KR102095174B1 - High resolution organic light-emitting diode devices - Google Patents

Abstract

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display can be provided. A plurality of electrodes can be provided on the substrate. The first hole conductive layer may be deposited on the plurality of electrodes on the substrate through inkjet printing. The liquid affinity of the selected surface portion of the first hole conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region. Each light emitting layer confinement region may have portions corresponding to each of a plurality of electrodes provided on the substrate. The organic light emitting layer may be deposited in each light emitting layer confinement area through inkjet printing.

Description

High resolution organic light emitting diode device {HIGH RESOLUTION ORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE DEVICES}

Cross reference to related applications

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 753,692 filed on January 17, 2013, and is a partial continuing application of U.S. Patent Application No. 14 / 030,776 filed on September 18, 2013 . In addition, this application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 753,713 filed on January 17, 2013, and each application referred to above is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical field

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to electronic displays and methods for manufacturing electronic displays. More specifically, aspects of the present disclosure relate to depositing and confining active organic light emitting diode (OLED) display materials on a substrate to fabricate an OLED display.

Section headings used herein are for structural purposes only and should not be construed to limit the described subject matter in any way.

Electronic displays exist in many different types of electronic equipment, such as television screens, computer monitors, cell phones, smart phones, tablets, portable game consoles, and the like. One type of electronic display relies on organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology. OLED technology uses an organic light emitting layer sandwiched between two electrodes disposed on a substrate. A voltage can be applied across the electrode to cause the charge carriers to be excited and injected into the organic light emitting layer. Luminescence can occur through photoelectron radiation as the charge carriers relax back to a normal energy state. OLED technology can provide a relatively high contrast ratio to the display because each pixel is individually addressed, producing luminescence only within the addressed pixel. In addition, the OLED display can provide a wide viewing angle due to the divergence characteristics of the pixels. The power efficiency of an OLED display can be further improved than other display technologies, because when the OLED pixel is directly driven, only the OLED pixel consumes power. In addition, the resulting panels can be much thinner than other display technologies because of the light-producing design and thin device structure of the technology that eliminates the need for a light source within the display itself. In addition, the OLED display can be made flexible and bendable because of the adaptive design of the active OLED layer.

Inkjet printing is a technology that can be used in OLED manufacturing and can reduce manufacturing costs. Inkjet printing uses droplets of ink containing OLED layer materials and one or more carrier liquids from the nozzle at high speed, such as hole injection layer, hole transport layer, electron blocking layer, organic light emitting layer, electron transport layer , One or more active OLED layers including an electron injection layer, and / or a hole blocking layer.

Confinement structures, such as banks, are typically provided on a substrate to form a confinement well where each confinement well can be associated with one or more sub-pixels, such as sub-pixels of different emission colors or wavelengths. do. The confinement well can prevent the deposited active OLED material (s) from spreading between adjacent sub-pixels. Inkjet printing methods can require substantial accuracy. In particular, as the pixel density increases and / or the display size decreases, the confinement area of the confinement well is reduced, and a small error in the droplet location can cause the droplet to be deposited outside the intended well. In addition, the droplet volume may be too large for a confinement well, and undesirably the droplet may overflow into adjacent sub-pixels.

In addition, due to film drying imperfection, non-uniformities can be formed in the active OLED layer at the edge contacting the confinement structure. Film drying defects can be caused by manufacturing processes and / or materials used in confinement structures. As the confinement wells decrease, the non-uniformity of the layer can erode onto the active light-emitting area of the pixel, which creates undesirable visible artifacts in light emission from the pixels caused by the non-uniformity. In addition, the resulting relative reduction in layer uniformity associated with the active light emitting area of the pixel can negatively affect the efficiency of the display, since the electrode must be driven stronger to achieve relative brightness. When the material used for the confinement structure affects film drying defects, active OLED materials may need to be made new.

In addition, a decrease in the ratio of the active area to the entire area (where the entire area is reduced by the confinement structure and the non-uniform active light emitting area, may reduce the life of the display including both the inactive and active areas of each pixel). Because, each electrode must be driven using more current to achieve equivalent display brightness, and using more current to drive each electrode is known to reduce pixel life. The ratio of the active region to is referred to as the “fill factor”.

Although traditional inkjet methods solve some of the challenges associated with OLED display manufacturing, there remains a need for improvement. For example, there continues to be a need to improve droplet deposition accuracy in the manufacture of OLEDs, especially OLED displays with high resolution (ie, high pixel density). In addition, there is a need to reduce undesirable visible artifacts created by the deposition of organic light emitting layers in high resolution displays. There is also a need to improve device life by increasing the fill factor of each pixel. In addition, OLED displays are used and manufactured in high-resolution display applications, including, but not limited to, for example, but not limited to, high-resolution mobile phones and tablet computers, and in achieving acceptable resolutions, power efficiency, display life and manufacturing costs. Therefore, there is a need for improvement.

The present disclosure may solve one or more of the above-mentioned problems and / or one or more of the above-mentioned preferred features. Other features and / or advantages may become apparent from the description below.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display is provided. A plurality of electrodes can be provided on the substrate. The first hole conductive layer may be deposited on the plurality of electrodes on the substrate through inkjet printing. The liquid affinity of the selected surface portion of the first hole conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region. Each light emitting layer confinement region may have portions corresponding to each of a plurality of electrodes provided on the substrate. The organic light emitting layer may be deposited in each light emitting layer confinement area through inkjet printing.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an organic light emitting display can be provided. A plurality of electrodes can be deposited on the substrate. The plurality of electrodes may be arranged in an array configuration. The confinement structure can be disposed on the substrate. The confinement structure may wrap a plurality of electrodes. The first hole conductive layer can be disposed over a plurality of electrodes in the confinement structure. The liquid affinity of the surface portion of the first hole conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region in the first hole conductive layer. The organic light emitting layer may be disposed within each light emitting layer confinement area.

In another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an organic light emitting display is provided, and may be manufactured by a process. A substrate including a plurality of electrodes disposed on the substrate can be provided. The at least one hole conductive layer can be deposited over a plurality of electrodes on the substrate through inkjet printing. The liquid affinity of the selected portion of the at least one hole conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region on the surface of the at least one hole conductive layer. The organic light emitting layer may be deposited in each light emitting layer confinement region formed in at least one hole conductive layer through inkjet printing.

Additional objects and advantages will be presented in part in the description below, in part will become apparent from the description, and can also be learned by the use of current disclosure. At least some of the objects and advantages of this disclosure may be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

It should be understood that both the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and not limiting in the claims. It should be understood that in the broadest sense, various embodiments of the invention may be practiced without one or more of the features of these exemplary aspects and embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, describe and describe certain principles to represent some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. In the drawing,
1 is a partial plan view of a conventional pixel arrangement,
2 is a partial plan view of an exemplary pixel arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure,
3A is a cross-sectional view of a confinement well along 3A-3A in FIG. 1 of an exemplary embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure;
3B is a cross-sectional view of a confinement well along 3B-3B in FIG. 1 of an exemplary embodiment according to the present disclosure.
4 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 3A of another exemplary embodiment of a confinement well according to the present disclosure;
5A is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 3A of another exemplary embodiment of a confinement well according to the present disclosure;
5B is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 3B of another exemplary embodiment of a confinement well according to the present disclosure;
6 is a cross-sectional view of another exemplary embodiment of a confinement well according to the present disclosure,
7 is a cross-sectional view of another exemplary embodiment of a confinement well according to the present disclosure,
8-11 are cross-sectional views of another exemplary embodiment of a confinement well according to the present disclosure and exemplary steps for generating an OLED display,
12-19 are partial plan views of various exemplary pixel arrangements in accordance with the present disclosure,
20 is a front view of an exemplary apparatus including an electronic display according to the present disclosure,
21 is a front view of another exemplary device including an electronic display according to the present disclosure,
22 is a top view of an exemplary embodiment of an OLED display according to the present disclosure,
23 is a cross-sectional view of an OLED along lines 23-23 in FIG. 22 of an exemplary embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure,
24-29 are cross-sectional views of another exemplary embodiment of an OLED display, describing exemplary steps for generating an OLED display according to the present disclosure,
30 is a cross-sectional view of the enlarged portion M shown in FIG. 29,
31 is a plan view of an enlarged portion M shown in FIG. 29,
32 is another plan view of an enlarged portion of another exemplary embodiment of an OLED display according to the present disclosure,
FIG. 33 is an alternative exemplary embodiment of a cross-sectional view of the enlarged portion M shown in FIG. 29,
34-36 are cross-sectional views of another exemplary embodiment of an OLED display, describing exemplary steps for generating an OLED display according to the present disclosure,
37 is an alternate exemplary embodiment of a cross-sectional view of an enlarged portion M described in FIG. 29 according to the present disclosure,
38 and 39 are cross-sectional views of another exemplary embodiment of an OLED display, describing exemplary steps for creating an OLED display according to the present disclosure,
40 is a cross-sectional view of an enlarged portion described in FIG. 39 of another exemplary embodiment of an OLED display according to the present disclosure, and
41 is a partial plan view of an exemplary pixel arrangement in accordance with the present disclosure.

Reference is made to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. Where possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or unique parts.

For the detailed description and claims, unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities, percentages, or ratios, and other numerical values used in the detailed description and claims, in all instances, unless already changed, " It will be understood as being modified by the expression "about." Thus, unless indicated otherwise, the numerical parameters provided in the following detailed description and claims are approximations that may vary depending on the attributes to be obtained. It is not an attempt to limit the application of uniformity to the claims, and each numerical parameter should be interpreted by conventional rounding techniques in relation to the reported significant number.

As used herein, the use of the singular (“a”, “an”, and “the”) includes a plurality of objects unless explicitly and explicitly limited to a single object. As used herein, the term "comprises" and grammatical variations thereof are non-limiting, so that references to items in one list are not exclusions of other similar items that may be added or substituted for listed items. Intention.

Also, the terms in this description are not intended to limit the invention. For example, spatial relationship terms-for example, "below", "below", "bottom", "top", "bottom", "above", "top", "horizontal", "vertical", etc. are shown in the drawing. It can be used to describe the relationship of one element or feature to another element or feature. These spatial relationship terms are intended to include different positions (ie, places) and orientations (ie, rotational arrangements) of the device being used or in operation in addition to the positions and orientations shown in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” other elements or features would be “above” the elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can include both the top and bottom positions and orientations depending on the overall orientation of the device. The device may be oriented differently (rotate 90 degrees or other orientation) and the spatial relationship descriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly.

As used herein, “pixel” refers to the functionally complete and repeatable minimum unit of the light emitting pixel array. The term “sub-pixel” is intended to mean a portion of one pixel that constitutes the discrete light emitting portion of the pixel, but not necessarily all of the light emitting portion. For example, in a full color display, a pixel can include three main color sub-pixels, such as red, green, and blue. In a monochrome display, the terms sub-pixel and pixel can be used interchangeably and interchangeably.

The term “coupled” when used in reference to an electronic component, refers to two or more electronic components, circuits, systems, or (1) in a manner that allows signals (eg, current, voltage, or optical signals) to be transmitted between each other. ) Has the intention to mean connection, linking, or association of at least one electronic component, (2) at least one circuit, or (3) any combination of at least one system. . Connections, linkings, or associations of two or more electronic components, circuits, or systems may be direct, alternatively intermediate connections, linkings, or associations may exist and thus the connection does not necessarily require a physical connection.

Those skilled in the art will understand that the term "high resolution" generally means a resolution in which the number of pixels per inch (ppi) exceeds 100, and sometimes 300 ppi may be referred to as ultra-high resolution. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that pixel density is not directly related to the size of the display. Various exemplary embodiments disclosed herein can be used to obtain high resolution in small display sizes and large display sizes. For example, a display having a size of about 3 inches to about 11 inches can be implemented as a high resolution display. In addition, displays having larger sizes, such as 55 "or larger television displays, can also be used in conjunction with various exemplary embodiments described herein to obtain high resolution displays.

As used herein, a layer or structure present on a surface “on” is when the layer is in close and indirect contact with the surface on which they are formed, and an intermediate layer or structure is present between the layer or structure and the surface on which they are formed. All cases are included.

The term "reactive surface-active material" means a material that can be used to modify at least one property of a layer of an OLED display when applied to the surface of the layer during manufacture of the display. For example, when a reaction surface-active material is exposed to radiation, for example, at least one physical, chemical and / or electrical property of a layer associated with the reaction surface-active material can be changed. In an exemplary embodiment, the terms “liquid-affinity region” and “liquid-repelling region” refer to the reaction surface-before and / or after the active material has been processed. -Can be used to refer to the resulting relative surface energy produced on the surface of the layer associated with the active material. For example, "liquid-affinity region" can be used to refer to a portion of the surface of a layer with a surface energy that tends to be attracted to the liquid, such that when the liquid is a water-based fluid, the liquid-affinity region portion is, for example, relatively It can be hydrophilic. “Liquid-reject region” can be used to refer to a portion of the surface of a layer with a surface energy that tends to reject the liquid, so that when the liquid is a water-based fluid, the liquid-reject portion can be relatively hydrophobic, for example. . However, the liquid-rejection portion is not completely hydrophobic to the fluid. In other words, the liquid-rejection region does not have a surface energy that completely rejects the fluid, but instead, when the liquid-rejection portion is adjacent to the liquid-affinity region, the liquid migrates from the liquid-rejection region, thereby being liquid-friendly You will tend to be drawn into the realm.

Various factors can affect the deposition precision of the organic light emitting layer in OLED display fabrication techniques, and these factors include, for example, OLED layer materials (e.g., active OLED materials) inks comprising OLED layer materials and one or more carrier fluids. Associated display resolution, droplet size, target droplet area, droplet position error, fluid properties (eg, surface tension, viscosity, boiling point), and rate at which droplets are deposited. When the display resolution increases, for example, to more than 100 ppi or to more than 300 ppi, for example, various problems arise in using inkjet printing techniques for OLED display fabrication. High precision inkjet heads used in conventional printing techniques can produce droplet sizes from about 1 picoliter (pL) to about 50 picoliter (pL), where about 10 pL is relatively high for high precision inkjet printing applications. It is a common size. The drop position accuracy of a conventional inkjet printing system is about ± 10 μm. In various exemplary embodiments, a confinement well may be provided on the substrate to compensate for drop position errors. The confinement well can be a structure that prevents the OLED material from moving out of the desired sub-pixel region. To ensure that the droplets land exactly in the desired location on the substrate, such as in a confinement well, various exemplary embodiments configure the confinement wells to be wider than the drop diameter plus twice the system's drop position error. For example, the diameter of a 10 pL droplet is about 25 μm and thus the aforementioned parameters will indicate the use of a confinement well of at least 45 μm (25 μm + (2 * 10 μm)) as its minimum dimension. Even for 1 pL droplets, the droplet diameter is 12 μm, which indicates a confinement well with at least 32 μm in minimum dimensions.

Various pixel layouts that rely on confinement wells with a minimum dimension of at least 45 μm can be used in OLED displays with resolutions up to 100 ppi. However, in high resolution displays above 100 ppi, 10 pL droplets are too large and the drop position accuracy is too poor to reliably provide consistent loading of droplets into the confinement wells, for example, around each sub-pixel. In addition, as mentioned above, for high resolution displays, constraining the increased size of the display area and covering with structures used to form wells can negatively affect the fill factor of each pixel, where the fill factor Is defined as the ratio of the light emitting area of the pixel to the total pixel area. When the fill factor decreases, each pixel must be driven more strongly to obtain the same overall display brightness, thereby reducing the life and performance of each pixel of the display.

To further illustrate some of the aforementioned problems when working with ultra high resolution displays, FIG. 1 shows one conventional pixel layout 1700. The pixel 1750 may include sub-pixels 1720, 1730, and 1740 arranged in a side-by-side form, and the sub-pixel 1720 emits light in a red spectrum range. And sub-pixel 1730 is related to light emission in the green spectral range, and sub-pixel 1740 is related to light emission in the blue spectral range. Each sub-pixel may be surrounded by a confinement structure 1704 that forms a confinement well that directly corresponds to the sub-pixels 1720, 1730, 1740. One sub-pixel electrode is such that electrode 1726 corresponds to sub-pixel 1720, electrode 1736 corresponds to sub-pixel 1730, and electrode 1746 corresponds to sub-pixel 1740 Can be associated with each confinement well. The sub-pixel 1720 may have a width D, the sub-pixel 1730 may have a width C, and the sub-pixel 1740 may have a width B, and these widths may be the same or different from each other. You can. As shown, all sub-pixels can have a length A. In addition, dimensions E, F, and G can indicate the space between the confinement well openings. The values assigned to dimensions E, F and G can be very large, in some cases, especially in lower resolution displays, for example greater than 100 μm. However, for higher resolution displays, it is desirable to minimize these dimensions to maximize the active pixel area and maximize the fill factor. As shown in FIG. 1, the active pixel areas indicated by hatched areas are the entire areas within each sub-pixel confinement well.

Various factors can affect dimensions E, F, and G, for example, the minimum values for these dimensions can be limited by processing methods. For example, in various exemplary embodiments described herein, E = F = G = 12 μm as the minimum dimension. For example, in a display with 326 ppi resolution, the pixel pitch may be equal to 78 μm and E = F = G = 12 μm. The confinement wells associated with each of the sub-pixels 1720, 1730, 1740 can have a target reversal area of 14 μm × 66 μm (ie, dimensions B × A, C × A, and D × A), where 14 μm is It is the minimum dimension of less than 45 μm mentioned above in connection with using inkjet droplets having a volume of 10 pL. It is also a dimension of less than 32 μm as mentioned earlier for 1 pL drops. In addition, the fill factor of the pixel defined as the ratio of the active pixel area to the entire pixel area (ie, the area associated with light emission) is 46%. In other words, 54% of the pixel area corresponds to the confinement structure 1704. Along the same line, in a display with 440 ppi resolution, the pixel pitch P may be equal to 58 μm and E = F = G = 12 μm. The confinement wells associated with each of the luminescent sub-pixels 1720, 1730, 1740 can have a target droplet area of 7 μm × 46 μm, where a dimension of 7 μm is ahead for accurate drop position of both 10 pL and 1 pL inkjet drops. It is considerably smaller than the minimum dimension mentioned. In this case, the fill factor for a display having 440 ppi is about 30%.

Deposition techniques in accordance with various exemplary embodiments described herein can provide improved reliability in loading of confinement wells and deposition of active OLED layers for electronic displays, such as high resolution displays. The active OLED layer, for example, may include one or more of the following layers: a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron blocking layer, an organic emission layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, and a hole blocking layer. The implementation of some of the active OLED layers identified above for electronic displays is preferred and the implementation of some active OLED layers is optional. For example, at least one hole conducting layer, such as a hole injection layer or hole transport layer, as well as an organic light emitting layer should be present. All other previously identified layers can be included as needed to alter (eg, improve) the luminescence and power efficiency of electronic displays, such as OLED displays.

Various exemplary embodiments of the confinement wells described herein can increase the size of the confinement wells while maintaining high pixel resolution. For example, various exemplary embodiments span a plurality of sub-pixels, enabling the use of relatively achievable droplet sizes and conventional printing system accuracy in the deposition of active OLED layers, while obtaining relatively high pixel densities. Use a relatively large confinement well. Thus, rather than requiring a specially constructed or reconfigured printing head and a new printing system with smaller droplet volumes that may or may not be available, inkjet nozzles that deposit droplets in volumes of 1 pL to 50 pL may be used. have. In addition, by using these larger confinement wells, small fabrication errors will not have a substantial negative effect on deposition precision and the deposited active OLED layer can remain immersed in the confinement wells.

