic material layer can be formed by silicon dioxide, silicon nitride or aluminum oxide and the like, so as to form better barrier effect on water and oxygen.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, the display panel may further include a metal line, and the metal line may be disposed on a side of the pixel defining layer away from the substrate; or the metal wire is arranged on the first packaging layer; or the metal wire is arranged on the layer structure of the substrate. The cathodes of the OLED light emitting devices may be connected to the metal lines to associate the OLED light emitting devices with each other, thereby facilitating control of display of the entire display panel.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, a support pillar is further disposed on a side of the pixel definition layer away from the substrate, and the support pillar can effectively prevent a vapor deposition mask plate used for vapor deposition formation of each functional layer of the OLED light-emitting device from contacting the display panel in a process of vapor deposition formation of the OLED light-emitting device, so as to improve a product yield of the display panel.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, a planarization layer may be further disposed on a side of the second encapsulation layer away from the thin-film transistor layer. Through setting up the planarization layer, can provide smooth machined surface for follow-up process, in addition, the planarization layer also can cover the foreign matter, avoids the foreign matter to pierce through other retes that set up on the planarization layer.

In addition, a third packaging layer can be arranged on the planarization layer, and the third packaging layer is of a whole surface structure capable of covering at least two packaging structures, so that the water and oxygen blocking packaging effect of the display panel is improved. The third encapsulation layer may be a single layer structure formed by inorganic material layers or a multi-layer structure formed by alternately stacking inorganic material layers and organic material layers.

In a second aspect, the present technical solution also provides a flexible display screen, which may include a protective cover plate, a polarizer, a touch panel, and the display panel according to the first aspect, wherein: the polaroid is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the touch panel is arranged between the polaroid and the display panel; or, the touch panel is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the polarizer is arranged between the touch panel and the display panel. In addition, a heat dissipation layer can be arranged on one side of the display panel far away from the touch panel, and a protection layer is arranged on the heat dissipation layer.

Because two at least pixel units of this flexible display screen's display panel are capsulated by two at least packaging structure, can avoid forming the massive encapsulated layer on display panel like this to can effectually avoid this flexible display screen under scenes such as buckling, curling, free deformation, the problem that the water oxygen that the encapsulated layer fracture leads to sees through, thereby improve flexible display screen's demonstration inefficacy problem.

In a third aspect, the present technical solution also provides an electronic device, which includes a middle frame, a rear shell, a printed circuit board, and the flexible display screen according to the second aspect, wherein: the middle frame is used for bearing the printed circuit board and the flexible display screen, and the printed circuit board and the flexible display screen are positioned on two sides of the middle frame; and the rear shell is positioned on one side of the printed circuit board, which is far away from the middle frame.

The utility model provides an electronic equipment's flexible display screen has better characteristic of buckling, and folding or the in-process of buckling at this flexible display screen, the risk of flexible display screen's display panel's encapsulated layer fracture is less to can avoid water oxygen to see through the problem that electronic equipment's flexible display screen display became invalid that the encapsulated layer leads to.

In a fourth aspect, the present application further provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, where the display panel includes a substrate, a thin film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer, at least two package structures and at least two pixel units, the at least two package structures are used to package the at least two pixel units, each package structure includes a first package layer and a second package layer, each pixel unit includes an OLED light emitting device, and the method includes:

preparing a substrate;

forming a thin film transistor layer on the substrate, and forming a first through hole in the thin film transistor layer, wherein the first through hole extends to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor layer;

forming a whole first packaging structure layer on the thin film transistor layer, and patterning the whole first packaging structure layer into a plurality of independent first packaging layers;

forming a pixel defining layer, and carrying out patterning treatment on the pixel defining layer to form a pixel area and a side packaging area on each first packaging layer, wherein the side packaging area is used for exposing the first packaging layers;

forming an OLED light-emitting device in the pixel area, wherein the OLED light-emitting device is connected with the drain electrode through the first through hole;

and forming a whole second packaging structure layer corresponding to the thin film transistor layer on one side of the OLED light-emitting device far away from the thin film transistor layer, patterning the whole second packaging structure layer into a plurality of independent second packaging layers, and enabling the second packaging layers to be in sealing contact with the first packaging layers in a side packaging area.

In aIn a possible implementation manner, the specific step of forming the first encapsulation layer includes: deposition of SiO on thin-film transistor layers₂SiNx or Al₂O₃Forming a full-face first package structure layer; and patterning the whole first packaging structure layer to obtain at least two first packaging layers, wherein the patterning comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

In one possible implementation, before forming the pixel definition layer, the method further includes: and forming an anode on the first packaging layer, wherein the anode is connected with the drain through a first through hole. Wherein the specific steps of forming the anode include: sequentially depositing ITO, Ag and ITO on the first packaging layer to form an anode material layer; and subjecting the anode material layer to patterning treatment to obtain the anode, wherein the patterning treatment comprises one or more of coating, exposure, development, etching or stripping.

In addition, after the forming of the pixel defining layer and before the forming of the OLED light emitting device, the method may further include: and forming a support pillar on the pixel definition layer.

In one possible implementation manner, in order to associate the OLED light emitting devices with each other, so as to facilitate the display control of the entire display panel, a metal line may be further formed on the pixel defining layer, and the cathode of the OLED light emitting device is connected to the metal line. In addition, the metal lines may also be formed on the first encapsulation layer or on the layer structure of the thin-film transistor layer. The method for forming the metal wire comprises the following specific steps: after forming the pixel defining layer, sequentially depositing Ti, Al and Ti to form a metal layer; and subjecting the metal layer to patterning treatment to obtain the metal wire, wherein the patterning treatment comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

In a possible implementation manner, the specific step of forming the second encapsulation layer includes: depositing SiO on the pixel defining layer and the OLED light-emitting device₂SiNx or Al₂O₃To form a full-face second package structure layer; bonding the whole second packageAnd patterning the structural layer to obtain at least two second packaging layers, wherein the patterning process comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

After forming the second encapsulation layer, a planarization layer may also be formed on the second encapsulation layer to provide a planar surface for subsequent processing of the layer structure. In addition, the planarization layer can also cover foreign matters, so that the foreign matters are prevented from penetrating through other film layers arranged on the planarization layer.

In a possible implementation manner, the manufacturing method may further include forming a third encapsulation layer on the planarization layer, where the third encapsulation layer covers the plurality of encapsulation units. So as to form a whole surface packaging layer on the display panel, thereby improving the water and oxygen barrier effect of the display panel.

In a fifth aspect, the present technical solution further provides a display panel, where the display panel includes a substrate as a substrate, a thin film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer, at least two package structures, and at least two pixel units, and the at least two package structures may be used to package the at least two pixel units. The thin film transistor layer is arranged on the substrate; the pixel definition layer is arranged on the thin film transistor layer and provided with a pixel area and a side packaging area, the side packaging area is arranged around a pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure, and the pixel area and the side packaging area are through holes arranged on the pixel definition layer. The pixel unit includes an OLED light emitting device, and a part or all of the OLED light emitting device is disposed in the pixel region. The thin film transistor layer comprises an inorganic material layer, a through hole is formed in the position corresponding to the side packaging area, and the inorganic material layer is exposed through the through hole.

Because the thin-film transistor layer comprises the inorganic material layer which can play a good water and oxygen blocking effect, the inorganic material layer of the thin-film transistor layer can be used as a packaging layer for realizing pixel unit packaging.

When the packaging structure is specifically arranged, the packaging structure is arranged on one side of the OLED light-emitting device far away from the thin film transistor layer. The packaging structure can penetrate through the side packaging area and the through hole and is in sealing contact with the inorganic material layer exposed from the through hole of the thin film transistor layer in the side packaging area. In this application technical scheme, encapsulate two at least pixel unit through using two at least packaging structure, can avoid forming the massive encapsulation layer like this to can effectually avoid including this display panel's flexible display screen under scenes such as buckling, curling, free deformation, the problem that the water oxygen that the encapsulation layer fracture leads to sees through. In addition, the inorganic material layer of the thin film transistor layer is used as a packaging layer for packaging the packaging unit, so that the processing steps of the display panel can be effectively reduced, the bending performance of the display panel is improved, and the manufacturing difficulty and the manufacturing cost are reduced. In addition, in the embodiment of the application, the encapsulation structure can encapsulate one or more of structures such as a planarization layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode, an interlayer dielectric layer, an intermetallic dielectric layer and a gate electrode besides encapsulating the OLED light emitting device, so that the encapsulated structure is protected.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, the number of the encapsulation structures may be the same as the number of the pixel units, and each encapsulation structure is used for encapsulating one pixel unit, so as to implement independent encapsulation of each pixel unit, which is beneficial to improving the bending property of the display panel.

In addition, the encapsulation structure may be a single layer structure formed of inorganic material layers, or a multi-layer structure formed of inorganic material layers and organic material layers alternately stacked. Wherein, the inorganic material layer can be formed by silicon dioxide, silicon nitride or aluminum oxide and the like, so as to form better barrier effect on water and oxygen.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, the display panel may further include a metal line, and the metal line may be disposed on a side of the pixel defining layer away from the substrate; or the metal wire is arranged on the layer structure of the thin film transistor layer. The cathodes of the OLED light emitting devices may be connected to the metal lines to associate the OLED light emitting devices with each other, thereby facilitating control of display of the entire display panel.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, a planarization layer may be further disposed on a side of the package structure away from the thin-film transistor layer. Through setting up the planarization layer, can provide smooth machined surface for follow-up process, in addition, the planarization layer also can cover the foreign matter, avoids the foreign matter to pierce through other retes that set up on the planarization layer.

