JP2012033307A - Organic el element and method of manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of manufacturing an organic EL element, by which even in the case of a light output side electrode composed of a transparent electrode having a high resistance value, an auxiliary electrode can be readily formed on the transparent electrode with stability.SOLUTION: The method of manufacturing an organic EL element 10 comprises the steps of: forming a first electrode 2 on a substrate 1; forming a dielectric layer 3 in a given pattern for defining a region B in which electric charge is supplied from the first electrode 2 to an organic EL layer 6(6R,6G,6B); forming, on the dielectric layer 3, a partition wall 4 having an inverted taper portion 5 on each or one of opposing wall surfaces thereof; forming an organic EL layer 6 on the first electrode 2; forming a layer of a second electrode material over the whole surface from above the organic EL layer 6 by dry deposition, and forming a transparent second electrode 7 for each pixel region; and forming an auxiliary electrode 8 in a region D composed of a region C on the partition wall 4, and an overlapping region (A1 and/or A2) of the second electrode 7 where the dielectric layer 3 provided on both sides or one side of the partition wall 4 in plan view overlaps with the second electrode 7 in plan view.

Description

  The present invention relates to an organic EL element and a method for manufacturing the same. More specifically, in the case where the light-emitting side electrode is a transparent electrode having a high resistance value, an organic EL element having a structural form capable of easily and stably forming an auxiliary electrode on the transparent electrode, and a manufacturing method thereof About.

  The basic structure of an organic EL (electroluminescence) element is configured by laminating a first electrode, an organic EL layer, and a second electrode in that order on a substrate. In this organic EL element, a top emission type (a type in which light is emitted from the upper side as viewed from the organic EL layer, that is, a type in which light is emitted from the second electrode side) or a top-and-bottom emission type (a first electrode side as viewed from the organic EL layer) In an element structure in which light is emitted from both sides on the second electrode side), at least the second electrode needs to be a transparent electrode. In general, there are many examples in which the first electrode on the substrate is an anode and the second electrode is a cathode, and the organic EL layer is a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron. As an example of an injection layer, the anode layer, the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, the light emitting layer, the electron transport layer, the electron injection layer, and the cathode are stacked in this order from the substrate side.

  In the above-mentioned top emission type or top-and-bottom emission type organic EL element, it is necessary to make the cathode as the second electrode transparent. Generally, a very thin metal thin film is used as a transparent electrode to transmit light. ing. However, a thin metal thin film that transmits light has a high resistance value. In particular, in a passive matrix type organic EL element, a voltage drop is larger in the vicinity of the center of the cathode than in the vicinity of both ends of the elongated cathode. As a result, a sufficient voltage cannot be applied to the pixel, which may cause a problem that the luminance is lowered.

  For such a problem, an auxiliary electrode may be connected to a transparent electrode having a high resistance value to lower the resistance value. However, since the auxiliary electrode for reducing the resistance value is formed of a metal film having a thickness that does not transmit light, the auxiliary electrode made of the metal film does not hinder the light emission path so as not to reduce the light emitting area. It must be accurately formed on the site. For example, as shown in Patent Document 1, in an organic EL element in which an organic EL layer and a second electrode are provided after a partition having a reverse taper portion is provided between pixels, the light emission path is not obstructed on the second electrode. The portion is only above the insulating film (reference numeral 5 in FIG. 11 in the same document), and it is necessary to accurately form the auxiliary electrode at that position.

  As an organic EL element in which an auxiliary electrode is formed at the above-described position, for example, in Patent Document 2, after an auxiliary electrode is formed in advance on an insulating layer, a partition wall having a reverse taper is provided on the insulating layer, and then organic EL The manufacturing method of the organic EL element formed by laminating | stacking a layer and a transparent electrode is described. In this method of manufacturing an organic EL element, the auxiliary electrode can be provided without reducing the light transmission region.

JP 2000-331783 A (FIG. 11) JP 2008-84541 A (FIGS. 1B, 4B, 5B, etc.)

  However, in the organic EL element described in Patent Document 2, the auxiliary electrode material is formed on the entire surface by the sputtering method, and then patterned by the photolithography method to form the auxiliary electrode only on the insulating layer. . Furthermore, the connection between the transparent electrode and the auxiliary electrode is performed by means of connecting the transparent electrode to the auxiliary electrode by passing the transparent electrode into a slight gap between the partition wall where the organic EL layer is not formed. The connection may become unstable.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to facilitate and stabilize the auxiliary electrode on the transparent electrode when the light-emitting side electrode is a transparent electrode having a high resistance value. Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an organic EL element that can be formed by the following method. Another object of the present invention is to provide an organic EL device having a structure that can easily and stably form an auxiliary electrode on a transparent electrode.

  After the first electrode 102 and the insulating layer 103 are provided in a predetermined pattern on the substrate 101 and the partition wall 104 having the reverse tapered portion 105 is provided on the insulating layer 103 as shown in FIG. The manufacturing method of the organic EL element 100 in which the organic EL layer 106 formed mainly by the coating method and the second electrode 107 formed on the entire surface by the vapor deposition method are stacked has been studied. In this examination process, as a means for easily patterning the auxiliary electrode, the auxiliary electrode 108 is provided only in the upper region (region A) of the insulating layer 103 on the partition side of the transmission region B of the light emitted from the organic EL layer 106. Attempted to deposit. And the shadow mask 110 for that was produced. However, since the area A was extremely narrow, such as 10 μm to 20 μm in width, as shown in FIG. 14, it is extremely difficult to produce a shadow mask 110 in which a narrow width opening 111 corresponding to the area A is formed on a stainless steel plate. The knowledge that there is. 14 is a shielding pattern (non-opening portion) corresponding to the region B (light transmission region in FIG. 13), and 113 is a shielding pattern (non-opening portion) corresponding to the region C (partition wall width in FIG. 13). Non-opening).

  A method for manufacturing an organic EL element according to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above problems includes a step of forming a first electrode on a substrate, and a region for supplying a charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer. Forming an insulating layer for defining B in a predetermined pattern, forming a partition having reverse tapered portions on both wall surfaces on the insulating layer, and forming an organic EL layer on the first electrode Forming a transparent second electrode for each pixel region by forming a second electrode material on the entire surface of the organic EL layer from above, forming a transparent region C on the partition and the partition Forming an auxiliary electrode using a shadow mask in a region D composed of the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiched in view and the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view of the second electrode. Features.

  According to the present invention, the auxiliary electrode is divided into the region C on the partition wall having the opposite tapered portions on both wall surfaces, the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view, and the overlapping region (A1, plan view) of the second electrode. A shadow mask is used to form the region D including A2). Since the region D has a width (region D) obtained by adding the region C to the regions A1 and A2 in which the applicant tried to form the auxiliary electrode in advance, the auxiliary electrode is formed in the region D. The shadow mask to be used only needs to have an opening having the same width as the region D. That is, the present invention is characterized in that the auxiliary electrode is not provided only in the narrow areas A1 and A2, but is formed in the wide area D combined with the area C on the partition wall using the shadow mask. Therefore, the shadow mask to be used is easy to form the opening and is inexpensive, and the film formation and exposure using the shadow mask require a small number of steps. Therefore, the auxiliary electrode to the predetermined region (A1, A2) on the second electrode Can be formed easily and stably at a low cost.

