CN117769304A - Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a display panel, a manufacturing method thereof and a display device. The display panel comprises a substrate, and a pixel driving circuit layer, an insulating layer and a pixel defining layer which are sequentially stacked on the substrate, wherein the insulating layer is provided with a plurality of curved surface structures, the pixel defining layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel areas, and the orthographic projection of each curved surface structure on the substrate is positioned in the orthographic projection range of each sub-pixel area on the substrate; the light-emitting element is located in the sub-pixel area and covers the curved surface structure, the curved surface structure enables the light-emitting element to have a micro-lens structure, each curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface structure, the first curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface portion and at least one second curved surface portion surrounding the first curved surface portion, a spacing portion is arranged between every two adjacent curved surface portions, and a plurality of second curved surface portions are sequentially arranged along the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface portion on the plane where the insulating layer is located. The curved surface structure can increase the effective light emitting area of the display panel and improve the light extraction efficiency.

Description

Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display device

Technical Field

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

Background

Organic electroluminescent displays (OLEDs) are lighter and thinner than Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), have higher brightness, lower power consumption, faster response, higher definition, better flexibility, higher luminous efficiency, and meet new consumer demands for display technology. The introduction of microlens array technology can bring more significant advantages to OLED displays. First, the microlens array technique can increase the brightness of the screen. Through optimizing the light propagation path, reduce internal reflection, can make more light be focused to specific region, increase light emitting area, improve the light extraction rate, the highest luminance can reach more than 2 times of conventional product luminance, this will be user in outdoor or under the highlight environment more easily watch screen content, promotes user experience. Second, microlens array technology can reduce power consumption. Since the screen brightness is improved, but the power consumption is not increased or decreased, this means that the user can save more power when using the mobile phone.

However, the display panel having the microlens structure is still to be improved.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention has been made based on the findings and knowledge of the inventors regarding the following facts and problems:

the inventor found that the microlens structure in the current display panel has the problems of small effective light emitting area and low light extraction efficiency. Specifically, referring to fig. 3, the present microlens structure is composed of a plurality of hexagonal lenses 10 arranged in an array, and spaces 20 exist between adjacent lenses 10, which do not contribute to improving the brightness of the screen, but rather the presence of more spaces reduces the effective light emitting area and reduces the light extraction efficiency. In addition, the lens is of a curved surface structure, the thickness of the luminous functional layer at different positions of the lens is different, the thickness of the edge is thinner than that of the bottom, so that the brightness at the edge of the lens is higher, the brightness at the bottom is darker, the effective luminous area is reduced, and the effective luminous area of the existing micro-lens structure only occupies 50%. If the effective light emitting area of the micro lens structure can be increased, the light extraction efficiency can be improved, the brightness of the display panel can be further improved, and the display panel can be more power-saving.

The present invention aims to solve at least one of the technical problems in the related art to some extent.

To this end, in one aspect of the present invention, the present invention proposes a display panel. The display panel includes: the pixel driving circuit layer, the insulating layer and the pixel defining layer are sequentially stacked on the substrate, the insulating layer is provided with a plurality of curved surface structures, the pixel defining layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel areas, and the orthographic projection of each curved surface structure on the substrate is positioned in the orthographic projection range of each sub-pixel area on the substrate; and the light-emitting element is positioned in the sub-pixel area and covers the curved surface structure, the curved surface structure enables the light-emitting element to have a micro lens structure, wherein each curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface structure, the first curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface part and at least one second curved surface part surrounding the first curved surface part, a spacing part is arranged between two adjacent curved surface parts, and a plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially arranged along the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part on the plane of the insulating layer. The curved surface structure can increase the effective light emitting area of the display panel, improve the light extraction efficiency, and enable the display panel to have higher brightness and lower power consumption.

Further, the opening size of the first curved surface portion is 2-4 μm, and the opening size of the second curved surface portion is 1.8-2.5 μm.

Further, in the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface portion, the opening sizes of the plurality of second curved surface portions are sequentially reduced.

Further, the difference in opening sizes between two adjacent second curved surface portions is 0.1-0.5 μm.

Further, the shape of orthographic projection of the peripheral edge of the second curved surface portion on the substrate is the same as the shape of orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion on the substrate, centers of orthographic projections of a plurality of the second curved surface portions on the substrate are overlapped, and centers of orthographic projections of the second curved surface portion and the first curved surface portion on the substrate are overlapped.

