JP2007095608A - Electrooptical device, electronic apparatus and method of manufacturing electrooptical device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrooptical device capable of further improving accuracy of a formation position of a thin film when the thin film is formed by applying and drying a liquid composition; to provide an electronic apparatus; and to provide a method of manufacturing the electrooptical device. <P>SOLUTION: In the method of manufacturing an electrooptical device, hole injection/transport layers and a luminescent layer of an light emitting element are formed by forming barrier ribs 112, thereafter applying a liquid composition to the insides of the barrier ribs 12 and drying it. In forming the barrier ribs 112, organic barrier ribs 112b are formed by a resin with liquid-repellent particles such as fluorine resin particles dispersed therein, thereafter minute uneven parts are formed by etching the surfaces thereof to partially expose the multiple liquid-repellent particles, and thereby a liquid-repellent property to the liquid composition is previously enhanced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electro-optical device, an electronic apparatus, and a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device.

  In recent years, a light emitting material such as an organic fluorescent material is used as a liquid composition, and a method of patterning the light emitting material by ejecting the liquid composition onto a substrate by an ink jet method is employed between the anode and the cathode. An organic EL (electroluminescence) device having a structure in which a light emitting layer made of the light emitting material is sandwiched has been developed. Such an organic EL device is, for example, a line head of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a display device. It is used as an electro-optical device.

Further, when the liquid composition is discharged, the liquid composition coating region is surrounded by a partition called a bank so that the liquid composition does not protrude from the predetermined region, and at least the upper part of the partition is made of an organic material, A technique for imparting liquid repellency to the partition walls has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-249375 A

  In recent years, pixel miniaturization has progressed in display devices and the like, and in order to cope with such miniaturization, it is necessary to further improve the accuracy of the application position of the liquid composition. However, if the partition region is made finer by simply applying the liquid repellency to the partition wall by the technique described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to reliably prevent the applied liquid composition from overcoming the partition wall and protruding into the adjacent region. There is a problem that cannot be done.

  In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an electro-optical device, an electronic apparatus, and an electric device capable of further improving the formation position accuracy of a thin film when a thin film is formed by applying and drying a liquid composition. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an optical device.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, in the present invention, in the electro-optical device in which the thin film is formed independently for each thin film formation region over the entire area of the plurality of thin film formation regions, the plurality of thin film formation regions include a large number at least on the upper surface. The liquid repellent particles are surrounded by exposed partition walls.

  According to the present invention, in the method of manufacturing an electro-optical device in which a thin film is formed independently for each thin film formation region over the entire area of the plurality of thin film formation regions, the thin film is formed by a partition in which a large number of liquid repellent particles are dispersed at least in the upper part A partition forming step surrounding the formation region, a liquid repellent particle exposing step of etching the surface of the partition wall to expose a part of the liquid repellent particles on the surface of the partition wall, and a liquid composition inside the partition wall A thin film forming step of forming the thin film by applying an object and then drying.

  In the present invention, since a large number of liquid repellent particles are exposed on at least the upper surface of the partition wall, at least the upper surface of the partition wall has a contact angle of 70 ° or more with respect to the liquid composition for forming a thin film. Demonstrate sex. For this reason, when the liquid composition is applied to the inside of the partition wall, the liquid composition does not get over into the adjacent region over the partition wall. Therefore, since the accuracy of the application position of the liquid composition is high, the liquid composition can be applied accurately even when the region surrounded by the partition walls is narrow.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that at least the upper surface of the partition wall has a large number of fine irregularities formed by the exposed liquid repellent particles. In such a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device, in the liquid repellent particle exposure step, a number of fine irregularities are formed on the surface of the partition wall by the exposed liquid repellent particles. With such a configuration, the contact area with the liquid material is narrow in the fine unevenness, so that the liquid repellent property having a contact angle of 70 ° or more with respect to the liquid composition for forming a thin film, and further the contact angle is 150 °. The above super liquid repellency can be realized. For this reason, when the liquid composition is applied to the inside of the partition wall, the liquid composition does not get over into the adjacent region over the partition wall. Therefore, since the accuracy of the application position of the liquid composition is high, the liquid composition can be applied accurately even when the region surrounded by the partition walls is narrow.

  In the present invention, at least the upper part of the partition wall is composed of a liquid-repellent particle-containing organic partition wall in which a large number of liquid-repellent particles are dispersed, and the liquid-repellent particle-containing organic partition wall is at least the upper surface of the liquid-repellent particle-containing organic material partition wall. It is possible to adopt a configuration in which a part of is exposed. In such an electro-optical device manufacturing method, in the partition forming step, at least an upper part of the partition is constituted by a liquid repellent particle-containing organic material partition in which the plurality of liquid repellent particles are dispersed.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the surface of the partition wall is etched by plasma treatment in the liquid repellent particle exposure step.

  In the present invention, the liquid repellent particles are preferably fluororesin particles. The fluororesin particles are excellent in liquid repellency and excellent in heat resistance and chemical resistance.

  In the present invention, the liquid repellent particles preferably have an average particle size of 0.5 to 2.0 μm. If comprised in this way, when the said liquid repellent particle | grains are exposed, the unevenness | corrugation excellent in the liquid repellency improvement can be formed.