According to various exemplary embodiments, inkjet printing techniques can provide sufficiently uniform deposition of active OLED layers. For example, various components commonly used in OLED displays lead to topography of varying heights on top surfaces of confinement wells, for example, heights that differ by more than about 100 nanometers (nm). For example, a component, such as an electrode, can be deposited on a substrate to form a gap between neighboring electrodes, thereby forming individually addressable electrodes, each associated with a different sub-pixel. Regardless of which active OLED layer is deposited on the electrode disposed on the substrate of the display, the height difference between the plane of the top surface of the electrode and the top surface of the substrate of the display in the region between neighboring electrodes is subsequently deposited Can contribute to the topography of the layer. For example, on the active electrode region, the active OLED layer can be deposited by an exemplary inkjet printing technique and final display according to the present invention, so that the thickness of the active OLED layer is sufficiently uniform, wherein the active electrode region emits light. It may be the region of the electrode associated with the active sub-pixel region. In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the OLED layer at least over the active electrode region may be less than the thickness of the sub-pixel electrode. A sufficiently uniform thickness of the OLED layer over the active electrode area can reduce undesirable visual artifacts. For example, even when the region includes both electrode and non-electrode regions, an OLED ink formulation and printing process can be implemented to minimize non-uniformity of the deposited film thickness in a particular deposition region. In other words, a portion of the deposition region not covered by the electrode structure may contribute to the OLED layer topography so that the OLED layer in the deposition region can conform sufficiently to the underlying structure. By minimizing the non-uniformity of the deposited film thickness, substantially uniform light emission can be provided when a particular sub-pixel electrode is addressed and activated.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the pixel layout shape contemplated by the present invention can increase the active area area. For example, the confinement structure can form a confinement well with adjacent areas spanning a plurality of sub-pixels such that the non-active portion of the display (eg, the substrate area associated with the confinement structure) is reduced. For example, instead of a confinement structure surrounding each sub-pixel electrode, as in various OLED displays, a plurality of individually addressed sub-pixel electrodes can be surrounded by the confinement structure, where each sub-pixel electrode is mutually isolated. It can be associated with other pixels. By reducing the area occupied by the confinement structure, the fill factor can be maximized because the ratio of the non-active area to the active area of each pixel is increased. By acquiring this increase in fill factor, not only high resolution can be achieved in a smaller size display, but also the life of the display can be improved.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the present disclosure contemplates an organic light emitting display comprising a confinement structure disposed on a substrate, where the confinement structure forms a plurality of wells in an array configuration. The display further includes a plurality of electrodes disposed within each well and spaced apart from each other. The display may further include first, second, and third organic emission layers in at least one of the plurality of wells, and each layer has a first, second, and third emission wavelength range, respectively. The number of electrodes disposed in the well associated with the first and second organic light emitting layers is different from the number of electrodes disposed in the well associated with the third organic light emitting layer.

According to another exemplary embodiment, the present invention contemplates an organic light-emitting display comprising a confinement structure disposed on a substrate, wherein the confinement structure is a plurality of wells, eg, a first well, a second well, in the form of an array. , And a third well. The display includes a first plurality of electrodes disposed within a first well and associated with another pixel, a second plurality of electrodes disposed within a second well and associated with another pixel, and at least one third electrode disposed within a third well. In this case, the number of electrodes disposed in the first and second wells is different from the plurality of electrodes disposed in the third well. The display includes a first layer having a first emission wavelength range disposed within the first well, a second organic emission layer having a second emission wavelength range disposed within the second well, and a third emission wavelength range disposed within the third well. A third organic light emitting layer having a may be further included.

According to various other exemplary embodiments, a pixel layout form may be configured to extend the life of the device. For example, the sub-pixel electrode size can be based on the corresponding organic light emitting layer wavelength range. For example, a sub-pixel electrode associated with light emission in the blue wavelength range may be larger than a sub-pixel electrode associated with light emission in the red or green wavelength range. In general, an organic layer associated with blue light emission in an OLED device has a shortened lifespan compared to an organic layer associated with red or green light emission. In addition, a working OLED device to achieve a reduced brightness level increases the life of the device. Driving the blue sub-pixels (eg, by adjusting the current supplied when addressing the sub-pixels, in a manner familiar to those skilled in the art) to obtain relative brightness lower than the brightness of the red and green sub-pixels In addition to that, by increasing the light emission area of the blue sub-pixels compared to the red and green sub-pixels, the blue sub-pixels balance the life and balance of the sub-pixels of different colors, while still providing a proper overall color balance of the display. You can achieve better. This improved life balance can extend the life of the blue sub-pixel, thereby increasing the overall life of the display.

2 shows a partial top view of one exemplary pixel arrangement of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. 3A shows a cross-sectional view along sections 3A-3A shown in FIG. 2 of one exemplary embodiment of a substrate, showing various structures for forming an OLED display. 3B shows a cross-sectional view along section 3B-3B shown in FIG. 2 of one exemplary embodiment of a substrate showing various structures for forming an OLED display.

The OLED display 100 includes a plurality of pixels, for example, formed by dotted borders 150, 151, and 152 that emit light that can generate an image to be displayed to a user when selectively driven. It is common. In a full color display, the pixels 150, 151, 152 can include a plurality of sub-pixels of different colors. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, pixel 150 may include a red sub-pixel R, a green sub-pixel G, and a blue sub-pixel B. 2, the sub-pixels need not be the same size, but may be the same size in the exemplary embodiment. Pixels 150, 151 and 152 are defined by driving circuitry that causes light emission, so that no additional structures are necessarily required to form pixels. Alternatively, exemplary embodiments of the present invention contemplate various new arrangements of pixel forming structures that may be included in display 100 to delineate a plurality of pixels 150, 151, 152. Those skilled in the art are familiar with the material and arrangement of conventional pixel forming structures used to provide pixel-to-sub-pixel crisper illustrations.

3A and 3B in addition to FIG. 2, the OLED display 100 may include a substrate 102. Substrate 102 may be any rigid or flexible structure that may include one or more layers of one or more materials. Substrate 102 may include, for example, glass, polymer, metal, ceramic, or combinations thereof. Although not shown for brevity, the substrate 102 may include additional electronic components, circuits, or conductive members that will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, a thin film transistor (TFT) (not shown) can be formed on a substrate before any of the other structures are deposited (discussed in more detail below). For example, a TFT may include at least one of an active semiconductor layer, a dielectric layer, and a thin film of a metal contact, where a person skilled in the art will be familiar with the materials used in the manufacture of such TFTs. As mentioned below, any of the active OLED layers can be deposited to conform to any topography produced by TFTs or other structures formed on the substrate 102.

The confinement structure 104 can be disposed on the substrate 102 so that the confinement structure 104 forms a plurality of confinement wells. For example, the confinement structure 104 may be a bank structure. A plurality of sub-pixels can be associated with each confinement well, and all sub-pixels associated with the confinement well by organic light-emissive materials deposited within each confinement well can have the same luminescent color. For example, in the arrangement of FIG. 2, the confinement well 120 can receive a drop of OLED ink associated with a sub-pixel emitting red light denoted by R, and the confinement well 130 is denoted by G A drop of OLED ink associated with the sub-pixel emitting green light can be received, and the confinement well 140 can receive a drop of OLED ink associated with the sub-pixel emitting blue light denoted by B. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, as will be described further below, that confinement wells can accommodate a variety of other active OLED layers, non-limiting examples, such as additional organic light emitting materials and hole conducting layers.

Confinement structure 104 may form confinement wells 120, 130, 140 to confine material associated with a plurality of sub-pixels. Additionally, the confinement structure 104 prevents diffusion of OLED ink into adjacent wells and / or assists the loading and drying process (via appropriate geometry and surface chemistry) so that the deposited film is bounded by the confinement structure 104. It can be made continuous within the area to be built. For example, the edge of the deposited film may contact the confinement structure 104 surrounding the confinement wells 120, 130, 140. The confinement structure 104 may be a single structure or may include a plurality of individual structures forming the confinement structure 104.

The confinement structure 104 may be formed of a variety of materials, such as photoresist materials, such as photoimageable polymers or photosensitive silicon dielectrics. The confinement structure 104 is substantially inert to the corrosive action of the OLED ink after processing, has a low outgassing, has a shallow (eg <25 degrees) sidewall slope at the edge of the confinement well, and / or Or it may contain one or more organic components that may have phobicity to one or more of the OLED inks to be deposited in the confinement well, and may be selected based on the desired application. Non-limiting examples of suitable materials include PMMA (poly-methylmethacrylate), PMGI (poly-methylglutarimide), DNQ-Novolac (different phenol formaldehyde resins and chemical diazoneapitoquinones) (combination with diazonaphithoquinone), SU-8 resist (a widely used commercially available epoxy-based resist manufactured by MicroChem Corp.), fluorinated modification of conventional photoresists and / or the aforementioned materials listed herein. Any of these, and organo-silicone resists, each of which can be further combined with one another or with one or more additives to further tune the desired properties of the confinement structure 104.

Confinement structure 104 may form a confinement well having any shape, form, or arrangement. For example, the confinement wells 120, 130, 140 may have any shape, such as rectangular, square, circular, hexagonal. Confinement wells in a single display substrate can have the same shape and / or size or different shapes and / or sizes. Confinement wells associated with different luminous colors may have different or identical shapes and / or sizes. In addition, adjacent confinement wells can be associated with alternating luminescence colors or adjacent confinement wells can be associated with the same luminescence color. Additionally, confinement wells can be arranged in columns and / or rows, where the columns and / or rows can have a uniform or non-uniform alignment.

Confinement wells can be produced in a variety of manufacturing methods, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, spray coating, screen printing, vacuum thermal evaporation deposition, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition, etc., and Any additional patterning that can be formed using any, and not otherwise obtained during the deposition technique, is shadow masking, one or more photolithography steps (e.g., photoresist coating, exposure, development, and stripping). , Wet etching, dry etching, lift-off process, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, confinement wells 120, 130, 140 according to various exemplary embodiments are formed by confinement structures 104 so as to extend across a plurality of pixels 150, 151, 152. Can be. For example, pixel 150 includes red sub-pixel R, green sub-pixel G, and blue sub-pixel B, each part of different confinement wells 120, 130, 140. Each confinement well 120, 130, 140 can include a plurality of electrodes (e.g., 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144), where adjacent electrodes within the confinement well The electrodes in the confinement wells 120, 130, 140 are spaced apart from each other to form a gap S between them. In an exemplary embodiment, gap S may have a size sufficient to electrically isolate one electrode from any adjacent electrode, specifically, active electrode regions of adjacent electrodes may be isolated from each other. The gap or space S can reduce current leakage and improve sub-pixel formation and overall pixel formation.

Although omitted for clarity and convenience of description, a driving circuit may be disposed on the substrate 102, which circuit may be below an active pixel region (i.e., a light emitting region) or a non-active pixel region (i.e., a non-light emitting region) ). Additionally, although not shown, the circuit can also be disposed under the containment structure 104. The drive circuit can be connected to each electrode, and each electrode can be selectively addressed independently of the other electrode in the confinement well. The region of non-uniform topography caused by the gap S between the electrodes is described in more detail below.

Each electrode 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144 in the confinement wells 120, 130, 140 may be associated with a different sub-pixel. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the confinement well 120 may be associated with red light emission. Electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109 can be disposed within confinement wells 120, each electrode being operable to address sub-pixels of different pixels (eg, pixels 151 and 152 shown). Do. At least two electrodes can be located in each confinement well 120, 130, 140. The number of electrodes disposed in each confinement well (120, 130, 140) may be the same or different from that of other confinement wells. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, confinement well 140 may include two sub-pixel electrodes 142, 144 associated with blue light emission and confinement well 130 may include four associated with green light emission. And sub-pixel electrodes 136, 137, 138, and 139.

In an exemplary embodiment, the confinement structure 104 may be disposed on a portion of the electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144. 3A and 3B, the confinement well 120 can be formed by a confinement structure 104, where the confinement structure 104 is partially disposed over a portion of the electrodes 106, 108, and the electrode It is partially disposed directly on the substrate 102 rather than above. Alternatively, the confinement structure 104 can be disposed over the substrate 102 between the electrodes of adjacent confinement wells. For example, the confinement structure 104 is disposed within the space formed between the electrodes associated with different sub-pixel emission colors on the substrate 102 such that the confinement structure 104 is disposed directly on the substrate 102 and the electrode It can be prevented from being placed on any part of the. In this configuration (not shown), an electrode corresponding to the sub-pixel may be placed directly in contact with (or in contact with) the confinement structure 104, or the electrode may be spaced apart from the confinement structure 104 to achieve sub-pixel formation.

When voltage is selectively applied to the electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144, light emission occurs within a sub-pixel of a pixel, such as pixels 150, 151, 152 This can happen. Electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144 can be transparent or reflective and can be conductive materials such as metals, mixed metals, alloys, metal oxides, mixed oxides, or their It may be formed of a combination. For example, in various exemplary embodiments, the electrode can be made of indium-tin-oxide manganese silver, or aluminum. The electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144 can have any shape, arrangement, or configuration. For example, referring to FIG. 3A, the electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144 may be inclined with the side edges 106b, 108b of the electrode inclined relative to the surface of the substrate. And / or have a profile that allows the top surfaces 106a, 108a to be substantially coplanar and parallel to the surface of the substrate 102 while being round.

It is apparent that the active portion of the electrode, ie the portion associated with light emission, is the portion of the electrode that is placed directly under the deposited OLED layer, without any intermediate material insulating the substrate structure between the electrode surface and the OLED layer. For example, referring back to FIG. 3A, a portion of the electrodes 106 and 108 disposed under the confinement structure 104 is excluded from the active portion of the electrode region, while the remainder of the region of the electrodes 106 and 108 The part is included in the active part of the electrode region.

Electrodes can be deposited in a variety of ways, such as by thermal evaporation, chemical vapor deposition, or sputtering. Patterning of the electrodes can be obtained, for example, using shadow masking or photolithography. As previously mentioned, the electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139 such that various cross-sectional views, for example, topography, as best seen in FIG. 3A, are formed on the substrate 102. , 142, 144) have a thickness and are spaced apart from each other. In an exemplary embodiment, the electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144 may have a thickness of 60 nm to 120 nm, but this range is non-limiting and larger Smaller or smaller thicknesses are also possible.

Within each confinement well 120, 130, 140, one or more active OLED layers may be provided, such as the hole conducting layer 110 and organic light emitting layer 112 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The active OLED layers are the thickness of the electrodes 106, 107, 108, 109, 136, 137, 138, 139, 142, 144 in the confinement wells 120, 130, 140 and the space between them, as well as their respective active OLED layers It can be deposited to sufficiently conform to the topography derived from the thickness of. For example, the active OLED layer can be continuous within the wall, and can have a thickness sufficient to conform and conform to the final topography of the underlying electrode structure disposed within each confinement well.

Thus, the deposited OLED layer can result in surface topography that is not parallel to the substrate and does not lie in a single plane across the entire confinement well. For example, one or both of the OLED layers 110, 112 may have a single plane of display (above) because of the relative recesses or protrusions associated with any surface feature comprising electrodes disposed on the substrate 102. The plane of the display may be non-planar and discontinuous in the plane that is intended to be parallel to the substrate 102). As shown, the OLED layers 110 and 112 can fully conform to the underlying surface feature topography, such that the top surface of the OLED layer has a final topography that follows the topography of the underlying surface feature. In other words, each deposited OLED layer sufficiently conforms to all underlying layers and / or surface features disposed on the substrate 102, such that the final non-planar top surface of the OLED layer after the underlying layers are deposited. Contribute to topography. In this way, in the plane above the confinement well parallel to the plane of the display, the layer (s) are raised and / or compared to the plane, by means of existing surface features from electrodes, circuits, pixel forming layers, etc. in the confinement well. As it descends, discontinuities in the layers 110 or 112 or both may occur. The active OLED layers 110 and / or 112 need not be fully adapted to the underlying surface topography (e.g., local non-uniformities may exist in the thickness, such as around the edge region, as described below), but no A sufficient conformal coating without substantial material build-up or depletion can promote a more even, uniform, and reproducible coating.

As shown in FIG. 3A, each layer 110, 112 is such that each layer is disposed over substantially all surface features (eg, sub-pixel electrodes, circuits, pixel forming layers, etc.) in the confinement well 120. ) May be substantially continuous within the entire confinement well 120, where the edges of each layer contact the confinement structure 104 surrounding the confinement well 120. In various exemplary embodiments, the active OLED layer material is deposited to form a completely discrete continuous layer in the confinement well to substantially prevent any discontinuities in the layer in the well (ie, the area in the well where the active OLED layer material is lost). Can be. Such discontinuities can lead to undesirable visual artifacts within the sub-pixel emission region. Although each layer (110, 112) is substantially continuous within the confinement well, as mentioned above, the rise / fall of the layer as sufficiently conforms to the existing topography of the features placed in the confinement well where the layer is deposited. Therefore, discontinuities in a single plane are likely to exist. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, if this rise and / or fall is greater than the thickness of the thinnest portion of the layer deposited in the well, such as greater than 50 nm, such as 100 nm, the OLED material layer is within the well. It will not be continuous in a plane parallel to the display.

Layers 110 and 112 can have a substantially uniform thickness within each confinement well, which can provide more uniform light emission. For the purposes of this application, a substantially uniform thickness may refer to the average thickness of an OLED layer over a planar surface area, such as over an active electrode area, although minor variations or localities in thickness as described below It may contain a partial non-uniformity. On a planar surface area (e.g., 106a, 108a) and the lower surface of the gap in Figure 3A, the variation in average thickness of the OLED layer for a substantially uniform OLED coating is less than ± 20%, such as less than ± 10% or ± 5 It is expected to be less than%.

However, as mentioned above, local non-uniformity of thickness may occur in the portion of the layers 110 and 112 surrounding the surface topography and / or alteration of surface chemistry, in which region the film thickness is specified above. It may have a parameter deviation of ± 20%, ± 10%, or ± 5%, which is substantially local. For example, a local non-uniformity in the thickness of the continuous layer is associated with the topography disposed on the substrate 102 and / or the topography disposed on the substrate 102 and / or the surface features, such as a confinement well structure ( This may occur due to a change in surface chemistry at the edge of 104, the edge of the pixel forming layer (described below), the electrode edge sidewall (eg, edge sidewall along 106b, 108b), or where the electrode meets the substrate surface. Local non-uniformities can lead to variations in film thickness. For example, the local non-uniformities can be shifted in the thickness of the layers 110, 112 provided over the active electrode regions of the electrodes 106, 108 (eg, along 106a, 108a). The non-uniformities are generally localized “edge effect” deviations in the range of approximately 5 μm to 10 μm around these surface features disposed on the substrate 102 in the confinement well, such as at the edges of electrodes, circuits, pixel forming layers, etc. Can generate It is intended herein that this “edge effect” deviation is included when describing an OLED film coating as having “substantially uniform thickness” in a well.

