KR100647707B1 - Electronic device, thin film transistor, and flat panel display device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic apparatus, a thin film transistor, and a flat panel display device are provided to easily form a micro-pattern by patterning a conductive material using a hydrophobic self-assembly single molecular layer. A TFT(Thin Film Transistor) includes a gate electrode(25), source and drain electrodes(27a,27b), an activation layer(28), and a self-assembly single molecular layer(23). The source and drain electrodes are connected to the gate electrode. The activation layer is electrically connected to the source and drain electrodes. The activation layer is insulated from the gate electrode. The self-assembly single molecular layer has an aperture of a predetermined pattern. At least one of the gate, source, and drain electrodes is positioned on an area, which is exposed through an aperture of the self-assembly single molecular layer. At least one of the gate, source, and drain electrodes contains a high molecular material.

Description

Electronic device, thin film transistor, and flat panel display device

1A to 1C are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a cross-sectional view of a thin film transistor according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a cross-sectional view of a thin film transistor according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a cross-sectional view of a flat panel display device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

<Brief description of the main parts of the drawing>

11,21 substrate 12,22 insulation layer

13,23: self-assembled monolayer 14,24a, b, c: opening

15: conductor 25: gate electrode

26: gate insulating film 27a: source electrode

27b: drain electrode 28: semiconductor layer

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electronic device, a thin film transistor, and a flat panel display device, and more particularly, to an electronic device, a thin film transistor, and a flat panel display device capable of simply patterning a conductor.

Recently, flat panel displays are required to be thin and flexible.

Accordingly, in recent years, a plastic material, a metal foil, or a glass material which can be thinly formed and sufficiently bend is used as a substrate.

In order to provide such a flexible characteristic, in the flat panel display, various built-in electrodes and wirings must also be manufactured to have flexible characteristics.

As one method, such conductors may be formed using a polymer paste in which metal powder or the like is mixed, or a conductive polymer may be used.

By the way, the conductors as described above should be formed to have a predetermined pattern, which requires a mask and a separate patterning process. In addition, when applied to the source / drain electrodes of the thin film transistor, many organic and inorganic materials used in the patterning process are left at the interface between the semiconductor and the gate insulating film, which affects the electrical characteristics and driving voltage of the device. .

To this end, printing of a predetermined pattern is performed directly by an inkjet printing method, but even in this case, there is a concern that ink may spread to the surroundings, and thus, there is a limit that is difficult to apply to a fine patterning process, so that the ink does not overflow into the next pattern. There was a problem of installing the bank structure separately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device, a thin film transistor, and a flat panel display device which can simply pattern a conductor.

The present invention provides a base, a self-assembly molecular layer provided on the base and having a predetermined pattern of openings, and on the base exposed through the openings. It provides an electronic device comprising a conductor provided in.

The present invention also provides a gate electrode, a source electrode and a drain electrode insulated from the gate electrode, an active layer insulated from the gate electrode and electrically connected to the source electrode and the drain electrode, and A thin film transistor comprising a self-assembly molecular layer having an opening of a pattern, wherein at least one of the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode is located on a portion exposed through the opening of the self-assembly monolayer. To provide.

The invention also includes a light emitting device, a self-assembled monolayer on the base and having a predetermined pattern of openings, and a conductor provided on the base exposed through the opening and electrically connected to the light emitting device. Provided is a flat panel display.

 Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

First, a method of manufacturing an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described.

1A to 1G are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing an electronic device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1A, a self-assembly molecular layer 13 is formed on a substrate 11 serving as a base. The self-assembled monolayer 13 has a predetermined pattern of openings 14, through which the substrate 11 serving as a base is exposed.

The substrate 11 may be acrylic, polyimide, polycarbonate, polyester, mylar or other plastic materials, but is not limited thereto, and metal foil such as SUS and tungsten may be used, and the glass may be used. Ash is also available. As the substrate 11, a flexible substrate is preferable.

