KR101372641B1 - Method for manufacturing oled using laser burning - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting device (OLED), and more particularly, in the organic light emitting device manufacturing process, using the property that the organic material layer can be re-evaporated by a laser to the organic material layer deposited as needed The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting device while re-evaporating.
That is, the present invention, unlike the conventional two types of masks for the organic layer and the metal electrode mask used in each layer deposition step, forming both the organic layer and the metal electrode with only one mask for the metal electrode having a larger opening, However, the organic material layer, which should have a smaller area than the metal electrode, is provided with a process of removing by evaporation and then re-evaporation using the laser.

Description

Manufacturing method of organic light emitting device using laser burning {METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING OLED USING LASER BURNING}

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting device (OLED), and more particularly, in the organic light emitting device manufacturing process, the organic material deposited as needed using the property that the organic material layer can be re-evaporated by a laser The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting device by evaporating a layer.

In the organic light emitting device manufacturing process, after depositing the organic layer, the metal electrode layer is deposited. It is common to form a larger area of the metal electrode layer than the area of the organic material layer. Accordingly, two kinds of masks required for the deposition process are used for the organic material mask and the metal electrode mask having a larger opening. . The process of aligning and attaching the mask is a very demanding technique that requires precision, and the process of replacing the mask makes the entire production process difficult, and time-consuming and detrimental to productivity. In other words, it requires an apparatus for returning the used mask to the initial mask input position, the mask is a consumable part included in the production cost, and in order to use the mask repeatedly after 20 to 300 times the deposition process of organic materials and metal materials The cleaning process should be performed. Therefore, if there is a way to reduce the cost and effort of the mask, it is very advantageous in terms of productivity and cost reduction.

On the other hand, in order to prevent dark spots due to deterioration of the device due to the heat generation of the cathode in the OLED fabrication process, a cathode auxiliary electrode is formed on the insulating film on the anode to form an organic material layer on the surface except the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode, The cathode is formed on the organic material layer so that the cathode contacts the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode, thereby reducing the heat resistance of the cathode.

In the above process, in order not to deposit the organic material layer on the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode, a special shape mask is manufactured and used separately, or an organic material layer is deposited by covering a separate mask on the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode. . This process also raises the mask manufacturing cost, which further exacerbates the above problems.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a new OLED manufacturing process that can reduce the number of masks used in the OLED manufacturing process by more than half.

Accordingly, the present invention, unlike the conventional two types of masks for the organic layer and the metal electrode mask for each layer deposition step, forming both the organic layer and the metal electrode with only one mask for the metal electrode having a larger opening, However, the organic material layer, which should have a smaller area than the metal electrode, is provided with a process of removing by evaporation and then re-evaporation (same as burning) using a laser.

In addition, in order to avoid depositing an organic material layer on the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode, a special shape mask was manufactured and used separately, and the organic material layer was deposited using only the metal electrode mask. When the deposited organic material layer is removed by re-evaporation using a laser, and then depositing a metal electrode, the metal material is deposited on the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode through a hole drilled by the laser to be connected to the cathode. do.

According to the present invention, the number of masks used in the OLED fabrication process can be reduced by more than half, and the process speed is greatly improved by not performing a mask replacement process or the like.

1 is a cross-sectional view and a process perspective view of an OLED during fabrication showing an overview of the use of a single mask and laser burning of the present invention.
2 is a cross-sectional view showing two types of masks and substrates used in the conventional OLED fabrication process.
3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the deposition of an organic material layer with a metal electrode mask.
4 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the removal of a portion of the organic layer formed in FIG. 3 by laser burning.
5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a shape of an organic material layer formed according to the result of FIG. 4.
6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the formation of a metal electrode layer in the state of FIG. 5.
7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating that an organic material layer is deposited up to a cathode auxiliary electrode contact portion.
8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the burning of a cathode auxiliary electrode contact portion with a laser.
9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the through hole formed as a result of FIG. 8.
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view illustrating that a cathode is connected to a cathode auxiliary electrode contact portion through the through hole by forming a metal electrode layer. FIG.

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

1, an overview of a technique of depositing an organic material layer and a metal electrode layer using a single mask 200 of the present invention, and removing the removed part 500 by laser burning, which is to be removed after the organic material layer 300 is formed, is shown. A cross-sectional view and a process perspective view showing that this laser burning process can be performed in an upward or downward direction are shown.