In an exemplary embodiment, because of the dip in the film formed when the layer crosses the gap between the active regions of the electrodes, the top surface of each layer is a single plane (ie, on the substrate) parallel to the plane of the display. So that they do not lie in parallel planes), the thickness of each layer 110, 112 may be equal to or less than the thickness of the electrode. This is shown, for example, in FIG. 3A, where a dotted line is provided to show the plane P parallel to the plane of the substrate 102. As shown, each of the layers 110 and 112 may have a substantially uniform average thickness within the regions of the layers 110 and 112 ending in the active electrode regions of the electrodes 106 and 108. However, layers 110 and 112 are small in areas associated with surface features, such as topographical changes caused by features around the edges of these surface features (eg, the edges of electrodes 106 and 108 adjacent the gap). It may include a localized non-uniform thickness.

Layers 110 and 112 can be deposited using any manufacturing method. In an exemplary embodiment, the hole conducting layer 110 and the organic light emitting layer 112 may be deposited using inkjet printing techniques. For example, the material of the hole conducting layer 110 can be mixed with the carrier fluid to form an inkjet ink formulated to provide reliable and uniform loading into the confinement well. Ink for depositing the hole conducting layer 110 can be transferred to the substrate from the inkjet head nozzle into each confinement well at high speed. In various exemplary embodiments, the same hole conducting material can be delivered to all confinement wells 120, 130, 140 to provide deposition of the same hole conducting layer 110 in all confinement wells 120, 130, 140. . After the material is loaded into the confinement wells to form the hole conducting layer 110, the display 100 can be dried to allow any carrier fluid to evaporate, and this process heats the display for a period of time, vacuum, Or it may include exposing to a standby state. After drying, the display can be baked to an elevated temperature to process the deposited film material, e.g., to induce a chemical reaction or change in film shape that is beneficial to the quality or overall process of the deposited film. The material associated with each organic light-emitting layer 112 can be mixed similarly to a carrier fluid, such as an organic solvent or a mixture of solvents, to form inkjet inks formulated to provide reliable and uniform loading into a confinement well. have. Thereafter, these inks can be inkjet deposited using an inkjet process in appropriate confinement wells 120, 130, 140 associated with each luminous color. For example, ink associated with a red organic light emitting layer, ink associated with a green organic light emitting layer, and ink associated with a blue organic light emitting layer are separately deposited into corresponding confinement wells 120, 130, 140. Different organic emission layers 112 may be deposited simultaneously or sequentially. After loading one or more of the inks associated with the organic light emitting layer, the display can be dried and baked similar to that described above for the hole conducting layer.

Although not shown, additional active OLED layers of material can be deposited in the confinement wells. For example, the OLED display 100 may further include a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron blocking layer, a hole blocking layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, a moisture protection layer, an encapsulation layer, etc. All are familiar with the person skilled in the art and are not described in detail herein.

The hole conducting layer 110 may include one or more layers of a material that promotes the injection of holes into the organic light emitting layer 112. For example, hole conducting layer 110 may include a single layer of hole conducting material, such as a hole injection layer. Alternatively, the hole conducting layer 110 may include a plurality of layers, such as a hole injection layer, such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene: poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS), and hole transport layer , For example, at least one of N, N'-di-((1-naphthyl) -N, N'-diphenyl) -1,1'-biphenyl) -4,4'-diamine (NPB) can do.

The organic light emitting layer 112 is a hole conducting layer 110 so that the organic light emitting layer 112 sufficiently conforms to the topography generated by the topography of the electrode, the space between the electrodes, and the hole conducting layer It can be deposited on. The organic light emitting layer 112 may include a material for promoting light emission, for example, an organic light emitting material (organic luminescence material).

In an exemplary embodiment, the thickness of the OLED stack (eg, all active OLED layers deposited over the electrodes in the confinement well) can range from 10 nm to 250 nm. For example, the hole transport layer may have a thickness of 10 nm to 40 nm, the hole injection layer may have a thickness of 60 nm to 150 nm, and the organic emission layer may have a thickness of 30 nm to 150 nm. Optionally, the hole blocking layer, the electron hole layer, and the electron injection layer have a bonding thickness of 10 nm to 60 nm.

In an exemplary embodiment, it is contemplated that droplets having a volume of less than about 10 pL can be used to create each of the layers 110, 112. In various exemplary embodiments, droplet volumes of 5 pL or less, 3 pL or less, or 2 pL or less may be used. OLED layers 110 and 112 may be formed using 1 to 20 drops having the volume described above.

In one non-limiting exemplary embodiment, the present invention provides an area of wells 120, 130, 140 associated with red, green, or blue light emission for a display with a resolution of 326 ppi (eg, pitch = 78 um). Confinement wells arranged to be 66 μm × 66 μm are considered, where the width between neighboring wells in this embodiment may be 12 μm. The area associated with red or green sub-pixel light emission can be 31.5 μm × 31.5 μm, and the area associated with blue sub-pixel light emission can be 66 μm × 30 μm, so the conventional RGB side described with reference to FIG. 1. Compared to a 46% fill factor for the bi-side layout, it leads to a 65% overall pixel fill factor. In another non-limiting exemplary embodiment, for a display having a resolution of 440 ppi (eg, pitch = 58 μm), the area of wells 120, 130, 140 associated with red, green, or blue light emission is 46 μm. It is contemplated to arrange the confinement wells to be x 46 μm, where again the width between neighboring wells in this embodiment is 12 μm. The area associated with red or green sub-pixel light emission of this display structure may be 20.3 μm × 20.3 μm, while the area associated with blue sub-pixel light emission may be 76 μm × 49.1 μm, referring to FIG. 1. Compared to the 30% fill factor for the described conventional RGB side-by-side layout, it can produce a fill factor of approximately 46%. In this embodiment, the width between adjacent wells may be 12 μm, but as mentioned above, this width can have a different value, and a smaller value is desirable (of the substrate area allocated to the active electrode area) For higher proportions), constraints on the formation of well structures and circuit layout constraints can effectively set a lower limit on these dimensions. A value of 12 μm is selected as a representative value for these examples, but those skilled in the art, within the scope of the present invention, other dimensions, such as larger dimensions, such as 20 μm, or smaller dimensions It will be appreciated that, for example, 8 μm, 6 μm, even 1 μm can be used. It will be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that, in the examples above, each of the red, green, and blue confinement wells has the same dimensions, but other arrangements are possible. For example, two confinement wells associated with different emissive colors may have the same dimensions, and one confinement well associated with another different emissive color may have different dimensions or confinement wells associated with each emissive color may have different dimensions. Can have

These exemplary non-limiting arrangements in accordance with the present invention provide confinement wells with a minimum well dimension of greater than 45 μm, even in the case of an ultra-high resolution of 440 ppi, thus allowing a droplet volume of about 10 pL to be used, thereby pre-existing inkjet printing. Manufacturing can be simplified by enabling the use of available droplet volumes. In addition, the above non-limiting exemplary arrangement increases the pixel fill factor when compared to a conventional RGB side-by-side layout by about 43% and 84% for 326 ppi and 440 ppi, respectively. More generally, various exemplary embodiments in accordance with the present invention provide improvements in fill factor of high resolution displays made using inkjet, e.g., ultra high resolution displays, where improvements of 40% or more are possible.

If a person skilled in the art, a common electrode (not shown) may be disposed on the organic light emitting layer 112 after deposition. After the common electrode is deposited, the final topography of the common electrode can be fully adapted to the topography of the organic light emitting layer 112. Common electrodes can be deposited using any fabrication technique, such as vacuum thermal evaporation, sputtering, chemical vapor deposition, spray coating, inkjet printing, or other techniques. The common electrode can be formed of a transparent or reflective and conductive material such as metal, mixed metal, alloy, metal oxide, mixed oxide, or combinations thereof. For example, a thin layer of indium tin oxide or manganese silver. The thickness of the common electrode may range from about 30 nm to 500 nm.

In addition, the common electrode can have any shape, arrangement, or configuration. For example, the common electrode can be disposed as a single sub-pixel or as a discrete layer associated with a single pixel. Alternatively, the common electrode can be disposed over a plurality of sub-pixels or pixels, such as over the entire pixel array of display 100. For example, the common electrode may be a blanket deposited over the confinement structures 104 as well as deposited within the confinement wells 120, 130, 140. Prior to deposition of the common electrode, an additional active OLED layer (not shown for simplicity), such as an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, and / or a hole blocking layer can be deposited over the organic light emitting layer 112. This additional OLED layer can be deposited by inkjet printing, vacuum thermal evaporation, or another method.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the OLED device 100 may have a top emissive configuration or a bottom emissive configuration. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, in the top emission form, the electrodes 106 and 108 may be reflective electrodes and a common electrode disposed over the organic emission layer may be a transparent electrode. Alternatively, in the bottom emission form, the electrodes 106 and 108 can be transparent and the common electrode can be reflective.

In another exemplary embodiment, the OLED display 100 may be a ridge-matrix OLED (AMOLED). AMOLED displays improve display performance when compared to passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED) displays, but rely on active driving circuits on the substrate, such as thin film transistors (TFTs), and such circuits are not transparent. While PMOLED displays have some elements that are not transparent, such as conductive bus lines, AMOLED displays have substantially more opaque elements. Therefore, in the case of the bottom emission AMOLED display, the fill factor can be reduced compared to PMOLED because light can be emitted only between opaque circuit elements through the bottom of the substrate. For this reason, it may be desirable to use such a configuration, because the LED element can be constructed on top of this opaque active circuit element using the top emission form for the AMOLED display. Therefore, light can be emitted through the upper portion of the OLED element without concern about the opacity of the underlying element. In general, by using an upper light emitting structure, light emission is not blocked by additional opaque elements (eg, TFT, driving circuit components, etc.) deposited on the substrate 102, so each pixel of the display 100 ( The fill factor of 150) can be increased.

Further, the non-active area of each pixel may be limited to a confinement structure, surface features, and / or pixel definition layer (examples of which will be described below) formed on the substrate 102. Can be. A conductive grid is disposed on the substrate 102 to prevent undesired voltage drops across the display 100 that may occur because the transparent top electrode used in the top emitting OLED structure generally has low conductivity. can do. When the common electrode is a blanket deposited in the confinement wells 120, 130, 140 and on the confinement structure 104, a conducting grating can be placed in an inactive portion of the substrate 102 and attached to the confinement structure 104 selected. It can be connected to the common electrode through the formed via hole. However, the present invention is not limited to the top emitting active-matrix OLED configuration. The techniques and arrangements mentioned herein can be used by any other type of display, such as bottom light emission and / or passive display, as well as those skilled in the art will understand how to use appropriate modifications.

In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3A, each confinement well may include a plurality of active sub-pixel regions spanning W1 and W2, respectively, spaced by gap S, and having a width of CW. Locked in a well. Dimensions W1, W2, and CW are primarily related to the pixel pitch, which corresponds to the resolution of the display (eg, 326 ppi, 440 ppi). The dimensions of the gap S are related to the limitations and layout associated with manufacturing techniques and processes. In general, it may be desirable to minimize the dimension associated with gap S. For example, 3 μm may be the smallest dimension, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that dimensions ranging from as small as 1 μm to over 10 μm are possible. The height H of the confinement structure 104 is related to process limitations rather than specific display layouts or resolutions. The exemplary value of the height H of the confinement structure 104 may be 1.5 μm, but in various exemplary embodiments, the range of the height H may be 0.5 μm to 5 μm. 3B, BW is the width of the confinement structure 104 between adjacent wells (eg, wells 120 and 130 in FIG. 3B). As previously described, it may be desirable to minimize this dimension and an exemplary value may be 12 μm. However, one of ordinary skill in the art may realize that this value may be arbitrarily large (eg, hundreds of microns), and as small as 1 μm, depending on manufacturing techniques and processes that may allow a small value for BW in some cases. You know.

4, a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a confinement well 220 of a display 200 is shown. The arrangement of FIG. 4 is similar to that previously described with reference to FIG. 3A, where similar numbers are used to denote similar elements, except using the 200 series, unlike the 100 series. However, as shown, the OLED display 200 includes additional surface features 216 disposed in the gap S between the electrodes 206,208.

The surface feature 216 does not provide electrical current directly into the OLED film disposed thereon, thereby any structure comprising a non-active region of the pixel region between the active regions associated with the electrodes 206 and 208. Can be For example, the surface features 216 can further include an opaque material. As shown in FIG. 4, a hole conducting layer 210 and an organic light emitting layer 212 can be deposited over a portion of these circuit elements, as represented topographically by surface features 216. If the surface features 216 include electrical elements, these elements can be further coated with an electrically insulating material to electrically isolate these elements from the OLED film deposited onto the surface features 216.

In an exemplary embodiment, the surface features 216 may include drive circuitry, non-limiting, for example, interconnects, bus lines, transistors, and other circuitry familiar to those skilled in the art. In some displays, driving circuits can be placed proximal to the active area of the pixels driven by these circuits to minimize complex interconnections and reduce voltage drop. In some cases, the confinement wells surround the individual sub-pixels, and these circuits will be located outside the confinement well area so that the circuit will not be coated with an active OLED layer. However, in the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 4 and other embodiments described herein, confinement wells 220 may include a plurality of sub-pixels associated with different pixels, such driving circuit elements confinement wells. It can be provided within, which can optimize the electrical performance of the driving electronics, optimize the driving electronics layout, and / or optimize the fill factor.

Layers 210 and 212 are well conducted to conform to the underlying surface feature topography and to have a substantially uniform thickness within the confinement well, leading to layers 210 and 212 having non-planar top surfaces, hole conduction The layer 210 and the organic light-emitting layer 212 can be deposited into the area formed by the confinement well structure 204 and over the surface features 216. In configurations where the surface features 216 extend over a plane of the top surface of the electrode by a distance greater than the thickness of one or both of the layers 210 and 212, one or both of these layers are displayed within the well 220 It will be discontinuous in the plane parallel to the plane of. Therefore, because of the protrusions associated with the surface features 216, one or both of the layers 210, 212 will be non-planar and discontinuous in a plane parallel to the plane of the display. As previously mentioned, this is illustrated, for example, by a dotted line showing a plane P that is coplanar with the surface of the layer 212 disposed over the electrodes 206,208. As shown, the layer 212 is not planar across the entire confinement well, but is sufficiently adaptive to the underlying topography, so that the layer 212 entirely covers the non-planar upper surface due to the gap region S and protrusions 216. Have In other words, one or both of the layers 210, 212 can rise and fall across the confinement wells to sufficiently conform to the existing topography of the wells before deposition of the layers 210, 212.

Although the surface features 216 are shown in FIG. 4 as having a greater thickness than the electrodes, alternatively, the surface features 216 may have a thickness that is less than or equal to the electrode. Further, although the surface features 216 are shown in FIG. 4 as being disposed on the substrate 202, the surface features 216 may be further disposed over one or both of the electrodes 206,208. . Surface features 216 may be different for each confinement well in the array, and not all confinement wells need to include surface features. The surface features 216 can further function as a pixel forming layer, where the opaque properties of the surface features 216 can be used to form part or the entire pixel arrangement of sub-pixels.

5A and 5B, a partial cross-sectional view of another exemplary embodiment of a display confinement well according to the present invention is shown. The arrangement of Figures 5A and 5B is similar to that described above with reference to Figures 3A and 3B, where similar numbers are used to denote the elements of interest except 300 series is used instead of 100 series. However, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the OLED display 300 further includes a definition layer 314. The forming layer 314 can be deposited on the substrate 302, where the confinement structure 304 can be disposed over the forming layer 314. Further, the forming layer 314 may be disposed on the non-active portion of the electrodes 306 and 308. The definition layer 314 can be any physical structure having electrical insulating properties used to define a portion of the OLED display 300. In some embodiments, forming layer 314 may be a pixel forming layer, which may be any physical structure used to delineate pixels in a pixel array. The forming layer 314 may also delineate sub-pixels.

As shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the forming layer 314 may extend beyond the confinement structure 304 and over a portion of the electrodes 306, 308. The forming layer 314 is made of an electrically resistive material so that the forming layer 314 prevents current flow and thus significantly blocks light emission through the edges of the sub-pixels, thereby reducing unwanted visible artifacts. In addition, a forming layer 314 may be provided to have structures and chemicals to mitigate or prevent the formation of non-uniformities where the OLED film coats over the edges of the forming layer. In this way, the forming layer 314 can assist in masking film non-uniformities formed around surface features that would otherwise have been included in the active area of the pixel area and contributed to the pixel non-uniformities (such non-uniformities, For example, it may occur at the outer edge of each sub-pixel where the OLED film contacts the confinement well or at the inner edge of each sub-pixel where the OLED film contacts the substrate surface).

The hole conducting layer 310 and the organic light emitting layer 312 can be deposited in the region formed by the confinement structure 304 and over the pixel forming layer, respectively, to form a continuous layer in the confinement well 320. As previously described with respect to FIGS. 3A and 3B, layers 310 and 312 are sufficiently conformable to the overall topography of the confinement well and thus in the plane of the display, for example as illustrated by plane P in FIG. 5A. It may have a non-planar surface and / or may be discontinuous. As described above with reference to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3A, the thicknesses of the hole conducting layer 310 and the organic light emitting layer 312 may be substantially uniform.

In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, each confinement well may include a plurality of active sub-pixel regions including W1 and W2 contained within a confinement well having a width CW spaced by a gap S. In this case, W1, W2, and CW are mainly related to the pixel pitch, as mentioned above with reference to FIG. 3A. Likewise, the dimensions of the gap S are related to manufacturing and processing techniques, and layout, where S can, in an exemplary embodiment, range from 1 μm to more than 10 μm, where 3 μm is an example for S Dimensions. The height H of the confinement structure 304 may be as described above with reference to FIG. 3A. Referring to FIG. 5B, as mentioned above, BW is the width of the confinement structure 304 between adjacent wells, and may be selected as described above with reference to FIG. 3B.

The dimension T associated with the thickness of the forming layer can vary depending on the manufacturing technique and process conditions and the type of forming layer material used. In various exemplary embodiments, the dimension T associated with the thickness of the forming layer can be 25 nm to 2.5 μm, but 100 nm to 500 nm can be considered the most common range. The dimensions associated with the extent of the forming layer beyond the edge of the confinement structure 104 in the confinement well and labeled B1, B2 in FIG. 5A, B1, B1 'in FIG. 5B can be selected as desired. However, larger dimensions can contribute to a reduction in fill factor by reducing the size of the active pixel electrode area available. Therefore, in general, it may be desirable to select a minimum dimension that will perform the desired function to exclude edge irregularities in the active electrode region. In various exemplary embodiments, this dimension may be between 1 μm and 20 μm, for example between 2 μm and 5 μm.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a confinement well 420 of the display 400 is shown. The arrangement of FIG. 6 is similar to that previously described with reference to FIGS. 5A and 5B, and similar numbers are used to denote similar elements except using the 400 series instead of the 300 series. However, as shown, the OLED display 400 includes an additional forming layer 416 disposed within the gap S between the electrodes 406,408. 6, the forming layer 416 extends in that a portion of the additional forming layer 416 extends through the gap S on the substrate 402 and over a portion of the electrodes 406 and 408 adjacent the gap. , It may be a surface feature having a structure slightly different from the surface feature of FIG. 4. The additional forming layer 416 can have any topography, where the one shown in FIG. 6 is merely an example. As shown in FIG. 6, a notch 417 may be present on the surface of an additional forming layer 416 that is the opposite side of the substrate 102. The notch 417 may be formed using various methods. For example, during deposition of the additional forming layer 416, the notch 417 is fabricated so that the layer 416 can generally conform to any topography present in the confinement well, such as the electrodes 406, 408. Notches (417) by a thickness that can be derived from the process, where the thickness is substantially uniform between the electrodes (406, 408) and a substantially non-uniform thickness that is not associated with the top surface of the electrodes (406, 407). ) Is formed. Alternatively, for example, if additional forming layer 416 is deposited using a non-conformal deposition method such that the underlying surface topography is smooth, notch 417 may be omitted, and additional forming layer ( The top surface of 416) can have a substantially planar topography.