An insulating layer 12 such as a barrier layer and / or a buffer layer may be formed on the upper surface of the substrate 11 to prevent diffusion of impurity ions, to prevent penetration of moisture or external air, and to planarize the surface. . In FIG. 1A, only the insulating layer 12 is illustrated on the upper surface of the substrate 11, but the present invention is not limited thereto. When the insulating layer 12 is viewed in FIG. It may be provided on the lower surface, or may not exist at all.

The self-assembled monolayer 13 formed on the substrate 11, more precisely, on the insulating layer 12, is formed to have hydrophobicity, preferably extremely hydrophobic.

Thus, the self-assembled monolayer 13 having hydrophobicity may be formed of a surface treatment reagent having a specific structure.

As a surface treatment reagent for forming the hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer 13, OTS (Octadecyltrichlorosilane), PTCS (phenyltrichlorosilane), Fluoroalkyl trichloro silane and the like can be used, and more generally X-CH 2 (CH2) ySiCl3, X An organic molecule having a structure of —CH 2 (CH 2 ) y Si (OR) u R v, wherein X is a group of amino group, thiol group, alkyl, fluorinated alkyl, y is within 1-20, and u + v = 3 ( In the case of u = 1 ~ 3, v = 1 ~ 3), all of the materials can be used as surface treatment agents.

After forming the self-assembled monomolecular layer on the insulating film 12, by irradiating UV ultraviolet rays to the portion where the opening 14 is to be formed by using a mask, the opening 14 can be formed in the self-assembled monolayer 16 by developing. .

In addition, the pattern of the self-assembled monolayer 13 having the upper opening 14 may be taken out as it is by a stamp method.

In addition to the method of forming the patterned self-assembled monolayer 13, all known methods can be applied.

After forming the self-assembled monolayer 13 having the opening 14 in this manner, as shown in FIG. 1B, the ink paste drop D is exposed on the insulating film 12 exposed through the opening 14 by the inkjet nozzle N. FIG. Dropping, the conductor 15 as shown in Fig. 1C is formed.

As the ink paste for forming the conductor 15, a paste containing metal such as Al, Mo, Au, Ag, Pt / Pd, and Cu in powder form may be used. In addition, a conductive polymer may be used. It is preferable that the ink paste at this time is hydrophilic.

When printing such an ink paste by the ink jet printing method, since the hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer 13 is formed on the insulating film 12, when the paste drop D is dropped, the paste drop D is opened in an opening ( 14) will not overflow. That is, the hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer 13 acts as a dam to the hydrophilic ink paste, and thus the ink paste drop D is formed in a desired region.

When the ink paste drop D is formed in a desired pattern by inkjet printing and then fired, the conductor 15 can be formed as shown in FIG. 1C.

In the case of the present invention, the conductor 15 can be simply patterned using the hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer 13. The conductor 15 may be used as a wiring or an electrode of various electronic devices.

2 illustrates a thin film transistor according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and illustrates a thin film transistor having a bottom gate structure.

As in the above-described embodiment, the gate electrode 25 is formed on the substrate 21 on which the insulating film 22 is formed. Materials for the substrate 21 and the insulating film 22 are the same as in the above-described embodiment.

The gate electrode 25 may be formed by stacking a single layer or a plurality of layers with a metal material. In addition, a polymer paste or a conductive polymer mixed with metal powder may be used.

The gate insulating film 26 is formed to cover the gate electrode 25. The gate insulating layer 26 may be formed in a single layer or a plurality of layers, and may be formed of an organic material, an inorganic material, or an organic / inorganic composite. In the case of a flexible electronic device, the gate insulating layer 26 is also preferably included in the organic material, but can be formed in a liquid phase.