  In the method for manufacturing an organic EL element according to the first aspect, the auxiliary electrode is formed in every other region D.

  The auxiliary electrode may be formed for each region D. However, as in the present invention, the auxiliary electrode may be formed in every other region D, thereby reducing the number of openings and reducing the mask resolution. Thus, a low-cost shadow mask can be used.

  A method for manufacturing an organic EL element according to a second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problems includes a step of forming a first electrode on a substrate, and a region for supplying a charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer. Forming an insulating layer for defining B in a predetermined pattern, forming a partition having a reverse tapered portion on one wall surface on the insulating layer, and forming an organic EL layer on the first electrode Forming a transparent second electrode for each pixel region by forming a second electrode material on the entire surface of the organic EL layer from above, forming a transparent region C on the partition and the partition A region D composed of the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiched in view and the region (A1, A2) on the side where the reverse tapered portion is not formed in the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view of the second electrode. And a step of forming an auxiliary electrode using a shadow mask, Characterized in that it has a.

  In the present invention, the auxiliary electrode has a region C on the partition wall having a reverse tapered portion on one wall surface and an insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in a plan view, and a planar view overlapping region (A1, A2). Of these, a shadow mask is used to form a region D including the region (A1 or A2) on the side where the reverse tapered portion is not formed. The region D has a width (region D) obtained by adding the region C to any one of the regions A1 and A2 in which the applicant has attempted to form the auxiliary electrode in advance. The shadow mask used for forming the substrate may have an opening having the same width as the region D. That is, according to the present invention, the auxiliary electrode is not provided only in the narrow regions A1 and A2, but the shadow is applied to the wide region D combined with the region C on the partition wall having a different shape from the invention according to the first aspect. It is characterized in that it is formed using a mask. For this reason, the shadow mask to be used is easy to form an opening and is inexpensive, and film formation and exposure using the shadow mask require a small number of steps. Therefore, the auxiliary electrode to the predetermined region (A1 or A2) on the second electrode Can be formed easily and stably at a low cost.

  In the method for manufacturing an organic EL element according to the first and second aspects, the shadow mask is disposed above the second electrode, and an opening for dry film formation of the auxiliary electrode material in the region D. Has a part.

  According to this invention, the shadow mask is used as a mask for dry film formation (evaporation, sputtering, etc.) of the auxiliary electrode material.

  In the manufacturing method of the organic EL element according to the first and second aspects, the auxiliary electrode forming step includes a step of forming a lift-off film on the partition after the second electrode forming step, and the lift-off method. Forming an auxiliary electrode in the region D including the partition wall on which the working film is formed using the shadow mask, and removing the lift-off film and the auxiliary electrode material layer provided on the lift-off film. Including.

  According to the present invention, the step of forming the auxiliary electrode includes the step of forming the lift-off film on the partition, the step of forming the auxiliary electrode on the region D including the partition, the lift-off film, and the auxiliary electrode material on the lift-off film. Since the layer removing step is included, the auxiliary electrode material layer on the partition can be finally left using the lift-off film.

  In the method for manufacturing an organic EL element according to the first and second aspects, the auxiliary electrode forming step includes a step of forming a liquid-repellent transparent resin layer on the entire surface after the second electrode forming step; The step of removing the transparent resin layer in the region D by using the shadow mask, and repelling the transparent resin layer in the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view where the transparent resin layer is removed. A step of applying an auxiliary electrode conductive paste to form an auxiliary electrode.

  According to this invention, the auxiliary electrode is formed by forming the liquid repellent transparent resin layer over the entire surface, removing the transparent resin layer in the region D using a shadow mask, A2) includes a step of forming an auxiliary electrode by applying a conductive paste for auxiliary electrode that repels liquid to the transparent resin layer, so that a shadow mask can be formed even in wet film formation other than dry film formation. Can be used to form the auxiliary electrode in the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view. At this time, the conductive paste for the auxiliary electrode repels the liquid-repellent transparent resin layer on the second electrode, so that the conductive paste is not formed on the liquid-repellent transparent resin layer. The transmission area B is not reduced. Even when the conductive paste is applied by a slightly inaccurate coating method, the conductive paste is not placed on the liquid repellent transparent resin layer, so that the auxiliary electrode conductive paste is applied only to the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view. It can be formed as an auxiliary electrode. The shadow mask used in this case is also easy and inexpensive to form an opening, and the exposure using the shadow mask requires less man-hours. Therefore, it is easy to provide an auxiliary electrode to a predetermined region (A1, A2) on the second electrode. In addition, it can be formed stably and at low cost.

  In the method for manufacturing an organic EL element according to the present invention, the organic EL element is configured to be a passive matrix or active matrix element.

  According to the present invention, the organic EL element may be a passive matrix type or an active matrix type, and may be a full color type including at least an R, G, B organic EL layer, A two-color monochrome type may be used.

  An organic EL device according to a first aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem defines a first electrode provided on a substrate and a region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer. An insulating layer having a predetermined pattern, a partition wall provided with reverse tapered portions on both wall surfaces, an organic EL layer provided on the first electrode, and the organic EL A transparent second electrode provided on the layer, a region C on the partition wall, and the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view, and a planar view overlapping region (A1, A2) of the second electrode And an auxiliary electrode provided in a region D consisting of

  According to the present invention, the auxiliary electrode includes the region C on the partition wall having the opposite taper portions on both wall surfaces, the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view, and the overlapping region (A1, planar view) of the second electrode. A2) is provided in region D. Since the region D has a width (region D) obtained by adding the region C to the regions A1 and A2 in which the applicant has attempted to form the auxiliary electrode in advance, the auxiliary electrode formed in the region D is Compared to the auxiliary electrode formed only in the narrow regions A1 and A2, the auxiliary electrode is easier and more stable. As a result, when the second electrode is a transparent electrode, an organic EL element having an auxiliary electrode with stable characteristics at low cost can be provided on the second electrode.

  In the organic EL element according to the first aspect, the auxiliary electrode is formed in every other region D.

  Although the auxiliary electrode may be formed for each region D, the auxiliary electrode may be formed in every other region D as in the present invention. Since the auxiliary electrode having such a form is formed using a shadow mask having a small number of openings, a shadow mask having a low mask resolution can be used, and a low-cost organic EL element can be provided.

  An organic EL device according to a second aspect of the present invention for solving the above-described problem defines a first electrode provided on a substrate and a region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer. An insulating layer having a predetermined pattern, a partition wall having a reverse tapered portion on one wall surface, an organic EL layer provided on the first electrode, and the organic EL layer; A transparent second electrode provided on the layer, a region C on the partition wall, and the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view, and a planar view overlapping region (A1, A2) of the second electrode And an auxiliary electrode provided in a region D composed of a region (A1 or A2) on the side where the reverse tapered portion is not formed.