In addition, a third packaging layer can be arranged on the planarization layer, and the third packaging layer is of a whole surface structure capable of covering at least two packaging structures, so that the water and oxygen barrier packaging effect of the display panel is improved. The third encapsulation layer may be a single layer structure formed by inorganic material layers or a multi-layer structure formed by alternately stacking inorganic material layers and organic material layers.

In a sixth aspect, the present technical solution further provides a flexible display screen, which may include a protective cover plate, a polarizer, a touch panel, and the display panel as described in the fifth aspect, wherein: the polaroid is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the touch panel is arranged between the polaroid and the display panel; or, the touch panel is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the polarizer is arranged between the touch panel and the display panel. In addition, a heat dissipation layer can be further arranged on one side of the display panel, which is far away from the touch panel, and a protective layer is arranged on the heat dissipation layer.

In a seventh aspect, the present technical solution also provides an electronic device, which includes a middle frame, a rear shell, a printed circuit board, and the flexible display screen as in the sixth aspect, wherein: the middle frame is used for bearing the printed circuit board and the flexible display screen, and the printed circuit board and the flexible display screen are positioned on two sides of the middle frame; and the rear shell is positioned on one side of the printed circuit board, which is far away from the middle frame.

In an eighth aspect, the present application further provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, where the display panel includes a substrate, a thin film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer, at least two package structures, and at least two pixel units, where the at least two package structures are used to package the at least two pixel units, and the pixel units include OLED light emitting devices, and the method includes:

preparing a substrate;

forming a thin film transistor layer on the substrate, and forming a first via hole in the thin film transistor layer, wherein the first via hole extends to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor layer;

forming a second through hole in the thin film transistor layer, wherein the second through hole extends to the inorganic material layer of the thin film transistor layer;

forming a pixel definition layer, and carrying out patterning treatment on the pixel definition layer to form a pixel area and a side packaging area, wherein the side packaging area is used for exposing the inorganic material layer of the thin film transistor layer;

and forming a whole-surface packaging structure layer corresponding to the thin film transistor layer on one side of the OLED light-emitting device far away from the thin film transistor layer, patterning the whole-surface packaging structure layer into at least two independent packaging structures, and hermetically contacting the packaging structures with the inorganic material layer of the thin film transistor layer in a side packaging region.

In one possible implementation, before forming the pixel defining layer, the method further includes: and forming an anode on the first packaging layer, wherein the anode is connected with the drain through the first through hole. The method specifically comprises the following steps: sequentially depositing ITO, Ag and ITO on the first packaging layer to form an anode material layer; and subjecting the anode material layer to patterning treatment to obtain the anode, wherein the patterning treatment comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

In addition, after forming the pixel defining layer and before forming the OLED light emitting device, the method may further include: and forming a support pillar on the pixel definition layer.

In a possible implementation manner, in order to associate the OLED light emitting devices with each other, so as to facilitate the control of the display of the entire display panel, a metal line may be further formed on the pixel definition layer, and the cathode of the OLED light emitting device is connected to the metal line. In addition, the metal lines may also be formed on the first encapsulation layer or on the layer structure of the thin-film transistor layer. The method for forming the metal wire comprises the following specific steps: after forming the pixel defining layer, sequentially depositing Ti, Al and Ti to form a metal layer; and subjecting the metal layer to patterning treatment to obtain the metal wire, wherein the patterning treatment comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

In a possible implementation manner, the specific steps of forming the package structure include: depositing SiO on the pixel defining layer and the OLED light-emitting device₂SiNx or Al₂O₃To form a full-face encapsulation structure layer; and patterning the whole packaging structure layer to obtain at least two independent packaging structures, wherein the patterning process comprises one or more of coating, exposure, development, etching or stripping.

After the encapsulation structure is formed, a planarization layer may also be formed on the second encapsulation layer to provide a planar surface for subsequent layer structure processing. In addition, the planarization layer can also cover foreign matters, so that the foreign matters are prevented from penetrating through other film layers arranged on the planarization layer.

In a ninth aspect, the present technical solution further provides a display panel, where the display panel includes a substrate serving as a substrate, a thin-film transistor layer, a pixel definition layer, at least two package structures, and at least two pixel units, and the at least two package structures may be used to package the at least two pixel units. Wherein, the thin film transistor layer is arranged on the substrate; the pixel definition layer is arranged on the thin film transistor layer and provided with a pixel area and a side packaging area, the side packaging area is arranged around the pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure, and the pixel area and the side packaging area are through holes arranged on the pixel definition layer. The pixel unit includes an OLED light emitting device, and a part or all of the OLED light emitting device is disposed in the pixel region. The substrate comprises an inorganic material layer, and a through hole is formed in the position corresponding to the side packaging area and exposes the inorganic material layer.

Since the inorganic material layer can have a good water and oxygen barrier effect, the inorganic material layer of the substrate can be used as an encapsulation layer for implementing encapsulation of the encapsulation unit.

When the packaging structure is specifically arranged, the packaging structure is arranged on one side of the OLED light-emitting device far away from the thin film transistor layer. The packaging structure can penetrate through the side packaging area and the through hole and is in sealing contact with the inorganic material layer exposed from the through hole of the substrate in the side packaging area.

In this application technical scheme, encapsulate two at least pixel unit through using two at least packaging structure, can avoid forming the massive encapsulation layer like this to can effectually avoid including this display panel's flexible display screen under scenes such as buckling, curling, free deformation, the problem that the water oxygen that the encapsulation layer fracture leads to sees through. In addition, the inorganic material layer of the substrate is used as a packaging layer for realizing packaging of the packaging unit, so that the processing steps of the display panel can be effectively reduced, the bending performance of the display panel is improved, and the manufacturing difficulty and the manufacturing cost are reduced. In addition, in the embodiment of the application, the encapsulation structure can encapsulate one or more of structures such as a planarization layer, a source electrode, a drain electrode, an interlayer dielectric layer, an intermetallic dielectric layer and a gate electrode besides encapsulating the OLED light emitting device, so that the encapsulated structure is protected.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a flexible display screen provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a display panel according to an embodiment;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an OLED light-emitting device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a package structure according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of an LTPS-TFT substrate according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a top view of a display panel formed with a first encapsulation layer according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel formed with a first encapsulation layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application, where an anode is formed;

fig. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel formed with a pixel defining layer according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a third metal grid line coupled to a cathode according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view C-C of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D of FIG. 14;

fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel formed with support pillars according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 18 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel formed with an OLED provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 19 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel with a second encapsulation layer formed thereon according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel with a second encapsulating layer formed thereon according to another embodiment of the present application;

fig. 21 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel provided in an embodiment of the present application with a second planarization layer formed thereon;

fig. 22 is a cross-sectional view of a display panel formed with a third encapsulating layer according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 23 is a schematic structural diagram of a display panel according to another embodiment of the present application.

Reference numerals are as follows:

101-a display screen; 102-middle frame; 103-rear shell; 104-PCB; 1041-element and device; 301-upper encapsulation layer;

3011-a first inorganic layer; 3012-a second inorganic layer; 3013-a flexible interlayer; 302-lower encapsulation layer; 201-protective cover plate;

202-a polarizer; 203-touch panel; 204-a display panel; 205-a heat sink layer; 206-a protective layer; 401-a carrier layer;

3021. 402-an insulating layer; 403-a buffer layer; 404-an active layer; 405-a gate insulating layer; 406-an inter-metal dielectric layer;

407-metal capacitance; 408-an interlayer dielectric layer; 409-a first planarization layer; 4081. 4091-a via hole;

PI 1-first substrate material layer; PI 2-second substrate material layer; g-grid; m1 — first metal grid lines;

m2 — second metal grid lines; m3-third metal grid lines; an S-source electrode; a D-drain electrode; 410-a first encapsulation layer;

411-anode; 412-pixel definition layer; 4121-pixel region; 4122-side encapsulation area; 413-a support column;

414-hole injection layer; 415-a hole transport layer; 416-a light emitting layer; 417-electron transport layer; 418-a cathode;

419-a light extraction layer; 420-a second encapsulation layer; 421-a second planarization layer; 422-a third encapsulation layer; 43-pixel cell.

Detailed Description

To facilitate understanding of the display panel provided in the embodiment of the present application, an application scenario of the display panel provided in the embodiment of the present application is first described below, where the display panel may be disposed in an electronic device such as a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, and a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Referring to fig. 1, an electronic device may generally include a display screen 101, a middle frame 102, a rear case 103, and a printed circuit board (PCB 104), wherein the middle frame 102 may be used to carry the printed circuit board and the display screen 101, the display screen 101 and the printed circuit board are located at two sides of the middle frame 102, and the rear case 103 is located at one side of the printed circuit board far from the middle frame 102. In addition, the electronic device may further include a component 1041 disposed on the PCB 104, and the component 1041 may be, but is not limited to, disposed on a side of the PCB 104 facing the middle frame 102. The display panel that this application embodiment provided specifically sets up in electronic equipment's display screen, and this display screen can be flexible display screen or rigid display screen. The flexible display screen may be an OLED flexible display screen, or a quantum dot light emitting diode (QLED) flexible display screen. In the following embodiments of the present application, an OLED flexible display screen is taken as an example for description, and the display screens in other forms are arranged in a similar manner.

