JP4361978B2 - Organic EL display panel and manufacturing method thereof - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an organic EL (electroluminescent) display panel comprising an organic EL element that emits light when a charge is injected into a light emitting layer.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Recently, the technology of an organic EL element called an organic light emitting diode (LED) has been developed at a high speed, and several trial products have already been announced.
[0003]
The organic EL element has an advantage that it is very thin, can be addressed in a matrix, and can be driven even at a low voltage of 15 V or more. In addition, the organic EL element has a wide viewing angle and can be formed on a flexible transparent substrate such as a plastic, and is therefore suitable for the next generation flat panel display (FPD). It is an element. Furthermore, since a backlight is not required as compared with a well-known LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), there is an advantage that power consumption is low.
[0004]
An organic EL element having the above-described advantages is generally different from an inorganic EL element in terms of operation principle.
[0005]
Inorganic EL elements emit light while electrons accelerated by a high electric field collide with a luminescent impurity, and the excited illuminant falls to the ground state, whereas an organic EL element has a cathode In addition, exciton generated by combining electrons and holes injected from the anode emit light while falling from the excited state to the ground state. Such organic EL devices have been actively researched to improve luminous efficiency and produce various colors until now, and in the future, research on productivity, uniformity, reliability, etc. for the commercialization of organic EL devices. Further efforts must be made.
[0006]
In order to apply the organic EL element to a large flat display, uniform light must be emitted from the entire display screen. For this purpose, it is first necessary to uniformly form organic function layers composed of multilayer films on the entire surface of the panel using appropriate vapor deposition equipment. Next, problems due to panel driving must be solved. This will be described in more detail.
The simplest method for driving the organic EL display panel is a simple passive matrix system, in which an organic EL layer is formed between two orthogonal electrodes. In this driving method, each organic EL element serves as both a display element and a switching element. In such a driving mode, since each organic EL element has a nonlinear current-voltage characteristic like a diode, it can theoretically be driven by multiplexing.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, driving a large organic EL display panel in a passive matrix addressing configuration has the following difficulties.
[0008]
First, since the organic EL element does not have a memory function, a very high peak luminance is required, and the number of rows in the display panel is limited. The required instantaneous maximum luminance is proportional to (number of low electrodes × average luminance). For example, the average luminance of the panel is 100 cd / m ² If you want to get a maximum brightness of 50,000 cd / m ² Then, the maximum number of low electrodes is 500, and the maximum instantaneous brightness is 10,000 cd / m. ² If so, the maximum number is 100. At the current level of technology, 10,000 cd / m ² Even if it is driven for a long time with a brightness of about 50,000 cd / m, even if the lifetime is drastically reduced and the luminous efficiency is improved in the future. ² It is impossible to drive with. Therefore, it is appropriate to see that the maximum number of row electrodes that can be driven by the passive matrix method is about 100 to 200.
[0009]
Second, the instantaneous high current causes a very large IR voltage drop along the column and row bus electrodes, resulting in non-uniform panel brightness.
[0010]
Third, there is a problem of RC delay time of the organic EL display panel. ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), which is a typical transparent electrode material, has a considerably higher resistance than general metals, the organic layer is very thin (usually around 100 nm), and the capacitance is relatively large. Overall, the RC constant of the device is large. The larger the panel size, the greater the problem.
[0011]
In order to solve this kind of problem, an active addressing driving method such as a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) must be introduced. However, since the production of the active matrix EL (AM-EL) is expensive, it is inferior to competition with other display technologies such as a plasma display panel (PDP). For this reason, it is necessary to solve the above problem even if the passive matrix driving method is adopted.
[0012]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a large organic EL display panel capable of passive matrix driving and a method for manufacturing the same.
[0013]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The organic EL display panel of the present invention includes a plurality of conductive layers electrically isolated from each other in a column and row matrix separated into (m × n) sub-panels. A plurality of first and second electrodes to be formed are arranged, and a plurality of light emitting portions are stacked between the plurality of first and second electrodes. Is achieved.
[0014]
The organic EL display panel includes a substrate, a plurality of first electrodes formed on the substrate and electrically connected to a first bus electrode, and formed on the first electrode. An organic functional layer including an EL layer, and a plurality of second electrodes formed on the organic functional layer and electrically connected to the second bus electrode may be provided.