The above-described self-assembled monolayer 23 is formed on the gate insulating film 26 based on the gate insulating film 26. At this time, the self-assembled monolayer 23 is preferably hydrophobic and is patterned to have openings 24a and 24b. The openings 24a and 24b are formed in a pattern corresponding to the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b as will be described later. Although not shown in the drawing, the openings 24a and 24b of the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b are formed. It is further formed to correspond to the pattern of the other conductive member formed at the same time as the formation.

After the self-assembled monolayer 23 having the openings 24a and 24b is formed in this way, the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b are formed by the ink jet printing method described above. The source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b are the same as the material of the conductor described above. In this case, the hydrophobic monolayers of the ink paste for forming the hydrophilic source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b can be easily patterned by the self-assembled monolayer 23, so as not to cause problems such as spreading laterally. do. When firing after ink jet printing, the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b can be formed as shown in FIG. 2.

After the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b are formed, the active layer 28 is formed so as to be in contact with the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b, respectively. The active layer 28 may be formed of an inorganic or organic semiconductor material. When the active layer 28 is formed of an organic semiconductor material, the effect of the self-assembled monolayer 23 may be further enhanced.

That is, in the case of using the organic semiconductor material as the active layer 28, since the self-assembled monolayer 23 is interposed between the active layer 28 and the gate insulating film 26, the adhesive force of the active layer 28 to the gate insulating film 26. In addition, the ohmic contact between the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b and the active layer 28 may be achieved at the portion where the channel of the active layer 28 is formed.

Examples of the organic semiconductor material capable of forming the active layer 28 include pentacene, tetracene, anthracene, naphthalene, alpha-6-thiophene and alpha-4-ti. Offene, perylene and its derivatives, rubrene and its derivatives, coronene and its derivatives, perylene tetracarboxylic diimide and its derivatives, perylenetetracarb Perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride and derivatives thereof, oligoacenes and derivatives thereof of naphthalene, oligothiophenes and derivatives thereof of alpha-5-thiophene, phthalocyanine with or without metal and Derivatives thereof, naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimide and derivatives thereof, naphthalene tetracarboxylic dianhydride and derivatives thereof, Pyromellitic dianhydrides and derivatives thereof, pyromellitic diimides and derivatives thereof, conjugated polymers and derivatives thereof containing thiophene, polymers and derivatives thereof including fluorene, and the like can be used.

In the present invention, the source electrode 27a and the drain electrode 27b can be simply patterned using the hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer 23, and at the same time, the gate insulating film of the active layer 28 of the organic semiconductor material ( Adhesion to 26 may be improved, and ohmic contact between the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b and the active layer 28 may be assisted.

As shown in FIG. 3, the present invention may be equally applied to a top gate structure.

3, a self-assembled monolayer 23 having openings 24a and 24b is formed on the insulating layer 22 of the substrate 21, and the insulating layer exposed through the openings 24a and 24b. Source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b are formed on the reference numeral 22. The active layer 28 is formed to contact each of the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b. After the gate insulating layer 26 is formed to cover the gate electrode 25, the gate electrode 25 is formed thereon. Since the material and the forming method of each member are the same as the above-mentioned embodiment, detailed description is omitted.

2 and 3 illustrate a case in which the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b are patterned using the self-assembled monolayer 23, but the gate electrodes 25 in the structure according to FIGS. 2 and 3 are illustrated. ) And other conductive patterns (not shown) formed at the same time can also be patterned using the self-assembled monolayer 23. That is, even when the gate electrode 25 and other conductive patterns (not shown) formed at the same time are formed, a self-assembled monolayer 23 having an opening formed in advance may be formed, and then inkjet printing may be formed on the opening. .

Alternatively, the patterning method using the self-assembled monolayer 23 is not applied to the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b, but only to the gate electrode 25 and other conductive patterns (not shown) formed at the same time. The patterning method using the self-assembled monolayer 23 can also be applied.

Thus, the thin film transistor formed according to the present invention may be mounted in each subpixel, or may be mounted in a driver circuit (not shown) or other electronic circuit in which an image is not implemented.