Referring to fig. 2, the OLED flexible display panel according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may include, but is not limited to, a protective cover 201, a polarizer 202, a touch panel 203, a display panel 204, a heat dissipation layer 205, and a protective layer 206, where when the OLED flexible display panel is specifically disposed, referring to fig. 2, the polarizer 202 is fixed to the protective cover 201, and the touch panel 203 is disposed between the polarizer 202 and the display panel 204; it is also possible to fix the touch panel 203 to the protective cover 201 and then dispose the polarizer 202 between the touch panel 203 and the display panel 204.

The protective cover 201 may be a transparent glass cover or a cover made of organic material such as polyimide, so as to protect the display screen and reduce the influence on the display effect of the display screen; the polarizer 202 may be a circular polarizer for preventing the anode from reflecting light; the touch panel 203 may be provided separately or integrated with the display panel 204. The heat dissipation layer 205 may be a heat dissipation copper foil, and the protection layer 206 may be protection foam. The layers of the flexible display screen may be bonded together by optically transparent adhesive or non-transparent pressure sensitive adhesive (not shown). In addition, the display panel 204 is provided with a plurality of pixel units (not shown), and the plurality of pixel units may have any shape, and the arrangement manner thereof is not limited in the present application. Because the components such as water vapor and oxygen in the air have a great influence on the service life of the OLED light emitting device of the pixel unit, the pixel unit of the display panel needs to be strictly sealed by water and oxygen to fully separate the functional layers of the OLED light emitting device from the components such as water vapor and oxygen in the air.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 shows a display panel of a typical OLED flexible display. The display panel has an upper encapsulating layer 301 and a lower encapsulating layer 302, in this embodiment the "upper" of the display panel refers to the side of the display panel which, in use, is closer to the user. The upper package layer 301 is an integrated structure covering the entire display panel, and includes a first inorganic layer 3011, a second inorganic layer 3012, and a flexible interlayer 3013 disposed between the first inorganic layer 3011 and the second inorganic layer 3012. The first inorganic layer 3011 and the second inorganic layer 3012 may be SiO fabricated by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)₂The layer or SiNx layer, the flexible interlayer 3013 may be a Polyimide (PI) type or cured polyester type polymer organic layer formed by Ink Jet Print (IJP) technology. SiO 2₂Or the SiNx layer is used for playing a main water-oxygen isolation role, and the flexible interlayer 3013 can play a certain water-oxygen buffering role so as to release stress, increase flexibility and reduce packaging failure caused by foreign matters. The upper package layer 301 has a whole surface structure, and the structure is a rigid structure, and when the upper package layer is bent, the upper package layer is subjected to a large stress, and cracks are likely to occur. Thus, when the first inorganic layer 3011 or the second inorganic layer 3012 cracks, whether or not the organic layer between the two inorganic layers cracks, water and oxygen may enter the OLED light emitting device of the pixel unit of the display panel andand the cathode layer causes the OLED light-emitting device to fail or the cathode to lose the electrical characteristics, and the OLED flexible display screen has black spots. In addition, because the upper encapsulating layer 301 adopts a full-face structure, water and oxygen entering the display panel through the crack can diffuse between adjacent pixel units, thereby causing the failure of a plurality of OLED light emitting devices or the loss of electrical characteristics of cathodes of the OLED light emitting devices, and seriously causing the display failure of the whole OLED flexible display screen.

In addition, the lower encapsulation layer 302 generally includes a first substrate material layer PI 1 and a second substrate material layer PI 2 (the first substrate material layer PI 1 and the second substrate material layer PI 2 may be both polyimide-type polymer organic layers) in the substrate of the display panel, and an isolation layer 3021 located between the first substrate material layer PI 1 and the second substrate material layer PI 2, where the isolation layer 3021 is generally SiO layer₂Or a SiNx layer. The lower encapsulant layer 302 is a solid structure, and is also a solid structure that is also susceptible to cracking under bending. If the lower encapsulation layer 302 cracks, water and oxygen can enter the OLED light-emitting device along the cracks, so that the OLED flexible display screen has black spots. In addition, because the lower encapsulation layer 302 adopts a full-face structure, water and oxygen entering the display panel through the crack can diffuse between adjacent pixel units, thereby causing the failure of a plurality of OLED light-emitting devices or the loss of electrical characteristics of cathodes of the OLED light-emitting devices, and seriously causing the display failure of the whole OLED flexible display screen.

Therefore, in the action processes of bending or folding the OLED flexible display screen and the like, water and oxygen enter from the cracks to cause the OLED light-emitting device to be corroded, so that the OLED light-emitting device is not electrified or deteriorated, and further the OLED light-emitting device cannot emit light.

In order to solve the above problem, an embodiment of the present application provides a display panel to solve the problem that water and oxygen permeate through the display panel due to cracking of an encapsulating layer under the scenes of bending, curling, free deformation and the like, and can improve the failure problems such as black spots of a flexible display screen. The structure of the display panel will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 4, an embodiment of the present application provides a display panel including a substrate, a thin-film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer 412, a pixel unit, and an encapsulation structure. The thin film transistor layer is arranged on the substrate, and the pixel definition layer is arranged on the thin film transistor layer. As shown in fig. 4, in the embodiment of the present application, the substrate may provide a flexible carrier substrate for each layer of the thin film transistor layer and the like above the substrate, which may include, but is not limited to, a first substrate material layer PI 1, an isolation layer 402, and a second substrate material layer PI 2 stacked in sequence from bottom to top (in this embodiment, the "top" of the display panel refers to the side of the display panel close to the user when in use). Specifically, the material of the first substrate material layer PI 1 may be a flexible polyimide substrate material, and may also be a flexible material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), paper, metal, or ultra-thin peeling; barrier layer 402(barrier), which may be used to block water and oxygen; the second substrate material layer PI 2 may also be made of a flexible polyimide substrate material, and may also be made of a flexible material such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), paper, metal, and ultra-thin glass. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the isolation layer 402 or the second substrate material layer PI 2 in the substrate may be omitted to simplify the structure of the substrate.

When the thin film transistor layer is specifically disposed, it may include one or more of the buffer layer 403, the active layer, the gate insulating layer 405, the gate G, the first metal grid line M1, the inter-metal dielectric layer 406, the metal capacitor 407, the interlayer dielectric layer 408, the source S, the drain D, the second metal grid line M2, and the first planarization layer 409, which is not limited in this embodiment.

Optionally, in the embodiment of the present application, taking a Low Temperature Polysilicon (LTPS) Thin Film Transistor (TFT) as an example, the thin film transistor layer may include a gate insulating layer 405, an inter-metal dielectric layer 406, an interlayer dielectric layer 408, and a first planarization layer 409. Optionally, the thin film transistor layer may include a buffer layer 403, a gate insulating layer 405, an inter-metal dielectric layer 406, an interlayer dielectric layer 408, and a first planarization layer 409. Optionally, the thin film transistor layer may include a buffer layer 403, an active layer, a gate insulating layer 405, a gate electrode G, an inter-metal dielectric layer 406, an interlayer dielectric layer 408, a source electrode S, a drain electrode D, and a first planarization layer 409. In the embodiment of the present invention, the thin film transistor layer includes a buffer layer 403, an active layer, a gate insulating layer 405, a gate G, a first metal grid line M1, an inter-metal dielectric layer 406, a metal capacitor 407, an inter-layer dielectric layer 408, a source S, a drain D, a second metal grid line M2, and a first planarization layer 409, as shown in fig. 4. The following describes the structure of each layer of the thin film transistor layer in the embodiment of the present application in detail:

the buffer layer 403(buffer) may be used to prevent the impurity ions from affecting the characteristics of the thin film transistor layer disposed on the substrate, and also has a water-oxygen barrier effect.

And an active layer mainly formed of P-Si and LTPS, the active layer being a semiconductor layer of the TFT, and a semiconductor switch and a wire may be formed according to a doping, wherein, referring to fig. 4, P-Si in the middle of the active layer is used to represent the semiconductor switch, and two portions of both sides of the P-Si are conductors to serve as a wire connecting the source S and the drain D to the P-Si.

A gate insulating layer 405(gate insulator) which may function to insulate and isolate the active layer from the gate electrode G.

A gate (gate) G formed on the gate insulating layer 405 and used as a TFT device switch, for example, for a P-type TFT, when a negative voltage is applied to the gate, a large current exists in the source and drain, the TFT is in an on state, when a positive voltage is applied to the gate, only a weak leakage current exists in the source and drain, and the TFT is in an off state; for an N-type TFT, when a negative voltage is applied to a grid electrode, only weak leakage current exists in a source electrode and a drain electrode, the TFT is in an off state, and when a positive voltage is applied to the grid electrode, larger current exists in the source electrode and the drain electrode, and the TFT is in an on state.