  According to the present invention, the auxiliary electrode includes the region C on the partition wall having the reverse tapered portion on one wall surface, the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view, and the overlapping region (A1, planar view) of the second electrode. A2) is provided in a region D including a region (A1 or A2) on the side where the reverse tapered portion is not formed. The region D has a width (region D) obtained by adding the region C to any one of the regions A1 and A2 in which the applicant has attempted to form the auxiliary electrode in advance. Therefore, the region D is formed in the region D. The auxiliary electrode is easier and more stable than the auxiliary electrode formed in either of the narrow regions A1 and A2. As a result, when the second electrode is a transparent electrode, an organic EL element having an auxiliary electrode with stable characteristics at low cost can be provided on the second electrode.

  In the organic EL device according to the present invention, the auxiliary electrode is not formed on the partition, and the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less.

  According to the present invention, even when the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are as narrow as 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less, only the regions A1 and A2 are formed in a mode in which the same electrode material layer as the auxiliary electrode is not formed on the partition wall. An organic EL element in which an auxiliary electrode is formed can be provided.

  In the organic EL device according to the present invention, a liquid-repellent transparent resin layer is provided in the region B on the second electrode, and the region (A1, A2) is for an auxiliary electrode that repels the transparent resin layer. An auxiliary electrode made of a conductive paste is provided.

  According to this invention, the organic EL element formed by forming an auxiliary electrode with a conductive paste can be provided.

  In the organic EL device according to the present invention, the organic EL layer has at least a light emitting layer, and is selected from a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, a hole block layer, and an electron block layer. One or more layers.

  According to the method of manufacturing an organic EL element according to the present invention, the region D in which the auxiliary electrode is formed has a width obtained by adding the region C to the regions A1 and / or A2 in which the applicant tried to form the auxiliary electrode in advance. Since it is (region D), the shadow mask used for forming the auxiliary electrode in this region D only needs to have an opening having the same width as that of region D. Therefore, the shadow mask to be used is easy to form an opening and is inexpensive, and the film formation and etching processes using the shadow mask have few man-hours, so that the predetermined region (A1 and / or A2) on the second electrode is small. The auxiliary electrode can be easily and stably formed at a low cost. In particular, in the production of a high-definition full-color organic EL element, there is a remarkable effect.

  According to the organic EL device according to the present invention, the region D provided with the auxiliary electrode has a width (region) obtained by adding the region C to the regions A1 and / or A2 where the applicant tried to form the auxiliary electrode in advance. D), the auxiliary electrode formed in the region D is easier and more stable than the auxiliary electrode formed only in the narrow regions A1 and A2. As a result, when the second electrode is a transparent electrode, an organic EL element having an auxiliary electrode with stable characteristics at low cost can be provided on the second electrode. In particular, in providing a high-definition full-color organic EL element, a remarkable effect is exhibited.

It is typical sectional drawing which shows the organic EL element which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the shadow mask used for formation of the auxiliary electrode which comprises the organic EL element shown in FIG. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the organic EL element which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the organic EL element which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the shadow mask used for formation of the auxiliary electrode which comprises the organic EL element shown in FIG. It is a typical top view which shows the organic EL element which concerns on 1st, 2nd embodiment. It is a typical top view which shows the organic EL element which concerns on 3rd Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process (the 1) of the organic EL element which concerns on 1st, 3rd embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process (the 2) of the organic EL element which concerns on 1st, 3rd embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the organic EL element which concerns on 4th Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the organic EL element which concerns on 5th Embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the manufacturing process of the organic EL element which concerns on 6th Embodiment. It is typical sectional drawing which shows the organic EL element obtained by examining beforehand. It is a top view of the shadow mask used for formation of the auxiliary electrode which comprises the organic EL element shown in FIG.

  The organic EL element and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention can be modified in various ways as long as it has the technical features, and is not limited to the embodiments specifically shown below.

  The organic EL device according to the present invention has the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 and is manufactured by the manufacturing method shown in FIGS. Elements 10A to 10F have a basic configuration. The structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 7 includes a region C on a partition wall 4 having reverse tapered portions 5 on both wall surfaces or one wall surface, and an insulating layer 3 provided on both sides or one side sandwiching the partition wall 4 in a plan view. It is characterized in that it can be obtained by a manufacturing method having an auxiliary electrode forming step of forming an auxiliary electrode 8 using a shadow mask in a region D composed of the overlapping area (A1 and / or A2) of the two electrodes 7 in plan view.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and the like, the region D has a width (region D) obtained by adding the region C to the regions A1 and A2 (see FIG. 13) where the applicant tried to form the auxiliary electrode 108 in advance. ing. Therefore, the shadow mask 20 used for forming the auxiliary electrode 8 in the region D only needs to have an opening having the same wide width as the region D. That is, the organic EL element 10 according to the present invention does not provide the auxiliary electrode 8 only in the narrow regions A1 and A2 (see FIG. 13), but in the wide region D combined with the region C on the partition wall 4 A feature is that the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed using the mask 20.

  Hereinafter, the organic EL element 10 which concerns on 1st-6th embodiment of this invention is demonstrated sequentially with the manufacturing method.

[First Embodiment]
As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 6, the organic EL element 10 </ b> A according to the first embodiment includes a substrate 1, a first electrode 2 provided on the substrate 1, and a region B on the first electrode 2. A predetermined pattern of the insulating layer 3 provided so as to demarcate, a partition wall 4 provided on the insulating layer 3, an organic EL layer 6 provided on the first electrode 2, and an organic EL layer 6. A region composed of the transparent second electrode 7 formed, a region C on the partition 4, an insulating layer 3 provided on both sides sandwiching the partition 4 in plan view, and a plan view overlapping region A 1, A 2 of the second electrode 7. Auxiliary electrode 8 provided on D.

  The “region B” is a region configured by providing the insulating layer 3 on the first electrode 2 in a predetermined pattern. Functionally, the “region B” is a region for supplying charges from the first electrode 2 to the organic EL layer 6. It can also be referred to as a light transmission region. As shown in FIG. 1, the width of the region B is the width in the X direction intersecting with the Y direction (see FIG. 6) in which the organic EL layer 6 and the second electrode 7 extend, and is opposed to the adjacent insulating layer pattern. This is the width of the end face in the X direction. Here, “intersection” means not only the case of intersecting at an angle of 90 °, but also the case of intersecting within a predetermined angle range (45 ° to 135 °) centered on 90 °.

  As shown in FIG. 1, “regions A1 and A2” are regions provided on both sides of the partition wall 4 in plan view, and the regions where the insulating layer 3 and the second electrode 7 overlap in plan view. It is. As shown in FIG. 1, the widths of the regions A <b> 1 and A <b> 2 are widths in the X direction intersecting with the Y direction (see FIG. 6) in which the overlapping region extends, This is the width in the X direction of the overlapping portion between the end faces. “Area A1” and “Area A2” respectively indicate overlapping areas existing on the left and right sides of the partition wall 4.