Further, the orthographic projection shape of the first curved surface part on the substrate is the same as the orthographic projection shape of the sub-pixel area on the substrate.

Further, the orthographic projection shape of the first curved surface portion on the substrate includes a polygon, a circle or an ellipse.

Further, each curved surface structure further includes a second curved surface structure, the second curved surface structure has a third curved surface portion, and an orthographic projection of the second curved surface structure on the substrate is located between an orthographic projection of the first curved surface structure on the substrate and an orthographic projection of the sub-pixel region on the substrate.

Further, the orthographic projection shape of the third curved surface part on the substrate comprises a polygon, a circle or an ellipse; and/or the opening size of the third curved surface section is 2-4 μm.

Further, the curved surface of the curved surface structure is concave towards one side of the substrate, or the curved surface of the curved surface structure is convex towards one side away from the substrate.

Further, the insulating layer includes a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer that are stacked, the first insulating layer is disposed close to the pixel driving circuit layer, and the second insulating layer has the curved surface structure.

In another aspect of the present invention, a display device is provided. The display device comprises the display panel as described above, whereby the display device has all the features and advantages of the display panel as described above. In general, the display device has higher brightness and lower power consumption, improves the use experience of users and saves more power.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a display panel is provided. The method comprises the following steps: providing a substrate, wherein a pixel driving circuit layer is arranged on the substrate; forming an insulating layer on one side of the pixel driving circuit layer far away from the substrate, wherein the insulating layer is provided with a plurality of curved surface structures, each curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface structure, the first curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface part and at least one second curved surface part surrounding the first curved surface part, a spacing part is arranged between two adjacent curved surface parts, and on a plane where the insulating layer is positioned, the plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially arranged along the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part; forming a pixel defining layer on one side of the insulating layer away from the pixel driving circuit layer, wherein the pixel defining layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel areas, and the orthographic projection of each curved surface structure on the substrate is positioned in the orthographic projection range of each sub-pixel area on the substrate; and forming a light-emitting element in the sub-pixel region, wherein the light-emitting element covers the curved surface structure, and the curved surface structure enables the light-emitting element to have a micro-lens structure. The curved surface structure formed by the method can increase the effective light emitting area of the display panel, improve the light extraction efficiency, and enable the display panel to have higher brightness and lower power consumption.

Further, the opening size of the first curved surface part is 2-4 μm, and the opening size of the second curved surface part is 1.8-2.5 μm; and/or in the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part, the opening sizes of the plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially reduced, and the difference value of the opening sizes of two adjacent second curved surface parts is 0.1-0.5 mu m.

Further, a second curved surface structure is synchronously formed when the first curved surface structure is formed, the second curved surface structure is provided with a third curved surface part, and the orthographic projection of the second curved surface structure on the substrate is positioned between the orthographic projection of the first curved surface structure on the substrate and the orthographic projection of the sub-pixel area on the substrate.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings that are needed in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present invention, and other drawings may be obtained according to these drawings without inventive effort to a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of a first curved structure according to one embodiment of the invention;

fig. 2 shows a schematic structure of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic top view of a prior art microlens structure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of a first curved structure according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural view of a display panel according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural view of a display panel according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of a curved structure in a subpixel area according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 8 is a flow chart of a method for manufacturing a display panel according to an embodiment of the invention.

Reference numerals:

100: a substrate; 200: a pixel driving circuit layer; 210: an active layer; 220: a gate insulating layer; 230: a gate; 240: an interlayer dielectric layer; 250: a drain electrode; 260: a source electrode; 300: an insulating layer; 310: a first insulating layer; 320: a second insulating layer; 400: a pixel defining layer; 500: a light emitting element; 510: a first electrode; 520: a light-emitting functional layer; 530: a second electrode; 600: a buffer layer; 700: a light shielding layer; 800: a color block; 10: a lens; 20: spacing; 30: a curved surface structure; 31: a first curved surface structure; 32: a second curved surface structure; 40: a sub-pixel region; 1: a first curved surface portion; 2/2A/2B/2C: a second curved surface portion; 3: a spacer; 4: and a third curved surface portion.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below. The following examples are illustrative only and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. The examples are not to be construed as limiting the specific techniques or conditions described in the literature in this field or as per the specifications of the product.