  In the present invention, the thin film is a functional layer of a light emitting element, and in each of the plurality of thin film formation regions, a first electrode is formed on a lower layer side of the functional layer, and a first layer is formed on an upper layer of the functional layer. Two electrodes are formed. In such a method of manufacturing an electro-optical device, a first electrode forming step of forming a first electrode in each of the plurality of thin film regions is performed before the partition forming step, and after the thin film forming step, A second electrode forming step of forming a second electrode on the upper layer side of the thin film is performed.

  The electro-optical device according to the present invention is used in an electronic apparatus such as a line head of an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine or a display device.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is applied to an electro-optical device in which a thin film is formed independently for each thin film formation region over the entire area of the plurality of thin film formation regions. An example in which the present invention is applied in the case of forming a light emitting element (functional layer (hole injection / transport layer and light emitting layer) of an organic EL element) will be described. In order to make the size recognizable on the drawing, the scale of each layer and each member is different from the actual one.

[Embodiment 1]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of an active matrix organic EL display device as an example of an electro-optical device to which the present invention is applied. The electro-optical device 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a plurality of scanning lines 101, a plurality of signal lines 102 extending in a direction intersecting the scanning lines 101, and a plurality of power supply lines 103 extending in parallel to the signal lines 102. In addition to having a wired configuration, a pixel region 100 is provided near each intersection of the scanning line 101 and the signal line 102. A data side driving circuit 104 including a shift register, a level shifter, a video line, and an analog switch is connected to the signal line 102, and a scanning side driving circuit 105 including a shift register and a level shifter is connected to the scanning line 101. Each pixel region 100 holds a switching thin film transistor 112 to which a scanning signal is supplied to the gate electrode via the scanning line 101, and a pixel signal supplied from the signal line 102 via the switching thin film transistor 112. The storage capacitor 7 to be driven, the driving thin film transistor 123 to which the pixel signal held by the storage capacitor 7 is supplied to the gate electrode, and the power source when electrically connected to the power source line 103 through the driving thin film transistor 123 A pixel electrode 111 (anode / first electrode) through which a driving current flows from the line 103 and a functional layer 110 sandwiched between the pixel electrode 111 and the cathode 12 (second electrode) are provided. Here, the pixel electrode 111, the functional layer 110, and the cathode 12 constitute a light emitting element 5 made of an organic EL element.

  According to this configuration, when the scanning line 101 is driven and the switching thin film transistor 112 is turned on, the potential of the signal line 102 at that time is held in the holding capacitor 7, and the holding capacitor 7 is driven according to the state. The on / off state of the thin film transistor 123 is determined. Then, current flows from the power supply line 103 to the pixel electrode 111 through the channel of the driving thin film transistor 123, and further current flows to the cathode 12 through the functional layer 110. As a result, the functional layer 110 emits light according to the amount of current flowing through it.

[Configuration of each pixel area]
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the electro-optical device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Since the basic structure of the organic EL device is well known, detailed description thereof is omitted, but the cross-sectional structure of the electro-optical device 1 of this embodiment is generally represented as shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a pixel region 100 for three colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and a circuit in which a pixel driving circuit is formed on the substrate 2 by a thin film transistor or the like. The light emitting element part 11 provided with the element part 14, the pixel electrode 111, the functional layer 110, and the cathode 12 are laminated | stacked one by one. On the surface side of the cathode layer 12, a sealing portion is constituted by a sealing resin, a sealing substrate, a sealing can, and the like.

  In the electro-optical device 1 of the present embodiment, the cathode 12 is made of a reflective material such as Al, and light emitted from the functional layer 110 toward the substrate 2 passes through the circuit element unit 14 and the substrate 2 and passes through the substrate 2. Light emitted to the lower side (observer side) and emitted from the functional layer 110 to the opposite side of the substrate 2 is reflected by the cathode 12 and passes through the circuit element unit 14 and the substrate 2 to be below the substrate 2. It is emitted to the (observer side). If a transparent material such as ITO, Pt, Ir, Ni, or Pd is used as the cathode 12 and a reflective layer is formed on the lower layer side of the pixel electrode 111, light can be emitted from the cathode 12 side. .

  Hereinafter, the structure of each part is demonstrated concretely. First, in the circuit element portion 14, a base protective film 2c made of a silicon oxide film is formed on the substrate 2, and an island-shaped semiconductor film 141 made of polycrystalline silicon is formed on the base protective film 2c. In the semiconductor film 141, a source region 141a and a drain region 141b are formed by high concentration P (phosphorus) ion implantation, and a portion where P is not introduced becomes a channel region 141c. Further, a transparent gate insulating film 142 covering the base protective film 2c and the semiconductor film 141 is formed in the circuit element portion 14, and a gate electrode made of Al, Mo, Ta, Ti, W, or the like is formed on the gate insulating film 142. 143 (scanning line 101) is formed, and a transparent first interlayer insulating film 144a and a second interlayer insulating film 144b are formed on the gate electrode 143 and the gate insulating film 142. The gate electrode 143 is formed at a position corresponding to the channel region 141c of the semiconductor film 141. In addition, contact holes 145 and 146 are formed in the interlayer insulating films 144a and 144b so as to penetrate through these insulating films and are connected to the source and drain regions 141a and 141b of the semiconductor film 141, respectively.