Each of the first and second bus electrodes forms part of a laminated structure having an electrically insulating layer between each layer, and each of the laminated layers includes one first and second electrodes, or an insulating material. A plurality of the first and second bus electrodes may be provided with a gap therebetween.
The first bus electrode corresponding to each stripe of the first electrode may be electrically contacted at least at one position.
The first and second bus electrodes may be formed of at least one conductive material, and the substrate may be formed of a transparent material.
The conductive material may be at least one of a metal, an alloy, and a conductive polymer.
[0015]
The metal may be any one of aluminum, copper, nickel, chrome, silver, and gold.
A plurality of sub-panels having a plurality of light emitting units; a plurality of first electrodes corresponding to the sub-panels; a plurality of first signal buses coupled to each of the first electrodes; Formed on the exposed region of the first electrode, a plurality of second signal buses that are insulated and protruded from the substrate where the minimum region of the first electrode is exposed. , Formed on at least one of the first, second, and third organic functional layers including at least one organic EL layer, and on at least one of the first, second, and third organic functional layers, And a plurality of second electrodes coupled to correspond to the two signal buses.
[0016]
The plurality of sub-panels may be arranged in (n × m) (where n and m are integers greater than 2).
A plurality of partition walls formed on the second signal bus may be provided.
[0017]
A corresponding second electrode may be formed on each partition wall.
[0018]
At least one of the first, second, and third organic functional layers may be formed between the corresponding second electrode and each partition.
[0019]
The image forming apparatus may further include a partition wall formed on the first signal bus positioned between the adjacent subpixels.
[0020]
The plurality of first and second electrodes may be formed of a plurality of first and second conductive layers that are electrically insulated from each other, and may be arranged in columns and rows, respectively.
[0021]
The plurality of first conductive layers may be formed of a translucent material.
[0022]
The translucent material may be ITO (Indium Tin Oxide).
[0023]
The substrate may transmit light.
[0024]
The first conductive layer may be rectangular.
[0025]
The first conductive layer corresponding to the corresponding sub-pixel may have a plurality of notches formed on one surface of the rectangular shape.
[0026]
The plurality of second conductive layers may be formed of any one of a metal and an alloy having low resistance.
[0027]
The low resistance metal may be aluminum, and the alloy may be any one of Mg: Ag and Al: Li.
[0028]
The plurality of first signal buses are formed in the column direction between at least any one of the adjacent first conductive layers, and the second conductive layers corresponding to the first surfaces of the corresponding first conductive layers are formed. Each of the surfaces may be coupled.
[0029]
The plurality of second signal buses are formed in a row direction between at least one of the adjacent second conductive layers, and the second conductive layer second corresponding to the first surface of the corresponding second conductive layer. Each of the surfaces may be coupled.
[0030]
Each of the first signal buses includes at least one first connection line formed on the substrate, and a first insulating layer covering the first connection line, and each of the second signal buses. A second insulating layer formed on the first conductive layer, at least one second connection line formed on the first conductive layer, and a third insulation formed on the second connection line. It is good also as comprising from a layer.
[0031]
Each of the first and second connection lines may be formed of at least one conductive material.
[0032]
The conductive material may be at least one of a metal, an alloy, and a conductive polymer.
[0033]
The metal may be any one of aluminum, copper, nickel, chrome, silver, and gold.
[0034]
At least one of the first connection lines is in contact with the entire first surface of the corresponding first conductive layer, and the second connection line is in contact with the entire first surface of the corresponding second conductive layer. It is good also as a feature.
[0035]
The first insulating layer is configured to insulate adjacent first connecting lines when there are one or more first connecting lines of each first signal bus, and the third insulating layer is configured to be the second of each second signal bus. When there are one or more connecting lines, the adjacent second connecting lines may be insulated.
[0036]
At least one of the adjacent first and second connection lines may be stacked vertically.