  The “region C” is a region on the partition wall 4, and the width of the region C is the width in the X direction intersecting with the Y direction (see FIG. 6) in which the partition wall 4 extends as shown in FIG. The width in the X direction between the upper edges of the partition walls 4.

  “Area D” is an X-direction width represented by the sum of the X-direction width of the area C and the X-direction widths of the areas A1 and A2. The present invention is characterized in that a shadow mask for forming the auxiliary electrode 8 is used in the width of the region D.

(substrate)
The material, transparency, thickness and the like of the substrate 1 are not particularly limited, and those having necessary properties according to the application can be arbitrarily adopted. Examples thereof include inorganic materials such as quartz and glass, for example, polymer materials such as polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and polyethersulfone (PES). Whether the substrate is a transparent substrate or an opaque substrate can be arbitrarily selected depending on whether the light extraction side of the organic EL element is the first electrode side, the second electrode side, or both sides. Since light is emitted from the electrode side, the transparency of the substrate 1 is arbitrary. Further, as the substrate 1, a substrate having a gas barrier property that blocks gas such as moisture and oxygen may be used as necessary, or a gas barrier layer having such a gas barrier function may be provided in advance. Further, other functional layers such as a hard coat layer, a protective layer, an antistatic layer, an antifouling layer, and an antiglare layer may be provided.

  The thickness of the substrate 1 is not particularly limited, and various thicknesses can be applied. For example, 10 micrometers or more and 2 mm or less can be illustrated. In particular, a thin one has flexibility, and a thick one has rigidity, each having advantages. The shape of the substrate 1 is not particularly limited, but is preferably a rectangular substrate such as a rectangle, a square, or a parallelogram.

(First electrode)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8A, the first electrode 2 is provided on the substrate 1 in a pattern having a predetermined width extending in a stripe shape (strip shape) in the X direction in FIG. The pattern intersects the second electrode 7 in plan view, and constitutes the upper and lower electrodes of the passive matrix organic EL element together with the second electrode. Note that the “striped shape” is a linear form having a certain width, which may be a strip shape, and is provided with a gap between adjacent first electrodes. Each stripe-shaped first electrode applies a drive signal to a pixel provided on each first electrode. The first electrode 2 and the second electrode 7 may be either scanning lines or data lines, respectively.

  The constituent material of the first electrode 2 is not particularly limited, but a preferable constituent material is selected depending on whether the first electrode 2 is an anode or a cathode. Further, a preferable constituent material is selected depending on whether or not the first electrode 2 is on the light extraction side. Various materials are selected and used as such constituent materials. For example, when the 1st electrode 2 is an anode which supplies a hole to an organic electroluminescent layer, as a formation material of the 1st electrode 2, a metal simple substance, an alloy, a conductive metal oxide (transparent conductive film), conductive inorganic Examples thereof include compounds and conductive polymers. These materials may be used singly or in combination of two or more, or two or more layers may be laminated. It should be noted that ITO and IZO, which are transparent conductive films, are particularly preferably used when the first electrode 2 is made transparent and light is extracted also from the first electrode 2 side.

  The thickness of the 1st electrode 2 is not specifically limited, It sets suitably according to the electroconductive material to be used. Usually, it is about 50 to 200 nm. Examples of film forming means for the first electrode 2 include physical vapor deposition methods such as chemical vapor deposition, vacuum deposition, sputtering, and ion plating.

  The first electrode 2 in the form of stripes is formed by forming the first electrode layer on the entire surface of the substrate 1 by the film forming means and then patterning by photolithography, or forming a resist pattern on the substrate 1, Thereafter, the first electrode layer is formed on the entire surface including the resist pattern by the film forming means, and patterned by lift-off. The pitch of the striped first electrode patterns is preferably equal. The pattern width is set to an arbitrary value depending on the pixel size, display size, and resolution. Further, the width of the gap between the first electrodes in plan view is also arbitrarily set depending on the pixel size, display size, and resolution.

(Insulating layer)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8B, the insulating layer 3 is provided on the first electrode 2 in a predetermined pattern. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the first electrodes 2 provided in a predetermined stripe pattern in the X direction intersect with each other in a plan view, and in the Y direction so as to straddle the first electrodes 2. Are provided in a predetermined pattern. As in the case of the first electrode 2, the “striped shape” here is a linear form having a certain width, which can be a strip shape, and has a gap between adjacent insulating layers. Is provided.

  Such an insulating layer 3 has a stripe-shaped straight portion and a bridge portion (non-light-emitting region) 12 provided so as to partition each pixel portion (light-emitting region) 11 between the straight portions. (See FIG. 6). On the stripe-like straight line portion, a partition wall 4 to be described later is provided in a form having reverse tapered portions 5 on both wall surfaces or one wall surface. In addition, the pixel portion 11 where the insulating layer 3 is not provided is an opening in which the first electrode 2 is exposed, and the organic EL layer 6 and the second electrode 7 are provided in this order on the pixel portion 11 to form a light emitting region. Is done. On the other hand, the organic EL layer 6 and the second electrode 7 are also provided in order on the bridge portion 12 on which the insulating layer 3 is provided. However, since the bridge portion 12 is configured by the insulating layer 3, the non-light emitting region is provided. It has become.

  In other words, the insulating layer 3 is provided to define an X-direction width for supplying electric charge from the first electrode 2 to the organic EL layers 6R, 6G, and 6B (hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to as reference numeral 6). It has been. The width in the X direction is the region B described above.

  Examples of the material for forming the insulating layer 3 include novolac resins, polyimides, and acrylates. The insulating layer 3 is formed by applying those resin materials over the entire surface. Thereafter, the linear portion and the bridge portion 12 having a predetermined shape are patterned by a photolithography method that performs exposure, development, and the like to form the insulating layer 3 having the form shown in FIGS. Note that portions other than the portion that requires the insulating layer 3 (for example, the extraction electrodes of the first electrode 2 and the second electrode 7 provided on the peripheral edge of the panel) may be arbitrarily removed by photolithography or the like. The thickness of the insulating layer 3 is not particularly limited, and the lower limit is a thickness that can ensure at least insulation, and the upper limit may be a thickness that does not significantly impair the overall flatness. Usually, it is about 0.5 to 3 μm.

(Partition wall)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8C, the partition wall 4 is provided on the stripe-shaped insulating layer 3 in a direction (Y direction) in which the insulating layer 3 extends. The shape of the partition 4 has reverse tapered portions 5 and 5 on both wall surfaces in the width direction (X direction). The X direction width of the partition 4 is smaller than the X direction width of the insulating layer 3. For example, the difference between the X direction width of the insulating layer 3 and the X direction width of the partition wall 4 is about 10 to 50 μm. This difference represents the width of the insulating layer 3 that can be seen on the left and right sides of the partition wall 4 in plan view, and corresponds to regions A1 and A2 to be described later. As will be described in detail later, in the present invention, even when the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are as narrow as about 5 to 20 μm, as shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary electrode 8 is reliably provided on the narrow width. be able to.