  A transparent pixel electrode 111 made of ITO or the like is patterned and formed in a predetermined shape on the second interlayer insulating film 144b. One contact hole 145 is connected to the pixel electrode 111, and the other contact hole 146 is a power source. Connected to line 103. In this way, the driving thin film transistor 123 connected to each pixel electrode 111 is formed in the circuit element unit 14. The circuit element unit 14 is also formed with the storage capacitor 7 and the switching thin film transistor 142 described above, but these are not shown in FIG.

  Next, in the light emitting element portion 11, a bank-like partition wall 11 formed between the functional layer 110 stacked on the upper layer of the plurality of pixel electrodes 111 and the adjacent functional layer 110 and surrounding each functional layer 110. And are configured. In this embodiment, the functional layer 110 corresponds to the thin film in the present invention, and the region surrounded by the partition walls 11 corresponds to the thin film formation region in the present invention.

  A cathode 12 is formed on the functional layer 110, and the light emitting element 5 is configured by the pixel electrode 111, the functional layer 110, and the cathode 12.

  The functional layer 110 includes a hole injection / transport layer 110a stacked on the pixel electrode 111 and a light emitting layer 110b stacked on the hole injection / transport layer 110a. Note that another functional layer having other functions, for example, an electron transport layer may be formed adjacent to the light emitting layer 110b. The hole injection / transport layer 110a has a function of injecting holes into the light emitting layer 110b and a function of transporting holes inside the hole injection / transport layer 110a. In the light emitting layer 110b, the holes injected from the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a and the electrons injected from the cathode 12 are recombined in the light emitting layer to emit light. Here, the light emitting layer 110b includes, for each color corresponding to each pixel, a red light emitting layer that emits red (R), a green light emitting layer that emits green (G), and a blue light emitting layer that emits blue (B). It is formed as.

  The hole injecting / transporting layer 110a is formed by discharging a liquid composition containing a hole injecting / transporting layer forming material and a polar solvent into the partition 112 and removing the polar solvent, as will be described later. It is. The light emitting layer 110b is also formed by discharging the liquid composition containing the light emitting layer forming material and the nonpolar solvent into the partition 112 and then removing the nonpolar solvent.

  The cathode 12 is formed on the entire surface of the light emitting element portion 11 and plays a role of flowing a current through the functional layer 110 in a pair with the pixel electrode 111. For example, the cathode 12 is formed by laminating a calcium layer and an aluminum layer. At this time, it is preferable to provide a cathode having a low work function on the cathode near the light emitting layer, and in this embodiment, in particular, it plays a role of injecting electrons into the light emitting layer 110b in direct contact with the light emitting layer 110b. Depending on the material of the light emitting layer 112b, LiF may be formed between the light emitting layer 110 and the cathode 12 for the purpose of increasing the light emission efficiency. Here, the aluminum that forms the cathode 12 reflects light emitted from the light emitting layer 110b toward the substrate 2, and an Ag film, a laminated film of Al and Ag, or the like can be used in addition to the Al film.

(Structure of the partition wall)
3 (a) and 3 (b) illustrate how a large number of liquid-repellent particles are exposed on the surface to form a large number of irregularities in an organic partition formed in an electrical engineering device to which the present invention is applied. FIG.

  In the electro-optical device 1 shown in FIG. 2, the partition 112 defines a range in which a liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b is applied. It is comprised from the inorganic partition 112a located in the (substrate 2 side), and the organic partition 112b laminated | stacked on the upper layer of this inorganic partition 112a. Here, the inorganic partition 112a protrudes toward the center of the pixel electrode 111 from the lower end of the organic partition 112b. Note that the inorganic partition 112a and the organic partition 112 are formed so that part of them rises on the peripheral edge of the pixel electrode 111, but the partition 112 is formed at a position slightly away from the outer periphery of the pixel electrode 111. Sometimes.

In the partition 112 having such a configuration, the inorganic partition 112a is made of, for example, an inorganic material such as SiO, SiO ₂ , TiO ₂ , and the thickness thereof is, for example, in the range of 50 to 200 nm. The organic partition 112b is formed from a resist having excellent heat resistance and solvent resistance, such as acrylic resin and polyimide resin, and has a thickness in the range of, for example, 0.1 to 3.5 μm.