[0037]
The method of manufacturing an organic EL display panel according to the present invention includes a step of forming a plurality of first electrodes electrically insulated from each other on a substrate in a row and column arrangement, and coupling to the corresponding first electrode And forming a plurality of first signal buses between first electrodes adjacent to each other in a column direction, and projecting the minimum regions of the first electrodes from the exposed substrate. As described above, forming a plurality of second signal buses in the row direction, and first, second, and third organic functions including at least one organic EL layer on the exposed region of the first electrode. A plurality of second electrodes coupled to the second signal bus on at least one of the first, second, and third organic functional layers. The stage of forming Characterized in that it comprises a by its, object described above is achieved.
A tip of the at least one second connecting line is coupled with a corresponding second electrode through an opening formed in the corresponding first, second, and third organic functional layer. It may be a feature.
[0038]
A bus electrode may be formed at a front end of the connection line at a right angle to the second connection line.
[0039]
The first conductive layer may have a rectangular shape, and the first conductive layer corresponding to the corresponding subpixel may include a plurality of notches on one surface of the rectangular shape.
[0040]
The bus electrode may protrude into a region defined by the corresponding notch.
[0041]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an organic EL display panel and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0042]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an organic EL display panel according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, the organic EL display panel 1 has 2m columns and 2n rows, that is, (2m × 2n) sub-panels 2. . Each sub-panel 2 is driven separately in order to eliminate the problems that occur when driving a large panel in a passive addressing manner.
[0043]
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a display panel having (4 × 4), that is, 16 sub-panels. The production process of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, a transparent conductive film such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is formed on the transparent insulating substrate 3, and the transparent conductive film is patterned by a photolithography process to form a plurality of bands. A first electrode having (stripe) 4 is formed. Here, when viewed from the length direction, the band of one electrode is divided into four short bands, so that the band of the first electrode formed by a general matrix addressing driving method is used. Structurally different. Each band 4 of the first electrode is individually driven in a sub-panel 2 together with a band of the second electrode formed in a subsequent process. For this purpose, the bands of the first and second electrodes are electrically insulated from each other. It must be. Next, a plurality of contact pads 5 and 6 for electrical connection with the first and second electrodes are formed on the transparent substrate 3. The contact pads 5 and 6 may be formed together when the band 4 of the first electrode is formed.
[0044]
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a first bus electrode is formed to connect the band 4 of the first electrode to the corresponding contact pads 5 and 6. At this time, the outer band 4-a and the corresponding contact pad 5 are connected by the short first bus electrode 7-a. The short connecting line 7-a is not separately formed in this step, and the outer band 4-a and the corresponding contact pad 5 are formed in the patterning of ITO for forming the first electrode band in the process of FIG. You may form beforehand in the form which is connected. The inner band 4-b and the corresponding contact pad 5 are connected by a long first bus electrode 7-b. Here, the connecting lines 7-a and 7-b as the first bus electrodes may be formed of a metal having excellent conductivity such as aluminum or an alloy thereof.
[0045]
There are various methods for forming the first bus electrode. Among them, a method of forming the first bus electrode only at a predetermined position using a lift-off process is preferable. In this process, the film growth method for the first bus electrode includes vapor deposition method, e-beam evaporation method, RF sputtering method, Chemical vapor deposition, spin coating, dipping, Dr. blade, electroplating, electroless plating, screen printing printing) method, etc. can be used.
[0046]
5A is an enlarged view of 2-f of FIG. 4, and FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA ′ of FIG. 5A.
[0047]
On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 5A (a), when the area where the first bus electrodes 7-a and 7-b and the band 4 of the first electrode overlap is small, the long side of the band 4 of the first electrode An IR voltage drop phenomenon may appear along the line, but this phenomenon can be solved by widening the electrical contact area between the first bus electrode and the band 4 of the first electrode corresponding thereto. That is, as shown to (a) of FIG. 5B, each 1st bus electrode is formed along the long side of the strip | belt 4 of a corresponding 1st electrode, and the electrical contact area between two is expanded. Minimize the voltage drop in the length direction. In a sense, it can be seen that the first bus electrode is used as an auxiliary electrode for lowering the resistance of the band of the first electrode. This is because the electrical resistance of ITO often used for the band of the first electrode is much higher than the material of the first bus electrode. The contact between the two may not be continuous, but may be repeated in a certain length every certain distance. During structural design, adjusting the total contact area between the two within a given condition, i.e. the total length formed by side-by-side contact, is as long as possible and evenly distributed in the length direction, It is advantageous to reduce the brightness deviation due to the voltage drop.