  The method for forming the partition walls 4 is not particularly limited, but a negative resist or a positive resist is applied and formed on the entire surface, and then exposed and developed by a photolithography method. In the case of using a negative resist, exposure is performed using a mask having an opening corresponding to a portion where the partition walls 4 are left, and after the solubility of the exposed portion in the developer is reduced, development is performed with the developer to separate the partition walls 4. Form. On the other hand, when a positive resist is used, exposure is performed using a mask having an opening corresponding to a portion other than the portion where the partition walls 4 are left, and after the solubility in the developer in the exposed portion is increased, development is performed with the developer. The partition wall 4 is formed. Usually, a negative resist is preferably used. As shown in FIG. 1, the developed partition walls 4 have reverse tapered portions 5 on both wall surfaces, which are smaller in width on the insulating layer 3 side than on the upper surface side by so-called over-etching.

  The height of the partition 4 is not particularly limited, but is desirably high enough that the coating material for the organic EL layer provided after the partition 4 is formed does not flow into the adjacent pixel portion 11 beyond the partition 4. Such a height cannot be generally specified, but is usually about 0.5 to 5 μm.

(Organic EL layer)
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8D, the organic EL layer 6 is provided on the first electrode 2 of the pixel portion 11 sandwiched between the partition walls.

  The organic EL layer 6 only needs to have at least a light-emitting layer. A hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a hole injection transport layer, an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection transport layer, a hole blocking layer, An electronic block layer or the like can be arbitrarily selected, and can be applied in any laminated form. The constituent materials of these layers are not particularly limited, and can be arbitrarily selected from known various materials. Further, the layer configuration and the selected material differ depending on whether the first electrode 2 is an anode or a cathode, and whether the organic EL element is for full color or monochrome.

  The organic EL layer 6 is formed of a light emitting layer, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a hole injection transport layer, an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection transport layer, a hole block layer, an electron block layer, etc. Depending on the type of material, various methods such as a coating method, a vapor deposition method, and a CVD method can be selected and formed. Usually, a light emitting layer, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a hole injection transport layer, etc. are often formed by a coating method, and an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection transport layer, etc. are formed by vapor deposition or CVD. Often formed by law.

  Although the thickness of the organic EL layer 6 is not particularly limited, it is a thickness obtained by laminating each layer, and is usually about 100 to 300 nm.

(Second electrode)
The second electrode 7 is provided on the organic EL layer 6 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 9E. Since the organic EL element 10 according to the present invention is a top emission type or a bottom-and-top emission type, light is emitted from at least the second electrode 7 side. Therefore, the second electrode 7 is a transparent electrode, and specifically, is formed of a transparent conductive film such as ITO or IZO.

  The second electrode 7 is formed by forming a transparent conductive film from above using a vapor deposition method, a sputtering method, a CVD method, or the like without using a mask. As shown in FIG. 9E, such a transparent conductive film is provided as a transparent conductive film 7 ′ on the upper surface of the partition wall 4 having the inversely tapered portion 5, and is provided as the second electrode 7 on the organic EL layer 6. . At this time, since the partition wall 4 is inversely tapered, the connection between the transparent conductive film 7 ′ on the partition wall 4 and the second electrode 7 on the organic EL layer 6 is cut off. Therefore, since it can be vapor-deposited on the entire surface without using a mask, the second electrode 7 can be formed on the organic EL layer 6 very easily.

  The thickness of the 2nd electrode 7 is not specifically limited, It sets suitably according to the electroconductive material to be used. In the case of ITO or IZO transparent conductive film, it is usually about 10 to 200 nm.

(Auxiliary electrode)
The auxiliary electrode 8 is provided in a region D composed of a region C on the partition wall 4 and a planar view overlapping region A1, A2 of the insulating layer 3 and the second electrode 7 provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall 4 in plan view. It has been. The auxiliary electrode 8 is formed in the region D using the shadow mask 20.

  As a material for forming the auxiliary electrode 8 (also referred to as auxiliary electrode material), a metal material or an alloy material having good conductivity is preferable. Preferred examples of the metal material include Al, Cu, Ag, and Au, and preferred examples of the alloy material include MgAg. A method for forming the auxiliary electrode 8 is preferably a dry film forming method, and examples thereof include a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, and an ion plating method. Usually, a vacuum deposition method or a sputtering method using the shadow mask 20 is applied.

  The thickness of the auxiliary electrode 8 is not particularly limited, and is desirably a thickness that functions as an electrode for assisting the second electrode 7 having high resistance. The thickness is appropriately set according to the type of auxiliary electrode material and the width of the auxiliary electrode 8 (X direction width: A1, A2), and the second electrode 7 is a transparent conductive film made of ITO or IZO. When the auxiliary electrode 8 is, for example, Al or Cu and the width in the X direction (A1, A2) is 10 to 20 μm, it is about 100 to 200 nm.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the shadow mask 20 used to form the auxiliary electrode 8 includes an opening 21 made of the region D and a light shielding portion (non-opening) 22 made of the region D. The shadow mask 20 used here has a larger width on the narrow side of the opening 21 than the shadow mask 110 shown in FIG. 14 used by the applicant in advance, and it is easy to etch the opening 21. There are advantages. Note that the shadow mask 110 in FIG. 14 must be formed with an extremely narrow width of about 10 to 20 μm, and it is difficult to form the opening 111.

  Since the opening 21 of the shadow mask 20 corresponds to the width of the region D, which is the sum of the regions A1 and A2 and the region C, the width (width in the X direction) is in each of the regions A1 and A2. It can be considerably wider than the corresponding width, for example 50-100 μm. Such a wide opening 21 is particularly preferable when a metal plate such as a stainless steel plate is etched, and the opening 21 having a desired width can be easily formed by etching.

  The material of the shadow mask 20 is not particularly limited as long as it can form an opening and is easy to handle. For example, a metal plate (for example, a stainless steel plate) that can form the opening 21 by wet etching or a metal (for example, Ni) that can form the opening 21 by electroforming or the like can be used.

  The thickness of the shadow mask 20 is arbitrarily selected in consideration of the etching means and the aspect ratio (opening width / depth) of the opening width and depth that can be formed by the etching means. For example, when the openings 21 are formed in the stainless steel plate by wet etching, in order to make the dimensions of the openings 21 uniform, the aspect ratio (opening width / depth) of the openings should be at least 1 or more. desirable. Therefore, for example, when a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 50 μm is used, an opening width of 50 μm or more can be easily formed, and when a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 100 μm is used, an opening width of 100 μm or more can be easily formed. Since a stainless steel plate having a thickness of 50 μm, 100 μm or more can be obtained relatively easily, a shadow mask having a desired opening width can be easily formed by etching such a stainless steel plate. In addition, in the shadow mask 110 of FIG. 14, the opening 111 having a width of 10 to 20 μm was formed. However, in order to obtain a uniform opening width, a stainless steel plate having a thickness smaller than that must be obtained. There are difficulties.