In one aspect of the present invention, a display panel is provided. In some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 2, the display panel includes a substrate 100, a pixel driving circuit layer 200, an insulating layer 300, a pixel defining layer 400, and a light emitting element 500, where the pixel driving circuit layer 200, the insulating layer 300, and the pixel defining layer 400 are sequentially stacked on the substrate 100, the insulating layer 300 has a plurality of curved surface structures 30, the pixel defining layer 400 defines a plurality of sub-pixel regions 40, a front projection of each curved surface structure 30 on the substrate 100 is located within a front projection range of each sub-pixel region 40 on the substrate 100, the light emitting element 500 is located in the sub-pixel region 40 and covers the curved surface structures 30, the curved surface structures 30 enable the light emitting element 500 to have a microlens structure, referring to fig. 1, each curved surface structure 31 includes a first curved surface structure 31, the first curved surface structure 31 includes a first curved surface portion 1 and at least one second curved surface portion (2A, 2B, 2C as shown in fig. 1), a spacer 3 is provided between two adjacent curved surface portions, and the plurality of second curved surface portions 2A, 2C are sequentially arranged along a central edge of the first curved surface portion 1 on the plane of the insulating layer 300.

The second curved surface portion is an annular structure, and compared with the existing plurality of hexagonal array structures, the interval between partial hexagonal lenses can be saved, namely, the interval between partial hexagonal lenses is designed into an effective luminous area, so that the effective luminous area is increased, and the light extraction efficiency is improved. And moreover, the first curved surface part and the plurality of second curved surface parts form an annular nested structure, so that more intervals are designed into an effective luminous area, the effective luminous area is increased, the light extraction efficiency is improved, and the stability and uniformity of light emission are facilitated. Compared with the prior hexagonal array structure, the structure of the invention can reduce the spacing parts by 1/3 or even 1/2.

In some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 1, the opening dimension d of the first curved surface section 1 ₁ May be 2-4 μm, such as 2 μm, 2.5 μm, 3 μm, 3.7 μm, 4 μm, and the opening dimension d of the second curved surface portion ₂ May be 1.8-2.5 μm, for example 1.8 μm, 2 μm, 2.2 μm, 2.5 μm. The opening size of the existing hexagonal lens is generally 3.6-5.6 mu m, and the larger opening size leads to larger occupied area of the darker bottom, so that the effective light-emitting area is only 50%. The first curved surface part and the plurality of second curved surface parts form an annular nested structure, so that the perimeter of the second curved surface part is larger, and the curved surface structure is easy to form during manufacturing, therefore, the opening size of the second curved surface part can be reduced, for example, the opening size of the second curved surface part is reduced to be less than 2.5 mu m, so that the area of the bottom of the second curved surface part is reduced, the area of a darker brightness area is reduced, the effective light emitting area is further increased, and the light extraction efficiency is improved. The effective light-emitting area of the invention can reach 75 percent.

In some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 1, in the first curved surface structure 31, there are spacers 3 between adjacent curved surface portions, and the dimension d of the spacers 3 ₃ May be 0.7-1.2 μm.

According to the embodiment of the invention, in the first curved surface structure, the number of the second curved surface parts can be determined according to the opening size of the first curved surface part, the opening size of the second curved surface part, the size of the spacing part and the size of the sub-pixel area, so that the sub-pixel area is preferably filled to the greatest extent.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the opening sizes of the plurality of second curved surface portions may be sequentially reduced in the center-to-edge direction of the first curved surface portion, for example, the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2B is smaller than the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2A, and the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2C is smaller than the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2B. In the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part, the circumferences of the second curved surface parts are sequentially increased, so that the opening sizes of the second curved surface parts can be sequentially reduced, the area of the bottom is further reduced, the effective light emitting area is further increased, and the light extraction efficiency is improved. Specifically, the difference in opening sizes of the adjacent two second curved surface portions may be 0.1 to 0.5 μm.