In either form, a hole conducting layer 410 and / or an organic light emitting layer 412 (as previously described, e.g., with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B) are deposited to deposit the layers 410 and 412 as described above. ) Can be sufficiently adapted to the topography of the additional forming layer 416 and have a substantially uniform thickness.

The distance between the upper surface of the additional forming layer 416 (ie, the surface opposite the substrate) and the substrate 402 may be greater or less than the distance between the upper surface of the electrodes 406 and 408 and the substrate 402. have. Alternatively, the distance between the upper surface of the additional forming layer 416 and the substrate 402 may be substantially the same as the distance between the upper surface of the electrodes 406 and 408 and the substrate 402. That is, the thickness of the additional forming layer 416 may be determined to be between the top surface of the substrate and the top surface of the surrounding confinement structure 404 or to be substantially in the same plane as the top surface of the confinement structure 404. Alternatively, the additional forming layer 416 may be substantially the same height as the electrodes 406 and 408 so that the additional forming layer 416 does not overlap a portion of the electrodes 406 and 408 and fills the gap S therebetween. have.

The hole conducting layer 410 and the organic light emitting layer 412 may extend over a portion of the forming layer 414 extending to the inside of the well 420 beyond the confinement structure 404, and the layers 410 and 412 may be confined structures It may extend over additional forming layer 416 in confinement well 420 formed by 404. The additional forming layer 416 can be made of an electrically resistive material to prevent current flow by preventing light emission through the edges of the sub-pixels and thus reduce undesirable visual artifacts. The forming layer 414 and the additional forming layer 416 may be made of the same material or different materials.

In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, each confinement well will comprise a plurality of active sub-pixel regions including W1 and W2 separated by a gap S and contained within a confinement well having a width CW. In this case, as mentioned above, W1, W2, CW, and S are mainly related to the pixel pitch. As mentioned above, 3 μm may be the minimum dimension for S, but those skilled in the art will appreciate that dimensions ranging from as small as 1 μm to greater than 10 μm are possible. For example, the height H of the confinement structure 404 can be selected from the range described above with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B.

The dimension T1 associated with the thickness of the forming layer and the dimension T2 associated with the thickness of the additional forming layer can be variable based on fabrication techniques, process conditions, and the type of forming layer material used. Accordingly, the dimension T1 associated with the thickness of the forming layer and the dimension T2 associated with the thickness of the further forming layer may be 50 nm to 2.5 μm, for example 100 nm to 500 nm. Dimensions SB1, SB2, and B2 associated with the extent of the forming layer inside the edge of the confinement well can be selected as needed. However, larger dimensions will contribute to a reduction in fill factor by reducing the size of the active pixel electrode area available. Therefore, in general, it may be desirable to select a minimum dimension that will perform the desired function to exclude edge irregularities from the active electrode region. In various exemplary embodiments, this dimension may be between 1 μm and 20 μm, for example between 2 μm and 5 μm.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that, based on the present invention, any of the disclosed formation layer configurations can be used in any combination of different ways to obtain the desired pixel definition configuration. For example, forming layer 414 and / or additional forming layer 416 may be configured to form any pixel and / or sub-pixel area or any partial pixel and / or sub-pixel area, where the forming layer 414 can be associated with a forming layer deposited under any confinement structure 404 and additional forming layer 416 is any formation deposited within the confinement well, such as within confinement well 420, between the electrodes. It can be associated with a layer. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the cross-sectional views depicted herein are merely exemplary cross-sectional views and the invention is not limited to the specific cross-sectional views shown. For example, while Figures 3A and 3B are shown along lines 3A-3A and 3B-3B, respectively, different cross-sectional views taken along directions perpendicular to orthogonal to other lines, such as 3A-3A and 3B-3B, have different formation layer configurations. Can reflect. In an exemplary embodiment, the forming layer may be used in combination to outline pixels, such as pixels 150, 151, 152 shown in FIG. Alternatively, the forming layer can be configured to form a sub-pixel such that the forming layer completely or partially surrounds the sub-pixel electrode into a confinement well.

Referring to Figure 7, a cross-sectional view of another exemplary embodiment is shown. The OLED display 500 may include a surface feature 516 and a forming layer 514. The arrangement of FIG. 7 is similar to that previously described with reference to FIG. 4, wherein similar numbers denote similar elements except using 500 series instead of 200 series. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the OLED display 500 further includes a forming layer 514 disposed under the confinement structure 504. The forming layer 514 can be any physical structure used to form a portion of the OLED display 500. In one embodiment, the forming layer 514 may be a forming layer, which may be any physical structure used to delineate a pixel array within a pixel and / or sub-pixel with pixels. As shown, in an exemplary embodiment, the forming layer 514 may extend over a portion of the electrodes 506, 508 beyond the confinement structure 504. The forming layer 514 is made of an electrically resistive material, which can reduce unwanted visible artifacts by preventing the forming layer 514 from blocking current flow and thus blocking light emission through the edges of the sub-pixels. In this way, the forming layer 514 can help mask the film layer non-uniformities formed at the edges of each sub-pixel that can occur due to the edge drying effect. As previously mentioned, the hole conducting layer (e.g., as mentioned above with reference to Figures 3A and 3B) so that the layers 510 and 512 conform sufficiently to the underlying surface feature topography and have a substantially uniform thickness. 510 and an organic light emitting layer 512 may be deposited.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various arrangements and structures, such as surface features, forming layers, and the like, are merely examples, and other various combinations and arrangements are contemplated and within the scope of the present invention.

8-11, a partial cross-sectional view of a substrate showing various exemplary steps during an exemplary method of fabricating an OLED display 600 is shown. The fabrication method will be described below with reference to the display 600, but some of the steps described are described to fabricate other OLED displays, such as the OLED displays 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 described above. And / or all can be used. As shown in FIG. 8, electrodes 606 and 608 and surface features 616 may be provided over the substrate 602. Electrodes 606, 608 and surfaces using any fabrication method, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, vacuum thermal evaporation, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition, etc. Features 616 may be formed, and are not otherwise included in the deposition technique by using shadow masking, photolithography (photoresist coating, exposure, development, and peeling), wet etching, dry etching, lift-off, etc. Any additional patterning can be done. Electrodes 606 and 608 may be formed with surface features 616 or electrodes or surface features may be formed first and later.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, a forming layer 614 and an additional forming layer 618 may be deposited over the surface features 616 and electrodes 606 and 608. Layers 614 and 618 may be used by any manufacturing method, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, vacuum thermal evaporation, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition, etc. Any desired additional patterning that may be formed and that is not otherwise included in the deposition technique, using shadow masking, photolithography (photoresist coating, exposure, development, and peeling), wet etching, dry etching, lift-off, etc. Can be obtained. The forming layer 614 may be formed simultaneously with the additional forming layer 618, or the layer 614 or 618 may be formed first and then formed.

A confinement structure 604 is provided over the forming layer 614. The confinement structure 604 may be formed to form a confinement well 620 that spans a plurality of pixels and surrounds the plurality of sub-pixel electrodes 606, 608. Confinement structure 604 is formed using any manufacturing method, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, vacuum thermal evaporation deposition, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition, etc. Any additional patterning that is not otherwise included in the deposition technique can be achieved by using shadow masking, photolithography (photoresist coating, exposure, development, and peeling), wet etching, dry etching, lift-off, etc. have. In one exemplary technique, as shown in FIG. 10, the confinement structure material in a continuous layer 604 'can be deposited over the substrate 602 and then a portion 605 of the layer 604' is removed. The layer can be patterned using a mask 607 to expose sub-pixel electrodes 606 and 608. The confinement structure 604 is formed by the material of the layer 604 'remaining after the portion 605 is removed. Alternatively, the confinement structure 604 can be formed by actively depositing a material such that the deposited confinement structure 604 forms a boundary and only the confinement structure is formed within the boundary of the deposited confinement structure 604. .

As shown in FIG. 10, in an exemplary embodiment, each confinement well may include a plurality of active sub-pixel regions including W1 and W2 spaced by gap S. As mentioned earlier, dimensions W1, W2, and CW are mainly related to pixel pitch. And the dimensions of the gap S are related to the limitations associated with manufacturing techniques and processes, and layout, can be from 1 μm to more than 10 μm, and 3 μm is an exemplary minimum dimension. Dimensions SB1 and SB2 associated with the expansion of the forming layer inside the edge of the confinement well can be selected as needed. However, by reducing the size of the active pixel electrode area available, larger dimensions will contribute to a reduction in fill factor. Therefore, in general, it may be desirable to select a minimum dimension to perform the desired function to exclude edge irregularities in the active electrode region. In various exemplary embodiments, this dimension may be between 1 μm and 20 μm, such as between 2 μm and 5 μm.

As shown in FIG. 11, a hole conducting layer 610 may then be deposited in the confinement well 620 using inkjet printing. For example, inkjet nozzle 650 can direct droplet (s) 651 of hole conducting material into a target area formed into confinement well 620. The hole conducting layer 610 may further include two discrete layers, such as a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer, and these layers may be sequentially deposited by an inkjet method as described herein. In addition, the organic light emitting layer 612 may be deposited in the confinement well 620 over the hole conducting layer 610 using inkjet printing. The inkjet nozzle 650 can direct the drop (s) 651 of the organic light emitting material into the target region over the hole conducting layer 610. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that although a single nozzle is referred to with reference to FIG. 11, multiple nozzles may be implemented to provide droplets containing hole conducting material or organic light emitting material into a plurality of confinement wells. . Those skilled in the art will appreciate that in some embodiments, organic light emitting materials of the same or different color may be deposited simultaneously from multiple inkjet nozzle heads. In addition, droplet ejection and placement on the target substrate surface may be performed using techniques apparent to those skilled in the art.

In an exemplary embodiment, a single organic light emitting layer 612, such as a red, green, or blue layer, may be deposited within the confinement well 620. In an alternative exemplary embodiment, a plurality of organic light emitting layers can be deposited up and down one by one within confinement wells 620. When one light emitting layer is activated to emit light, so that the other light emitting layer does not emit light or interfere with the light emission of the first organic light emitting layer, such an arrangement, for example, the light emitting layers have different light emission wavelength ranges Can be effective when For example, a red organic light emitting layer or a green organic light emitting layer can be deposited in the confinement well 620, and then a blue organic light emitting layer can be deposited over the red or green organic light emitting layer. In this way, the confinement well may include two different light emitting layers, but only one light emitting layer within the confinement well is configured to emit light.

As previously described, layers 610 and 612 can be deposited to fully conform to the topography of forming layer 614, surface structure 616, additional forming layer 618, and electrodes 606 and 608, As previously described, it may have a substantially uniform thickness.

Various aspects described above with reference to FIGS. 3A-11 for various pixel and sub-pixel layouts may be used in accordance with the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an example and does not limit this layout. Various additional exemplary layouts contemplated by the present invention are shown in FIGS. 12-18. Various exemplary layouts indicate that there are many ways to implement the exemplary embodiments described herein, and in many cases, the selection of any particular layout can be achieved by various factors, such as the layout of the underlying electrical circuit, Pixel shapes (shown as rectangular or hexagonal in the illustrated embodiment, but may be other shapes, such as chevrons, circles, hexagons, triangles, etc.), and factors related to the visual appearance of the display (eg, each other) Driven by different configurations and different types of display content, such as observable visual artifacts for text, graphics, or video. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that other multiple layouts may be obtained through modifications that are within the scope of the present invention and are based on the principles described herein. Further, for those skilled in the art, for the sake of brevity, only the confinement structure forming the confinement well is described below as the substrate of FIGS. 12-18, but the surface features, circuits, and pixels described above with reference to FIGS. 3A-11 are formed. Any of features such as layers and other layers can be used in combination with any of the pixel layouts herein.

12 is a partial plan view of an exemplary embodiment of a pixel and sub-pixel layout for an OLED display 700 and is similar to the layout of FIG. 2 and additional aspects of the layout are described below. Confinement structures 704, such as the bank structures described above, may be provided on a substrate to form a plurality of confinement wells 720, 730, 740 in an array configuration. The organic layer extends through the confinement wells 720, 730, 740 to the confinement structure 704 surrounding the confinement well, e.g., the edge of the layer of OLED material in each well 720, 730, 740 is confined structure Each confinement well 720, 730, 740 can include a substantially continuous layer of OLED material (represented by hatched regions) so as to contact 704. The OLED layer may include, for example, one or more of hole-injecting materials, hole-transporting materials, electron-transporting materials, electron-injecting materials, hole-blocking materials, and organic light-emitting materials that provide light emission in different emission wavelength ranges. For example, the confinement well 720 may include an organic light emitting layer indicated by R and associated with light emission within the red wavelength range, and the confinement well 730 may be associated with light emission within the green wavelength range and indicate an organic light emitting layer indicated by G Containment well, the confinement well 740 may include a sustained emission layer indicated by B associated with emission in the blue wavelength range. Wells 720, 730, and 740 can have various arrangements and configurations relative to each other (eg, layout). For example, as shown in FIG. 12, confinement wells 720 and confinement wells 730 each including a red organic light emitting layer R and a green organic light emitting layer G are arranged in rows R ₁ , R _{3 in an} alternating arrangement. do. Rows R ₁ and R ₃ alternate with rows R ₂ and R ₄ of the confinement well 740 containing the blue organic light emitting layer B. Confinement wells 720, 730 may be alternately arranged in rows R ₁ , R ₃ .

A plurality of electrodes 706, 707, 708, 709; 736, 737, 738, 739; and 742, 744 can be disposed in each confinement well 720, 730, 740, respectively, each electrode emitting a specific light Color, such as red, green, or blue. The pixels 750, 751, 752, and 753 identified by the dotted lines in FIG. 12 include one sub-pixel with red light emission, one sub-pixel with green light emission, and one sub-pixel with blue light emission. Can be formed. For example, each confinement well 720, 730, 740 is configured such that their associated electrode active regions correspond to the electrode outlines shown in FIG. 12 and a plurality of electrodes 706, 707, 708, 709; 736, 737, 738 , 739; and 742, 744). The confinement wells 720, 730, 740 can have different numbers and / or arrangements of electrodes in the confinement wells. Alternatively, additional arrangements are possible, for example arrangements with color sets other than red, green, and blue, such as combinations of colors associated with four or more sub-pixel colors. Other arrangements where two or more sub-pixels of a single color are associated with a particular pixel are also possible, for example, each pixel is one red, one green, and two blue sub-pixels, or multiple subs of a particular color. -Can be associated with other combinations of pixels and other combinations of colors. In addition, when a plurality of layers of different light emitting materials are disposed up and down, different color sub-pixels may overlap each other. 12, the sub-pixel electrode can be spaced from the structure forming the confinement well. In an alternative embodiment, the sub-pixel electrode can be deposited directly adjacent the confinement well structure so that there is no gap between the electrode and the confinement structure. In addition, the confinement well can be placed over a portion of the sub-pixel electrode.

In addition, adjacent confinement wells may have different sub-pixel arrangements. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, confinement wells 720 and 730 include a 2 × 2 active electrode region arrangement, confinement wells 740 comprise a 1 × 2 active electrode region arrangement, wherein 2 The active electrode regions in the x2 array are squares of the same size, and the active electrode regions in the 1x2 array are rectangles of the same size. As previously mentioned, the electrodes in different confinement wells can have different surface areas of the active area.

In one exemplary arrangement, an active region associated with an electrode used to address a sub-pixel of light emission in the blue wavelength range B is associated with an electrode used to address light emission in the red and / or green wavelength range R, G It may have a larger surface area than the area. Electrodes associated with sub-pixels with luminescence within the blue wavelength range B, because when operating at the same area brightness level, sub-pixels associated with blue luminescence often have substantially shorter lifetimes than sub-pixels associated with red or green luminescence It may be desirable for the active region of to have a larger surface area than the active region associated with the sub-pixel electrode associated with red or green light emission. By increasing the relative active area of the sub-pixels associated with blue light emission, operation at a relatively low area brightness level is still possible while still maintaining the same overall display brightness, thus the lifetime of the sub-pixels associated with blue light emission and the overall life of the display This can be increased. Sub-pixels associated with red and green emission may be reduced in relation to sub-pixels associated with blue emission. The sub-pixels associated with red and green emission can be reduced in relation to the sub-pixels associated with blue emission. This can lead to sub-pixels associated with red and green light emission that will be driven at higher brightness levels in relation to the sub-pixels associated with blue light emission that can reduce red and green OLED device life. However, the lifespan of a sub-pixel associated with red and green luminescence may be significantly longer than that of a sub-pixel associated with a blue sub-pixel where the sub-pixel associated with blue luminescence remains, and the sub-pixel with respect to the overall display lifetime. Limit Although the active region of the electrode in the confinement well 740 is shown in FIG. 12 arranged in a long direction extending in the horizontal direction, the electrode may be arranged such that the long direction of the electrode extends in the vertical direction in FIG. 12.

The spacing between adjacent confinement wells can be the same or varied through the pixel layout. For example, referring to FIG. 12, the spacing b 'between the confinement wells 720 and 730 may be greater than or equal to the spacing f' between the confinement wells 720 and 740 or 730 and 740. In other words, in the orientation of FIG. 12, the horizontal spacing between adjacent confinement wells in one row may differ from the vertical spacing between adjacent confinement wells in adjacent rows. Further, the horizontal spacing b 'in rows R ₁ and R ₃ may be greater than or equal to the horizontal spacing a' in rows R ₂ and R ₄ .

The spaces (gaps) between the active regions of the electrodes in each of the different confinement wells 720, 730, and 740 may be the same or different, and may be varied according to the direction of the space (eg, horizontal or vertical). In one exemplary embodiment, gaps d and e between the active regions of the electrodes in the confinement wells 720 and 730 may be the same, and may differ from the gaps between the active regions of the electrodes in the confinement well 740. . Further, in various exemplary embodiments, the gap between adjacent active electrode regions in the confinement well is less than the gap between adjacent active electrode regions in the adjacent confinement well in the same row or in a different row. For example, each of c, d, and e may be smaller than a, b, or f in FIG. 12.

In FIG. 12, a gap exists between the inner edge of each confinement well (eg, 720) and the outer edge of each active electrode region within the confinement well (eg, 706, 707, 708, 709). However, as shown in FIG. 2, according to various exemplary embodiments, this gap may not be provided and the outer edge of each active electrode region may be the same as the inner edge of the confinement well. This configuration can be achieved, for example, using a structure, such as the structure shown in FIG. 3A, where the configuration shown in FIG. 12 where such a gap is present, can be achieved using, for example, a structure, the structure shown in FIG. 5A. Can. However, other structures can also obtain the same configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 12.