  In such a partition 112, the inorganic partition 112a is lyophilic with respect to the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b. Further, the exposed portion of the pixel electrode 111 from the inorganic partition 112a is also lyophilic with respect to the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b. Such lyophilicity can be realized by plasma treatment on the inorganic partition 112a and the exposed portion of the pixel electrode 111 from the inorganic partition 112a, as will be described later in the manufacturing method.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3B, the organic partition 112b is configured as a liquid repellent particle-containing organic partition in which a large number of liquid repellent particles 9 are dispersed. Further, in the organic partition 112b, a part of the many liquid repellent particles 9 is exposed on the entire surface including the upper surface 112f, and fine irregularities are formed on the surface by the exposed liquid repellent particles 9. Yes. For this reason, the entire surface of the organic partition 112b including the upper surface 112f has liquid repellency with a contact angle of 70 ° or more with respect to the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b. Furthermore, it has super liquid repellency with a contact angle of 150 ° or more. In realizing this liquid repellency, in this embodiment, as will be described in detail later, as shown in FIG. 3A, an organic partition 112b is formed of a resin in which a large number of liquid repellant particles 9 are dispersed. Then, the surface of the organic partition 112b is etched to a depth of, for example, 0.2 to 1.0 μm to expose a part of the many liquid repellent particles 9 to form fine irregularities. As such liquid repellent particles 9, it is preferable to use fluororesin particles, and the average particle size is preferably 0.5 to 2.0 μm. This is because the fluororesin particles are excellent in liquid repellency and excellent in heat resistance and chemical resistance. Moreover, when the average particle diameter of the liquid repellent particles 9 is 0.5 to 2.0 μm, when the liquid repellent particles 9 are exposed, irregularities excellent in improving the liquid repellency can be formed.

(Method of manufacturing electro-optical device 1)
A method for manufacturing the electro-optical device 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a process diagram showing a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device 1 of the present embodiment. 5 to 7 are process cross-sectional views illustrating the manufacturing process of the electro-optical device 1 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, in manufacturing the electro-optical device 1 of the present embodiment, after forming the element circuit portion 14, the following steps ST11: partition formation step ST12: liquid repellent particle exposure step ST13: hole injection -Transport layer forming liquid application process ST14: Hole injection / transport layer fixing process ST15: Light emitting layer forming liquid application process ST16: Light emitting layer fixing process. In addition, a manufacturing method is not restricted to this, When other processes are removed as needed, it may be added.

Hereinafter, each process will be described with reference to FIGS. In the partition formation step ST11 shown in FIG. 5A, first, as the inorganic partition formation step ST111, the inorganic partition 112a is formed at a predetermined position on the substrate 2 (position surrounding the formation region (thin film formation region) of the functional layer 110). Form. Such an inorganic partition 112a is formed by, for example, depositing an inorganic material such as SiO ₂ or TiO _{2 to} a thickness of, for example, 50 to 200 nm by a CVD method, a coating method, a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, or the like. It is formed by patterning with the above.

  Next, in the organic partition wall formation step ST112 shown in FIG. 5B, the organic partition wall 112b is formed on the inorganic partition wall 112a. The organic partition 112b is formed by forming a resin material such as an acrylic resin in which the liquid-repellent fine particles 9 are dispersed on the entire surface, and then patterning with a photolithography technique or the like. Here, as the liquid repellent particles 9, for example, fluororesin particles having a particle diameter of 0.3 to 2.0 μm and an average particle diameter of 1.0 μm are used. The thickness of the organic partition 112b is preferably in the range of 0.1 to 3.5 μm, and particularly preferably about 2 μm. If the thickness is less than 0.1 μm, the organic partition 112b is thinner than the total thickness of the hole injection / transport layer and the light emitting layer, which will be described later, and the light emitting layer 110b overflows. On the other hand, when the thickness exceeds 3.5 μm, step coverage of the cathode 12 cannot be secured, which is not preferable. Further, when the thickness of the organic partition 112b is 2 μm or more, the insulation between the cathode 12 and the driving thin film transistor 123 can be enhanced.

  Next, as the liquid repellent particle exposure step ST12 shown in FIG. 5C, in this embodiment, plasma treatment is performed under a condition having a sputtering effect on the surface of the organic partition 112b in an argon-containing atmosphere. For this purpose, in a plasma processing apparatus in which the input power to the plasma and the self-bias can be controlled separately, a mixed gas of argon gas and oxygen gas is used, and a high bias power is applied at a relatively low pressure. Plasma treatment is performed on the entire surface including the upper surface 112f of the partition 112b. Since the sputtering effect is high under such conditions, the sputtering effect causes the resin matrix portion such as acrylic resin or polyimide resin to be etched on the surface of the organic partition 112b shown in FIG. 9 is hardly etched. Accordingly, on the surface of the organic partition 112b, as shown in FIG. 3B, a part of the large number of liquid repellent particles 9 is exposed to form fine irregularities. Here, when the average particle diameter of the liquid repellent particles 9 is relatively large, irregularities suitable for obtaining high liquid repellency can be formed, and the average particle diameter of the liquid repellent particles 9 is 0.5. To 2.0 μm is preferable. The fluororesin particles used as the liquid repellent particles 9 are excellent in liquid repellency and excellent in heat resistance and chemical resistance, and are therefore suitable for use in the organic partition 112b.

  The surface of the organic partition 112b thus formed has high liquid repellency due to the organic partition 112b being exposed to the liquid-repellent particles 9 from an acrylic resin resin, etc. Furthermore, it has high liquid repellency. For example, the surface of the organic partition 112b has a liquid repellency with a contact angle of 70 ° or more with respect to the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b. Super liquid repellency of 150 ° or more.