4 illustrates an example applied to an organic light emitting display, which is one example. FIG. 4 illustrates one subpixel of an organic light emitting diode display, and each subpixel includes an organic light emitting diode (OLED) as a self-luminous element, and includes at least one TFT. . Although not shown in the drawings, at least one capacitor is further provided.

The organic light emitting diode display has various pixel patterns according to the color of light emitted by the OLED, and preferably includes red, green, and blue pixels.

Each of the sub-pixels of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) colors has a TFT structure as shown in FIG. 4 and an organic light emitting element (OLED) which is a self-luminous element. This TFT may be a TFT according to the embodiment of FIG. 2 described above. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and thin film transistors having various structures may be provided.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the TFT shown in FIG. 2 described above is provided on the insulating film 22 of the substrate 21. As shown in FIG. The description of this TFT is as described above and will be omitted.

4 shows another wiring 29 formed at the same time as the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b are formed.

This wiring 29 may be a power supply wiring such as Vdd or Vss or various signal wirings such as scan and data.

The wiring 29 may be formed by printing an additional opening 24c in addition to the openings 24a and 24b for the source / drain electrodes in the self-assembled monolayer 23.

After the wirings 29 and the TFTs are formed in this manner, a planarization film 30 is formed to cover them. The planarization film 30 is formed in a single layer or a plurality of layers, and is formed of an organic material, an inorganic material, or an organic / inorganic material. It can be formed into a composite.

The pixel electrode 31, which is an electrode of the organic light emitting diode OLED, is formed on the planarization layer 30, and the pixel definition layer 32 is formed on the pixel definition layer 32. After the openings are formed, the organic light emitting film 33 of the organic light emitting element OLED is formed.

The organic light emitting diode (OLED) emits red, green, and blue light according to the flow of current to display predetermined image information, and is connected to any one of the source / drain electrodes 27a and 27b of the TFT. It consists of the pixel electrode 31, the counter electrode 34 provided so that the whole pixel may be covered, and the organic light emitting film 33 arrange | positioned between these pixel electrode 31 and the counter electrode 34, and emitting light.

The pixel electrode 31 and the counter electrode 34 are insulated from each other by the organic light emitting layer 33, and light is emitted from the organic light emitting layer 33 by applying voltages having different polarities to the organic light emitting layer 33. To be done.

The organic light emitting film 33 may be a low molecular or polymer organic film. When the low molecular organic film is used, a hole injection layer (HIL), a hole transport layer (HTL), and an emission layer (EML) are emitted. ), An electron transport layer (ETL), an electron injection layer (EIL), or the like, may be formed by stacking a single or a complex structure, and the usable organic material may be copper phthalocyanine (CuPc). , N, N-di (naphthalen-1-yl) -N, N'-diphenyl-benzidine (N, N'-Di (naphthalene-1-yl) -N, N'-diphenyl-benzidine: NPB), Various applications are possible, including tris-8-hydroxyquinoline aluminum (Alq3). These low molecular weight organic films are formed by the vacuum deposition method.

In the case of the polymer organic film, the structure may include a hole transporting layer (HTL) and a light emitting layer (EML). In this case, PEDOT is used as the hole transporting layer, and polyvinylvinylene (PPV) and polyfluorene are used as the light emitting layer. Polymer organic materials such as (Polyfluorene) are used and can be formed by screen printing or inkjet printing.

The organic layer as described above is not necessarily limited thereto, and various embodiments may be applied. In FIG. 4, the organic light emitting layer 33 is illustrated to be formed to be limited to a specific region. However, the organic light emitting layer 33 is formed to show a patterned state of the light emitting layer, and includes a hole injection layer HIL, a hole transport layer HTL, and an electron transport layer ( Layers independent of the color of the pixel, such as the ETL and the electron injection layer EIL, may be formed to cover the entire pixel as a common layer.