Pixels 750, 751, 752, and 753 can be formed based on the confinement well arrangement and corresponding sub-pixel layout. The total space, or pitch, of pixels 750, 751, 752, and 753 can be based on the resolution of the display. For example, the higher the display resolution, the smaller the pitch. Also, adjacent pixels may have different sub-pixel arrangements. For example, as shown in FIG. 12, pixel 750 is a red sub-pixel R in the upper left portion, a green sub-pixel G in the upper right portion, and a blue sub-pixel that spans most of the lower portion of the pixel. Contains B. The pixels 751, except that the relative parts of the green sub-pixel G and the red sub-pixel G are reversed, the green sub-pixel G is in the upper left part, and the red sub-pixel R is in the upper right part. The sub-pixel layout of is similar to that of pixel 750. Adjacent pixels 752 and 753 under pixels 751 and 750, respectively, are mirror images of pixels 751 and 750. Therefore, the pixel 752 includes a blue sub-pixel B in the upper portion, a green sub-pixel G in the lower left portion, and a red sub-pixel R in the lower right portion. And the pixel 753 includes a blue sub-pixel in the upper portion, a green sub-pixel in the lower left portion, and a red sub-pixel in the lower right portion.

In an exemplary embodiment of a high-resolution display with 326 pixels per inch (ppi) according to FIG. 12, pixels comprising red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels, and blue sub-pixels are the overall pitch of the display required to achieve 326 ppi. It can have an overall dimension of about 78㎛ × 78㎛ corresponding to. Reflecting the minimum spacing between the confinement areas according to the prior art as mentioned above for this embodiment, it is assumed that a '= b' = f '= 12µm and extends by 3µm inside the confinement well edge. Assuming that a forming layer is used, it is assumed that a = b = f = 12µm + 6µm = 18µm, and finally c = d = e = 3µm as a normal gap between the electrode active regions in the confinement well. Assuming, the area associated with each of the red and green sub-pixels may be 28.5 μm × 28.5 μm, and the area associated with the blue sub-pixel may be 60 μm × 27 μm. As mentioned above, the surface area of the blue sub-pixels can be greater than the surface area of each of the red and green sub-pixels to increase the overall display life. This layout is a confinement well associated with a group of 2 × 2 red and green sub-pixels having a dimension of 66 μm × 66 μm, and a confinement well associated with a group of 1 × 2 blue sub-pixels having a dimension of 66 μm × 66 μm. You can have a well. These dimensions provide a simple loading of active OLED material by conventional inkjet printing heads and printing systems, while providing a high resolution display with a high fill factor of greater than 50%, such as 53%. These dimensions also provide this feature to structures with a forming layer that can provide improved film uniformity in the active electrode region by blocking current flow through the film region immediately adjacent the confinement well walls.

In a corresponding exemplary embodiment for a high resolution display with 440 pixels per inch (ppi), pixels comprising red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels, and blue sub-pixels will have an overall dimension of approximately 58 μm × 58 μm. Where assuming the same values for dimensions a, b, c, d, e, f, a ', b', and f 'as in the immediately preceding example, associated with each of the red and green sub-pixels The area may be 18.5 μm × 18.5 μm, and the area associated with the blue sub-pixel may be 40 μm × 17 μm. As described above, the surface area of the blue sub-pixel may be larger than the area of each of the red and green sub-pixels to increase the overall display life. This layout is a confinement well associated with a group of 2 × 2 red and green sub-pixels having a dimension of 46 μm × 46 μm, and a confinement well associated with a group of 1 × 2 blue sub-pixels having a dimension of 46 μm × 46 μm. You can have a well. These dimensions provide a relatively simple loading of active OLED material by conventional inkjet printing heads and printing systems while also providing a high resolution display with a high fill factor of 40%.

In each of the above exemplary embodiments, various values for dimensions a, b, c, d, e, f, a ', b', and f 'can be implemented. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that these dimensions vary. For example, the spacing (a ', b', f ') between confinement wells can vary, for example, from 1 μm to hundreds of microns for large ppi. The gap between the active electrode regions in the confinement wells (c, d, e) can vary, for example, as mentioned above, can be from 1 μm to tens of microns. In addition, the gap between the active electrode region and the edge of the confinement well (the difference between a 'and a, the difference between b' and b, and half the difference between f 'and f is effective), as mentioned earlier 1 It may be from µm to 10 µm. In addition, because these dimensions vary, constraints are imposed along with the ppi (which forms the overall pitch of the display), which limits the range of values used for the dimensions of the confinement wells and active electrode regions contained therein. In the preceding exemplary embodiment, for simplicity, square confinement wells of the same dimensions are used for all three colors. However, confinement wells do not have to be square and not necessarily all of the same size. Also, although the dimensions provided in FIG. 12 refer to various common dimensions, such as the active electrode region gaps in the red confinement wells and the green confinement wells, in some exemplary embodiments, these gaps are not common dimensions and may be different.

13 is a partial plan view of another exemplary pixel / sub-pixel layout of an OLED display 800. Features common to the aforementioned exemplary embodiments are not described. The differences will be explained for brevity.

The display 800 may have a greater spacing between active regions associated with the sub-pixel electrode in the confinement well, such as the sub-pixel electrode of the display 700 as shown in FIG. 12. Adjacent activity in adjacent confinement wells with a spacing between adjacent active regions associated with electrodes 806, 807, 808, 809; 836, 837, 838, 839; and 842, 844 in each confinement well 820, 830, 840 It may be greater than the gap between the electrode regions. For example, the active regions associated with electrodes 836 may be spaced apart from each other by a specified distance g, and so does the active regions associated with electrodes 838. The spacing k between adjacent active electrode regions in neighboring confinement wells 820, 830 may be less than the spacing g between active regions associated with electrodes 836, 838, and the spacing m between active regions associated with electrodes 842 (And the same for electrode 844) may be greater than the spacing n between adjacent confinement wells 840 and adjacent active electrode regions in confinement wells 820, 830. This spacing can provide a closer arrangement of sub-pixel electrodes associated with one formed pixel while providing greater spacing between sub-pixel electrodes disposed in one confinement well and associated with the same luminous color. This spacing can reduce undesirable visual artifacts, rendering the display visible as an array of closely arranged RGB ternary elements and not as an array of closely arranged RRRR elements, GGGG elements, or BB elements.

Another exemplary pixel / sub-pixel layout for a display according to the present invention is shown in FIG. 14. Confinement structures 904 may be provided on a substrate to form a plurality of confinement wells 920, 930, 940 in an array configuration. The edge of the organic layer extends through the confinement wells 920, 930, 940 to the confinement structure 904 surrounding the confinement wells, for example, the edge of the layer of OLED material in each well 920, 930, 940 Each confinement well 920, 930, 940 can include a substantially continuous layer (hatched region) of OLED material so as to be in contact with the confinement structure 904. The active OLED layer may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of different emission wavelength ranges of hole injection material, hole transport material, electron transport material, electron injection material, hole blocking material, and organic light emitting material. Can be. For example, the confinement well 920 may include an organic light emitting layer associated with light emission in the red wavelength range R, and the confinement well 930 may include an organic light emission layer associated with light emission in the green wavelength range G, and the confinement well 940 may include an organic light emitting layer associated with light emission in the blue wavelength range B. The organic light emitting layer can be disposed in the well in any arrangement and / or configuration. For example, organic light emitting layers disposed in confinement wells 920, 930, 940 are arranged to have alternating configurations within each row. Adjacent rows can have the same or different arrangements. Also, although adjacent rows of confinement wells 920, 930, 940 are shown to have uniform alignment, alternatively, adjacent rows of confinement wells 930, 940 may have non-uniform alignment, such as an offset arrangement. . Also, the confinement wells 920 and 930 may be inverted in the alternating pattern.

The shape of each well 920, 930, 940 may have a rectangle so that each well is elongated in the vertical direction. Wells 920, 930, and 940 may have approximately the same dimensions in the long vertical direction. In addition, wells 920, 930, and 940 may have approximately the same width. However, the entire well 940 associated with the blue organic light emitting layer is correlated with a single sub-pixel and thus the pixel, and the wells 920 and 930 associated with the red and green organic light emitting layer have multiple sub-pixels and thus multiple pixels. Can be correlated. For example, confinement wells 920 and 930 may include a plurality of electrodes such that each electrode is associated with a different sub-pixel of a different pixel. As shown in FIG. 14, well 920 includes two electrodes 926 and 928 and is associated with two different pixels 950 and 951.

Different numbers of electrodes 926, 928, 936, 938, 946 can be disposed in different confinement wells. For example, some confinement wells 920, 930 may include a plurality of electrodes 926, 928; and 936, 938 to selectively address electrodes disposed within the same confinement well, but different within different pixels. Although generating light for the sub-pixels, other confinement wells 940 can include only one electrode 946 to address electrodes disposed within one confinement well associated with one pixel. Alternatively, the number of electrodes disposed in confinement wells 940 may be half the number of electrodes disposed in other confinement wells 920 and 930. In addition, the electrodes in different confinement wells can have different surface areas. For example, an electrode associated with light emission in the blue wavelength range may have a larger surface area than an electrode associated with light emission in the red and / or green wavelength range, thereby increasing the lifetime of the display 900 and reducing power consumption.

Pixels 950 and 951 may be formed based on the confinement well arrangement and corresponding sub-pixel layout. The overall spacing or pitch of the pixels 950, 951 can be based on the resolution of the display. For example, the higher the display resolution, the smaller the pitch. Also, adjacent pixels may have different pixel arrangements. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the pixel 950 may include a green sub-pixel G positioned on the left side, a blue sub-pixel B positioned at the center, and a red sub-pixel R positioned on the right side. The pixel 951 may include a red sub-pixel R on the left, a blue sub-pixel B in the center, and a green sub-pixel G on the right.

15 is a partial plan view of an exemplary embodiment of a pixel and sub-pixel layout for the OLED display 1000. Features common to the above-mentioned embodiments are not described (but similar labels can be found in FIG. 15 with 1000 series). For brevity, differences will be explained. The confinement structure 1004 may be configured to form a plurality of wells 1020, 1030, 1040. Wells 1020, 1030, 1040 can be arranged such that wells 1020, 1030, 1040 are arranged in uniform rows, where wells (e.g., 1020, 1030) associated with red light and green light are within a single row. The alternating, wells associated with blue light emission (eg 1040) are in a single row. In addition, the wells 1020, 1030, 1040 are configured such that the wells 1020, 1030, 1040 are aligned in a uniform column, so that the columns of the wells 1020, 1040 are aligned with the columns of the wells 1030, 1040. Can be shifted. Confinement wells 1020 and 1030 may be alternately configured such that confinement wells 1030 are alternating patterns.

Each confinement well 1020, 1030, 1040 may be approximately the same size. However, the number of electrodes associated with each well 1020, 1030, 1040 may be different. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, the well associated with red light emission 1020 may include electrodes 1026, 1027, 1028, and 1029, and the well associated with green light emission 1030 may include electrodes 1036, 1037, 1038, 1039, and wells associated with blue light emission 1040 may include electrodes 1046, 1048. Although the electrodes in the confinement well 1040 are shown to be spaced apart in the horizontal direction, the electrodes can be arranged to be spaced apart in the vertical direction.

Although the electrodes 1026, 1027, 1028, 1029, 1036, 1037, 1038, 1039 are shown in FIG. 15 in a square shape and the electrodes 1046, 1048 are rectangular in shape, any shape, such as circular, angled, Electrodes having hexagonal, asymmetrical, irregular curved surfaces, etc. are considered within the scope of the present invention, and a plurality of different types of electrodes in a single confinement well may be implemented. Also, different confinement wells may have different types of electrodes. The size and shape of the electrodes can affect the distance between the electrodes and the overall layout of the display. For example, when the shape is complementary, the electrodes can be spaced closer while still maintaining electrical isolation between adjacent electrodes. In addition, the shape and spacing of the electrodes can affect the degree of visible artifacts produced. Electrode shapes can be selected to reduce visible artifacts and enhance image blending to create a continuous image.

Pixels 1050 and 1051 represented by dotted lines can be formed based on the confinement well arrangement and the corresponding sub-pixel layout. The overall spacing or pitch of the pixels 1050 and 1051 can be based on the resolution of the display. For example, the higher the display resolution, the smaller the pitch. Also, the pixel may be formed to have an asymmetric shape. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 15, pixels 1050 and 1051 may have an “L” shape.

16 shows a partial top view of an exemplary embodiment of a pixel and sub-pixel layout for OLED display 1100. Features common to the exemplary embodiments mentioned above will not be described (but similar labels with the 1100 series can be found in FIG. 16). The confinement structure 1104 may be configured to form a plurality of confinement wells 1120, 1130, 1140 with a plurality of columns C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ , C ₄ . The columns C ₁ , C ₂ , C ₃ , C ₄ can be arranged to create a staggered arrangement. For example, confinement wells in columns C ₁ and C ₃ can be offset from columns C ₂ and C ₄ , creating staggered row arrangements while maintaining a uniform column arrangement. Pixels 1150 and 1151 may be formed based on the pitch of the confinement well arrangement. The pitch of the confinement well arrangement can be based on the resolution of the display. For example, the smaller the pitch, the higher the display resolution. Further, the pixel may be formed to have an asymmetric shape. For example, as illustrated by a dotted line in FIG. 16, the pixels 1150 and 1151 may have a non-uniform shape.

17 is a partial plan view of an exemplary embodiment of a pixel and sub-pixel layout for OLED display 1200. Features common to the previously mentioned embodiments are not described (but similar labels with 1200 series can be found in FIG. 17). As shown in FIG. 17, the confinement structure 1204 may be configured to form a plurality of confinement wells 1220, 1230, 1240. Each confinement well 1220, 1230, 1240 may have a different area. For example, well 1220 associated with red light emission R may have a larger area than well 1230 associated with green light emission G. Also, confinement wells 1220, 1230, and 1240 may be associated with different numbers of pixels. For example, confinement wells 1220 may be associated with pixels 1251, 1252, 1254, and 1256, and confinement wells 1230, 1240 may be associated with pixels 1251, 1252. Wells 1220, 1230, and 1240 may be composed of uniform rows (R ₁ , R ₂ , R ₃ , R ₄ , R ₅ ). Rows R ₂ , R ₃ , and R ₅ can be associated with blue emitting well 1240 and rows R ₁ and R ₄ are associated with alternating red emitting well 1220 and green emitting well 1230. Can be. The confinement structure 1204 may have various dimensions (D ₁ , D ₂ , D ₃ , D ₄ ). For example, D ₁ may be greater than D ₂ , D ₃ , or D ₄ , D ₂ may be less than D ₁ , D ₃ , or D ₄ , and D ₃ may be approximately equal to D ₄ .

18 shows a partial top view of an exemplary embodiment of a pixel and sub-pixel layout for OLED display 1300. Features common to the aforementioned embodiments, such as the embodiment of FIG. 17, are not described (but similar labels with the 1300 series can be found in FIG. 18). Confinement structures 1304 may be configured to form a plurality of confinement wells 1320, 1330, 1340. Wells 1320, 1330, and 1340 may be arranged such that wells 1320 associated with red light emission and wells 1330 associated with green light emission alternate within one row with wells 1340 associated with blue light emission.

Various pixel and sub-pixel layouts are described above, but the exemplary embodiments do not in any way limit the shape, arrangement, and / or configuration of confinement wells that span multiple pixels, as described. Instead, the confinement wells associated with the present invention allow flexible pixel layout arrangements to be selected in combination with inkjet printing manufacturing methods.

Various pixel layouts are contemplated that can enable high-resolution OLED displays using inkjet printing. For example, as shown in FIG. 19, pixel 1450 includes a confinement well 1420 associated with red light emission R, a confinement well 1430 associated with green light emission G, and a confinement well 1440 associated with blue light emission B. To do so, the confinement structure 1404 can create a hexagonal pattern. Due to the pitch, the shape of the confinement wells, and the ability to confine the confinement wells to each other, OLEDs with high resolution can be produced using inkjet printing.

Using various aspects according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, some example dimensions and parameters may be useful when obtaining a high resolution OLED display with increased fill factor. Table 1-3 includes expected non-limiting examples and conventional dimensions and parameters according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention associated with an OLED display with a resolution of 326 ppi, where Table 1 is a sub-pixel associated with red light emission And Table 2 describes the sub-pixels associated with green light emission and Table 3 describes the sub-pixels associated with blue light emission. Table 4-6 includes conventional dimensions and parameters associated with displays with a resolution of 440 ppi and expected non-limiting examples according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, where Table 4 shows the sub-pixels associated with red light emission. Describe. Table 5 describes the sub-pixels associated with green light emission and Table 6 describes the sub-pixels associated with blue light emission.

Sub-pixel associated with red light emission from a displayer with a resolution of 326 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) Area of confinement wells (㎛ ² ) Conventional sub-pixel 65.9 10.5 690.7 Sub-pixels associated with the confinement structures shown in Figures 3A, 3B 31.5 31.5 989.5 Conventional sub-pixel with pixel forming layer 59.9 9.0 537.9 Sub-pixels associated with confinement structures with the forming layer shown in Figures 5A, 5B 28.5 28.5 809.8

Sub-pixel associated with green light emission from a displayer with a resolution of 326 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) Area of confinement wells (㎛ ² ) Conventional sub-pixel 65.9 10.5 690.7 Sub-pixels associated with the confinement structures shown in Figures 3A, 3B 31.5 31.5 989.5 Conventional sub-pixel with pixel forming layer 59.9 9.0 537.9 Sub-pixels associated with confinement structures with the forming layer shown in Figures 5A, 5B 28.5 28.5 809.8

Sub-pixel associated with blue light emission from a displayer with a resolution of 326 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) Area of confinement wells (㎛ ² ) Conventional sub-pixel 65.9 21.0 1381.4 Sub-pixels associated with the confinement structures shown in Figures 3A, 3B 30.0 65.9 1979.1 Conventional sub-pixel with pixel forming layer 59.9 18.0 1075.9 Sub-pixels associated with confinement structures with the forming layer shown in Figures 5A, 5B 27.0 59.9 1619.6

Sub-pixel associated with red light emission from a displayer with a resolution of 440 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) Area of confinement wells (㎛ ² ) Conventional sub-pixel 45.7 5.4 248.4 Sub-pixels associated with the confinement structures shown in Figures 3A, 3B 21.4 21.4 456.4 Conventional sub-pixel with pixel forming layer 39.7 3.9 159.2 Sub-pixels associated with confinement structures with the forming layer shown in Figures 5A, 5B 18.4 18.4 337.2

Sub-pixel associated with green light emission from a displayer with a resolution of 440 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) Area of confinement wells (㎛ ² ) Conventional sub-pixel 45.7 5.4 248.4 Sub-pixels associated with the confinement structures shown in Figures 3A, 3B 21.4 21.4 456.4 Conventional sub-pixel with pixel forming layer 39.7 3.9 156.2 Sub-pixels associated with confinement structures with the forming layer shown in Figures 5A, 5B 18.4 18.4 337.2

Sub-pixel associated with blue light emission from a displayer with a resolution of 440 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) Area of confinement wells (㎛ ² ) Conventional sub-pixel 45.7 10.9 496.8 Sub-pixels associated with the confinement structures shown in Figures 3A, 3B 20.0 45.7 912.8 Conventional sub-pixel with pixel forming layer 39.7 7.9 312.4 Sub-pixels associated with confinement structures with the forming layer shown in Figures 5A, 5B 17.0 39.7 674.4

Table 7 includes predictive non-limiting examples according to exemplary embodiments of the invention associated with pixels in a display having a resolution of 326 ppi as well as conventional dimensions and parameters, where pixels are red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels , And green sub-pixels.