The first metal grid lines M1 are formed on the gate insulating layer 405 and may be formed simultaneously with the gate electrode G, often as scan lines. Since the screen display is a progressive scan display, the scan lines turn on the gates of the TFT switches of each row, which acts to turn on the TFT gate switches of the row line by line, allowing the data line signals and the power line signals to refresh the row information.

An inter-metal dielectric (IMD) layer 406 may be used as an insulating layer between the first metal grid line M1 and the metal capacitor 407 (MC) and a dielectric layer of the metal capacitor 407.

The metal capacitor 407, as the capacitor top electrode plate and other driving circuits, the first metal grid line M1 can also be used as the capacitor bottom electrode plate.

An interlayer dielectric layer 408 (ILD) serves as an insulating layer between the source and drain electrodes and the gate electrode G.

And a source electrode (source) S formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 408 and connected with the active layer, wherein ohmic contact is formed after the source electrode S is connected with the active layer, so that circuit connection is realized.

And a drain (drain) D formed on the interlayer dielectric layer 408 and connected to the active layer, wherein ohmic contact is formed after the drain D is connected to the active layer, thereby realizing circuit connection.

The second metal grid line M2 is connected to the metal capacitor 407 through the via 4081 on the interlayer dielectric layer 408, and the interlayer dielectric layer 408 may serve as an insulating layer between the M2 and the metal capacitor 407; in addition, the second metal mesh lines M2 may be formed simultaneously with the source and drain electrodes S and D and serve as driving lines for the source and drain electrodes S and D to transmit data signals, power signals, and the like. Specifically, the data signal and the power signal are supplied via an Integrated Circuit (IC), and are generally transmitted through the second metal grid line M2. The row and column transport is performed in a transport direction generally perpendicular to the scan line direction. Each column of pixels has an independent data line which is connected to the source S or the drain D of the TFT of the column for transmission. The power supply signal is also connected to the source S or the drain D of each row of TFTs for transmission, but unlike the data lines, the power supply signal is a simpler dc signal or a fixed-value pulse signal, so all power lines are generally connected in a short circuit for uniform transmission.

The first planarization layer 409 (PLN) serves to planarize, insulate, and protect the substrate electrode from undulations.

In specific arrangement of the pixel defining layer 412, the pixel defining layer 412 may be a layer structure formed by coating a photoresist type organic material on the thin film transistor layer by slit coating. In addition, the pixel region 4121 and the side packaging region 4122 may be formed on the pixel defining layer 412 by exposing and developing, wherein the pixel region 4121 and the side packaging region 4122 may be formed as a hole structure penetrating through the pixel defining layer 412, and the side packaging region 4122 is disposed around the pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure.

The pixel unit is a minimum unit for implementing a display function of the display panel, and includes an OLED light emitting device, which may be disposed in the pixel region. Referring to fig. 5, fig. 5 shows a schematic layer structure diagram of an OLED light emitting device according to an embodiment of the present application. The OLED light emitting device may include, but is not limited to, an anode 411(anode), a hole injection layer 414 (HIL), a hole transport layer 415 (HTL), a light emitting layer 416 (EL), an electron transport layer 417 (ETL), a cathode 418(cathode), and a light extraction layer 419 (CPL) which are sequentially stacked. Referring to fig. 4 and 5 together, it can be understood that, in the process of manufacturing each layer structure forming the OLED light emitting device, since the material for forming each layer structure has fluidity, in order to reduce the control difficulty of the manufacturing process, a part of the material may spread outside the pixel region 4121, but it does not affect the light emitting effect of the OLED light emitting device. In the embodiments of the present application, the OLED light emitting device is partially disposed in the pixel region, and all the OLED light emitting devices may be disposed in the pixel region, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

When the package structures are specifically arranged, the package structures may be arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the pixel units, for example, each pixel unit is packaged by one package structure. Specifically, the encapsulation structure includes a first encapsulation layer 410 and a second encapsulation layer 420, and the first encapsulation layer 410 is disposed between the OLED light emitting device and the thin film transistor layer and may be exposed from the side encapsulation region 4122 of the pixel definition layer 412. As can be seen in fig. 4, the second encapsulation layer 420 covers the pixel unit, and the second encapsulation layer 420 is in sealing contact with the first encapsulation layer 410 through the side encapsulation region 4122. Therefore, each pixel unit is wrapped by the first packaging layer 410 and the second packaging layer 420, and each pixel unit is packaged independently. In addition, a pixel definition layer412 is formed between two adjacent packaging structure, because pixel definition layer 412 is formed by organic material, is a flexible material, and it can make adjacent packaging structure flexonics, consequently, adopt the technical scheme of this application, can avoid forming the encapsulation layer of large scale on display panel to can effectually avoid the OLED flexible display screen including this display panel under scenes such as buckling, curling, free deformation, the problem that the water oxygen that the encapsulation layer fracture leads to sees through. In this embodiment, the first encapsulation layer 410 may be, but is not limited to being, made of SiO₂SiNx or Al₂O₃Etc. and the second encapsulation layer 420 may also be made of, but not limited to, SiO₂SiNx or Al₂O₃And the like to play a better role in isolating water and oxygen. It is understood that the first encapsulation layer 410 and the second encapsulation layer 420 may be a single inorganic encapsulation layer, or may be an encapsulation layer having a multi-layer stacked structure in which inorganic layers and organic layers are stacked, for example, a three-layer structure of inorganic layers-organic layers-inorganic layers, a four-layer structure of inorganic layers-organic layers-inorganic layers-organic layers, a five-layer structure, or a combination thereof.

By independently encapsulating each pixel unit by an encapsulation structure, a large encapsulation layer can be prevented from being formed on the display panel, and the encapsulation structures are independent from each other. When the display panel is applied to the OLED flexible display screen, the OLED flexible display screen is bent for more than 10 ten thousand times in any direction, and the display panel still has good packaging characteristics. Therefore, by adopting the display panel provided by the embodiment of the application, the risk of cracking of the packaging layer of the OLED flexible display screen under the application scenes of folding, curling, free deformation and the like can be reduced, so that the problem that water and oxygen penetrate through the packaging layer to enter the display panel to cause display failure of the display panel can be avoided. In addition, each pixel unit is independently packaged, and water and oxygen entering any packaging structure can be prevented from diffusing between adjacent OLED light-emitting devices, so that the light-emitting performance of the adjacent OLED light-emitting devices is prevented from being influenced.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that a plurality of pixel units (the number of the plurality of pixel units is less than the total number of the pixel units of the display panel) may also be packaged by the same packaging structure. Referring to fig. 6, for example, for a display panel having a fixed single folding direction (the curve with an arrow in the figure indicates the folding direction), the pixel units may be packaged by grouping all the pixel units in a column or row manner along the folding direction to form a column or row packaging structure. Thereby effectively improving the folding performance of the display panel in a fixed single folding direction. In addition, compared with the embodiment of independently packaging each pixel unit, the pixel units are packaged by forming a row or column packaging structure, so that the manufacturing difficulty and the manufacturing cost can be effectively reduced. With reference to fig. 6, in other embodiments of the present application, several adjacent pixel units may be further packaged by using a package structure (see the dashed-dotted line rectangle frame), generally, the number of pixel units on the display panel is large, and the area of the package structure for packaging several adjacent pixel units is relatively small compared to the whole display panel, so that the packaging manner of this embodiment may also meet the bending requirement of the display panel, and has good packaging characteristics. Since each pixel unit is packaged independently, or the pixel units of a plurality of pixel units, the number of which is less than the total number of the pixel units of the display panel, are packaged by the same package structure, which is discussed with respect to the pixel units of the display panel, both of the above two package structures are referred to as pixel-level package structures in the present application.

In order to electrically connect the OLED light emitting devices of the display panel encapsulated by the pixel level encapsulation structures, so as to control the display of the whole display panel, metal wires may be further disposed in the display panel. When the metal line is specifically arranged, it may be the third metal grid line M3 in fig. 4, and in conjunction with fig. 6, the cathode 418 of the OLED light emitting device of each pixel unit is respectively connected with the third metal grid line M3, so that, referring to fig. 5, holes can sequentially pass through the hole injection layer 414 and the hole transport layer 415 of each OLED light emitting device through the anode 411 to reach the light emitting layer 416. Electrons can pass from the cathode 418 through the electron transport layer 417 to the light emitting layer 416. The holes and the electrons are combined with each other in the light emitting layer 416 to form excitons in an excited state, the excitons transfer energy to the organic light emitting molecules of the light emitting layer 416, and the electrons exciting the organic light emitting molecules transition from a ground state to an excited state. The excited state electrons are radiated and deactivated to generate photons to emit light. Since the cathodes 418 of each OLED light emitting device are connected by the third metal grid line M3, the third metal grid line M3 can transmit the cathode driving signal to the cathodes 418 of all OLED light emitting devices at the same time, so as to implement cathode signal synchronous control. The material of the third metal grid lines M3 may be titanium-aluminum alloy or molybdenum. In addition, when the third metal grid line M3 is specifically set, with reference to fig. 4, the third metal grid line M3 is set on a side of the pixel definition layer 412 away from the thin-film transistor layer; alternatively, referring to fig. 7 and 8, fig. 7 is a sectional view a-a of fig. 6, which is a sectional view of the display panel at a position where the third metal mesh lines M3 and the cathode 418 do not have an interconnection relationship; fig. 8 is a cross-sectional view B-B of fig. 6, which is a cross-sectional view of the display panel at a position where the third metal grid lines M3 and the cathode 418 have an interconnection relationship, and in the embodiment shown in fig. 7 and 8, the third metal grid lines M3 may be disposed on the first encapsulation layer 410. In addition, in other embodiments, third metal grid line M3 may also be disposed on the stacked structure of thin-film transistor layers (e.g., planarization layer 409, interlayer dielectric layer 408, or inter-metal dielectric layer 406).