  In this plasma treatment ST121, since a reaction due to radicals also occurs secondarily, the plasma treatment is also performed on the exposed portion of the inorganic partition 112a and the pixel partition 111 from the inorganic partition 112a, and hole injection is performed on the surface. -The lyophilicity with respect to the liquid composition for forming the transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b improves. Further, the pixel electrode 111 is simultaneously cleaned and adjusted in work function by plasma processing.

  Next, in the hole injecting / transporting layer forming liquid coating step ST13 shown in FIG. 6A, for example, while the inkjet head H1 and the substrate 2 are relatively moved, the positive injection is performed from the plurality of nozzles H2 of the inkjet head H1. A liquid composition containing the hole injection / transport layer forming material is discharged onto the pixel electrode 111. Here, a partition 112 is formed around the pixel electrode 111, and the droplet 110 c discharged from the nozzle H 2 of the inkjet head H 1 lands on the region surrounded by the partition 112 and spreads on the pixel electrode 111. . At that time, even if the droplet 110c is deviated from the predetermined discharge position and discharged onto the upper surface 112f of the partition wall 112, the upper surface 112f has liquid repellency, so that the droplet 110c does not get wet and is repelled. The dropped droplet 110c rolls into the partition 112. Here, as the liquid composition, 3,4-polyethylenediosithiophene / polystyrenesulfonic acid (PEDOT / PSS) which is a polyolefin derivative, polyphenylene vinylene whose polymer precursor is polytetrahydrothiophenylphenylene, 1,1- A composition in which a hole injection / transport layer forming material such as bis- (4-N, N-ditolylaminophenyl) cyclohexane or the like is dissolved in a polar solvent can be used. Examples of the polar solvent include glycol ethers such as isopropyl alcohol, normal butanol, γ-butyrolactone, N-methylpyrrolidone, 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone and derivatives thereof, carbitol acetate, and butyl carbitol acetate. And the like. The hole injection / transport layer forming material may be the same material for each pixel of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), and the composition may be changed for each pixel.

  Next, a hole injection / transport layer fixing step ST14 shown in FIG. 6B is performed. For this purpose, the discharged liquid composition is heated and dried, the polar solvent contained in the liquid composition is evaporated, and the hole injection / transport layer 110a is fixed. The fixing process is performed, for example, in a nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature and a pressure of, for example, about 133.3 Pa (1 Torr). If the pressure is too low, the droplet 110c will boil, which is not preferable. On the other hand, if the temperature is higher than room temperature, the evaporation rate of the polar solvent increases and a flat film cannot be formed. After the drying treatment, it is preferable to completely remove the polar solvent and water remaining in the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a by performing a heat treatment in nitrogen, preferably in vacuum, at 200 ° C. for about 10 minutes. .

  Next, the light emitting layer 110b is formed, but before that, a surface modification step may be performed on the hole injection / transport layer 110a. In the light emitting layer forming step ST15, in order to prevent re-dissolution of the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a, as a solvent for the liquid composition used for forming the light emitting layer, a non-soluble insoluble in the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a. A polar solvent is used. On the other hand, since the hole injection / transport layer 110a has low affinity for the nonpolar solvent, the hole injection / transport layer 110a can be ejected onto the hole injection / transport layer 110a even if a liquid composition containing the nonpolar solvent is discharged onto the hole injection / transport layer 110a. There is a possibility that the transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b cannot be adhered to each other or the light emitting layer 110b cannot be uniformly applied. Therefore, before the light emitting layer forming step ST15, a surface modifier made of the same solvent as the non-polar solvent of the liquid composition used when forming the light emitting layer 110b or a similar solvent, such as cyclohexylbenzene, Hydrobenzofuran, trimethylbenzene, tetramethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, or a mixture thereof is applied onto the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a by the ink jet method (droplet discharge method), spin coating method, or dipping method, and then dried. . By performing such a surface modification step, the surface of the hole injection / transport layer 110a is easily adapted to the nonpolar solvent. In the subsequent step, the liquid composition containing the light emitting layer forming material is injected with the hole injection / transport layer 110a. It can be uniformly applied to the transport layer 110a. Note that a composition in which a hole transporting material is dissolved in the surface modifying material may be applied onto the hole injection / transport layer 110a by an inkjet method and dried.

  Next, in the light emitting layer forming step ST15 shown in FIG. 7A, for example, a liquid containing the light emitting layer forming material from the plurality of nozzles H6 of the ink jet head H5 while relatively moving the ink jet head H5 and the substrate 2. The composition is discharged onto the hole injection / transport layer 110a. At that time, as the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer, a liquid composition having a composition corresponding to the color corresponding to each pixel is discharged. Here, a partition 112 is formed around the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a, and the droplet 110e discharged from the nozzle H6 of the inkjet head H5 lands on the region surrounded by the partition 112, and the hole Spreads on the injection / transport layer 110a. At this time, even if the droplet 110e is deviated from the predetermined ejection position and ejected onto the upper surface 112f of the partition wall 112, the upper surface 112f has liquid repellency, so that the droplet 110e is not wetted and repelled. The dropped droplet 110e rolls into the partition 112.