Display with a resolution of 326 ppi Active area of pixel (㎛ ² ) Total area of pixel (㎛) Peel Factor ^* Conventional confinement structures 2762.7 6070.6 46% Confinement structure shown in Figures 3a, 3b 3958.2 6070.6 65% Conventional confinement structure with pixel forming layer 2151.8 6070.6 35% Confinement structure with forming layer shown in Figures 5a, 5b 3239.2 6070.6 53%

* (Active area / total area) It is contemplated that various exemplary embodiments according to the present invention can achieve fill factor improvement over conventional confinement structures, as shown in Figure 7, rounded to nearest percentage point. For example, a fill factor that considers the confinement structures shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B can increase the fill factor by about 43% over conventional structures, thereby obtaining a 65% total fill factor. In another embodiment, the fill factor for a display considering the confinement structures shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B can improve the fill factor by about 51% compared to a conventional structure to obtain a total fill factor of 53%.

8 includes a predictive non-limiting example according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention associated with pixels in a display having a resolution of 440 ppi as well as conventional dimensions and parameters, wherein the pixels are red sub-pixels, green sub-pixels , And green sub-pixels.

Display with a resolution of 440 ppi Active area of pixel (㎛ ² ) Total area of pixel (㎛) Peel Factor ^* Conventional confinement structures 993.5 3332.4 30% Confinement structure shown in Figures 3a, 3b 1825.6 3332.4 55% Conventional confinement structure with pixel forming layer 624.8 3332.4 19% Confinement structure with forming layer shown in Figures 5a, 5b 1348.9 3332.4 40%

* (Active area / total area) It is contemplated that various exemplary embodiments according to the present invention may achieve fill factor improvements across conventional confinement structures, as shown in Figure 8, rounded to the nearest percentage point. For example, the fill factor for the display considering the confinement structures shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B can improve the fill factor of the conventional structure by about 84% to achieve a total fill factor of 55%. In another embodiment, the fill factor for a display considering the confinement structures shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B can improve the fill factor by about 116% compared to a conventional structure to obtain a total fill factor of 40%.

As mentioned above, various factors can affect the deposition precision and uniformity of the organic light emitting layer in OLED display inkjet based manufacturing techniques. These factors include, for example, display resolution, droplet size, target droplet area, droplets associated with the OLED layer material (e.g., active OLED material) ink and the rate at which droplets are deposited in the combination of the OLED layer material and one or more carrier fluids. Includes positional error, fluid properties (eg, surface tension, viscosity, boiling point).

In various exemplary embodiments, instead of providing a plurality of confinement wells formed by confinement structures (eg, banks) surrounding each pixel or sub-pixel, distinct surface energy (eg, to form confinement regions) Using a patterned region of liquid-friendly and liquid-rejected regions provides a simple manufacturing process. The use of a bank structure can include additional processing steps to deposit the patterned bank layer. Also, when using a bank structure, it is often necessary to use a patterned deposition method, such as inkjet, to deposit various device layers within each sub-pixel common to all sub-pixels. For example, in various embodiments, an RGB OLED structure has a common HIL to each of the red, green, and blue sub-pixels before providing different red, green, and blue EML coatings to the corresponding color sub-pixels. And a common HTL coating. When bank structures are used, these HIT and HTL coatings are deposited using inkjet in a patterned manner into each well. However, in this example, a uniform, blanket coating technique can be used to deposit these HIL and HTL layers on all pixels, and then a patterned deposition technique for EML can be used to simplify the manufacturing process. . The presence of the bank structure can increase the difficulty in depositing a uniform blanket coating. As discussed above, coatings on various structures, even on areas that contain relatively small clusters of pixel electrodes, present a variety of challenges. In order to remove the bank structure to form the confinement wells, and instead use the blanket deposition technique to provide HIL and HTL coatings, and then trap the EML ink used to form the sub-pixel color layer, the HTL's By using a chemical confinement mechanism to form the liquid-friendly region and the liquid-rejection region on the top surface, the manufacturing process can be simplified.

These liquid-friendly and liquid-reject regions can support compensation for OLED emission ink drop position errors in a manner similar to bank structures, allowing for a larger margin of acceptable drop positions during deposition of OLED emitting materials, Any ink droplets that may partially fall on the boundary between the liquid affinity region and the liquid rejection region are naturally rejected in the liquid-rejection region and dried into the liquid-affinity region prior to drying, which may make the manufacturing process more robust. Can be led. Moreover, as described in more detail below, liquid-friendly region margins can be used to further accommodate potential drop position inaccuracies. As discussed above, high-accuracy inkjet heads used in conventional printing techniques can produce droplet sizes ranging from about 1 picoliter (pL) to about 50 picoliters (pL), where about 10 pL is a high-accuracy inkjet It is a relatively common size for printing applications. The drop position accuracy of a conventional inkjet printing system is approximately ± 10 μm.

In various exemplary embodiments, the hole conducting layer can be configured to create a liquid-affinity region and a liquid-rejection region such that the light-emitting layer confinement region corresponds to the liquid affinity region, and the liquid-rejection region serves as a boundary to confine. To prevent migration of the deposited material. The light emitting layer confinement region may be formed in consideration of the drying effect associated with the deposition of organic light emitting materials and other active OLED materials. For example, non-uniform edges within the active area of a sub-pixel can create undesirable visible artifacts. Emissive layer confinement regions are formed so that when any non-uniform edges are outside the sub-pixel's active region, they can take into account the edge drying effect. Further, the light emitting layer confinement regions may be individually configured based on the organic light emitting material and the drying effect associated with each material. In addition, additional materials and manufacturing steps (eg, formation of confinement structures) may not be required to provide additional confinement structures to form a confinement well associated with each sub-pixel. Additional forming layers, such as pixel forming layers, may be omitted in some cases, since subsequent deposition of the emissive layer confinement regions and organic emissive layers provides proper formation for sub-pixels and pixels. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that pixel forming layers can be used with the disclosed embodiments using confinement regions formed by regions of different surface energy.

According to various exemplary embodiments described herein, manufacturing techniques can be implemented by introducing significant flexibility into the OLED manufacturing process. For example, pixel layouts and sub-pixel arrangements can include shapes, arrangements, and shapes associated with the flexibility achieved in forming these layouts by forming liquid-friendly regions and liquid-reject regions. In general, the electrical network on the OLED display is isolated from the active OLED layer, which is outside the confinement well and individually addresses the sub-pixel electrodes. However, according to an exemplary embodiment described herein, an active OLED layer is deposited over an electrical network within the active area of the substrate, increasing the fill factor of each pixel, as well as improving the electrical performance of the driving electronic device. You can.

Confinement structures for forming confinement wells at the pixel / sub-pixel level within the active area of the display can be removed, but in an exemplary embodiment of forming confinement areas through surface areas of different surface energy, nonetheless, confinement The structure is placed on an inactive portion of the substrate, forming one active-area display well surrounding the entire active area of the substrate. For example, a confinement structure can be disposed to surround all of the electrodes associated with pixels in the image that create part of the display. By placing the confinement structure outside the active pixel area, at the edge of the active OLED layer, non-uniformity due to contact or proximity to the confinement structure can be confined outside the active display area, minimizing undesirable visible artifacts, The materials used during manufacturing can be reduced by preventing these materials from migrating to inactive areas of the display. In addition, this configuration can reduce the precision requirements during manufacturing. For example, the accuracy of the deposition of active organic materials into specific and precisely contoured regions is no longer critical for the deposition of active OLED layers. When droplets are deposited to form a hole conducting layer, such as a hole injection layer and / or a hole transport layer, all droplets deposited in one active-area display well are combined to create a continuous layer with a substantially uniform thickness. can do.

Moreover, implementing a single confinement structure in an inactive portion of the OLED display substrate to form an active-area display well can improve the ease of manufacture of the OLED display. For example, an inkjet nozzle can be used to deposit an active OLED layer in a high resolution display, and any drop volume change is averaging resulting from internal mixing of the drops to form a single continuous hole conductive film together in the confinement area. Therefore, it will not affect the overall display quality deposition. For example, a hole conducting layer, such as at least one of a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer, can be deposited over all electrodes in the active area display well in the active area of the substrate. Because of the drop of all liquid coalescence, deposition is easy and can have increased uniformity, since the change in drop volume is not critical and does not affect the resulting layer. In addition, there is no additional manufacturing step to remove the active OLED layer from the inactive portion of the display, reducing the overall manufacturing process.

According to the exemplary embodiments described herein, embodiments using confinement regions formed by regions of different surface energy may include pixel arrangements that increase the active region area. For example, a light emitting layer confinement region (formed by a surface region of different surface energy), such as the confinement structure for forming a confinement well at the pixel / sub-pixel level, is a different pixel in which the inactive portion of each pixel is reduced. It may be formed to include a region that spans a plurality of sub-pixels associated with. For example, a light emitting layer confinement region can be formed over a plurality of individually addressed sub-pixel electrodes, each sub-pixel electrode can be associated with a variety of pixels. By increasing the area of the formed emission layer confinement area, the fill factor can be maximized since the ratio of the active area to the total pixel area is increased. Achieving this increase in fill factor not only enables high resolution on smaller sized displays, but can also improve the life of the display.

Further, as described above according to the various pixel arrangements described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 12-19, embodiments using the light emitting layer confinement regions with such pixel layout arrangements can extend the life of the device. For example, the sub-pixel electrode size can be based on the wavelength emission of the corresponding organic light emitting layer. For example, a sub-pixel electrode associated with blue light emission may be larger than a sub-pixel electrode associated with red or green light emission. The organic layer associated with blue light emission in the OLED device may have a shorter lifetime compared to the organic layer associated with red or green light emission. In addition, operating the OLED device to achieve a lower brightness level increases the life of the device. Relative brightness is achieved by increasing the emission area of the blue sub-pixel relative to the red and green sub-pixel, as well as driving the red and green sub-pixel to achieve higher brightness than the blue sub-pixel Driving a blue sub-pixel to do so can provide a better balance of the lifetime of sub-pixels of different colors, while providing proper and overall color balance of the display. This improved balance of life can improve the overall life of the display by extending the life of the blue pixel.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that alternative forms of extending the lifetime of different sub-pixels other than blue are possible. For example, a red sub-pixel can have a larger area than other sub-pixels to extend the life of the red sub-pixel. Alternatively, the green sub-pixel may have a larger area than other sub-pixels to extend the life of the green sub-pixel. In addition, this form can be applied to OLED displays, including confinement structures for forming confinement wells, as well as OLED displays using liquid-friendly regions and liquid rejection regions to form confinement regions.

Referring now to FIGS. 22-39, exemplary steps for manufacturing an OLED display and an OLED display 1900 are shown. Although manufacturing steps are discussed with respect to display 1900, some and / or all steps described herein are used to manufacture other OLED displays, such as OLED displays 1500 and 1600 described with reference to FIGS. 20 and 21. Can also be used for The OLED display 1900 is shown in the top view of FIG. 22, and as shown in the cross-sectional view along line 23-23dmf of FIG. 22 shown in FIG. 23, the substrate 1902, confinement structure 1904, and a plurality of electrodes ( 1906).

The substrate 1902 may include an active region 1908 and an inactive region 1910 formed by regions including electrodes 1906 (the borders illustrated by hatching in FIGS. 22 and 23). The substrate 1902 can be a rigid or flexible, almost planar structure, and can include one or more layers of one or more materials. The substrate 1902 may include, for example, glass, polymer, metal, ceramic, or a combination thereof.

Confinement structures 1904 (eg, banks) may be disposed on substrate 1902 so that confinement structures 1904 form a single active-area display well W. The confinement structure 1904 can be formed of a variety of materials, such as photoresist materials, such as photoimageable polymers or photosensitive silicon dielectrics. The confinement structure 1904 is substantially inert to the corrosive action of the OLED ink after processing, has low outgassing, has a shallow (eg <25 degrees) sidewall slope at the edge of the confinement well, and / or Containment wells may contain one or more organic components that may have phobicity to one or more of the OLED inks to be deposited, and may be selected based on the desired application. Non-limiting examples of suitable materials include PMMA (poly-methylmethacrylate), PMGI (poly-methylglutarimide), DNQ-Novolac (different phenol formaldehyde resins and chemical diazoneapitoquinones) (in combination with diazonaphithoquinone), SU-8 resist (a widely used commercially available epoxy-based resist manufactured by MicroChem Corp.), fluorinated modification of conventional photoresists and / or the aforementioned materials listed herein. Any of the above, and organo-silicone resists, each of which can be further combined with one another or with one or more additives to further tune the desired properties of the confinement structure 1904.

In addition, the confinement structure 1904 assists the loading and drying process of the active OLED material (via appropriate geometry and surface chemistry), allowing continuous and uniform within the region of the well W bounded by the confinement structure 1904. One layer can be formed. The confinement structure 1904 may be a single structure, or may be included in a plurality of separate structures forming the confinement structure 1904. The confinement structure 1904 can have any cross-section. Further, the confinement structure 1904 is shown in FIG. 22 and has a lateral edge perpendicular to the substrate 1902, but the confinement structure 1904 is angular and / or rounded with respect to the surface of the substrate 1902 Alternatively.

The confinement structure 1904 can be used in a variety of manufacturing methods, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, spray coating, screen printing, vacuum thermal evaporation deposition, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition. Etc., and any one. Any additional patterning that is not otherwise obtained during the deposition technique is shadow masking, one or more photolithography steps (e.g. photoresist coating, exposure, development, and stripping), wet etching, dry etching, lift- It can be obtained by an off process or the like.

The confinement structure 1904 forming the active-area display well W can trap the active OLED material deposited on the substrate 1902. For example, the confinement structure 1904 can be disposed on the inactive portion 1910 of the substrate 1902 and surround the active region 1908. In various exemplary embodiments, the confinement structure 1904 may be located outside the active area by a distance D, for example, as shown in FIGS. 22-23. D can be determined based on the edge drying effect and can be selected to minimize undesirable visible artifacts in the active region 1908 of the substrate 1902. For example, the confinement structure 1904 is positioned sufficiently away from any electrode 1906 to prevent any edge dry non-uniformity from contributing to the observed luminescence from the pixel, and during the manufacturing process, deposit active OLED material in the well It can reduce the loading precision required to do so. At the same time, it is desirable to minimize the width of the inactive area outside the display area, and to minimize the width within the area provided for making an external electrical connection to the display. Minimizing the width of the inactive area provides closer packaging of multiple displays on a single substrate sheet, thereby increasing manufacturing efficiency. In addition, by reducing wasted space in a smaller finished display product, it is possible to reduce the width outside the bezel of the display, which is more desirable.

In an exemplary embodiment, D may range from about 10 μm to about 500 μm, such as D about 50 μm. The confinement structure 1904 may have a width B in the range of about 10 μm to 5 mm, where B may be about 20 μm. In addition, the confinement structure 1904 may have a height T in the range of about 0.3 μm to about 10 μm, where the height may be about 1.5 μm.

A plurality of electrodes 1906 are provided on the substrate 1902 in the active region 1908 so that when the electrode 1906 is selectively driven, light is emitted to produce an image displayed to the user. Electrodes 1906 are arranged to form a pixel array such that each electrode 1906 is a different sub, such as a sub-pixel associated with red light emission, a sub-pixel associated with green light emission, a sub-pixel associated with blue light emission, and the like. -Can be associated with a pixel. Alternatively, each electrode 1906 can be associated with a pixel comprising a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel and a blue sub-pixel. The electrode 1906 can have any shape, arrangement and / or shape. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the electrode 1906 may be square. Alternatively, the electrode 1906 may have a rectangular shape, a circular shape, an angled shape, a hexagonal shape, an asymmetrical shape, an irregularly curved shape, or a combination thereof. The electrode 1906 may have a substantially planar top surface and a profile parallel to the main surface of the substrate, while the side edges of the electrode may be perpendicular or angled and / or circular to the surface of the substrate 1902. have.

The electrode 1906 can be transparent or reflective and can be formed of a conductive material, such as a metal, mixed metal, alloy, metal oxide, mixed oxide, or combinations thereof. For example, in various exemplary embodiments, the electrode can be made of indium-tin-oxide manganese silver, or aluminum.

Electrodes 1906 may be formed using any fabrication method, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, vacuum thermal evaporation deposition, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition, etc. You can. By using shadow masking, photolithography (photoresist coating, exposure, development, and peeling), wet etching, dry etching, lift-off, etc., any additional patterning that is not otherwise included in the deposition technique can be achieved.

Pixels may be formed based on the pitch of the electrode 1906. The pitch of the electrodes can be based on the resolution of the display. For example, the smaller the pitch, the higher the display resolution. Pixels can be selected to have any type of arrangement, such as symmetrical or asymmetrical, to reduce undesirable visible artifacts and enhance image blending to produce a continuous image.

Although omitted for clarity and convenience of description, additional electrical elements, circuitry, and / or conductive members may be disposed on the substrate 1902. Electrical elements, circuitry and / or conductive members may include, but are not limited to, interconnects, bus lines, transistors, and other circuits familiar to those skilled in the art. Electrical elements, circuitry, and / or conductive members are coupled to each electrode 1906, such that each electrode can be selectively addressed independent of the other electrode. For example, a thin film transistor (TFT) (not shown) can be formed on the substrate 1902 before and / or after depositing any other structures, such as confinement structures 1904 and / or electrodes 1906. . As discussed below, the active OLED layer can be deposited over any electrical element, network, and / or conductive member disposed within the active region 1908 of the substrate 1902.

As shown in FIG. 24, after the electrode 1906 and other circuitry (not shown) including TFTs are deposited, the first hole conductive material 1911 is activated formed by the confinement structure 1904. It can be deposited in the area display well W. The first hole conductive material 1911 can be deposited as one or more layers of material that facilitates injection of holes into the organic light emitting layer. For example, the first hole conductive material 1911 can be deposited as a layer of a hole conductive material, such as a hole injection material. Alternatively, the hole conducting material 1911 is a plurality of different hole injection materials, such as at least one hole injection material, such as poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene: poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT: PSS). It can be deposited as a hole conducting material.

The first hole conductive material 1911 can be deposited using inkjet printing. For example, the inkjet nozzle 1914 can guide a plurality of droplets 1916 of a fluid composition comprising a hole conducting material in the active-area display well W. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that although a single nozzle is shown in FIG. 24, multiple nozzles may be implemented to simultaneously deposit multiple droplets of hole conducting material into the active-area display well W.

The first hole conductive material 1911 can be mixed with the carrier fluid to form an inkjet composition formulated to provide reliable, uniform loading in the active-area display well W. Droplets for loading the first hole conductive material 1911 can be transferred from the inkjet head nozzle to the substrate at high speed. The droplets 1916 forming the first hole conductive layer, as shown in FIG. 24, are wells W from all respective inkjet nozzles to merge to create a continuous layer with a substantially uniform thickness. Can be deposited within. The first hole conductive material 1911 is deposited, such that a height equal to or smaller than the confinement structure 1904 may be used, but the height of the material may be greater than the height of the confinement structure 1904 prior to drying and / or baking. have.

As shown in FIG. 25, after the hole conducting material has been loaded into the active-region display well W, the display 1900 can be processed to form a first hole conducting layer 1912. For example, the display 1900 can be processed to allow any carrier fluid to evaporate from the first hole conductive material 1911, such as through a drying process. The process can include exposing the substrate 1902 to the surrounding environment during heat, vacuum, and / or cycle times. After drying, the substrate 1902 can be baked at elevated temperatures, for example, for handling the deposited film material for the overall process or to introduce a chemical reaction or change into the film morphology that is beneficial to the quality of the deposited film. .