With continued reference to fig. 8, the display panel of the embodiment of the disclosure may further include a supporting pillar 413 disposed on the pixel defining layer 412, where the supporting pillar 413 may be a photoresist type supporting pillar. By arranging the supporting columns 413 on the pixel defining layer 412, an evaporation mask plate for forming each functional layer of the OLED light-emitting device by evaporation can be effectively prevented from contacting the display panel in the process of forming the OLED light-emitting device by evaporation, so that the product yield of the display panel is improved.

In addition to the above structure, the display panel may further include a second planarization layer 421, and the second planarization layer 421 is disposed on a side of the second encapsulation layer 420 far from the thin-film transistor layer. By providing the second planarizing layer 421, a flat processing surface can be provided for the subsequent processes. In addition, the second planarization layer 421 may cover the foreign substance to prevent the foreign substance from penetrating through another film layer disposed on the second planarization layer 421. Further, with continued reference to fig. 8, a full-surface third encapsulation layer 422 may be further provided on the second planarization layer 421, and the full-surface encapsulation structure provided on the display panel is referred to as a panel-level encapsulation structure in this application. Therefore, the display panel is provided with the pixel level packaging structure and the panel level packaging structure at the same time, so that the water and oxygen blocking effect of the display panel is improved. The third encapsulation layer 422 may be a single inorganic encapsulation layer, or may be an encapsulation layer having a multilayer stack structure in which inorganic layers and organic layers are stacked one on another, for example, a three-layer structure of inorganic layers-organic layers-inorganic layers stacked in this order, a four-layer structure of inorganic layers-organic layers-inorganic layers-organic layers stacked in this order, or a five-layer or more structure stacked in this order.

In the display panel of the embodiment of the present application, a pixel-level package structure and a panel-level package structure are simultaneously disposed to form a dual protection for the pixel unit. At this time, even if water and oxygen enter the display panel through the panel-level packaging structure, the water and oxygen cannot enter the OLED light-emitting device under the blocking effect of the pixel electrode packaging structure. Therefore, the scheme can be favorable for improving the water and oxygen blocking effect of the display panel.

The embodiment of the application further provides a flexible display screen, which may include, but is not limited to, a protective cover plate, a polarizer, a touch panel, a display panel, a heat dissipation layer, and a protective layer. When the flexible display screen is specifically arranged, the polaroid is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the touch panel is arranged between the polaroid and the display panel; the touch panel can also be fixed on the protective cover plate, and then the polarizer is arranged between the touch panel and the display panel. The display panel may adopt any one of the display panels in all the embodiments described above.

The protective cover plate can be a transparent glass cover plate or a cover plate made of organic materials such as polyimide and the like, so that the influence on the display effect of the display screen is reduced while the protective cover plate plays a role in protection; the polaroid can be a circular polaroid and is used for avoiding anode reflection light; the touch panel can be arranged independently or integrated with the display panel into a whole. The heat dissipation layer can select the heat dissipation copper foil for use, and the protective layer can be for protecting the bubble cotton. The various layer structures of the flexible display screen can be bonded through optically transparent adhesive or non-transparent pressure-sensitive adhesive.

When the display panel is specifically arranged, the display panel comprises a substrate, a thin film transistor layer, a pixel definition layer, at least two packaging structures and at least two pixel units, wherein the at least two packaging structures are used for packaging the at least two pixel units. The thin film transistor layer is disposed on the substrate, and the pixel definition layer is disposed on the thin film transistor layer. In the embodiment of the present invention, the substrate may provide a flexible carrier substrate for each layer of the thin film transistor layer and the like above the substrate, which may include, but is not limited to, a first substrate material layer, an isolation layer, and a second substrate material layer stacked in sequence from bottom to top. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the insulating layer or the second substrate material layer in the substrate may be omitted to simplify the structure of the substrate.

When the thin film transistor layer is specifically disposed, the thin film transistor layer may include one or more layers of a buffer layer, an active layer, a gate insulating layer, a gate, a first metal grid line, an inter-metal dielectric layer, a metal capacitor, an interlayer dielectric layer, a source, a drain, a second metal grid line, and a first planarization layer, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

When the pixel definition layer is specifically arranged, the pixel definition layer is provided with a pixel area and a side packaging area, wherein the pixel area and the side packaging area can be hole structures penetrating through the pixel definition layer, and the side packaging area is arranged around pixel units packaged by the packaging structure. The pixel unit is a minimum unit for realizing a display function of the display panel, and includes an OLED light emitting device, and a part or all of the OLED light emitting device is disposed in the pixel region.

When the package structures are specifically arranged, the package structures may be arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the pixel units, for example, each pixel unit is packaged by one package structure. Specifically, the packaging structure comprises a first packaging layer and a second packaging layer, wherein the first packaging layer is arranged between the OLED light-emitting device and the thin film transistor layer and can be exposed from the side packaging area of the pixel definition layer. The second packaging layer covers the pixel unit, penetrates through the side packaging area and is in sealing contact with the first packaging layer. Therefore, each pixel unit is coated by the first packaging layer and the second packaging layer, and independent packaging of each pixel unit is realized.

In one possible embodiment, a plurality of pixel units (the number of the plurality of pixel units is less than the total number of the pixel units of the display panel) can be packaged by the same packaging structure. For example, for a display panel with a fixed single folding direction, all pixel units may be grouped in a column or row along the folding direction to form a column or row packaging structure to package the pixel units.

The flexible display screen of the embodiment can be bent for more than 10 ten thousand times in any direction, and the display panel still has good packaging characteristics. Therefore, the flexible display screen can avoid the problem that water and oxygen penetrate due to cracking of the packaging layer under the application scenes of folding, curling, free deformation and the like, so that the problem that the water and oxygen penetrate through the packaging layer to enter the display panel and cause display failure of the display panel can be avoided. In addition, each pixel unit is independently packaged or packaged in groups, and water and oxygen entering any packaging structure can be prevented from diffusing between adjacent packaging structures, so that the light-emitting failure of the whole flexible display screen is avoided.

The embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, which includes a middle frame, a rear case, a printed circuit board, and the flexible display screen described in any of the foregoing all embodiments. The middle frame can be used for bearing a printed circuit board and an OLED flexible display screen, the OLED flexible display screen and the printed circuit board are located on two sides of the middle frame, and the rear shell is located on one side, far away from the middle frame, of the printed circuit board.

The electronic equipment of this application embodiment can be collapsible equipment, because this electronic equipment's OLED flexible display screen is at the folding in-process, and the risk of its display panel's encapsulating layer fracture is lower, consequently can avoid water oxygen to see through the encapsulating layer and get into display panel, leads to the problem that OLED flexible display screen shows the inefficacy.

In order to further understand the structure of the display panel of the present application, an embodiment of the present application further provides a manufacturing process of the display panel. The detailed steps of the manufacturing process are as follows:

step 001: and manufacturing a substrate. In the embodiment of the present application, a top gate Low Temperature Poly Silicon (LTPS) Thin Film Transistor (TFT) substrate may be taken as an example, and a layer structure of the substrate may be set as shown in fig. 9, where the substrate may be formed on a carrier layer 401, and the carrier layer may be a carrier glass layer to play a role of carrying in a manufacturing process of a display panel; in addition, a via hole 4091 needs to be reserved on the first planarization layer 409 for subsequent electrode connection. As the manufacturing process of the LTPS-TFT substrate is mature, the manufacturing process of the LTPS-TFT substrate is not described in detail in the application.

Step 002: a first encapsulation layer 410 is fabricated. In this step, the SiO layer may be formed by Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD), or the like₂SiNx or Al₂O₃The layer is deposited as a first encapsulation layer 410. Then, through the processes of coating photoresist, exposing, developing, etching, stripping the photoresist, and the like, the first encapsulation layer 410 is subjected to patterning processing so as to correspond to each region for forming a pixel unit, and the first encapsulation layer 410 is broken through etching, so that an independent first encapsulation layer 410 is formed corresponding to each pixel unit. The pattern of the first encapsulation layer 410 formed through the step 002 may be illustrated with reference to fig. 10, wherein the dotted lines indicate the regions for forming the pixel units 43 and the solid lines indicate the independent first encapsulation layer 410 formed. Referring to fig. 11, fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the display panel after the first encapsulation layer 410 is manufactured, and it can be seen from the cross-sectional view that the via hole 4091 reserved on the first planarization layer 409 is kept away by the independent first encapsulation layer 410 formed corresponding to each pixel unit for the subsequent electrode connection.