  The shadow mask 20 is disposed above the second electrode 7 as shown in FIG. 9 (F1). The arrangement is adjusted so that the X-direction position of the opening 21 of the shadow mask 20 coincides with the X-direction position of the region D, and the X-direction position of the light shielding portion 22 coincides with the X-direction position of the region B. Here, the “upward direction” refers to a position where the shadow mask 20 is not in contact with the second electrode material layer 7 ′ after film formation located on the uppermost portion of the substrate 1 in FIG. 9 (F1). However, if there is no scratch, contact may be made. Usually, the distance in the Z direction (see FIG. 1) between the second electrode material layer 7 ′ after deposition and the shadow mask 20 is about 0 (including the case of contact) to about 20 μm.

  In the first embodiment, the shadow mask 20 can be formed in the region D by using the auxiliary electrode material as a mask for dry film formation (evaporation, sputtering, etc.). Since the region D includes the upper surface region C of the partition wall 4, the auxiliary electrode material layer 8 ′ is also formed on the upper surface of the partition wall 4. However, since the partition 4 has the reverse taper portion 5, the auxiliary electrodes 8 respectively provided in the regions A1 and A2 on both sides of the partition 4 are electrically separated without being short-circuited. Moreover, since the regions A1 and A2 are overlapping regions of the insulating layer 3 and the second electrode 7, the width of the region B that is a light transmission region is not reduced. Therefore, even if the X direction width of each of the regions A1 and A2 is as narrow as 5 to 20 μm, the auxiliary electrode 8 can be formed in a desired thickness in each of the narrow regions A1 and A2. As a result, it effectively functions as the auxiliary electrode 8 of the transparent electrode having high resistance.

(Other)
After that, if necessary, for example, the sealing material may be provided so as to cover the whole, or the transparent substrate may be provided via the sealing material. In this case, the sealing material can include an epoxy resin. As the transparent substrate, among the substrates 1 described above, particularly highly transparent glass, polyethersulfone (PES), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), or the like can be used.

(Production method)
When the manufacturing method of the organic EL element 10A according to the first embodiment is arranged, as shown in FIGS. 8A to 9F1, the step of forming the first electrode 2 on the substrate, and the first electrode 2 A step of forming an insulating layer 3 for defining a region B for supplying electric charges to the organic EL layer 6 in a predetermined pattern, and a partition wall 4 having reverse tapered portions 5 on both wall surfaces is formed on the insulating layer 3. A step, a step of forming the organic EL layer 6 on the first electrode 2, and a dry deposition of the second electrode material over the entire surface from the upper direction of the organic EL layer 6, so that each pixel region (pixel portion 11) is transparent. From the step of forming the second electrode 7, the region C on the partition 4, the insulating layer 3 provided on both sides sandwiching the partition 4 in plan view, and the overlapping region (A 1, A 2) of the second electrode 7 in plan view Forming the auxiliary electrode 8 in the region D to be formed using the shadow mask 20.

  This manufacturing method is characterized in that the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed in the region D by using the shadow mask 20, and the region D is further added to the regions A 1 and A 2 where the applicant tried to form the auxiliary electrode in advance. Since the width is the sum of the region C (region D), the shadow mask 20 used for forming the auxiliary electrode 8 in the region D only needs to have the opening 21 having the same width as the region D. In the present invention, the auxiliary electrode 8 is not provided only in the narrow regions A1 and A2, but is formed using the shadow mask 20 in the wide region D combined with the region C on the partition wall 4, so that the shadow mask 20 used is used. Since the formation of the opening 21 is easy and inexpensive, and the film formation using the shadow mask 20 requires less man-hours, the auxiliary electrode 8 can be easily formed on the predetermined region (A1, A2) on the second electrode 7. There is an effect that it can be stably formed at low cost.

[Second Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 3, the organic EL element 10B according to the second embodiment is an example in which the first electrodes 2 are patterned so as to have a predetermined interval in the X direction. Such a form can also be applied as, for example, an active matrix organic EL element.

  The first electrode 2 may be formed by depositing the first electrode material on the entire surface of the substrate 1 and then patterning by photolithography, or the first electrode material may be interposed between the masks. It may be formed by mask vapor deposition on the substrate 1 sandwiched therebetween. Alternatively, the insulating layer 3 may be provided after patterning in advance. In other words, either the first electrode 2 or the insulating layer 3 may be formed first, but usually the insulating layer 3 having a predetermined pattern is formed after the first electrode 2 is formed in a predetermined pattern. Is done. Since other than that is the same as that of the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Third Embodiment]
The organic EL element 10 </ b> C according to the third embodiment is an aspect in which the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed in every other region D as shown in FIG. 4, FIG. 7 and FIG. 9 (F <b> 2). This embodiment can be easily realized by using the shadow mask 20 to be used as shown in FIG.

  Although the auxiliary electrode 8 may be formed for each region D as shown in FIG. 1, the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed in every other region D like the organic EL element 10C according to the third embodiment. It may be. The auxiliary electrode 8 having such a form can be formed using the shadow mask 20 shown in FIG. 5 having a small number of openings. This shadow mask 20 is provided with every other opening 21 corresponding to the region D of the organic EL element 10C. As a result, it is possible to use the shadow mask 20 having a low mask resolution, and there is an advantage that the low-cost organic EL element 10C can be provided.

  The auxiliary electrode 8 is more preferably provided on both sides of the second electrode 7 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 6, but the resistance value of the second electrode 7 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 7. Depending on the case, it may be provided only on one side. In this embodiment, the region D is composed of a region C on every other partition 4 and regions A1 and A2 (regions overlapping in plan view between the insulating layer 3 and the second electrode 7) provided on both sides of the partition 4. As shown in FIG. 9 (F 2), the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed using the shadow mask 20. Since other than that is the same as that of the above-mentioned 1st Embodiment, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted.

[Fourth Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 10I, the organic EL element 10D according to the fourth embodiment is an example in which the second electrode material layer 7 ′ and the auxiliary electrode material layer 8 ′ provided on the partition wall 4 are removed by lift-off. It is. In the organic EL element 10D obtained by removing the second electrode material layer 7 ′ and the auxiliary electrode material layer 8 ′ on the partition wall 4 by lift-off, the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed only in the regions A1 and A2.

  It can be said that the organic EL element 10D obtained in this embodiment exhibits a characteristic structure when the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less. That is, when the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less, the auxiliary electrode 8 cannot conventionally be formed in such a thin portion. As in this embodiment, it can be obtained only by lifting off and removing the electrode material layers 7 ′ and 8 ′ on the partition 4. Therefore, when the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are 5 μm or more and 20 μm or less and there is no electrode material layer on the partition wall 4 sandwiched between the regions A1 and A2, it is manufactured in the fourth embodiment. Things can be said.