The first hole conducting layer 1912 can be substantially continuous within the entire active-region display well W, so that the layer 1912 has all surface features in the active-region display well W (eg, electrodes ( 1906, a network (not shown), etc., and the edge of the layer 1912 may contact the confinement structure 1904 surrounding the active-area display well W. Although layer 1912 is shown to have a planar top, hole conductive layer 1912 can alternatively follow the topography of the underlying surface features, such as electrode 1906 and any network (not shown), , The deposited layer can produce a non-planar top associated with the underlying surface features in a manner similar to that described above for the exemplary embodiment of FIGS. 3-11, where the deposited layer conforms to surface topography.

26, a second hole conductive material 1917 can be deposited in the active-region display well W formed by the confinement structure 1904 and over the first hole conductive layer 1912. The second hole conductive material 1917 is N, N'-di-((1-naphthyl) -N, N'-diphenyl) -1,1'-biphenyl) -4,4'-diamine (NPB ).

Like the first hole conductive material 1911, the second hole conductive material 1917 can be deposited using inkjet printing. For example, the inkjet nozzle 1914 can guide a plurality of droplets 1920 of fluid composition comprising a hole conducting material in the active-area display well W. Although one nozzle is shown in FIG. 26, one of ordinary skill in the art can perform multiple nozzles to deposit multiple drops of hole conducting material 1920 simultaneously in the active-region display well W. Further, the inkjet nozzle 1914 is shown to be the same as the inkjet nozzle used to deposit the first hole conductive material 1911, but the inkjet nozzle used to deposit the second hole conductive material 1917 may be different. Therefore, the droplet volume of the droplet 1920 associated with the second hole conductive material 1917 may be the same or different than the droplet volume of the first hole conductive material 1916.

The second hole conductive material 1917 can be mixed with the carrier fluid to form an inkjet composition formulated to provide reliable and uniform loading in the active-area display well W. Droplets for loading the second hole conductive material 1917 can be transferred from the inkjet head nozzle 1914 to the substrate at high speed. The droplets 1929 of the second hole conductive material 1917 are wells W from each and every inkjet nozzle for merging to create a continuous layer with a substantially uniform thickness, as shown in FIG. Can be deposited within. The second hole conductive material 1917 can be deposited such that the height of the material can be greater than the height of the confinement structure 1904 prior to drying and / or baking, but also the same or less height than the confinement structure 1904 Can be used.

As shown in FIG. 27, after the second hole conductive material 1917 is loaded into the active-area display well W, the display 1900 is processed to form a second dried hole conductive layer 1918. can do. For example, the display 1900 can be processed to evaporate any carrier fluid from the second hole conductive material 1917 through a drying process. This process can include exposing the display to heat, vacuum, or atmospheric conditions for a period of time. After drying, the substrate 1902 can be baked at an elevated temperature to treat the deposited material 1917, for example, to introduce a chemical reaction or change into the film morphology that is beneficial to the quality of the deposited film or the overall process. .

The second hole conductive layer 1918 is substantially continuous within the entire active-region display well W, so that the layer 1918 all surface features (eg, electrode 206) within the active-region display well W, A circuit (not shown), overlying the first hole conductive layer 1912, etc., the edge of the layer 1918 can contact the confinement structure 1904 surrounding the active-area display well W.

As illustrated in FIG. 28, the second hole conductive layer 1918 can be processed to modify the surface energy or affinity of a portion of the second hole conductive layer 1918 to form a light emitting layer confinement region. For example, a reaction surface-active material can be applied to the surface of layer 1918. In an exemplary embodiment, the reactive surface-active material may be exposed to radiation from a radiation source 1923 through a mask 1922, where openings (not shown) in the mask are regions of different surface energy in layer 1918 ( For example, it can be used to form liquid-friendly regions and liquid-rejected regions), resulting in a light-emitting layer confinement region. In an alternative embodiment, the layer 1918 may further include a reactive surface-active material, such that the light emitting layer confinement region is formed by exposing the second hole conductive layer 1918 using a radiation source 1923. You can. In an exemplary embodiment, the mask 1922 can be positioned relative to the electrodes 1906 such that each opening in the mask 1922 is aligned based on the width and length of each electrode 1906.

The reactive surface-active (RSA) material can include a composition of at least one radiation-sensitive material. When the RSA material is exposed to radiation, the surface energy or affinity of the relevant layer exposed to radiation can be modified. For example, a portion of the layer 1918 associated with the RSA material exposed to radiation, for at least one physical, chemical and / or electrical property, is not associated with the RSA material or exposed to radiation from the light source 1923 The portion of the layer 1918 exposed to radiation may have a surface energy or affinity different from the surface energy or affinity of the portion of the layer 1918 not exposed to radiation. You can.

The radiation source 1923 can include any radiation source that can be used to modify at least one physical, chemical and / or electrical property in combination with an RSA material. For example, the radiation source 1923 may include an infrared source, a visible light source, an ultraviolet source, and combinations thereof.

The type of radiation used may depend on the sensitivity of the RSA. The exposure can be blanket, overall exposure, or the exposure can be patternwise. The term "patternwise" indicates that only selected portions of a material or layer are exposed. Patternwise exposure can be achieved using any known imaging technique. In one embodiment, the pattern is achieved by exposure through a mask. In one embodiment, the pattern is achieved by exposing only a portion selected with a laser. The exposure time can range from a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on the specific chemistry of the RSA used. When a laser is used, depending on the power of the laser, a much shorter exposure time is used for each individual area. The exposure step can be performed in air or an inert atmosphere, depending on the sensitivity of the material.

In one embodiment, the radiation can be selected from ultraviolet (10-390 nm), visible (390-770 nm), infrared (770-10 ⁶ nm) and combinations thereof, and includes simultaneous treatment and sequencing treatment. In another embodiment, the radiation can be thermal radiation, such as that performed by heating. The temperature and duration for the heating step is altered, without damaging the underlying layer, at least one physical property of the RSA. In an exemplary embodiment, the heating temperature can be 250 ° C and less than 150 ° C.

In an exemplary embodiment, the radiation may be ultraviolet or visible light, which can be applied in a patternwise manner, resulting in an exposed area of RSA and a non-exposed area of RSA. After patternwise exposure to radiation, the first layer can be processed to remove the exposed or unexposed areas of the RSA.

In another exemplary embodiment, exposure of RSA to radiation can result in a change in the solubility or insolubility of RSA in a solvent. For example, if the exposure is performed in a patternwise manner, the wet development process can follow the exposure step. Treatment may include washing one type of area with a solvent that melts, spreads, or lifts off. Patternwise exposure to radiation can lead to insolubility of exposed areas of RSA, and treatment with solvents can result in removal of unexposed areas of RSA.

In another exemplary embodiment, exposure of RSA to visible or UV light can result in a reaction that reduces the volatility of RSA in the exposed area. If the exposure is performed in a patternwise manner, this can follow the thermal development treatment. Such treatment may involve heating to a temperature above the volatilization or sublimation of the unexposed material, and to a temperature below the temperature at which the material is thermally reactive. For example, for a polymerizable monomer, the material can be heated at a temperature above the sublimation temperature and below the thermal polymerization temperature. Note, however, that RSA materials with thermally reactive temperatures close to or below the volatilization temperature cannot be developed in this way.

In another exemplary embodiment, exposure of RSA to radiation can result in changes in the temperature at which the material melts, softens, or flows. If the exposure is performed with a patternwise wise, this can follow the drying development treatment. Dry development treatment may include contacting the outermost surface of the element with the absorbent surface to absorb or wick away softer portions. These drying developments can be performed at elevated temperatures, as long as they do not further affect the properties of the originally unexposed areas.

After the RSA material has been exposed to radiation, the physical properties of the layer 1918 can be modified so that the exposed portion has an increase or decrease in surface energy from the unexposed portion. For example, the exposed portion is a portion of the layer 1918 where the portion of the layer 1918 is somewhat soluble or insoluble in the liquid material, somewhat tacky, somewhat soft, somewhat flowable, somewhat liftable, somewhat absorbable, or a solvent. It may cause a larger or smaller contact angle for the ink, or a larger or smaller liquid-affinity for a specific solvent or ink, and the like. Any physical properties of layer 1918 can be affected.

The RSA material can include one or more radiation-sensitive materials. For example, RSA materials can include olefins, acrylates, methacrylates, vinyl ethers, polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, polyketones, polysulfones, copolymers thereof, and mixtures thereof. The RSA material may further include two or more polymerizable groups. When the RSA material contains two or more polymerizable groups, crosslinking can result.

In an exemplary embodiment, the RSA material can include at least one reactive material and at least one radiation-sensitive material, wherein the radiation-sensitive material is an active species that initiates a reaction of the reactive material when exposed to radiation. Can be created. Examples of radiation-sensing materials may include, but are not limited to, free radicals, acids, or combinations thereof. In one embodiment, the reactive material may be polymerizable or crosslinkable. Material polymerization or crosslinking reactions are initiated or catalyzed by active species. The radiation-sensing characterization is present in an amount of 0.001% to 10.0% based on the total weight of the RSA material.

In an exemplary embodiment, the reactive material of the RSA material can be an ethylenically unsaturated compound, and the radiation-sensing material of the RSA dye can produce free radicals when exposed to radiation. The ethylenically unsaturated compound may include, but is not limited to, acrylate, methacrylate, vinyl compound, and combinations thereof. Any known class of radiation-sensitive materials that generate free radicals can be used. For example, quinone, benzophenone, benzoin ether, acrylic ketone, peroxide, biimidazole, benzyl dimethyl ketal, hardoxyl alkyl phenyl acetophon, dialkoxy actophenone, trimethylbenzoyl phosphine oxide derivative, aminoketone, Benzoyl cyclohexanol, methyl thio phenyl morpholino ketone, morpholino phenyl amino ketone, alpha halogenoacetophenone, oxysulfonyl ketone, sulfonyl ketone, oxysulfonyl ketone, sulfonyl ketone, benzoyl oxime ester, Thioxanthrone, campoquinone, ketocoumarin and the ketones of Micler. Alternatively, the radiation-sensitive material can be a mixture of compounds, one of which is to provide free radicals when so caused by a radiation-activated sensitizer. In one embodiment, the radiation sensing material may be visible or visible.

In an exemplary embodiment, the reactive material may undergo polymerization initiated by an acid, where exposing the radiation-sensitive material to radiation produces an acid. Examples of such reactive materials include, but are not limited to oxides. Examples of radiation-sensitive substances that produce acids include, but are not limited to, iodonium salts such as sulfonium and diphenyliodonium hexafluorophosphate. In an alternative embodiment, the reactive material can include a phenolic resin, and the radiation-sensitive material can be diazonaptoquinone.

The RSA material may further include a fluorinated material. For example, RSA materials can include unsaturated materials having one or more fluoroalkyl groups, such as fluorinated acrylates, fluorinated esters or fluorinated olefin monomers. In an exemplary embodiment, the fluoroalkyl group has 2-20 carbon atoms.

FIG. 29 shows the liquid-friendly region 1924 and the liquid-reject region 1926 formed after the radiation source 1923 removes the RSA-treated second hole conductive layer 1918 through the mask 1922. FIG. 30 is an exemplary cross-sectional view of the enlarged portion M shown in FIG. 29, and FIG. 31 is an exemplary plan view of the enlarged portion M shown in FIG. 29. Note that liquid-friendly region 1924 and liquid-reject region 1926 are shown in FIG. 29 to form within the entire thickness of second hole conductive layer 1918. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that regions 1924 and / or 1926 may be formed only on a portion of layer 1918, such as on top of layer 1918.

In an exemplary embodiment, liquid-friendly region 1924 may be formed between liquid-rejection region 1926. The liquid-rejection region can have a width between liquid-friendly regions ranging from about 3 μm to greater than 100 μm. The liquid-affinity region 1924 can be formed such that the liquid-affinity region 1924 has a slightly larger surface area than the surface area of each electrode 1906, and the liquid-affinity formed outside the active region of the electrode 1906. A portion of region 1924 provides a liquid-friendly region margin 1902. For example, as shown in FIGS. 30 and 31, in consideration of the drying effect associated with the formation of a liquid-friendly region 1924 to deposit an organic light-emitting material, the liquid-friendly region 1924 is a liquid-friendly region An organic light emitting material can be trapped in 1924. Each liquid-friendly region 1924 is a region 1928 associated with the active region of the electrode 1906 (indicated by hatched in FIG. 30) and a liquid-friendly region margin 1930 disposed outside the active region of the electrode 1906. ) (If present). When the organic light emitting material is deposited on the second hole conductive layer 1918, the organic light emitting material can be substantially confined within the region 1928 and the liquid-friendly region margin 1930 of each liquid-friendly region 1924. have. For example, once the organic light-emitting material is processed (eg, dried), non-uniformities can be created at the edge of each organic light-emitting layer, such that the non-uniformity is confined within the liquid-friendly region margin 1930. In other words, when the organic light emitting material is processed, a portion of the material in the region 1928 of the liquid-friendly region 1924 can have a non-uniform top surface, reducing perceived visible artifacts. Liquid-friendly regions 1924 can be formed such that the distance that any non-uniform edges are outside of the active region of electrode 1906 is based on the edge drying effect. Also, this edge drying effect can be considered when forming the shape of the liquid-friendly region. For example, in various embodiments (not shown), the organic luminescent material may result in a rounded edge rather than the sharp corners schematically illustrated in the drawings, thereby providing a more uniformly dried film. Further, the liquid-friendly region 1924 can be flexibly configured based on the organic light emitting material and the drying effect associated with each material. In various exemplary embodiments, the liquid-friendly area margin 1930 (less than about 20 μm or less, or about 10 μm or less, or about 3 μm or less, or about 3 μm or less) has an minimal effect of the edge drying effect on the light emitting area. Provided). Increasing the size of the liquid-friendly region relative to the luminescent region can also help compensate for misalignment in the patternwise radiation exposure process. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, the patternwise radiation exposure process can have an alignment accuracy of about 2 μm. Therefore, the increased size of the liquid affinity region can occupy a possible misalignment of about plus or minus 2 μm for the underlying light emitting region.

As discussed above, the electrodes 1906 can have different shapes, arrangements, and / or shapes. For example, an electrode associated with blue light emission may be larger than an electrode associated with red or green light emission, because the organic light emitting layer associated with blue light emission in an OLED device typically has a shorter lifetime compared to the organic light emitting layer associated with blue light emission. Because it has. Also, operating the OLED device to achieve a reduced brightness level increases the life of the device. For the electrodes associated with red and green luminescence, by increasing the luminous area of the electrodes associated with blue luminescence, the electrodes associated with blue luminescence can be driven to achieve less brightness than the erection of the electrodes associated with red and green luminescence. , Creating a better balance across different organic light emitting material lifetimes, as well as providing an adequate overall color balance of the display. This improved balance of lifespan further improves the overall lifespan of the display, because the lifespan of organic light emission associated with blue light emission can be extended. Further, the liquid-friendly region may correspond to different shapes, arrangements and / or shapes of the electrodes 1906. For example, in another exemplary embodiment showing a view similar to FIG. 31, FIG. 32 shows that the liquid-friendly regions 1924r, 1924g, 1924b can be associated with each electrode of a different shape, such that the liquid-friendly region (1924r) is associated with the electrode used to achieve red light emission, the liquid-friendly region 1924g is associated with the electrode used to achieve green emission, and the liquid-friendly region 1924b is used to achieve blue emission Electrode.

In the alternative embodiment shown in FIG. 33, which is an exemplary embodiment of the enlarged portion M shown in FIG. 29, a pixel forming layer 1838 can be deposited after electrode 1906 is deposited on substrate 1902. have. A pixel forming layer 1838 may be deposited over a portion of the electrode 1906, and a liquid-friendly region 1924 may allow the liquid-friendly region margin 1930 to overlay at least a portion of the pixel forming layer 1838. Can be formed. Pixel forming layer 1838 may be any physical structure used to describe pixels in a pixel array of active area 1908 of display 1900. The pixel forming layer 1838 can be made of an electrically resistive material such that the forming layer 1838 blocks current flow, thereby reducing unwanted visible artifacts by substantially blocking light emission through the edge of the electrode 1906. You can. In an exemplary embodiment, the pixel forming layer 1838 may have a thickness in the range of about 50 nm to about 1500 nm.

As shown in FIG. 34, an organic light emitting material 1932 can be deposited in the active-region display well W formed by the confinement structure 1904. For example, the organic light emitting material 1932 may be deposited using inkjet printing over a patterned light emitting layer confinement region in the second hole conductive layer 1918. The inkjet nozzle 1914 can guide droplets 1934 of ink containing organic luminescent material over the liquid-friendly region 1924, such as through relative scanning motion of the nozzle 1914 and / or substrate 1902. have. Droplets 1934 of the organic light emitting material can spread uniformly within the liquid-friendly region, so that the material is fixed to the edge of the liquid-friendly region 1924 (eg, within the liquid-friendly region margin 1930). One skilled in the art will recognize that although one nozzle is shown and discussed with reference to FIG. 34, multiple nozzles may be implemented to provide an ink comprising an organic light emitting material. Inks comprising the same or different organic luminescent materials associated with different luminescent colors can be deposited from a plurality of inkjet nozzle heads simultaneously or sequentially.

The deposited organic light-emitting material 1932 may include materials for facilitating light emission, such as organic electroluminescent materials associated with red, green, and / or blue light emission. However, organic electro luminescence associated with other luminous colors such as organic luminescence materials associated with yellow and / or white luminescence may also be used.

The organic luminescence material can be mixed with the carrier fluid to form an inkjet ink formulated to provide reliable and uniform loading in the liquid-friendly region 1924. The ink deposited to produce the organic light emitting material 1932 can be delivered from the inkjet nozzle 1914 to the liquid-friendly region 1924 at high speed.

The organic light emitting substance 1932 may be generally included in the surface area formed by the liquid-friendly region 1924. For example, the organic light emitting material 1932 can be loaded onto the substrate 1902 by depositing droplets 1934 of ink in the liquid-friendly region 1924. Due to the surface energy characteristics of the liquid-affinity region 1924, droplets of the organic light-emitting material 1932 can spread evenly within the liquid-affinity region 1924, and will be fixed at the edges within the liquid-affinity region margin 1930. You can.

It is contemplated that in various exemplary embodiments, a plurality of ink droplets 1934 having a volume of about 10 pL or less can be used to deposit the organic light emitting material 1932. In various exemplary embodiments, ink droplet volumes of about 5 pL or less, about 3 pL or less, or about 2 pL or less may be used. By using the patterned liquid-friendly region 1924 and liquid-rejection region 1926 according to the present disclosure, Relatively larger droplet volume sizes consistent with existing inkjet nozzle technology can be used. In addition, there is an additional margin for drop position accuracy created due to the liquid-friendly region margin 1930.

After the ink 1934 has been loaded on the liquid-friendly region 1924, the display 1900 is processed to allow the carrier fluid to evaporate as shown in FIG. 35, thereby causing the organic light emitting layer 1933 to be evaporated. To create. The drying process may include exposing the display to heat, vacuum, or atmospheric conditions for a period of time. After drying, the display can be baked to an elevated temperature to process the deposited film material, e.g., to induce a chemical reaction or change in film shape that is beneficial to the quality or overall process of the deposited film. During the drying and / or baking process, edge deformations in the organic light emitting layer 1933 may be included in the liquid-friendly region margin 1930 as described and discussed with respect to FIGS. 30 and 31.