[0048]
Next, as shown in FIG. 6A, an electrically insulating material layer 8 is formed on the first bus electrode. Here, the electrical insulating material layer 8 is required to have mechanical and chemical stability, is made of an organic or inorganic insulating material, and is preferably an inorganic compound such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride. . The electrical insulating material layer 8 is formed by vapor deposition, e-beam evaporation, RF sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, spin coating. Coating may be performed using coating, dipping, Dr. blade method, electroplating, electroless plating, screen printing method, and the like.
[0049]
Next, (a) of FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a process of forming the insulating buffer layer 9 for the second bus electrode formed in the subsequent process, and (b) of FIG. 7A is (a) of FIG. 7A. It is sectional drawing on the BB 'line. Here, the role of the buffer layer 9 is to electrically insulate the second bus electrode from the first electrode. The material of the buffer layer 9 and the film growth method are the same as or similar to the case of the electrically insulating material layer 8 of FIG. Further, as shown in FIGS. 7B (a), 7B (b), and 7B (c), the buffer layer 9 is formed together with the electrical insulating material layer 8 in the process step of FIG. 6A. Also good.
[0050]
Next, as shown in FIGS. 8A, 8B, and 8C, the second bus electrode is formed to be orthogonal to the first bus electrode. Here, the role of the second bus electrode is to electrically connect the second electrode formed in the subsequent process and the contact pad 6. Further, the short second bus electrode 10-a can be omitted for the same reason as the case of the first bus electrode 7-a. As shown in FIG. 8B, most of the long second bus electrode 10-b is formed on the buffer layer 9, and the remaining part is on the open region 11 that is not covered with the band 4 of the first electrode. It is formed to be extended. Care must be taken to prevent the second bus electrode 10-b from coming into contact with the region 12 covered with the band of the first electrode in order to prevent an electrical short circuit. The second bus electrode can be formed using the same or similar material and film growth method as the first bus electrode.
[0051]
As shown in FIG. 9A, the insulating layer 13 is formed on the second bus electrode, but the insulating layer 13 may be omitted depending on the structural design. The material of the insulating layer 13 and the manufacturing method are the same as or similar to those of the electrical insulating material layer 8 described above. Depending on the structural design, the second bus electrode may be formed before the first bus electrode.
[0052]
The subsequent execution process can be selected variously depending on the pixelation method and the display mode. For example, when an adjacent pixel is separated using an electrically insulating partition as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,701,055, the first or second bus electrode is formed on a bus electrode formed later. The partition is formed on the insulating layer. In order to produce a panel for a monochrome display, a series of organic functional layers may be simply laminated, but to produce a multi-color or full-color display panel. An additional shadow mask may be required.
[0053]
Looking at the process of building a full color display panel using a shadow mask and partition walls,
(1) First, a shadow mask is disposed on the partition wall surface. Here, the shadow mask has a plurality of openings so that the first electrode or the second electrode between the partition walls is exposed, and the openings are aligned with the respective electrodes;
(2) The first organic EL material is deposited through the openings arranged on the respective electrodes between the barrier ribs. For example, forming a first organic functional layer that emits red light;
(3) Realign the shadow mask and repeat the process (2) to sequentially form second and third organic functional layers that emit green and blue light;
(4) At least one second electrode layer is formed on the partition walls and the organic functional layer.
[0054]
FIG. 10A is a diagram illustrating a process of forming an electrically insulating partition for pixelation as described above. As shown in the figure, the partition wall 14 is formed on the insulating layer 13. Here, the insulating layer 13 serves as a kind of buffer layer.
Next, as shown in FIG. 11, a partition wall 15 is additionally formed to electrically insulate the second electrodes in the A region and the B region.
[0055]
Next, as shown in FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12C, the organic functional layer 16 is laminated. For example, the organic functional layer of the green light emitting element is as follows.
[0056]
(1) a hole injection buffer layer made of copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) having a thickness of about 10 nm to 20 nm;
(2) N, N′-diphenyl-N, N′-bis (3-methylphenyl)-(1,1′-biphenyl) -4,4′-diamine (TPD) having a thickness of about 30 nm to 50 nm. A hole transport layer; and
(3) A light emitting layer made of tris (8-hydroxy-quinolate) aluminum (Alq3) having a thickness of about 40 nm to 60 nm;
Consists of.