In some embodiments of the invention, the orthographic projection of the peripheral edge of the second curved surface portion on the substrate is the same as the orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion on the substrate, the centers of orthographic projections of the plurality of second curved surface portions on the substrate coincide, and the centers of orthographic projections of the second curved surface portion and the first curved surface portion on the substrate coincide. For example, referring to fig. 1, the front projection of the first curved surface portion 1 on the substrate is circular, the front projection of the peripheral edges of the second curved surface portions 2A, 2B, 2C on the substrate is also circular, and the centers of the circular shapes are coincident, which is beneficial to improving the stability and uniformity of light emission.

Regarding the composition of the curved structures in the sub-pixel area, in some embodiments of the present invention, the curved structures may be composed of only the first curved structures, and the orthographic projection shape of the first curved portions in the first curved structures on the substrate is the same as the orthographic projection shape of the sub-pixel area on the substrate, and the orthographic projection shape of the peripheral edges of the second curved portions on the substrate is the same as the orthographic projection shape of the first curved portions on the substrate, the centers of the orthographic projections of the plurality of second curved portions on the substrate coincide, and the centers of the orthographic projections of the second curved portions and the first curved portions on the substrate coincide. In this embodiment, the curved surface structure can fill the sub-pixel area to the greatest extent, and has a higher filling rate.

In other embodiments of the present invention, the shape of the orthographic projection of the peripheral edge of the second curved surface portion on the substrate is the same as the shape of the orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion on the substrate, and the shape of the orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion on the substrate and the center of the orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion on the substrate are overlapped, and may be different from the shape of the orthographic projection of the sub-pixel region on the substrate, and the shape of the orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion on the substrate may include a polygon, a circle or an ellipse, so that the shape of the orthographic projection of the second curved surface portion on the substrate corresponds to a polygonal ring, a circular ring or an elliptical ring. For example, referring to fig. 4, the orthographic projection of the first curved surface portion 1 of the first curved surface structure 31 on the substrate is a regular hexagon, and the orthographic projection of the second curved surface portion 2 on the substrate is a regular hexagon ring.

When the orthographic projection shape of the first curved surface portion on the substrate is different from the orthographic projection shape of the sub-pixel region on the substrate, the curved surface structure may be composed of a plurality of first curved surface structures, and the specific number and specific arrangement of the first curved surface structures are not particularly limited as long as the sub-pixel region can be filled to the maximum extent. Alternatively, referring to fig. 7, the curved surface structure is formed by a plurality of first curved surface structures 31 and a plurality of second curved surface structures 32, the second curved surface structures 32 have third curved surface portions 4, and the orthographic projection of the second curved surface structures 32 on the substrate is located between the orthographic projection of the first curved surface structures 31 on the substrate and the orthographic projection of the sub-pixel regions 40 on the substrate. Namely, the second curved surface structure is filled in the area between the first curved surface structure and the sub-pixel area, so that the filling rate of the curved surface structure in the sub-pixel area is improved.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the orthographic projection shape of the third curved surface section 4 on the substrate includes a polygon, a circle, or an ellipse. Opening dimension d of third curved surface portion 4 ₄ May be 2-4 μm, such as 2 μm, 2.5 μm, 3 μm, 3.5 μm, 4 μm. The specific shape and size of the second curved surface structure may be designed according to the shape and size of the region between the first curved surface structure and the sub-pixel region. The specific number and specific arrangement of the first curved surface structure and the second curved surface structure are not particularly limited as long as the sub-pixel region can be filled to the maximum extent.

In some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 5, the pixel driving circuit layer 200 may include an active layer 210, a gate insulating layer 220, a gate electrode 230, an interlayer dielectric layer 240, and source and drain electrodes (source electrode 260 and drain electrode 250) stacked in this order, the source electrode 260 and drain electrode 250 being connected to the active layer 210 through a via hole provided in the interlayer dielectric layer 240, the active layer 210, the gate insulating layer 220, the gate electrode 230, the interlayer dielectric layer 240, and the source electrode 260 and drain electrode 250 constituting a thin film transistor, the pixel driving circuit layer having a plurality of thin film transistors, each thin film transistor corresponding to one light emitting element.

Referring to fig. 5, a buffer layer 600 may be further disposed between the substrate 100 and the pixel driving circuit layer 200, a light shielding layer 700 is disposed between the buffer layer 600 and the substrate 100, a front projection of the active layer 210 on the substrate is located within a front projection range of the light shielding layer 700 on the substrate, and the source electrode 260 is connected with the light shielding layer 700 through a via hole penetrating through the interlayer dielectric layer 240 and a via hole disposed in the buffer layer 600, to prevent the active layer from being illuminated to change characteristics, for example, to prevent a voltage of the active layer from being changed, to prevent crosstalk from being generated.