Step 003: an anode 411 is fabricated. Generally, the anode 411 of the light emitting device of the OLED can be fabricated by sequentially depositing Indium Tin Oxide (ITO), Ag, and ITO by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD). Then, the anode 411 may be patterned by coating a photoresist, exposing, developing, etching, stripping the photoresist, and the like to form the anode 411 as shown in fig. 12. Wherein the anode 411 can be in contact connection with the drain D through the via 4091 for sealing.

Step 004: a pixel definition layer 412 (PDL) is produced. First, a photoresist type organic material may be coated on the first planarization layer 409, the first encapsulation layer 410, the anode 411, and the like formed after the step 003 by using a Slit Coating (Slit Coating) method. Then, the patterned pixel defining layer 412 is obtained through the steps of exposure, development, and the like. As shown in fig. 13, in which a pixel region 4121 is formed on the patterned pixel defining layer 412, and a side encapsulation region 4122 is formed around the pixel region 4121, the OLED light emitting device of the pixel unit may be formed on the pixel region 4121, and the side encapsulation region 4122 is used to expose the first encapsulation layer 410 for facilitating the subsequent encapsulation of the pixel unit.

Step 005: a third metal grid line M3 interconnected with the cathode is fabricated to subsequently electrically connect the cathodes of the OLED light emitting devices of the respective pixel cells. In addition, a part of the third metal mesh lines M3 may also be used as data lines for transferring data signals.

Generally, when the third metal grid lines M3 are formed, first, Ti, Al, Ti, or Mo, etc. may be sequentially deposited using PVD to form a metal layer on the pixel defining layer 412. Then, the metal layer may be patterned to form the third metal gridlines M3 through one or more processes of coating photoresist, exposing, developing, etching, and stripping photoresist, for example, through the processes of coating photoresist, exposing, developing, etching, and stripping photoresist. Referring to FIG. 14, FIG. 14 illustrates one routing scheme for the third metal grid lines M3 (which includes the third metal grid lines M3 and the subsequently formed pattern of cathodes 418).

Referring to fig. 15, fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of fig. 14. FIG. 15 shows a cross-sectional view of the display panel after step 005 where the third metal grid lines M3 and the cathode 418 do not have an interconnecting relationship; fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along line D-D in fig. 14, and fig. 16 shows a cross-sectional view of the display panel at a position where the third metal mesh lines M3 and the cathode 418 have an interconnection relationship after step 005.

In one possible embodiment of the present application, after step 005, the manufacturing process may further optionally include step 006: support posts 413 (PS) are fabricated. In forming the supporting pillars 413, a photoresist is typically coated by a slit coating process; then, the resist type supporting posts 413 are obtained by exposure, development, and the like. The stacking relationship between the formed photoresist-type supporting posts 413 and the pixel defining layer 412 can be seen with reference to fig. 17. As shown in fig. 17, the cross-sectional shape of the photoresist-type supporting column 413 may be a trapezoid, but may also be other possible shapes such as a rectangle. The position of the photoresist-type support column 413 may be selected according to the specific situation. By manufacturing the supporting posts 413 on the pixel defining layer 412, it is effectively avoided that a mask plate contacts the surface of the display panel in the subsequent evaporation process of forming the OLED light emitting device.

Step 007: and manufacturing a patterned OLED light-emitting device. The OLED light emitting device includes, but is not limited to, a hole injection layer 414 (HIL), a hole transport layer 415 (HTL), a light emitting layer 416 (EL), an electron transport layer 417 (ETL), a cathode 418(cathode), and a light extraction layer 419 (CPL) which are sequentially stacked.

With reference to fig. 17 and 18, when forming the OLED light emitting device in the pixel region 4121 defined by the pixel defining layer 412, patterning of each layer structure of the OLED light emitting device is generally achieved by using a high-precision metal mask (FFM) evaporation process, a printing process, a film lift off (film lift off) process, a laser etching process, and a thickness step difference and a chamfer (undercut) of the edge of another film layer. In fig. 18, a hole injection layer 414, a hole transport layer 415, an emission layer 416, an electron transport layer 417, a cathode 418, and a light extraction layer 419 are taken as an example to show the patterning design of all deposition layers of the OLED light-emitting device by using the FFM process.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the OLED light emitting device is partially disposed in the pixel region for example, and all the OLED light emitting devices may also be disposed in the pixel region, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

Step 008: a second encapsulation layer 420 is fabricated. Referring to fig. 19, in particular, when fabricating the second encapsulation layer 420, first, SiO may be deposited using CVD, ALD, etc₂SiNx or Al₂O₃As a second encapsulation layer 420. Then, the second encapsulation layer 420 may be patterned by coating photoresist, exposing, developing, etching, stripping the photoresist, and the like, so as to form a separate second encapsulation layer 420 over the pixel unit corresponding to each pixel unit. Since the first encapsulation layer 410 between the adjacent pixel units is also independently disposed, the second encapsulation layer 420 and the first encapsulation layer 410 of the pixel unit may be in sealing contact through the side encapsulation region 4122 of the pixel definition layer 412. Fig. 19 shows the pixel packing at the position where the third metal grid line M3 and the cathode 418 have no interconnection relationship, and fig. 20 shows the pixel packing at the position where the third metal grid line M3 and the cathode 418 have interconnection relationship.

In the above manufacturing process steps of the display panel, the second encapsulation layer 420 and the first encapsulation layer 410 are respectively formed corresponding to each pixel unit, so that independent encapsulation of each pixel unit can be realized, that is, a pixel-level encapsulation structure of the display panel is formed. Like this, through the encapsulation relation between disconnection pixel unit and the pixel unit, can avoid forming the encapsulation layer of large scale to can effectually avoid including this display panel's OLED flexible display screen under scenes such as buckling, curling, free deformation, the problem that the water oxygen that the encapsulation layer fracture leads to sees through. In addition, the OLED flexible display screen can be truly folded in multiple directions, curled, freely deformed and bent in a small radius, and truly and freely flexibly packaged.

In addition, the pixel defining layer 412 has rugged grooves and bumps, which can be transferred to the second encapsulation layer 420. However, in order to facilitate the subsequent processing, referring to fig. 21, the second planarization layer 421 may be further formed on the display panel formed after the step 008. In addition, the second planarization layer 421 may cover the foreign substance to prevent the foreign substance from penetrating through another film layer disposed on the second planarization layer 421.

Further, referring to fig. 22, a full-surface third encapsulation layer 422 may be further formed on the second planarization layer 421, and the third encapsulation layer 422 may be SiO₂SiNx or Al₂O₃And depositing and forming to form the whole water and oxygen barrier package on the display panel, so that a combined package mode of a pixel-level package structure and a panel-level package structure is formed on the display panel at the same time, and the water and oxygen barrier package effect of the display panel is further improved.

At the end of the manufacturing process of the display panel, laser may be used to irradiate the contact surface between the carrier layer 401 and the first substrate material layer PI 1, so that the carrier layer 401 and the first substrate material layer PI 1 lose adhesiveness, and thus the carrier layer 401 is removed, and a flexible display panel is obtained.

After the display panel is processed, the display panel can be cut according to the size requirement of a specific OLED flexible display screen; then attaching the touch panel and the polarizer, and performing necessary binding process to realize electric connection; then, attaching a flexible cover plate, a heat-dissipating copper foil, a protective film and the like; and finally, customizing functional assembly aiming at the OLED flexible display screen, and performing necessary performance inspection to complete the manufacture of the OLED flexible display screen.

Referring to fig. 23, in some embodiments of the present application, a display panel is further provided, and the display panel includes a substrate, a thin-film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer 412, a pixel unit, and an encapsulation structure for encapsulating the pixel unit. The pixel defining layer 412 has a pixel region and a side packaging region disposed around the pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure. The pixel definition layer 412 may be formed by slit coating a photoresist type organic material on the thin film transistor layer, and may be processed through exposure, development, and the like to obtain a pixel region and a side packaging region.

The thin film transistor layers may include, but are not limited to, a buffer layer 403, an active layer, a gate insulating layer 405, an inter-metal dielectric layer 406, an inter-layer dielectric layer 408, and a first planarization layer 409, which are stacked. The buffer layer 403, the gate insulating layer 405, the inter-metal dielectric layer 406 and the interlayer dielectric layer 408 are usually made of SiO₂SiNx or Al₂O₃The inorganic layer structure made of inorganic material has better water and oxygen barrier function, so that the inorganic layer structure of the thin film transistor layer can be used as the first packaging layer in the embodiment. In addition, in this embodiment, a via hole is further formed in a position on the thin-film transistor layer corresponding to the side package region, where the via hole is used to expose an inorganic layer structure (such as the interlayer dielectric layer 408, the inter-metal dielectric layer 406, the gate insulating layer 405, or the buffer layer 403) of the thin-film transistor layer, for example, in fig. 23, the via hole on the thin-film transistor layer exposes the interlayer dielectric layer 408.