If the organic material layer 300 is deposited after arranging the mask 200 for the metal electrode on the substrate 100, an area larger than the area of the actual organic material layer 300 is deposited. This is because the mask 200 is not the organic mask 250 of FIG. 2 but the mask 200 for the metal electrode. As shown in FIG. 2, the opening area of the organic material mask 250 is narrower than that of the metal electrode mask 250. Therefore, when the organic material layer 300 is deposited by attaching the mask 250 for the metal electrode, as shown in FIG. 3. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the surplus area with respect to the area of the organic layer 300 is used as the removal unit 500, and the laser irradiation device 400 is irradiated to the removal unit 500. By the output of the laser, the organic layer of the removal unit 500 is evaporated and disappears again (see FIG. 5). Such a laser burning process may be performed by irradiating a laser from below the substrate 100, or may be performed by irradiating from above. After removing the removal unit 500, the metal electrode layer 600 is deposited as it is while the same mask 200 is attached, as shown in FIG. 6, and when the mask 200 is detached in this state, as originally intended. OLED devices are made.

Since the organic material layer 300 and the metal electrode layer 600 can be deposited by attaching only one mask as described above, the number of masks used can be reduced in half, and there is no mask replacement process, which is quick and convenient.

The mask that can be used in the above is not limited to a metal frame mask, a stick-type mask, a band-type mask, a film-type mask, a wire mask, etc. For this, reference may be made to the applicant's patent application No. 10-2011-0027956.

The laser irradiation apparatus 400 to be used may be arranged in plural in consideration of productivity or a frame in which plural laser sources are arranged in accordance with the removal unit region. Alternatively, instead of having a large number of expensive laser sources for cost reduction, use a minimum laser source, and use a split laser beam by mounting a beam splitter and a distribution optical fiber line at the output of the laser source. Therefore, it is possible to remove a plurality of removal lines at the same time to secure productivity and reduce manufacturing costs, and to use a structure that allows flexible device configuration.

Next, a method of simplifying a mask by applying laser burning to the electrical connection of the cathode auxiliary electrode 700 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10.

First, the organic material layer 300 is deposited on the substrate 100 on which the cathode auxiliary electrode 700 is formed. In this case, as described above, the mask for the metal electrode is used and the mask for blocking the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode 700 is not used. Accordingly, all of the contact portions of the cathode auxiliary electrode 700 are covered with the organic material layer 300 (see FIG. 7).

Next, the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode 700 covered with the organic material layer 300 is burned using a laser to evaporate the organic material layer 300 therein to form a through hole 800 (see FIGS. 8 and 9).

Next, when the metal electrode layer 600 is deposited in this state, a metal material is filled in the through hole 800 by deposition, and the gold electrode layer 600, that is, a cathode is formed, and the cathode is formed of the cathode auxiliary electrode and the contact portion. It can be electrically connected at the position of the through hole to lower the resistance.

In this way, the cathode can be easily connected to the cathode auxiliary electrode by using laser burning without the necessity of making a complicated mask that does not stack the organic layer on the contact portion, and by using a separate mask that covers the contact portion. have.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment, but is capable of many modifications and variations within the scope of the appended claims. It is self-evident.

100: substrate
200: mask
300: organic layer
400: laser irradiation device
500: remover
600: metal electrode layer
700: auxiliary electrode for cathode
800: through

Claims (4)

In forming an organic material layer of the organic light emitting device using a mask and forming a metal electrode having a larger area than the organic material layer on the formed organic material layer,
Attaching a mask having an opening suitable for the area of the metal electrode to be formed on the substrate;
After the first step, depositing an organic material layer in a state where the mask is attached to deposit a larger area than the area of the organic material layer to be originally formed;
A third step of irradiating and irradiating a laser with a laser irradiation apparatus on a surplus organic material layer area with respect to the area of the organic material layer to be originally formed after the second step; And
And a fourth step of depositing a metal electrode layer after the third step. The method of claim 1, wherein the mask comprises a frame mask, a stick mask, a band mask, a film mask, and a wire mask. Depositing an organic layer on the substrate on which the cathode auxiliary electrode is formed without masking a contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode;
After the first step, a second step of forming a through-hole by irradiating a laser with a laser irradiation apparatus to remove the organic material layer deposited on the contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode of the organic layer by evaporation; And
And a third step of depositing a metal electrode on the organic material layer after the second step, thereby depositing a metal electrode material on a contact portion of the cathode auxiliary electrode through a hole drilled by a laser so as to be connected to the cathode.
The laser irradiation apparatus includes a plurality of laser generating sources, a plurality of laser generating sources are installed at a position to be irradiated, or is configured to include one or more laser generating sources and a plurality of optical distributors or optical fiber lines for distribution. A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting device. The laser irradiation apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the laser irradiation apparatus includes a plurality of laser sources, a plurality of laser sources are installed at a position to be irradiated, or one or more laser sources and a plurality of light distributors or distributions. The method of manufacturing an organic light emitting device, characterized in that configured to have an optical fiber line for.

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