Referring to fig. 5, the light emitting element 500 includes a first electrode 510, a light emitting function layer 520, and a second electrode 530, which are sequentially stacked, the first electrode 510 covering the curved structure 30 and being connected to the source electrode 260 of the thin film transistor through a via hole provided in the insulating layer 300, the light emitting function layer 520 covering a portion of the first electrode 510 located in the sub-pixel region, and the second electrode 530 covering the pixel defining layer 400 and the light emitting function layer 520. The light emitting functional layer may include a hole injecting layer, a hole transporting layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transporting layer, and an electron injecting layer, which are sequentially stacked, the hole injecting layer being disposed near the first electrode.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the curved surface of the curved surface structure may be concave toward the side of the substrate (as shown in fig. 5), or the curved surface of the curved surface structure may be convex toward the side away from the substrate (this is not shown). Specifically, for the bottom emission display panel, the curved surface of the curved surface structure can be sunken towards one side of the substrate, and the curved surface structure converges light emitted by the light emitting element, so that the effects of improving the brightness of the display panel and preventing peeping are achieved, such as application in a mobile phone. Or the curved surface of the curved surface structure protrudes to one side far away from the substrate, and the curved surface structure diverges the light emitted by the light-emitting element, so that the effects of improving the brightness of the display panel and increasing the viewing angle are achieved, and the curved surface structure is applied to a wide-viewing angle television. Preferably, for the bottom emission display panel, the curved surface of the curved surface structure is recessed toward the substrate side.

To top emission display panel, the curved surface of curved surface structure can be protruding to the one side of keeping away from the base plate, and curved surface structure gathers the light that light emitting component sent, reaches the effect that improves display panel luminance and peep-proof, or, curved surface of curved surface structure is sunken to base plate one side, and curved surface structure diverges the light that light emitting component sent, reaches the effect that improves display panel luminance and increase and watch the visual angle.

In some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 5, the display panel further includes a color film layer, where the color film layer includes a plurality of color blocks 800 (only one color block is shown in fig. 5), the orthographic projection of the color blocks 800 on the substrate 100 is located within the orthographic projection range of the sub-pixel area on the substrate 100, that is, the color blocks 800 are disposed in one-to-one correspondence with the light emitting elements 500, and the color blocks 800 are located on the light emitting side of the light emitting elements 500. The light-emitting element can emit blue light, red light or green light, the blue block corresponds to the light-emitting element emitting blue light, the red block corresponds to the light-emitting element emitting red light, the green block corresponds to the light-emitting element emitting green light, and the color block is arranged to enable the color displayed by the display panel to be purer and better in color development.

For a bottom emission display panel, the color block 800 may be disposed between the insulating layer 300 and the interlayer dielectric layer 240 (as shown in fig. 5), or the color block 800 may be disposed in the curved structure 30 and between the insulating layer 300 and the first electrode 510 (this is not shown in the drawing). For a top emission display panel, the color block 800 may be disposed on a side of the second electrode 530 remote from the substrate 100, for example, on a glass package cover plate (this is not shown in the drawings).

In some embodiments of the present invention, the insulating layer 300 may be a single layer structure (as shown in fig. 5), and the insulating layer 300 may be a passivation layer. Alternatively, referring to fig. 6, the insulating layer 300 includes a first insulating layer 310 and a second insulating layer 320 stacked, the first insulating layer 310 is disposed near the interlayer dielectric layer 240, the second insulating layer 320 has a curved structure 30, the first insulating layer 310 is a passivation layer, the second insulating layer 320 is a planarization layer, the first electrode 510 is connected to the source electrode 260 through a via hole penetrating the second insulating layer 320 and a via hole disposed in the first insulating layer 310, and the color block 800 is disposed between the first insulating layer 310 and the second insulating layer 320. The constituent materials of the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer are not particularly limited, and those skilled in the art can select materials according to the common materials of the film layers.

In another aspect of the present invention, a display device is provided. The display device comprises the display panel described above, and therefore, the display device has all the characteristics and beneficial effects of the display panel described above, and overall, the display device has higher brightness and lower power consumption, improves the use experience of users and saves more power.