  The lift-off is included in the auxiliary electrode forming process. That is, in the auxiliary electrode forming step in the fourth embodiment, the step of forming the lift-off film 9 on the partition wall 4 after the step of forming the second electrode 7 (see FIG. 10G) and the lift-off film 9 are The step of forming the auxiliary electrode 8 using the shadow mask 20 in the region D including the partition wall 4 (see FIG. 10H), the lift-off film 9 and the auxiliary electrode provided on the lift-off film 9 And a step of removing the material layer 8 ′ (see FIG. 10I). By the auxiliary electrode forming step configured as described above, the second electrode material layer 7 ′ and the auxiliary electrode material layer 8 ′ on the partition 4 can be finally left using the lift-off film 9.

  As a method of forming the lift-off film 9 on the partition wall 4, for example, a method of leaving the lift-off film only on the partition wall 4 by photolithography after forming the lift-off film on the entire surface, or on the partition wall 4 protruding upward Only a method for printing the lift-off film 9 can be used.

  Examples of the material of the lift-off film 9 include a resin material (for example, a photoresist material such as novolac resin and polyimide) that can be easily peeled off from the partition surface with an organic solvent, and a resin material that can be easily peeled off from the partition surface with an aqueous solution ( For example, polyvinyl alcohol, a cellulose resin, etc. can be mentioned, Moreover, the thickness is not specifically limited.

[Fifth Embodiment]
As shown in FIG. 11 (F1 ′), the organic EL element 10E according to the fifth embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment in the shape of the partition walls 4. Specifically, the partition wall 4 having the reverse taper portion 5 only on one wall surface is provided, and the auxiliary electrode 8 is disposed in the region A (the insulating layer 3 and the second electrode 7 on the side where the reverse taper portion 5 is not formed). It is characterized in that it is provided only in the overlapping area in plan view.

  Specifically, the first electrode 2 provided on the substrate 1 and the insulating layer 3 having a predetermined pattern provided for demarcating the region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode 2 to the organic EL layer 6 are insulated. A partition wall 4 having a reverse tapered portion 5 on one wall surface, an organic EL layer 6 provided on the first electrode 2, and a transparent second electrode provided on the organic EL layer 6. 7, a reverse taper portion 5 is formed in the region C on the partition wall 4 and the insulating layer 3 provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall 4 in plan view and the overlapping region (A 1, A 2) of the second electrode 7 in plan view. And an auxiliary electrode 8 provided in a region D composed of a non-side region (A1 or A2). Since the reverse taper portion 5 is regularly provided on the wall surface on one side in the X direction, the auxiliary electrode 8 has a region (A1 or A2) on one side of the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view. Only regularly provided. In FIG. 11 (F <b> 1 ′), the reverse tapered portion 5 is provided on the left side when viewed from the partition wall 4, and thus the auxiliary electrode 8 is provided on the right side when viewed from the partition wall 4.

  As a feature of the manufacturing method, as shown in FIGS. 11 (E ′) and (F1 ′), there is a step of forming a partition 4 having a reverse tapered portion 5 on one wall surface on the insulating layer 3, and the partition An auxiliary electrode is formed using a shadow mask in a region D formed by a region C (A1 or A2) on the side where the reverse tapered portion 5 is not formed in the region C on 4 and the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view. Having a step of performing. The shadow mask 20 used for forming the auxiliary electrode 8 in the region D only needs to have an opening 21 having the same width as that of the region D, as shown in FIG. That is, also in this embodiment, the auxiliary electrode 8 is not provided only in the narrow areas A1 and A2, but is formed using the shadow mask 20 in the wide area D combined with the area C on the partition wall 4 having a different shape. There is a feature in the point.

  In this embodiment, the auxiliary electrode 8 is provided in the region C on the partition wall 4 and the region (A1 or A2) on the side where the inverse tapered portion 5 is not formed. A region D including the region C and the region A1 or A2 has a width (region D) obtained by adding the region C to any of the regions A1 and A2 in which the applicant has attempted to form the auxiliary electrode in advance. Therefore, the auxiliary electrode 8 formed in the region D is easier and more stable than the auxiliary electrode formed in either of the narrow regions A1 and A2. As a result, when the second electrode 7 is a transparent electrode, the organic EL element 10E having the auxiliary electrode 8 with low cost and stable characteristics on the second electrode 7 is obtained.

  The partition wall 4 having the reverse taper portion 5 on one wall surface can be formed by forming a reverse taper portion 5 and then adding a pattern with a photoresist material so that the taper portion on one side is filled.

[Sixth Embodiment]
In the organic EL element 10F according to the fifth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 12L, a liquid-repellent transparent resin layer 41 is provided in a region B on the second electrode 7, and the transparent resin layer 41 is provided. This is characterized in that the auxiliary electrode 8 made of the conductive paste for auxiliary electrode that repels liquid is provided only in the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view. In the organic EL element 10F of the sixth embodiment, the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed of a conductive paste.

  As a feature of the manufacturing method, the step of forming the auxiliary electrode 8 includes the step of forming the liquid-repellent transparent resin layer 41 on the entire surface after the step of forming the second electrode 7 (see FIG. 12J), the transparent resin Etching the layer 41 using a shadow mask to remove the transparent resin layer 41 in the region D (see FIG. 12K), and the transparent resin in the regions A1 and A2 after the transparent resin layer 41 is removed A step of applying an auxiliary electrode conductive paste that repels liquid to the layer 41 to form the auxiliary electrode 8 (see FIG. 12L). The transparent resin layer 41 is formed by coating and forming a liquid repellent transparent resin layer material on the entire surface, and then etching using the same shadow mask 30 as in the first embodiment. In FIG. 12K, reference numeral 31 denotes an opening of the shadow mask, and reference numeral 32 denotes a non-opening of the shadow mask.

  Thus, after removing the transparent resin layer 41 in the region D, the auxiliary electrode 8 is formed by applying the conductive paste for the auxiliary electrode without using the shadow mask, and the configuration shown in FIG. The organic EL element 10F can be manufactured. In this embodiment, unlike the above-described embodiments, the auxiliary electrode 8 can be formed in the regions A1 and A2 by a method using the shadow mask 30 even in wet film formation (conductive paste application means) other than dry film formation. . In the shadow mask 30 used in this case, the opening 31 can be easily formed at a low cost, and the etching using the shadow mask 30 has a small number of steps, so that the predetermined area (A1, A2) on the second electrode 7 is formed. The auxiliary electrode can be formed easily and stably at a low cost.

  According to the manufacturing method according to the sixth embodiment, the conductive paste for auxiliary electrode applied to the regions A1 and A2 repels the liquid repellent transparent resin layer 41 on the second electrode 7, so that the conductive paste Is not formed on the liquid repellent transparent resin layer 41, and the light transmission region B is not reduced. Even when the conductive paste is applied by a slightly inaccurate coating method, the conductive paste is not placed on the liquid-repellent transparent resin layer 41, so that the auxiliary electrode conductive paste is applied only to the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view. It can be formed as an auxiliary electrode.

  As a material for the transparent resin layer for forming the liquid repellent transparent resin layer 41, a resin material to which a liquid repellent is added can be used. Specifically, for example, a resin repellent such as a silicone compound or a fluorine-containing compound can be used. A novolak resin containing a liquid agent, a polyimide, an acrylate, etc. can be mentioned.