  Examples of such a liquid composition include polyfluorene derivatives, polyphenylene derivatives, polyvinyl carbazole, polythiophene derivatives, or polymer materials such as perylene dyes, coumarin dyes, rhodamine dyes such as rubrene, perylene, 9, 10 and the like. -The thing which mix | blended the light emitting layer forming material doped with diphenylanthracene, tetraphenyl butadiene, Nile red, coumarin 6, quinacridone etc. in the nonpolar solvent is used. As a light-emitting layer forming material, a π-conjugated polymer material in which double-bonded π electrons are non-polarized on a polymer chain is also a conductive polymer, so that it has excellent light-emitting performance and is therefore preferably used. . In particular, a compound having a fluorene skeleton in the molecule, that is, a polyfluorene compound is more preferably used. In addition to such materials, for example, a composition for an organic EL device disclosed in JP-A-11-40358, that is, a precursor of a conjugated polymer organic compound, and at least one kind for changing light emission characteristics A composition for an organic EL device comprising the above fluorescent dye can also be used as a light emitting layer forming material. The nonpolar solvent is preferably insoluble in the hole injecting / transporting layer 110a. For example, cyclohexylbenzene, dihydrobenzofuran, trimethylbenzene, tetramethylbenzene, or the like can be used. By using such a nonpolar solvent for the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer, the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer can be applied without re-dissolving the hole injection / transport layer 110a.

  Next, the light emitting layer fixing step shown in FIG. For this purpose, the discharged liquid composition is heated and dried to evaporate the nonpolar solvent contained in the liquid composition, thereby fixing the light emitting layer 110b. The fixing process is performed, for example, in a nitrogen atmosphere at room temperature at a pressure of about 133.3 Pa (1 Torr) for 5 to 10 minutes. If the pressure is too low, the liquid composition will be bumped, which is not preferable. Further, when the temperature is set to room temperature or higher, the evaporation rate of the nonpolar solvent is increased, and a large amount of the light emitting layer forming material adheres to the wall surface of the partition 112, which is not preferable. Examples of other drying means include a far-infrared irradiation method and a high-temperature nitrogen gas spraying method.

  After the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b are formed on the pixel electrode 111 in this manner, the illustration is omitted, but in the counter electrode forming step, the cathode is formed on the entire surface of the light emitting layer 110b and the organic partition 112b. After forming 12 (counter electrode), the surface of the cathode 12 is covered with a sealing resin, a sealing substrate, a sealing can, or the like.

(Main effects of this form)
As described above, in the present embodiment, the liquid repellent particles 9 are exposed on the surface of the organic partition 112 b, and many fine irregularities are formed by the exposed liquid repellent particles 9. For this reason, the surface of the organic partition 112b has liquid repellency with a contact angle of 70 ° or more with respect to the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer 110a and the light emitting layer 110b. Super liquid repellency with a contact angle of 150 ° or more. Therefore, when the liquid composition for forming the hole injecting / transporting layer and the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer are applied to the inside of the partition 112, the liquid composition does not get over the partition 112 and protrude into the adjacent region. Therefore, even when the region surrounded by the partition 112 is narrow, the liquid composition can be applied accurately.

  Further, since the partition wall 112 can be lowered by the amount of the improved liquid repellency of the organic partition wall 112b, the coverage of the cathode 12 can be improved.

  Furthermore, since the plasma treatment is used to increase the liquid repellency of the organic partition 112b, the lyophilicity of the pixel electrode 111 can be increased at the same time.

[Embodiment 2]
FIG. 8 is a process diagram showing a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the electro-optical device 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. In addition, since the basic configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment in both the present embodiment and the later-described embodiment, common portions are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 8, in the present embodiment as well as in the first embodiment, when the electro-optical device 1 is manufactured, after the element circuit portion 14 is formed, the following steps are performed: ST11: partition formation step ST12: liquid repellency Particle exposure step ST13: Hole injection / transport layer forming solution coating step ST14: Hole injection / transport layer fixing step ST15: Light emitting layer forming solution applying step ST16: Light emitting layer fixing step. However, in Embodiment 1, the inorganic partition wall formation step ST111 and the organic partition wall formation step ST112 are performed in the partition wall formation step ST11. However, in this embodiment, the organic partition wall containing the liquid repellent particles 9 is performed in the partition wall formation step ST11. Only the organic partition wall formation step ST112 for forming 112b is performed, and the inorganic partition wall formation step is not performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the whole partition 112 is constituted by the organic partition 112b.