[0057]
A light emitting dye such as coumarin 6 or quinacridone may be added to the light emitting layer as about 1% as a dopant. If a full-color display panel is manufactured, a method of sequentially stacking red, green, and blue light-emitting materials on the corresponding pixels using a plurality of barrier ribs and a shadow mask as described above can be used.
[0058]
FIGS. 13A and 13B are views showing a process of exposing the second bus electrode 10-b ′ by etching the organic functional layer 16 on the second bus electrode 10-b ′. This is for electrically connecting the second electrode formed in the subsequent process and the already formed second bus electrode 10-b ′. Here, it is preferable to use dry etching such as reactive ion etching or laser beam etching.
[0059]
Here, the drawing shows that a contact window or a connection pad 10-b ′ is formed one by one for each second bus electrode. The number of windows can be increased as needed, for example, one for each pixel. However, in most cases, one window is sufficient for each second bus electrode. This is because the resistance for the second electrode material such as Al, Mg: Ag, and Al: Li is generally much lower than that of the first electrode (ITO).
[0060]
Next, as shown in FIG. 14A, FIG. 14B, and FIG. 14C, the second electrode 17 is formed and then a general encapsulation process is performed by covering the protective film. Complete the production.
[0061]
The production process of a display panel having (4 × 4) sub-panels has been described so far, but the same process concept is also applied to the production of a large display panel having (6 × 6) sub-panels as shown in FIG. Applicable. Due to the symmetry of this panel, the production process can be sufficiently explained only by the production process of (3 × 3) sub-panels as shown in FIG.
[0062]
FIG. 17 to FIG. 24 are diagrams relating to the production process for (3 × 3) sub-panels and are basically similar to the production process for (4 × 4) sub-panels. However, there are some differences:
[0063]
As shown in FIG. 17A, one more bus electrode needs to be formed for each first electrode as compared to the (4 × 4) sub-panel (7-a, 7-b, 7-c). ).
[0064]
Although two bus electrodes are formed side by side in FIG. 17A, one bus electrode for each layer may be formed in two layers as shown in the example of FIG.
[0065]
Also in the case of FIG. 20A, it is necessary to form another bus electrode for each second electrode (10-a, 10-b, 10-c) as compared with the sub-panel of (4 × 4). ).
[0066]
The above-described panel production technique can be directly applied to the production of a large display panel having (2m × 2n) sub-panels. In this case, however, the bus electrode is simply as shown in FIGS. 25 (a) and 25 (b). Need only be formed in a multilayer structure. Thin film or thick film process technology can be used to form the multilayer bus electrode. For reference, FIGS. 26A and 26B are views showing the first and second bus electrodes in three dimensions.
[0067]
Each sub-panel produced as described above is driven using an individual drive circuit, but it is not completely independent from other drive circuits. That is, even if each sub-panel has separate scan and data lines, it must be synchronized with other circuits.
[0068]
【The invention's effect】
The organic EL display panel and the manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention have the following effects.
[0069]
Each of the sub-panels is divided into a plurality of electrically insulated sub-panels, and each sub-panel can be driven individually, and has an advantage that a uniform screen can be realized over the entire surface of the large-screen display.
[0070]
Further, it is suitable for mass production of large screen organic EL display panels at low cost.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an organic EL display panel of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a display panel having (4 × 4) sub-panels.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a process of forming a plurality of first electrode strips and first and second electrode contact pads;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a process of electrically connecting a band of a first electrode and a corresponding contact pad.
5A is an enlarged view of 2-f of FIG. 4, and FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 5A.
5A is a diagram showing a second method of electrically connecting the band of the first electrode and the corresponding contact pad, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 'Is a cross-sectional view along the line.
6A is a diagram illustrating a process of covering the first bus electrode with an insulating layer, and FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 6A.
7A is a diagram showing a process of forming an insulating buffer layer of the second bus electrode, and FIG. 7A is a sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG. 7A. is there.