In the embodiments of the present application, the pixel unit may include, but is not limited to, an OLED light emitting device. Wherein, a part or the whole of the OLED light-emitting device is arranged in the pixel area. When the package structure is specifically configured, the package structure is used as the second package layer 420 to correspondingly cover each pixel unit, that is, each pixel unit is packaged by one package structure. The second packaging layer 420 penetrates through the side packaging area and the through holes in the thin film transistor layer and is in sealing contact with the inorganic layer structure (such as the interlayer dielectric layer 408) of the thin film transistor layer, so that each pixel unit is coated by the inorganic layer structure (such as the interlayer dielectric layer 408) of the thin film transistor layer and the second packaging layer 420, independent packaging of each pixel unit is achieved, namely a pixel-level packaging structure is formed, and therefore the formation of a large packaging layer can be avoided, and the problem that water and oxygen penetrate due to cracking of the packaging layer when an OLED flexible display screen comprising the display panel is bent, curled, freely deformed and the like can be effectively avoided.

It should be noted that, taking fig. 23 as an example, in the present embodiment, the pixel unit includes an OLED light emitting device, a planarization layer 409, a source electrode S, and a drain electrode D. Optionally, the pixel unit may further include an interlayer dielectric layer 408; optionally, the pixel unit may further include an inter-metal dielectric layer 406 and a gate G.

In addition, in this embodiment, a plurality of pixel units (the number of the plurality of pixel units is less than the total number of the pixel units of the display panel) may be packaged by the same package structure as a whole. Referring to fig. 6, for example, for a display panel having a fixed single folding direction (the curve with an arrow in the figure indicates the folding direction), all pixel units may be grouped in a column or row manner to form a column or row packaging structure to package the pixel units. Therefore, the bending performance of the display panel is improved, and the manufacturing difficulty and the manufacturing cost are reduced. With continued reference to fig. 6, in other embodiments of the present application, several adjacent pixel units may be further encapsulated by an encapsulation structure (refer to the dashed-dotted rectangle). Since each pixel unit is independently packaged, or the pixel units of a plurality of pixel units, the number of which is less than the total number of the pixel units of the display panel, are packaged by the same packaging structure, which is discussed with respect to the pixel units of the display panel, both of the above two packaging structures are referred to as pixel-level packaging structures in the present application.

In the embodiment, the pixel units of the display panel are independently packaged, so that each pixel unit or n (n is less than the total number of the pixel units of the display panel) pixel units are packaged by one packaging structure (pixel-level packaging structure), the bending characteristic of the display panel can be effectively improved, the possibility that the packaging structure is damaged in the bending process of the display panel is reduced, the problems of failure of an OLED light-emitting device and the like are favorably solved, and the service life of an OLED flexible display screen comprising the display panel is prolonged. In addition, in the embodiment of the application, the encapsulation structure may encapsulate one or more of structures such as the planarization layer 409, the source S, the drain D, the interlayer dielectric layer 408, the inter-metal dielectric layer 406, and the gate G, besides the OLED light emitting device, so as to protect the encapsulated structure. And the existing structure is used as a part of the packaging structure, so that the process step is omitted, and the cost and the manufacturing time are saved.

In addition, a third metal grid line M3 may be further disposed in the display panel, and the cathodes 418 of the OLED light emitting devices of the respective pixel units are respectively coupled with the third metal grid line M3. The material of the third metal grid lines M3 may be titanium-aluminum alloy or molybdenum. When the third metal grid line M3 is specifically arranged, referring to fig. 23, the third metal grid line M3 is arranged on a side of the pixel defining layer 412 away from the thin-film transistor layer; alternatively, third metal grid line M3 may be disposed on the stacked structure of thin-film transistor layers (e.g., planarization layer 409, interlayer dielectric layer 408, or inter-metal dielectric layer 406).

With reference to fig. 23, the display panel of the embodiment of the present disclosure may further include a supporting pillar 413 disposed on the pixel defining layer 412, where the supporting pillar 413 may be a photoresist type supporting pillar. By arranging the supporting columns 413 on the pixel defining layer 412, an evaporation mask plate for forming each functional layer of the OLED light-emitting device by evaporation can be effectively prevented from contacting the display panel in the process of forming the OLED light-emitting device by evaporation, so that the product yield of the display panel is improved.

In addition to the above structure, the display panel may further include a second planarization layer 421, and the second planarization layer 421 is disposed on a side of the second encapsulation layer 420 far from the thin-film transistor layer. By providing the second planarizing layer 421, a smooth processing surface can be provided for the subsequent processes. In addition, the second planarization layer 421 may cover the foreign substance to prevent the foreign substance from penetrating through another film layer disposed on the second planarization layer 421. Further, with continued reference to fig. 23, a full-sided third encapsulation layer 422 may also be disposed on the second planarization layer 421, and in this embodiment, the full-sided encapsulation structure disposed on the display panel is referred to as a panel-level encapsulation structure. Therefore, the display panel is provided with the pixel level packaging structure and the panel level packaging structure at the same time, so that the water and oxygen blocking effect of the display panel is improved.

When the display panel of the present embodiment is manufactured, the manufacturing process is similar to the manufacturing process of the display panel shown in fig. 9 to 22, and the detailed description is omitted here. The manufacturing process of the display panel of this embodiment is different from the manufacturing process of the display panel described above in that: in this embodiment, a via hole for exposing the inorganic layer structure (e.g., interlayer dielectric layer 408) of the thin film transistor layer needs to be opened at a position on the thin film transistor layer corresponding to the side encapsulation region of the pixel definition layer, so that when the second encapsulation layer 420 is formed, the second encapsulation layer 420 can be in sealed contact with the inorganic layer structure (e.g., interlayer dielectric layer 408) of the thin film transistor layer through the via hole, thereby implementing pixel-level encapsulation of the display panel. Illustratively, a process for preparing the display panel of this embodiment includes the following steps:

step 001: and manufacturing a substrate. Illustratively, the substrate comprises a first substrate material layer, an isolation layer and a second substrate material layer which are sequentially stacked.

Step 002: and forming a thin film transistor layer on the substrate, wherein the thin film transistor layer comprises inorganic material layers, such as one or more of a buffer layer, a gate insulating layer, an intermetallic dielectric layer and an interlayer dielectric layer.

Step 003: and a first via hole and a second via hole are formed in the thin film transistor layer. The first via hole is used for exposing the drain electrode of the thin film transistor layer, and the second via hole extends to any one of the inorganic layer structures of the thin film transistor layer.

Step 004: and (5) manufacturing an anode. The specific manufacturing process can refer to the manufacturing process of the display panel in the above embodiments, and details are not repeated here. The anode may be connected to the drain contact by a first via to achieve sealing.

Step 005: and manufacturing a pixel definition layer. The specific manufacturing process can refer to the manufacturing process of the display panel in the above embodiments, and details are not repeated here. The formed pixel definition layer is provided with a pixel area and a side packaging area, the OLED light-emitting device of the pixel unit can be formed in the pixel area, and the side packaging area and the second through hole are oppositely arranged to expose the inorganic layer of the thin film transistor layer, so that the pixel unit can be conveniently packaged subsequently.

Step 006: and manufacturing a third metal grid line interconnected with the cathode so as to connect the cathode of the OLED light-emitting device of each pixel unit. The specific manufacturing process can refer to the manufacturing process of the display panel in the above embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

Step 007: and manufacturing a support pillar. The specific manufacturing process of the supporting pillar can refer to the manufacturing process of the display panel in the above embodiments, and is not described herein again. By manufacturing the supporting columns on the pixel defining layer, the mask plate can be effectively prevented from contacting the surface of the display panel in the subsequent evaporation process of forming the OLED light-emitting device.

Step 008: and manufacturing a patterned OLED light-emitting device. When the OLED light emitting device is formed in the pixel region of the pixel defining layer, the OLED light emitting device may be partially disposed in the pixel region, and the OLED light emitting device may also be entirely disposed in the pixel region. In addition, the layer structure and the specific manufacturing process of the OLED light emitting device can refer to the manufacturing process of the display panel in the above embodiments, and are not described herein again.

Step 009: and manufacturing a packaging structure. First, SiO can be deposited using CVD, ALD, and the like₂SiNx or Al₂O₃Forming a whole surface packaging structure layer. Then, through the processes of coating photoresist, exposing, developing, etching, stripping the photoresist and the like, the whole surface of the packaging structure layer can be patterned so as to form an independent packaging structure above the pixel unit corresponding to each pixel unit. The inorganic material layers of the encapsulation structure and the thin-film transistor layer may be in sealing contact through the side encapsulation region of the pixel definition layer.

In addition, the pixel defining layer has rugged grooves and bumps, which can be transferred to the package structure. However, in order to facilitate the subsequent processing, a planarization layer may be further formed on the display panel formed after the step 009. In addition, the planarization layer can also cover foreign matters, so that the foreign matters are prevented from penetrating through other film layers arranged on the planarization layer. Further, a third encapsulation layer may be formed over the planarization layer.

In addition, since in some embodiments of the present application, the substrate may include a first substrate material layer PI 1, an isolation layer 402, and a second substrate material layer PI 2, which are stacked, the substrate may include a first substrate material layer PI 1, an isolation layer 402, and a second substrate material layer PI 2The middle insulation layer 402 is usually made of SiO₂SiNx or Al₂O₃And the inorganic layer structure made of inorganic materials has better water and oxygen barrier effect. Thus, in some embodiments of the present application, the inorganic layer structure (e.g., the isolation layer 402) of the substrate may be used as the first encapsulation layer. At this time, a via hole may be formed in the substrate and the thin-film transistor layer at a position corresponding to the side package region, and the via hole may expose the inorganic layer structure (e.g., the isolation layer 402) of the substrate. The package of the pixel unit is similar to the above embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted here.