  Examples of the auxiliary electrode conductive paste that repels the transparent resin layer 41 include Ag paste. The conductive paste is preferably applied to the regions A1 and A2 by a nozzle coating method, an ink jet method, a dispenser, or an aerosol jet method. In particular, according to the aerosol jet method, the conductive paste can be applied to a narrow width of about 5 to 10 μm. The thickness of the formed auxiliary electrode 8 is usually 0.1 to 2 μm.

In FIG. 12J, instead of providing the liquid repellent transparent resin layer 41, a transparent resin layer that becomes liquid repellent by a subsequent liquid repellent treatment may be provided. In this case, after removing the transparent resin layer, the liquid repellent treatment can be performed to make the transparent resin layer remaining in the region B liquid repellent. Examples of the material for the transparent resin layer in this case include positive novolac resins, polyimides, and acrylates that do not contain a liquid repellent. Examples of the subsequent liquid repellency treatment include a surface treatment method using a liquid repellent treatment agent such as a silicone compound or a fluorine-containing compound, a surface treatment method using plasma of fluorocarbon gas (plasma treatment), and the like. As the fluorocarbon gas used in the plasma treatment, for _{example, CF 4, C 2 F 6} , C 3 F 8, c-C 4 F 8, CCl 2 F 2, CClF 3, C 2 Cl 2 F 4 C ₂ ClF ₅ , CBrF ₃ , CHF ₃ , C ₂ H ₃ F ₃ , CH ₃ CHF ₂ , NF ₃ , SF _6, etc. can be used, and among these, CF ₄ gas is preferably used.

1 substrate 2 first electrode (anode)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 3 Insulating layer 4 Partition 5 Wall surface which has reverse taper part 5 'Wall surface which does not have reverse taper part 6, 6R, 6G, 6B Organic EL layer 7 2nd electrode (transparent electrode)
7 'transparent conductive film 8 auxiliary electrode 8' auxiliary electrode material layer 9 lift-off film 10, 10A to 10F organic EL element 11 pixel portion (light emitting region)
12 Bridge part (non-light emitting area)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 20 Shadow mask 21 Opening part 22 Light-shielding part 30 Shadow mask 31 Opening part 32 Non-opening part 41 Liquid-repellent transparent resin layer

A1, A2 Region where insulating layer 3 and second electrode 7 overlap in plan view B Light transmission region (or region where first electrode supplies charge to organic EL layer)
C Region on partition D Region for forming auxiliary electrode (sum of X direction width of region C and X direction width of regions A1 and A2)

100 Organic EL element 101 Substrate 102 First electrode (anode)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 103 Insulating layer 104 Partition 105 Wall surface which has a reverse taper part 106R, 106G, 106B Organic EL layer 107 2nd electrode (transparent electrode)
107 ′ transparent conductive film 108 auxiliary electrode 110 shadow mask 111 opening (light transmission region)
112, 113 Shading part (light non-transmission area)

Claims (13)

Forming a first electrode on a substrate;
Forming an insulating layer for defining a region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer in a predetermined pattern;
Forming a partition having reverse tapered portions on both wall surfaces on the insulating layer;
Forming an organic EL layer on the first electrode;
Forming a second electrode material on the entire surface from above the organic EL layer by dry film formation to form a transparent second electrode for each pixel region;
A shadow mask is used to assist a region D including the region C on the partition wall and the insulating layer provided on both sides of the partition wall in plan view and the overlapping region (A1, A2) of the second electrode in plan view. Forming an electrode;
The manufacturing method of the organic EL element characterized by having.   The method of manufacturing an organic EL element according to claim 1, wherein the auxiliary electrode is formed in every other region D. Forming a first electrode on a substrate;
Forming an insulating layer for defining a region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer in a predetermined pattern;
Forming a partition having a reverse tapered portion on one wall surface on the insulating layer;
Forming an organic EL layer on the first electrode;
Forming a second electrode material on the entire surface from above the organic EL layer by dry film formation to form a transparent second electrode for each pixel region;
Of the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view of the insulating layer and the second electrode provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view and the region C on the partition, the reverse taper portion is not formed. Forming an auxiliary electrode in a region D composed of the region (A1 or A2) using a shadow mask;
The manufacturing method of the organic EL element characterized by having.   The said shadow mask is arrange | positioned above the said 2nd electrode, and has an opening part for dry-depositing the material for auxiliary electrodes in the said area | region D. The manufacturing method of organic EL element.   The auxiliary electrode forming step includes the step of forming a lift-off film on the partition after the second electrode forming step, and the shadow mask in the region D including the partition on which the lift-off film is formed. The organic EL device according to claim 1, comprising a step of forming an auxiliary electrode, and a step of removing the lift-off film and the auxiliary electrode material layer provided on the lift-off film. Manufacturing method.   The auxiliary electrode forming step includes a step of forming a liquid repellent transparent resin layer on the entire surface after the second electrode forming step, and the transparent resin layer in the region D using the shadow mask. And a step of forming an auxiliary electrode by applying a conductive paste for auxiliary electrode that repels the transparent resin layer to the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view where the transparent resin layer is removed. The manufacturing method of the organic EL element of any one of Claims 1-3 containing this.   The manufacturing method of the organic EL element of any one of Claims 1-6 which is a passive matrix type or an active matrix type element. A first electrode provided on a substrate;
An insulating layer having a predetermined pattern provided to define a region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer;
A partition wall provided on the insulating layer and having opposite tapered portions on both wall surfaces;
An organic EL layer provided on the first electrode;
A transparent second electrode provided on the organic EL layer;
An auxiliary electrode provided in a region D composed of a region C on the partition wall and the insulating layer provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view and a planar view overlap region (A1, A2) of the second electrode;
An organic EL element comprising:   The organic EL element according to claim 8, wherein the auxiliary electrode is formed in every other region D. A first electrode provided on a substrate;
An insulating layer having a predetermined pattern provided to define a region B for supplying electric charge from the first electrode to the organic EL layer;
A partition wall having a reverse tapered portion on one wall surface provided on the insulating layer;
An organic EL layer provided on the first electrode;
A transparent second electrode provided on the organic EL layer;
Of the overlapping region (A1, A2) in plan view of the insulating layer and the second electrode provided on both sides sandwiching the partition wall in plan view and the region C on the partition, the reverse taper portion is not formed. An auxiliary electrode provided in a region D including the region (A1 or A2);
An organic EL element comprising:   The organic EL element according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the auxiliary electrode is not formed on the partition wall, and the widths of the regions A1 and A2 are 5 µm or more and 20 µm or less.   A liquid repellent transparent resin layer is provided in the region B on the second electrode, and an auxiliary electrode made of a conductive paste for auxiliary electrodes that repels the transparent resin layer is provided in the regions A1 and A2. The organic EL element according to any one of claims 8 to 11.   The organic EL layer has at least a light emitting layer, and has one or more layers selected from a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, a hole block layer, and an electron block layer. The organic EL element according to any one of claims 8 to 12.

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