7B (a) is a diagram illustrating a process of forming the insulating layer for the first bus electrode in FIG. 6 (a) and the insulating buffer layer for the second bus electrode in FIG. 7A at a time. 7B (b) and FIG. 7B (c) are cross-sectional views taken along lines AA ′ and BB ′ in FIG. 7B (a), respectively.
8A is a diagram showing a process of forming a second bus electrode, FIG. 8B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 8C is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG. 8A. FIG.
9A is a diagram illustrating a process of forming an insulating layer of the second bus electrode, FIG. 9B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 9C is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG. 9A. It is sectional drawing on a line.
FIG. 10A is a diagram showing a process of forming an electrically insulating partition to electrically isolate adjacent second electrodes and pixelate each sub-panel; FIG. 10B is an enlarged view; 10 (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB ′ of FIG. 10 (a).
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a process of forming an electrically insulating partition for electrically insulating the second electrodes in the A region and the B region.
12A is a diagram showing a process of forming an organic functional layer, FIG. 12B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 12C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. is there.
FIG. 13A is a diagram showing a process of etching the organic functional layer on the second electrode bus 10-b ′ to expose the second bus electrode 10-b ′, and FIG. 13B is an enlarged view. FIG.
14A is a diagram showing a process of forming a second electrode, FIG. 14B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 14C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 14A. It is.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display panel having a (6 × 6) sub-panel.
FIG. 16 is an enlarged view showing a process of forming a plurality of first electrode strips and first and second electrode contact pads;
FIG. 17A is a diagram showing a process of electrically connecting the band of the first electrode and the corresponding contact pad, and FIG. 17B is on the AA ′ line of FIG. 17A. FIG.
18A is a view showing a process of covering the first bus electrode with an insulating layer, and FIG. 18B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. 18A.
19A is a view showing a process of forming an insulating buffer layer of the second bus electrode, and FIG. 19B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 19A.
20A is a view showing a process of forming a second bus electrode, FIG. 20B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 20C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 20A. FIG.
FIG. 21A is a diagram showing a process of forming an insulating layer of the second bus electrode, FIG. 21B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 21C is BB ′ of FIG. 21A. It is sectional drawing on a line.
FIG. 22 (a) shows an electrically insulating partition for electrically isolating adjacent second electrodes and pixelating each sub-panel, and electrically connecting the second electrodes in the C, D, and E regions, respectively. FIG. 22B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 22C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ in FIG. 22A, illustrating a process of forming an electrically insulating partition for insulation.
FIG. 23A shows a process of forming an organic functional layer and a process of etching the organic functional layer on the second bus electrode 10-b ′ to expose the second bus electrode 10-b ′. FIG. 23B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 23C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG.
24A is a view showing a process of forming a second electrode, FIG. 24B is an enlarged view, and FIG. 24C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 24A. It is.
FIG. 25A is a diagram showing a stacked structure having two second bus electrodes per layer with an insulating layer interposed therebetween, and FIG. 25B is a stacked structure having one second bus electrode per layer. FIG.
26 (a) and 26 (b) are three-dimensional views of the first and second bus electrodes of FIGS. 25 (a) and 25 (b), respectively.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 panel
2 Sub-panel
3 Substrate
4 First electrode strip
5, 6 Contact pad
7 First bus electrode
8 Electrical insulation layer
9 Electrical insulating buffer layer
10 Second bus electrode
11 Open area
12 Area covered with first electrode
13 Electrical insulation layer
14, 15 Bulkhead
16 Organic functional layer
17 Second electrode

Claims (9)

An organic EL display panel (1) capable of passive addressing,
The passive addressable organic EL display panel is:
A plurality of first electrodes;
A plurality of second electrodes orthogonal to the plurality of first electrodes, wherein the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes form a matrix;
A light emitting section (16) stacked between a pair of first electrode and second electrode,
The matrix of electrodes is separated into (m × n) separately electrically driven sub-panels, where m and n are integers greater than 2,
Each of the plurality of first electrodes is formed of m conductive layers (4), which are electrically insulated from each other, and each of the conductive layers has a length of the first electrode. Arranged to drive the light emitting part of one of the plurality of sub-panels along the vertical direction ,
Each of the plurality of second electrodes is an n-number of conductive layers (17) are formed from mutually electrically insulated conductive layer (17), the length of each of the conductive layer of the second electrode Arranged to drive the light emitting part of one of the plurality of sub-panels along the vertical direction ,