According to the embodiment of the invention, the specific type of the display device is not particularly required, and a person skilled in the art can flexibly select the display device according to actual requirements, for example, the display device can be all devices and devices with display functions, such as a mobile phone, a television, a notebook, an iPad, a game machine, a kinedle, a vehicle-mounted display device and the like.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the display device includes, in addition to the aforementioned display panel, the necessary structures or components of a conventional display device, such as a mobile phone, and further includes structures such as an audio module, a camera module, and a touch module.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a display panel is provided. The display panel manufactured by the method may be the display panel described above, and thus, the display panel manufactured by the method may have the same characteristics and advantages as the display panel described above, and will not be described again.

In some embodiments of the invention, referring to fig. 8, the method comprises:

s100: a substrate is provided, and a pixel driving circuit layer is disposed on the substrate.

In this step, a substrate is provided, on which a pixel driving circuit layer is provided. The structure of the pixel driving circuit layer has been described in detail above, and will not be described again here. The method for forming each of the film layers in the pixel driving circuit layer is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual circumstances.

S200: an insulating layer is formed on a side of the pixel driving circuit layer away from the substrate.

In this step, an insulating layer is formed on a side of the pixel driving circuit layer away from the substrate. Specifically, an insulating material layer is formed on one side, far away from a substrate, of a pixel driving circuit layer, then a first patterning treatment is performed on the insulating material layer to form an insulating layer with a plurality of curved surface structures, the first patterning treatment can be that photoresist is formed on one side, far away from the substrate, of the insulating material layer, the photoresist is subjected to exposure and development to form a photoresist mask, dry etching is performed on the insulating material layer based on the photoresist mask, and the pattern on the photoresist mask is transferred into the insulating material layer to form the plurality of curved surface structures.

Each curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface structure, the first curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface part and at least one second curved surface part surrounding the first curved surface part, a spacing part is arranged between every two adjacent curved surface parts, a plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially arranged along the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part on the plane of the insulating layer, and the area of each curved surface structure corresponds to the sub-pixel area, so that the luminous element formed subsequently is provided with a micro-lens structure. The second curved surface portion is an annular structure, and compared with the existing plurality of hexagonal array structures, the interval between partial hexagonal lenses can be saved, namely, the interval between partial hexagonal lenses is designed into an effective luminous area, so that the effective luminous area is increased, and the light extraction efficiency is improved. And moreover, the first curved surface part and the plurality of second curved surface parts form an annular nested structure, so that more intervals are designed into an effective luminous area, the effective luminous area is increased, the light extraction efficiency is improved, and the stability and uniformity of light emission are facilitated. Compared with the prior hexagonal array structure, the structure of the invention can reduce the spacing parts by 1/3 or even 1/2.

In some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 1, the opening dimension d of the first curved surface section 1 ₁ May be 2-4 μm, and the opening dimension d of the second curved surface portion ₂ May be 1.8-2.5 μm. The opening size of the existing hexagonal lens is generally 3.6-5.6 mu m, and the opening size is larger, so that the bottom with darker brightness is causedThe occupied area of the part is large, so that the effective light-emitting area only occupies 50 percent. The first curved surface part and the plurality of second curved surface parts form an annular nested structure, so that the perimeter of the second curved surface part is larger, and the curved surface structure is easy to form during manufacturing, therefore, the opening size of the second curved surface part can be reduced, for example, the opening size of the second curved surface part is reduced to be less than 2.5 mu m, so that the area of the bottom of the second curved surface part is reduced, the area of a darker brightness area is reduced, the effective light emitting area is further increased, the light extraction efficiency is improved, and the effective light emitting area can reach 75%.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the opening sizes of the plurality of second curved surface portions may be sequentially reduced in the center-to-edge direction of the first curved surface portion, for example, the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2B is smaller than the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2A, and the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2C is smaller than the opening size of the second curved surface portion 2B. In the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part, the circumferences of the second curved surface parts are sequentially increased, so that the opening sizes of the second curved surface parts can be sequentially reduced, the area of the bottom is further reduced, the effective light emitting area is further increased, and the light extraction efficiency is improved. Specifically, the difference in opening sizes of the adjacent two second curved surface portions may be 0.1 to 0.5 μm.