  Even in such a configuration, if the plasma treatment is performed in the liquid repellent particle exposure step ST12 after forming the partition 112, a large number of liquid repellent particles are formed on the entire surface of the partition 112 (the entire surface of the organic partition 112b). Part of 9 is exposed to form fine irregularities. Therefore, when the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer and the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer are applied to the inside of the partition 112, the liquid composition may get over the partition 112 and protrude into the adjacent region. Therefore, even when the region surrounded by the partition 112 is narrow, the liquid composition can be applied accurately, and the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

[Embodiment 3]
FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device 1 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the electro-optical device 1 according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 10, in the present embodiment as well, in manufacturing the electro-optical device 1, after the element circuit portion 14 is formed, the following steps are performed: ST11: partition formation step ST12: liquid repellency Particle exposure step ST13: Hole injection / transport layer forming solution coating step ST14: Hole injection / transport layer fixing step ST15: Light emitting layer forming solution applying step ST16: Light emitting layer fixing step. However, in the first embodiment, the inorganic partition wall formation step ST111 and the organic partition wall formation step ST112 for forming the organic partition wall 112b containing the liquid repellent particles 9 are performed in the partition wall formation step ST11. 10 and FIG. 11, in the partition forming step ST11, an inorganic partition forming step ST111 for forming the inorganic partition 112a and an organic partition forming step for forming an organic partition 112c such as an acrylic resin that does not contain the liquid repellent particles 9. ST110 and an organic partition wall forming step ST112 for forming an organic partition wall 112b containing the liquid repellent particles 9 are performed. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, in the partition 112, the inorganic partition 112a, the organic partition 112c not containing the liquid repellent particles 9, and the organic partition 112b containing the liquid repellent particles 9 are stacked. It has become.

  Here, with respect to the organic partition walls 112c and 112b, it is preferable to perform patterning by a photolithography technique or the like after two layers of each resin material are applied and formed. Further, when the film is stabilized by heat treatment after patterning, it is preferable that the organic partition walls 112c and 112b are softened to some extent, and the taper angle of the side surfaces of the organic partition walls 112c and 112b is set to about 60 °.

  Even in such a configuration, if the plasma treatment is performed in the liquid repellent particle exposure step ST12 after the partition 112 is formed, a part of the many liquid repellent particles 9 is exposed on the entire surface of the organic partition 112b. As a result, fine irregularities are formed. Further, the organic partition 112c such as an acrylic resin that does not contain the liquid repellent particles 9 is made lyophilic by plasma treatment. Therefore, when the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer and the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer are applied to the inside of the partition 112, the liquid composition may get over the partition 112 and protrude into the adjacent region. Therefore, even when the region surrounded by the partition 112 is narrow, the liquid composition can be applied accurately, and the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

[Embodiment 4]
FIG. 12 is a process diagram showing a method for manufacturing the electro-optical device 1 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the electro-optical device 1 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 12, in the present embodiment as well, in the production of the electro-optical device 1, after the element circuit portion 14 is formed, the following steps are performed: ST11: partition formation step ST12: liquid repellency Particle exposure step ST13: Hole injection / transport layer forming solution coating step ST14: Hole injection / transport layer fixing step ST15: Light emitting layer forming solution applying step ST16: Light emitting layer fixing step. However, in the first embodiment, in the partition formation step ST11, the inorganic partition formation step ST111 and the organic partition formation step ST112 for forming the organic partition 112b containing the liquid repellent particles 9 are performed. In the third embodiment, In the partition formation step ST11, an inorganic partition formation step ST111 for forming the inorganic partition 112a, an organic partition formation step ST110 for forming an organic partition 112c such as an acrylic resin that does not contain the liquid repellent particles 9, and the liquid repellent particles 9 In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the organic partition wall 112c that does not contain the liquid repellent particles 9 is formed in the partition wall formation step ST11. Organic partition wall forming step ST110 for forming a liquid crystal and organic partition wall containing liquid repellent particles 9 Performed and the organic partition wall formation step ST112 of forming a 12b, does not perform the inorganic partition wall formation step ST111. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, the partition 112 has a structure in which an organic partition 112 c not containing the liquid repellent particles 9 and an organic partition 112 b containing the liquid repellent particles 9 are stacked. . Here, as with the third embodiment, the organic partition walls 112c and 112b are preferably patterned in a lump using a photolithography technique or the like after two layers of each resin material are applied and deposited. Further, when the film is stabilized by heat treatment after patterning, it is preferable that the organic partition walls 112c and 112b are softened to some extent, and the taper angle of the side surfaces of the organic partition walls 112c and 112b is set to about 60 °.

  Even in such a configuration, if the plasma treatment is performed in the liquid repellent particle exposure step ST12 after the partition 112 is formed, a part of the many liquid repellent particles 9 is exposed on the entire surface of the organic partition 112b. As a result, fine irregularities are formed. Further, the organic partition 112c such as an acrylic resin that does not contain the liquid repellent particles 9 is made lyophilic by plasma treatment. Therefore, when the liquid composition for forming the hole injection / transport layer and the liquid composition for forming the light emitting layer are applied to the inside of the partition 112, the liquid composition may get over the partition 112 and protrude into the adjacent region. Therefore, even when the region surrounded by the partition 112 is narrow, the liquid composition can be applied accurately, and the same effects as in the first embodiment can be obtained. Since other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

[Other embodiments]
The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the present invention is applied to form the light emitting element 5 in the organic EL device. However, if the thin film is formed over the entire region surrounded by the partition wall, the color filter is used. It may be applied to form. Such a color filter is used for forming a light emitting element 5 that emits white light and displaying a color image by passing the white light through the color filter in an organic EL device, for example. The color filter is used to display a color image in a liquid crystal device among electro-optical devices, for example. Furthermore, the present invention may be applied when a thin film is formed as a wiring or an electrode by applying and drying a liquid composition.