Each of the plurality of sub-panels (2) is driven by a separate drive circuit ;
The passive addressable organic EL display panel further includes a substrate,
The plurality of first electrodes are formed on the substrate, and each of the plurality of first electrodes is electrically connected to a first bus electrode,
The light emitting part (16) is formed from an organic functional layer formed on the first electrode,
Each of the organic functional layers includes at least one organic EL medium layer,
The plurality of second electrodes are formed on the organic functional layer, and each of the plurality of second electrodes is electrically connected to a second bus electrode,
One of the first bus electrode and the second bus electrode is one of the first bus electrode and the second bus electrode so that a part of the first bus electrode and the second bus electrode overlap each other. At least one electrical insulation between the first bus electrode and the second bus electrode along a height direction of the stacked first bus electrode and the second bus electrode. A layer is formed,
The second bus electrode has an end portion and a main body portion, and the end portion of the second bus electrode passes through an opening formed in one organic functional layer of the organic functional layers. A passive addressable organic EL display panel coupled to a corresponding second electrode . 2. The passive addressable organic EL display panel according to claim 1 , wherein each of the conductive layers of the first electrode and the corresponding first bus electrode are formed so as to maintain electrical contact in at least one position. . 2. The passive addressable organic EL display panel according to claim 1 , wherein the first bus electrode and the second bus electrode are formed of at least one conductive material, and the substrate is formed of a transparent material. The organic EL display panel capable of passive addressing according to claim 3 , wherein the conductive material is made of at least one of a metal, an alloy, and a conductive polymer. The organic EL display panel capable of passive addressing according to claim 4 , wherein the metal is one of aluminum, copper, nickel, chromium, silver, and gold. A method of manufacturing an organic EL display panel capable of passive addressing,
The method
Forming a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes in an array, wherein one light emitting section (16) is laminated between the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes. Includes steps,
The array of electrodes is separated into (m × n) separately electrically driven sub-panels, where m and n are integers greater than 2,
Each of the plurality of first electrodes is an m number of first conductive layers and is formed of first conductive layers that are electrically insulated from each other, and each of the first conductive layers is a length of the first electrode. Arranged to drive the light emitting part of one of the plurality of sub-panels along the vertical direction ,
Each of the plurality of second electrodes is an n number of second conductive layers and is formed of second conductive layers that are electrically insulated from each other, and each of the second conductive layers has a length of the second electrode. Arranged to drive the light emitting part of one of the plurality of sub-panels along the vertical direction ,
Each of the plurality of sub-panels is driven by a separate drive circuit ;
The step of forming the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes in an array, wherein one light emitting section (16) is laminated between the plurality of first electrodes and the plurality of second electrodes. The steps are
Forming the first electrode;
Forming a plurality of first bus electrodes between first electrodes adjacent in a column direction, wherein the first bus electrodes are coupled to corresponding bands of the first electrodes;
Forming a plurality of second bus electrodes in a row direction to expose at least a part of each of the first electrodes, wherein the second bus electrodes are insulated and protrude from the substrate; and ,
Forming a plurality of light emitting portions (16) including a first organic functional layer, a second organic functional layer, and a third organic functional layer on the exposed portion of the first electrode, the first organic functional layer; Each of the second organic functional layer and the third organic functional layer includes at least one organic EL medium;
Forming the plurality of second electrodes on at least one of the first organic functional layer, the second organic functional layer, and the third organic functional layer, wherein the second electrodes correspond to each other; A step coupled to the second bus electrode;
Including
At least one second bus electrode has an end portion and a main body portion, and the end portion of the second bus electrode is formed of the first organic functional layer, the second organic functional layer, and the third organic functional layer. The method is coupled to a corresponding second electrode through an opening formed in one of the organic functional layers . The method according to claim 6 , wherein an end portion of the second bus electrode is formed to be substantially orthogonal to a main body portion of the second bus electrode. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the first conductive layer in the sub-panel has a substantially rectangular shape, and a plurality of notches are formed in at least one surface portion of the first conductive layer. . 9. The method of claim 8 , wherein each of the plurality of second bus electrodes protrudes into a region defined by a corresponding notch.

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