The shapes of the first curved surface portion and the second curved surface portion, the size of the spacer portion, and the configuration of the curved surface structure in the sub-pixel region have been described in detail above, and will not be described in detail here.

When the front projection shape of the first curved surface portion on the substrate is different from the front projection shape of the sub-pixel area on the substrate, referring to fig. 7, the curved surface structure is composed of a plurality of first curved surface structures 31 and a plurality of second curved surface structures 32, the second curved surface structures 32 have the third curved surface portion 4, and the front projection of the second curved surface structures 32 on the substrate is located between the front projection of the first curved surface structures 31 on the substrate and the front projection of the sub-pixel area 40 on the substrate. In the step, the second curved surface structure is synchronously formed when the first curved surface structure is formed, namely, a pattern for forming the second curved surface structure is formed in the photoresist when the photoresist is exposed and developed, and the pattern is transferred into the insulating material layer after the insulating material layer is subjected to dry etching to form the second curved surface structure. And filling the second curved surface structure in the area between the first curved surface structure and the sub-pixel area, so that the filling rate of the curved surface structure in the sub-pixel area is improved. The shape and the opening size of the third curved surface portion have been described in detail above, and will not be described in detail herein.

The depressions and protrusions of the curved surface structure have been described in detail above, and will not be described in detail herein.

In this step, before forming the curved surface structure, a via hole is formed in the insulating layer by a second patterning process, and the first electrode in the light emitting element formed later is connected to the source electrode of the thin film transistor through the via hole in the insulating layer.

In some embodiments of the present invention, the insulating layer may be a single layer structure, and in this case, the insulating layer may be a passivation layer. Alternatively, referring to fig. 6, the insulating layer 300 includes a first insulating layer 310 and a second insulating layer 320 stacked, the first insulating layer 310 is disposed near the interlayer dielectric layer 240, the second insulating layer 320 has a curved structure 30, the first insulating layer 310 is a passivation layer, the second insulating layer 320 is a planarization layer, and the step forms a via hole in the second insulating layer and the first insulating layer through a second patterning process, and forms a plurality of curved structures in the second insulating layer through a first patterning process.

For the bottom emission display panel, before forming the insulating layer, the step further comprises forming a color film layer on one side of the pixel driving circuit layer away from the substrate, wherein for the insulating layer formed by the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer, the color film layer is formed between the first insulating layer and the second insulating layer, and comprises a plurality of color blocks, and each sub-pixel area is correspondingly provided with one color block. Alternatively, after the curved surface structure is formed in the insulating layer, a color block is formed in the curved surface structure to increase the purity of color development of the display panel. The method for forming the color block is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to the actual circumstances.

S300: a pixel defining layer is formed on a side of the insulating layer remote from the pixel driving circuit layer.

In this step, a pixel defining layer is formed on a side of the insulating layer remote from the pixel driving circuit layer. Specifically, a plurality of openings may be formed in the pixel defining layer through a third patterning process, so that the pixel defining layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel regions, and an orthographic projection of each curved surface structure on the substrate is located within an orthographic projection range of each sub-pixel region on the substrate.

S400: a light emitting element is formed in the sub-pixel region.

In this step, a light emitting element is formed in the sub-pixel region, and the light emitting element covers a curved surface structure which makes the light emitting element have a microlens structure. The constituent film layers of the light emitting element have been described in detail above, and are not described in detail herein. The method for forming each film layer in the light-emitting element is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual circumstances.

For the top emission display panel, after the light-emitting element is formed, a color film layer can be formed on one side, far away from the substrate, of the second electrode, and specifically, the color film layer can be arranged on the glass packaging cover plate and comprises a plurality of color blocks, and each sub-pixel area is correspondingly provided with one color block. The method for forming the color block is not particularly limited, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to the actual circumstances.

In the description of the present invention, the terms "first," "second," "third," and the like are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defining "a first", "a second", or a third "may explicitly or implicitly include one or more such feature. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "a plurality" is two or more, unless explicitly defined otherwise.

In the description of the present specification, a description referring to terms "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "examples," "specific examples," or "some examples," etc., means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present specification. In this specification, schematic representations of the above terms are not necessarily directed to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. Furthermore, the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of the different embodiments or examples may be combined and combined by those skilled in the art without contradiction.

While embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described above, it will be understood that the above embodiments are illustrative and not to be construed as limiting the invention, and that variations, modifications, alternatives and variations may be made to the above embodiments by one of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the invention.

Claims (15)

1. A display panel, comprising:

the pixel driving circuit layer, the insulating layer and the pixel defining layer are sequentially stacked on the substrate, the insulating layer is provided with a plurality of curved surface structures, the pixel defining layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel areas, and the orthographic projection of each curved surface structure on the substrate is positioned in the orthographic projection range of each sub-pixel area on the substrate; and

a light emitting element located in the sub-pixel region and covering the curved structure, the curved structure providing the light emitting element with a microlens structure,

each curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface structure, each first curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface part and at least one second curved surface part encircling the first curved surface part, a spacing part is arranged between every two adjacent curved surface parts, and a plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially arranged along the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part on the plane of the insulating layer.

2. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the opening size of the first curved portion is 2-4 μm and the opening size of the second curved portion is 1.8-2.5 μm.

3. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the opening sizes of the plurality of second curved surface portions decrease in order in the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface portion.

4. A display panel according to claim 3, wherein the difference in opening sizes of two adjacent second curved portions is 0.1-0.5 μm.

5. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein a front projection shape of a peripheral edge of the second curved surface portion on the substrate is the same as a front projection shape of the first curved surface portion on the substrate, centers of front projections of a plurality of the second curved surface portions on the substrate coincide, and centers of front projections of the second curved surface portion and the first curved surface portion on the substrate coincide.

6. The display panel of claim 5, wherein an orthographic projection shape of the first curved portion on the substrate is the same as an orthographic projection shape of the sub-pixel region on the substrate.

7. The display panel of claim 5, wherein the orthographic projection shape of the first curved portion on the substrate comprises a polygon, a circle, or an ellipse.

8. The display panel of claim 1, wherein each of the curved structures further comprises a second curved structure having a third curved portion, an orthographic projection of the second curved structure onto the substrate being located between an orthographic projection of the first curved structure onto the substrate and an orthographic projection of the sub-pixel region onto the substrate.

9. The display panel according to claim 8, wherein an orthographic projection shape of the third curved surface portion on the substrate includes a polygon, a circle, or an ellipse; and/or

The opening size of the third curved surface section is 2-4 μm.

10. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the curved surface of the curved surface structure is concave toward one side of the substrate or the curved surface of the curved surface structure is convex toward one side away from the substrate.

11. The display panel according to claim 1, wherein the insulating layer includes a first insulating layer and a second insulating layer which are stacked, the first insulating layer being provided close to the pixel driving circuit layer, the second insulating layer having the curved surface structure.

12. A display device comprising the display panel of any one of claims 1-11.

13. A method for manufacturing a display panel, comprising:

providing a substrate, wherein a pixel driving circuit layer is arranged on the substrate;

forming an insulating layer on one side of the pixel driving circuit layer far away from the substrate, wherein the insulating layer is provided with a plurality of curved surface structures, each curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface structure, the first curved surface structure comprises a first curved surface part and at least one second curved surface part surrounding the first curved surface part, a spacing part is arranged between two adjacent curved surface parts, and on a plane where the insulating layer is positioned, the plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially arranged along the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part;

forming a pixel defining layer on one side of the insulating layer away from the pixel driving circuit layer, wherein the pixel defining layer defines a plurality of sub-pixel areas, and the orthographic projection of each curved surface structure on the substrate is positioned in the orthographic projection range of each sub-pixel area on the substrate;

and forming a light-emitting element in the sub-pixel region, wherein the light-emitting element covers the curved surface structure, and the curved surface structure enables the light-emitting element to have a micro-lens structure.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first curved surface portion has an opening size of 2-4 μm and the second curved surface portion has an opening size of 1.8-2.5 μm; and/or

In the direction from the center to the edge of the first curved surface part, the opening sizes of the plurality of second curved surface parts are sequentially reduced, and the difference value of the opening sizes of two adjacent second curved surface parts is 0.1-0.5 mu m.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein a second curved structure is formed simultaneously with the forming of the first curved structure, the second curved structure having a third curved portion, an orthographic projection of the second curved structure on the substrate being located between an orthographic projection of the first curved structure on the substrate and an orthographic projection of the sub-pixel region on the substrate.