The pixel electrode 31 functions as an anode electrode, and the counter electrode 34 functions as a cathode electrode. Of course, the polarities of these pixel electrodes 31 and the counter electrode 34 may be reversed. It's okay.

In the present invention, the pixel electrode 31 may also be patterned by the aforementioned patterning method using the self-assembled monolayer.

The present invention is not necessarily limited to the above structure, and the structure of various organic light emitting display devices may be applied as it is.

In the case of the liquid crystal display device, a lower alignment film (not shown) covering the pixel electrode is formed to complete the manufacture of the lower substrate of the liquid crystal display device.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to simply pattern the conductor using the hydrophobic self-assembled monolayer, thereby forming a fine pattern.

In addition, when the active layer of the organic semiconductor material is formed on the self-assembled monolayer, it is possible to improve the adhesion to the lower portion of the organic semiconductor material, and may help the ohmic contact with the source / drain electrodes.

Although described above with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and changed within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below I can understand that you can.

Claims (20)

A self-assembly molecular layer provided on the base and having an opening of a predetermined pattern; And And a conductor provided on the base exposed through the opening. The method of claim 1, And said self-assembled monolayer has hydrophobicity. The method of claim 1, And the conductor comprises a polymeric material. The method of claim 1, And the conductor is formed by an inkjet printing method. A gate electrode; A source electrode and a drain electrode insulated from the gate electrode; An active layer insulated from the gate electrode and electrically connected to the source electrode and the drain electrode; And A self-assembly molecular layer having an opening of a predetermined pattern; At least one of the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode is disposed on a portion exposed through the opening of the self-assembled monolayer. The method of claim 5, The self-assembled monolayer is a thin film transistor, characterized in that having a hydrophobic. The method of claim 5, And at least one of the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode comprises a polymer material. The method of claim 5, At least one of the gate electrode, the source electrode, and the drain electrode is formed by an inkjet printing method. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, The base is a substrate, And the source and drain electrodes or gate electrodes are formed on the substrate. The method of claim 9, The substrate is a thin film transistor, characterized in that the flexible member. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, The gate electrode is formed on a substrate, A gate insulating film is further provided to cover the gate electrode. The insulating member is the gate insulating film, And the source and drain electrodes are formed on the gate insulating film. The method of claim 11, The substrate is a thin film transistor, characterized in that the flexible member. The method according to any one of claims 5 to 8, The active layer is pentacene, tetracene, tetratracene, anthracene, naphthalene, alpha-6-thiophene, alpha-4-thiophene, perylene and its derivatives, ru Rubrene and its derivatives, coronene and its derivatives, perylene tetracarboxylic diimide and its derivatives, perylene tetracarboxylic dianhydride and its derivatives Derivatives, oligoacenes and derivatives thereof of naphthalene, oligothiophenes and derivatives thereof of alpha-5-thiophene, phthalocyanine and derivatives thereof with or without metal, naphthalenetetracarboxylic diimides ( naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimide and derivatives thereof, naphthalene tetracarboxylic dianhydride and derivatives thereof, pyromellitic dianhydride and its derivatives A thin film transistor which is characterized in that it comprises at least one of a polymer and a derivative thereof, including conductive, conjugated polymer, and derivatives thereof, including ticks mellitic diimide and derivatives thereof, thiophene-Pyro, and fluorene. Light emitting element; A self-assembly molecular layer provided on the base and having an opening of a predetermined pattern; And And a conductor provided on the base exposed through the opening and electrically connected to the light emitting device. The method of claim 14, And said self-assembled monolayer is hydrophobic. The method of claim 14, And the conductor comprises a polymer material. The method of claim 14, And the conductor is formed by an inkjet printing method. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, And the conductor is a pixel electrode of the light emitting element. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, And the conductor is one of power wires for supplying power to the light emitting element and signal wires for supplying a predetermined signal to the light emitting element. The method according to any one of claims 14 to 17, A flat panel display further comprising a flexible substrate.

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