The thin-film transistor layer in this embodiment may include, but is not limited to, a buffer layer, an active layer, a gate insulating layer, an inter-metal dielectric layer, an interlayer dielectric layer, and a first planarization layer, which are stacked. Wherein, the buffer layer, the gate insulating layer, the inter-metal dielectric layer and the interlayer dielectric layer are usually made of SiO₂SiNx or Al₂O₃The inorganic layer structure made of inorganic material has better water and oxygen barrier function, so that the inorganic layer structure of the thin film transistor layer can be used as the first packaging layer in the embodiment.

When the packaging structure is specifically arranged, the packaging structure is used as a second packaging layer to correspondingly cover each pixel unit one by one, namely, each pixel unit is packaged by one packaging structure. The second packaging layer penetrates through the side packaging region and the through hole in the thin film transistor layer and is in sealing contact with the inorganic layer structure (such as an interlayer dielectric layer) of the thin film transistor layer, so that each pixel unit is coated by the inorganic layer structure (such as the interlayer dielectric layer) of the thin film transistor layer and the second packaging layer, independent packaging of each pixel unit is achieved, and a pixel-level packaging structure is formed. It should be noted that, in the present embodiment, the pixel unit includes an OLED light emitting device, a planarization layer, a source electrode, and a drain electrode. Optionally, the pixel unit may further include an interlayer dielectric layer; optionally, the pixel unit may further include an inter-metal dielectric layer and a gate.

The flexible display screen of the embodiment can be bent for more than 10 ten thousand times in any direction, and the display panel still has good packaging characteristics. Therefore, the flexible display screen can avoid the problem that water oxygen caused by cracking of the packaging layer permeates under the application scenes of folding, curling, free deformation and the like, so that the problem that the water oxygen permeates the packaging layer to enter the display panel to cause display failure of the display panel can be avoided. In addition, each pixel unit is independently packaged or packaged in groups, and water and oxygen entering any packaging structure can be prevented from diffusing between adjacent packaging structures, so that the light-emitting failure of the whole flexible display screen is avoided.

The embodiment of the present application further provides an electronic device, which includes a middle frame, a rear shell, a printed circuit board, and any of the flexible display screens in the foregoing all embodiments. The middle frame can be used for bearing a printed circuit board and a flexible display screen, the flexible display screen and the printed circuit board are located on two sides of the middle frame, and the rear shell is located on one side, far away from the middle frame, of the printed circuit board.

The electronic equipment of this application embodiment can be collapsible equipment, because this electronic equipment's flexible display screen is at the folding in-process, and the risk of its display panel's encapsulating layer fracture is lower, consequently can avoid water oxygen to see through the encapsulating layer and get into display panel, leads to the problem that flexible display screen shows the inefficacy.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A display panel, comprising a substrate, a thin-film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer, at least two package structures and at least two pixel units, wherein the at least two package structures are used for packaging the at least two pixel units, and wherein:

the thin film transistor layer is arranged on the substrate;

the pixel definition layer is arranged on the thin film transistor layer and comprises a pixel area and a side packaging area, the side packaging area is arranged around the pixel unit packaged by the packaging structure, and the pixel area and the side packaging area are through holes arranged on the pixel definition layer;

the pixel unit comprises an OLED light-emitting device, and part or all of the OLED light-emitting device is arranged in the pixel area;

the packaging structure comprises a first packaging layer and a second packaging layer, wherein the first packaging layer is arranged on one side, close to the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device, the second packaging layer is arranged on one side, far away from the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device, and the first packaging layer and the second packaging layer are in side packaging area sealing contact.

2. The display panel of claim 1, wherein the number of the encapsulation structures is the same as the number of the pixel units, each encapsulation structure being for encapsulating one of the pixel units.

3. The display panel according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first encapsulation layer is a single-layer structure formed of an inorganic material layer, or a multi-layer structure formed of an inorganic material layer and an organic material layer alternately stacked;

the second packaging layer is of a single-layer structure formed by inorganic material layers or a multi-layer structure formed by alternately overlapping the inorganic material layers and the organic material layers.

4. The display panel of claim 1, wherein the display panel further comprises a metal line through which the cathode of each of the OLED light emitting devices is connected.

5. The display panel according to claim 4, wherein the metal line is disposed on a side of the pixel defining layer away from the thin-film transistor layer; or the metal wire is arranged on the first packaging layer; or the metal wire is arranged on the layer structure of the thin film transistor layer.

6. A flexible display screen, comprising a protective cover, a polarizer, a touch panel, and the display panel according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: the polaroid is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the touch panel is arranged between the polaroid and the display panel; or the like, or a combination thereof,

the touch panel is fixed on the protective cover plate, and the polarizer is arranged between the touch panel and the display panel.

7. An electronic device comprising a center frame, a rear case, a printed circuit board, and the flexible display of claim 6, wherein:

the middle frame is used for bearing the printed circuit board and the flexible display screen, and the printed circuit board and the flexible display screen are positioned on two sides of the middle frame;

the rear shell is positioned on one side of the printed circuit board, which is far away from the middle frame.

8. A method for manufacturing a display panel, the display panel including a substrate, a thin-film transistor layer, a pixel defining layer, at least two encapsulation structures and at least two pixel units, the at least two encapsulation structures being used for encapsulating the at least two pixel units, the encapsulation structures including a first encapsulation layer and a second encapsulation layer, the pixel units including OLED light emitting devices, the method comprising:

preparing the substrate;

forming the thin film transistor layer on the substrate, and forming a first via hole in the thin film transistor layer, wherein the first via hole extends to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor layer;

forming a whole first packaging structure layer on the thin film transistor layer, and carrying out patterning treatment on the whole first packaging structure layer to obtain at least two independent first packaging layers;

forming the pixel definition layer, and patterning the pixel definition layer to form a pixel region and a side packaging region on each first packaging layer, wherein the side packaging region is used for exposing the first packaging layer;

forming the OLED light-emitting device in the pixel area, wherein the OLED light-emitting device is connected with the drain electrode through the first through hole;

and forming a whole second packaging structure layer corresponding to the thin film transistor layer on one side of the OLED light-emitting device far away from the thin film transistor layer, and patterning the whole second packaging structure layer to obtain at least two independent second packaging layers, wherein the second packaging layers are in sealing contact with the first packaging layers in a side packaging area.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of forming the first encapsulation layer comprises:

depositing SiO on the thin film transistor layer₂SiNx or Al₂O₃Of the whole surface is formedA first packaging structure layer;

and patterning the whole first packaging structure layer to obtain the first packaging layer, wherein the patterning treatment comprises one or more of coating, exposure, development, etching and stripping.

10. The production method according to claim 8 or 9, wherein before the pixel defining layer is formed, the method further comprises: and forming an anode on the first packaging layer, wherein the anode is connected with the drain through the first through hole.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the step of forming the anode comprises:

sequentially depositing ITO, Ag and ITO on the first packaging layer to form an anode material layer;

and patterning the anode material layer to obtain the anode, wherein the patterning process comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising forming a metal line, wherein the cathode of each OLED light emitting device is connected to the metal line.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of forming the metal line comprises:

after the pixel defining layer is formed, sequentially depositing Ti, Al and Ti to form a metal layer;

and patterning the metal layer to obtain the metal wire, wherein the patterning comprises one or more of coating, exposing, developing, etching or stripping.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of forming the second encapsulation layer comprises:

depositing SiO on the pixel defining layer and the OLED light emitting device₂SiNx or Al₂O₃To form the full-face second package structure layer;

and patterning the whole second packaging structure layer to obtain the second packaging layer, wherein the patterning treatment comprises one or more of coating, exposure, development, etching or stripping.

15. A display panel, comprising a substrate, a thin-film transistor layer, a pixel definition layer, at least two package structures, and at least two pixel units, wherein the at least two package structures are used for packaging the at least two pixel units, and wherein:

the thin film transistor layer is arranged on the substrate;

the thin film transistor layer comprises an inorganic material layer, and a through hole is formed in the position corresponding to the side packaging area and exposes the inorganic material layer;

the packaging structure is arranged on one side, away from the thin film transistor layer, of the OLED light-emitting device, and the packaging structure is in sealing contact with the inorganic material layer in the side packaging area.

16. The display panel according to claim 15, wherein the number of the encapsulation structures is the same as the number of the pixel units, each encapsulation structure being for encapsulating one of the pixel units.

17. The display panel according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the encapsulation structure is a single layer structure formed of inorganic material layers or a multi-layer structure formed of inorganic material layers and organic material layers alternately stacked.

18. The display panel of claim 15, wherein the display panel further comprises a metal line through which the cathodes of the respective OLED light emitting devices are connected.

19. The display panel of claim 18, wherein the metal line is disposed on a side of the pixel defining layer away from the thin-film transistor layer; or the metal wire is arranged on the layer structure of the thin film transistor layer.