[Example of mounting on electronic devices]
A specific example of an electronic apparatus including the electro-optical device to which the invention is applied will be described. FIG. 14A is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone. In FIG. 14A, reference numeral 600 denotes a mobile phone body, and reference numeral 601 denotes a display unit using the electro-optical device. FIG. 14B is a perspective view illustrating an example of a portable information processing apparatus such as a word processor or a personal computer. 14B, reference numeral 700 denotes an information processing apparatus, reference numeral 701 denotes an input unit such as a keyboard, reference numeral 703 denotes an information processing apparatus body, and reference numeral 702 denotes a display unit using the electro-optical device. FIG. 14C is a perspective view showing an example of a wristwatch type electronic apparatus. In FIG. 14C, reference numeral 800 denotes a watch body, and reference numeral 801 denotes a display unit using the electro-optical device.

1 is a block diagram illustrating an electrical configuration of an active matrix organic EL display device as an example of an electro-optical device to which the present invention is applied. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an electro-optical device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows a mode that many liquid-repellent particles are exposed in the surface in the organic substance partition formed in the electrical engineering apparatus to which this invention is applied, and many unevenness | corrugations are formed. FIG. 6 is a process diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a process cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a process cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a process cross-sectional view illustrating a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device according to the second embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an electro-optical device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of the electro-optical device according to the third embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an electro-optical device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a process diagram illustrating a manufacturing process of an electro-optical device according to a fourth embodiment of the invention. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of an electro-optical device according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the electronic device by which the electro-optical apparatus which concerns on this invention is mounted.

Explanation of symbols

1 .... Electro-optical device 2 .... Substrate 5 .... Light emitting element 9 .... Liquid repellent particles 12 .... Cathode (second electrode) 100 ... Pixel region 110 ... Functional layer 110a ..Hole injection / transport layer (functional layer), 110b..Light emitting layer (functional layer), 111..Pixel electrode (first electrode), 112..Partition, 112a..Inorganic partition, 112b..Repellent Organic partition wall containing liquid particles, 112c..Organic partition wall containing no liquid repellent particles

Claims (13)

In the electro-optical device in which the thin film is independently formed for each thin film formation region over the entire area of the plurality of thin film formation regions
The electro-optical device is characterized in that the plurality of thin film forming regions are surrounded by a partition wall in which a large number of liquid repellent particles are exposed at least on the upper surface.   2. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein at least an upper surface of the partition wall has a large number of fine irregularities formed by the exposed liquid repellent particles. In Claim 1 or 2, at least the upper part of the partition is composed of a liquid repellent particle-containing organic material partition in which a large number of liquid repellent particles are dispersed,
An electro-optical device, wherein a part of the liquid repellent particles is exposed on at least the upper surface of the liquid repellent particle-containing organic material partition wall.   4. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid repellent particles are fluororesin particles.   5. The electro-optical device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid repellent particles have an average particle diameter of 0.5 to 2.0 μm. In any one of Claims 1 thru | or 5, The said thin film is a functional layer of a light emitting element,
In each of the plurality of thin film formation regions, a first electrode is formed on a lower layer side of the functional layer, and a second electrode is formed on an upper layer of the functional layer. .   An electronic apparatus comprising the electro-optical device defined in any one of claims 1 to 6. In the method of manufacturing an electro-optical device in which a thin film is formed independently for each thin film formation region over the entire area of the plurality of thin film formation regions,
A partition wall forming step that surrounds the thin film forming region by a partition wall in which a large number of liquid repellent particles are dispersed at least at the top,
Etching the surface of the partition wall, and exposing the liquid-repellent particle to expose a part of the liquid-repellent particles on the surface of the partition wall;
And a thin film forming step of forming the thin film by applying a liquid composition to the inside of the partition wall and then drying the composition.   9. The electro-optical device according to claim 8, wherein in the liquid repellent particle exposing step, a number of fine irregularities are formed on the surface of the partition wall by the exposed liquid repellent particles.   10. The method of manufacturing an electro-optical device according to claim 8, wherein, in the partition formation step, at least an upper portion of the partition is constituted by a liquid repellent particle-containing organic partition wall in which the plurality of liquid repellent particles are dispersed. .   11. The method of manufacturing an electro-optical device according to claim 10, wherein in the liquid repellent particle exposure step, the surface of the partition wall is etched by plasma treatment. In any one of Claims 8 thru | or 11, the said thin film is a functional layer of a light emitting element,
A first electrode forming step of forming a first electrode in each of the plurality of thin film regions before the partition forming step;
A method of manufacturing an electro-optical device, comprising a second electrode forming step of forming a second electrode on an upper layer side of the thin film after the thin film forming step.   13. The method of manufacturing an electro-optical device according to claim 9, wherein a contact angle of at least an upper surface of the partition wall with respect to the liquid composition is 70 ° or more.

Images