As shown in FIG. 36, the second electrode layer 1936 may be subsequently deposited in the active-region display well W formed by the confinement structure 1904 over the dried organic light-emitting layer 1933. In an alternative embodiment, the second electrode layer 1936 can further extend beyond the confinement structure 1904. For example, the second electrode layer 1936 is in contact with an external conductive path (not shown) disposed on the substrate 1902, so that the current carried by the second electrode layer 1936 can be fed or drained. have. The second electrode layer 1936 can be formed of a transparent or reflective and conductive material, such as metal, mixed metal, alloy, metal oxide, mixed oxide, or combinations thereof. For example, the second electrode layer 1936 may be indium tin oxide or manganese silver. Although a single layer is shown in FIG. 36, the second electrode layer 1936 can include any shape, arrangement and / or shape, including a plurality of conductive layers. In one exemplary embodiment, the second electrode layer 1936 can be formed using a blanket technique such that the electrode 1936 results in a single electrode over the entire active area 1908 of the display 1900 ( See Figures 22 and 23). In an alternative embodiment, the second electrode layer 1936 includes a plurality of electrodes, one second electrode being associated (eg, overlayed) with each electrode 1906. Also, although a second electrode layer 1936 with a planar top is shown in FIG. 36, the second electrode layer 1936 can be deposited to reflect the underlying topography where the layer 1936 results in a non-planar top. have.

The second electrode layer 1936 may be made using any manufacturing method, such as inkjet printing, nozzle printing, slit coating, spin coating, vacuum thermal evaporation deposition, sputtering (or other physical vapor deposition methods), chemical vapor deposition, etc. Can be formed. By using shadow masking, photolithography (photoresist coating, exposure, development, and peeling), wet etching, dry etching, lift-off, etc., any additional patterning that is not otherwise included in the deposition technique can be achieved.

When the second electrode layer 1936 is a continuous layer that spans the active-area display well W, the layer 1936 can blanket the topography formed by the previously disposed layer. For example, the second electrode layer 1936 is an organic light emitting layer formed over the liquid-friendly region 1924 of the second hole conductive layer 1918 and the second hole conductive layer 1918 in the liquid-rejection region 1926. (1933).

An additional OLED layer can be deposited over the organic light emitting layer 1933, prior to providing the second electrode layer 1936, for example, an additional OLED layer can be an electron transport layer, electron injection layer, hole blocking layer, moisture resistant It may include a layer and / or a protective layer. These additional OLED layers can be deposited by various techniques known to those skilled in the art by inkjet printing, vacuum thermal evaporation or another method.

In an alternative exemplary embodiment, the display 1900 has one hole conductivity shown in FIG. 37 rather than the first hole conductivity layer 1912 and the second hole conductivity layer 1918 shown for the example of FIG. 28. Layer 1913 may be included. Liquid-friendly region 1924 is formed in one hole conductive layer 1913, so that liquid-friendly region margin 1930 is formed within a portion of one hole conductive layer 1913 outside the active region of electrode 1906 Can be. The hole conducting layer 1913 may include one or more hole conducting materials. For example, the hole conductive layer 1913 may include a hole injection material and / or a hole transport layer.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 37, the hole conductive layer 1913 and the second electrode layer 1936 conform to the underlying topography, so that the hole conductive layer 1913 and / or the second electrode layer 1936 The top can be non-planar. For example, the deposited OLED layer can result in surface topography not lying on one plane parallel across the substrate and the entire active-area display well W. For example, one or both of the layers 1913, 1936 are non-planar and discontinuous in one plane of the display because of the relative recesses or protrusions associated with any surface feature that includes electrodes disposed on the substrate 1902. It may be an enemy (here, the plane of the display is intended to be a plane parallel to the substrate 1902). As shown, the layers 1913 and 1936 are sufficiently compliant with the underlying surface feature topography, such that the top of the OLED layer can have a resulting topography that follows the topography of the underlying surface features. In other words, each deposited OLED layer conforms to all underlying layers and / or surface features disposed on the substrate 1902, such that the underlying layers are non-planar top topography of the OLED layer after they are deposited. Contributes to. As such, in the plane spanning the active-area display well parallel to the plane of the display, discontinuities in the layer (1913 or 1936 or both) are provided within the active-area display well, from electrodes, networks, pixel forming layers, etc. Together with the surface features, it can occur as a layer (s) rise and / or fall relative to the plane. Although the layers 1913 and / or 1936 do not fully conform to the underlying surface topography (eg, as described above, there may be partial non-uniformity in thickness around the edge area, etc.), but a significant build-up of the material A sufficiently adaptive coating with no or depletion can promote a more uniform, constant and repeatable coating. One of ordinary skill in the art applies the same considerations described above to a hole conducting layer that includes both a hole injection layer and a hole transport layer, such that these layers are fully compliant with the underlying surface feature topography, and each layer It will be appreciated that the top of the can have the resulting topography following the topography of the underlying surface features.

In various embodiments, the confinement structure 1904 can be omitted, and instead, an ink formulation and printing process is designed such that a liquid-reject area is formed in an area outside the active area of the display and deposited in an inactive area of the display. Make it possible to reject any fluid. For example, as shown in FIGS. 38 and 39, the first hole conductive layer 1912 and the second hole conductive layer 1918 are substrates within the electrode 1906 and the inactive region 1910 of the display 1900. It can be deposited on a portion of (1902). In an exemplary embodiment, the layers 1912 and 1918 may be blankets coated over the entire substrate. The second hole conductive layer 1918 can be processed to modify the surface energy or affinity of a portion of the second hole conductive layer 1918 to form a light emitting layer confinement region. In addition, the liquid-rejection portion 1925 in the inactive region 1910 of the display can form a confinement region CA, where the liquid-rejection portion 1925 can surround the active region 1908. As described above, the radiation source 1926 may provide radiation through the mask 1922 that affects the surface of the second hole conductive layer 1918 treated with RSA material. Radiation from radiation source 1926 can modify at least one property of the RSA material to form liquid-friendly region 1924. Liquid-rejection portions 1925 may have surface energy resulting in liquid-rejection regions in these portions. In this embodiment, there is no confinement structure around the perimeter of the entire active area of the display (e.g., there is no active-area display well) to include the active area of the display and to confine all printed layers in the area around it. There are no structures. This can provide a definite process simplification and, at the same time, potentially requires subsequent additional process steps to remove at least a portion of the material from the inactive display area. The organic light emitting material 1932 may be deposited in the liquid-friendly region 1924. In addition, organic light emitting material 1932 can be substantially confined within active area 1908 of display 1900 because of liquid-rejection portion 1925.

FIG. 40 is a cross-sectional view of the enlarged portion shown in FIG. 39 and shows a liquid-friendly region 1924 including a portion 1928 and a liquid-friendly margin region 1930 associated with the active region of the electrode 1906. . The liquid-rejection portion 1925 of the second hole conductive layer may be spaced apart from the liquid-friendly margin region 1930 associated with each electrode 1906 in the active region 1908 adjacent to the inactive region 1910. The liquid-reject portion 1925 can prevent the organic light-emitting material from migrating to the bar-active portion 1910 of the display 1900.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the OLED devices of FIGS. 22-40 may have a top emissive configuration or a bottom emissive configuration. For example, in the upper emission form, the plurality of electrodes 1906 illustrated in FIGS. 22-40 may be reflective electrodes, and the second electrode layers 1936 illustrated in FIGS. 36 and 37 may be transparent electrodes. . Alternatively, in the lower emission form, the plurality of electrodes 1906 may be transparent, and the second electrode layer 1936 may be reflective.

In another exemplary embodiment, the OLED display of FIGS. 22-40 can be a ridge-matrix OLED (AMOLED). AMOLED displays improve display performance when compared to passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED) displays, but rely on active driving circuits on the substrate, such as thin film transistors (TFTs), and such circuits are not transparent. While PMOLED displays have some elements that are not transparent, such as conductive bus lines, AMOLED displays have substantially more opaque elements. Therefore, in the case of the bottom emission AMOLED display, the fill factor can be reduced compared to PMOLED because light can be emitted only between opaque circuit elements through the bottom of the substrate. For this reason, it may be desirable to use such a configuration, since the LED element can be constructed on top of this opaque active circuit element using the top emission form for the AMOLED display, without concern about the opacity of the underlying element. , Light may be emitted through the upper portion of the OLED element. In general, by using an upper light emitting structure, light emission is not blocked by additional opaque elements (eg, TFT, driving circuit components, etc.) deposited on the substrate 1902, so that each pixel of the display 1900 is not blocked. The fill factor can be increased. However, the present disclosure is not limited to the top emitting active-matrix OLED form. The techniques and arrangements discussed herein can be used in other types of displays, such as bottom-emitting and / or passive displays, as well as those skilled in the art to understand how to make them using appropriate modifications.

The various aspects described above with reference to FIGS. 22-40 can be used in various pixel and sub-pixel layouts according to the present disclosure. One exemplary layout contemplated by this disclosure is shown in FIG. 41.

In an exemplary embodiment, the light emitting layer confinement region can be formed to include an area spanning a plurality of sub-pixels, so that the inactive portion of the pixel is reduced. For example, as shown in FIG. 41, a light emitting layer confinement region can be formed over a plurality of individually addressed sub-pixel electrodes, where each sub-pixel electrode can be associated with a different pixel. . By increasing the area of the light emitting layer confinement structure, the fill factor can be maximized because the ratio of the active area to the total pixel area increases. Achieving this increase in fill factor enables high resolution on smaller sized displays, and can also increase the life of the display.

41 shows a partial plan view of a display 2000 including a plurality of pixels, formed by dotted borders 2050, 2051, 2052 when selectively emitting light capable of generating an image to be displayed to a user. In a full color display, pixels 2050, 2051, 2052 may include a plurality of sub-pixels of different colors. For example, the pixel 2050 may include a red sub-pixel R, a green sub-pixel G, and a blue sub-pixel B. The emission layer confinement regions 2034, 2036, and 2038 may be formed in the second hole conductive layer 2026, and the emission layer confinement region 2034 may be associated with organic light emitting materials having divergence within a red wavelength range, The emission layer confinement region 2036 may be associated with an organic emission material having a divergence within the green wavelength range, and the emission layer confinement region 2036 may be associated with an organic emission material having a divergence within the blue wavelength range. Each light emitting layer confinement region 2034, 2036, 2038 may be associated with a plurality of electrodes (2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024). By configuring the light emitting layer confinement regions 2034, 2036, and 2038 associated with a plurality of electrodes, the overall fill factor of the display 2000 can be improved, for example, to a high resolution display.

The exemplary layout of FIG. 41 is not intended to be limiting, but it is intended that there are several ways to implement the present disclosure. In many cases, the specific choice of a particular layout includes factors such as the underlying layout of the electrical network, rectangular, angled, circular, hexagonal, triangular, and the like, and factors related to the visual appearance of the display (e.g., different shapes and It can be driven by constraints on the visible artifacts that can be observed for different types of display content, such as text, graphics, or video. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various other layouts are within the scope of this disclosure and that modifications can be obtained based on the principles described herein. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art, for brevity, the light emitting layer confinement region is described in the description of the exemplary layout of FIG. 41, but with reference to electrodes, surface features, circuitry, pixel forming layers, and FIGS. 22-40 It will be appreciated that any feature, including other layouts described, can be used in combination with any pixel layout herein.

Using various aspects according to example embodiments of the present disclosure, some example dimensions and parameters may be useful to achieve a high resolution OLED display with increased fill factor. Tables 9-11 include predictive and non-limiting examples according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure associated with OLED displays with a resolution of 326 ppi, Table 9 describes sub-pixels associated with red light emission, Table 10 Describes the sub-pixels associated with green emission, and Table 11 describes the sub-pixels associated with blue emission. Tables 12-14 include conventional dimensions and parameters, as well as predictive and non-limiting examples according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure associated with a display with a resolution of 440 ppi, Table 12 with red light emission Describe the associated sub-pixels, Table 13 describes the sub-pixels associated with green light emission, and Table 14 describes the sub-pixels associated with blue light emission.

Sub-pixel associated with red light emission on a display with a resolution of 326 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) The area of the emission confinement area (µm ² ) The light emission shown in FIG. 42 sub-pixel associated with the layer confinement area 31.5 31.5 989.5 Sub-pixel associated with the light-emitting layer forming structure shown in Fig. 42 with the forming layer shown in Fig. 34 28.5 28.5 809.8

Sub-pixels associated with green light emission on displays with a resolution of 326 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) The area of the emission confinement area (µm ² ) The light emission shown in FIG. 42 sub-pixel associated with the layer confinement area 31.5 31.5 989.5 Sub-pixel associated with the light-emitting layer forming structure shown in Fig. 42 with the forming layer shown in Fig. 34 28.5 28.5 809.8

Sub-pixel associated with blue light emission on a display with a resolution of 326 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) The area of the emission confinement area (µm ² ) The light emission shown in FIG. 42 sub-pixel associated with the layer confinement area 30.0 65.9 1979.1 Sub-pixel associated with the light-emitting layer forming structure shown in Fig. 42 with the forming layer shown in Fig. 34 27.0 59.9 1619.6

Sub-pixel associated with red light emission on a display with a resolution of 440 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) The area of the emission confinement area (µm ² ) The light emission shown in FIG. 42 sub-pixel associated with the layer confinement area 21.4 21.4 456.4 Sub-pixel associated with the light-emitting layer forming structure shown in Fig. 42 with the forming layer shown in Fig. 34 18.4 18.4 337.2

Sub-pixel associated with red light emission on a display with a resolution of 440 ppi Sub-pixel length (㎛) Sub-pixel width (㎛) The area of the emission confinement area (µm ² ) The light emission shown in FIG. 42 sub-pixel associated with the layer confinement area 21.4 21.4 456.4 Sub-pixel associated with the light-emitting layer forming structure shown in Fig. 42 with the forming layer shown in Fig. 34 18.4 18.4 337.2

The embodiments disclosed herein can be used to obtain high resolution in any OLED display. Therefore, it can be applied to various electronic display devices. Some non-limiting examples of such electronic display devices include television displays, video cameras, digital cameras, head mounted displays, vehicle navigation systems, audio systems including displays, laptop personal computers, digital gaming equipment, portable information terminals (eg, Tablets, mobile computers, mobile phones, mobile gaming equipment or e-books), and image playback devices provided with recording media. Exemplary embodiments of both types of electronic display devices are shown in FIGS. 20 and 21. 20 shows a television monitor and / or a monitor of a desktop personal computer, including any of the OLED displays according to the present invention. The monitor 1500 may include a frame 1502, a support 1504, and a display portion 1506. The OLED display embodiments disclosed herein can be used as the display portion 1506. The monitor 1500 can be any size display, such as a 55 "or larger display.

21 shows an exemplary embodiment of a mobile device 1600 (eg, a cellular phone, tablet, personal data aid, etc.) comprising any of the OLED displays according to the present invention. The mobile device 1600 can include a body 1062, a display portion 1604, and an operation switch 1606. The OLED display embodiments disclosed herein can be used as the display portion 1604.

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that FIGS. 1-43 are schematic and should only be considered expressly. For example, various constraining structures 1904 and other structures may be shown to have parallel, sharp edges with walls placed perpendicular to the substrate, such structures comprising rounded edges and / or angled walls. It can have any shape. Also, any layer, well and / or confined area may have irregular edges such as rounded, angled, and the like.

Various exemplary embodiments previously described in accordance with the present invention may enable inkjet printing of OLED displays with increased fill factor by increasing the size of the confinement wells loaded with relatively high pixel densities and OLED material droplets, in accordance with the present invention It enables the use of achievable droplet size and achievable inkjet system droplet positioning accuracy. Due to the larger confinement well area, substantially larger inkjet droplet volumes and achievable droplet positioning accuracy, without the need to use excessively small droplet volumes or excessively high droplet positioning accuracy to place forbidden challenges in inkjet device design and printing techniques. Using, a high resolution OLED display can be manufactured. When using confinement structures, confinement wells or confinement areas that span multiple sub-pixels in accordance with the present invention do not implement confinement wells, and droplet size and system drop position errors solve problems in any high resolution display manufactured using conventional inkjet heads. This can be increased significantly, because the droplets will have an overly large volume and will overflow each sub-pixel well and the conventional droplet positioning accuracy, in whole or in part outside the target confinement well, will cause misalignment of the droplets. This is because all will lead to undesirable errors in film deposition and visible defects corresponding to the final display appearance. In many cases the techniques described herein by the ability to obtain high pixel densities with existing drop volume and drop position accuracy, small size displays, such as displays found in smartphones and / or tablets, large size displays, such as , Can be used in the manufacture of relatively high resolution displays for ultra high definition televisions.

In addition, according to an exemplary embodiment, the substantially uniform thickness of the OLED material layer (s) sufficiently conforming to the underlying topography can promote overall OLED display performance and quality, specifically the desired performance in high resolution OLED displays. And quality can be obtained.

One or more of the examples described above can achieve a reduced fill factor. In a conventional pixel arrangement, the fill factor for a display with a resolution of 300-400 ppi has a fill factor of less than 40%, often less than 30%. Alternatively, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can achieve a fill factor of over 40%, in some examples, 60% for a display with a resolution of 300-440 ppi. Exemplary embodiments can be used for any pixel size and arrangement, including pixel arrangement in high resolution displays.

Exemplary embodiments can be used in any size display, more specifically in a small display with high resolution. For example, exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be used in displays having a diagonal size of 3-70 inches and a resolution of greater than 100 ppi, such as greater than 300 ppi.

The various exemplary embodiments described contemplate using inkjet printing techniques, but other manufacturing techniques such as thermal evaporation, organic vapor deposition, organic vapor jet printing, and the various pixel and sub-pixel layouts described herein and The way of making a layout for an OLED display can also be made. In an exemplary embodiment, alternating organic layer patterning can be performed. For example, the patterning method may include shadow masking (with thermal evaporation) and organic vapor jet printing. Specifically, the pixel layout described herein spans a substantial topography within sub-pixel regions where a plurality of sub-pixels of the same color are all grouped together and the deposited OLED film layer is grouped into an inkjet printing application. Although considered, this layout may also have a beneficial alternative application to vacuum thermal evaporation techniques for the deposition of OLED film layers where the patterning step is performed using shadow masking. As described herein, such a layout can improve overall mechanical stability and general feasibility of such shadow masks by providing larger shadow mask holes and increased distance between these holes. Although vacuum thermal evaporation techniques using shadow masks may not be as costly as inkjet techniques, the use of pixel layouts according to the invention and of the coating of the OLED film layer over a substantial topography in grouped sub-pixels associated with the same color. Use also represents a practically important application of the present invention.

Following the present disclosure and various exemplary embodiments described above, according to the present disclosure, using a light emitting layer confinement region, a relatively high pixel density and increased fill factor by reducing the inactive area of the pixel. Inkjet printing of OLED displays can confine inkjet drops of organic light emitting materials by enabling use of conventional inkdrop size and conventional inkjet system drop position accuracy. Due to the confinement area of the emissive layer to be formed, a high resolution OLED display is sufficiently large inkjet, without the need to use too small drop volume or too high drop position accuracy to stop the forbidden challenges in inkjet equipment design and printing technology. It can be manufactured using drop volume and conventional drop position accuracy. The requirements for droplet size and system drop position error will increase significantly in any high resolution display manufactured using conventional inkjet heads. Using conventional drop volume and conventional drop position accuracy, the ability to achieve high pixel densities is achieved by the techniques described herein, such as from small-sized displays found in smartphones and / or tablets, to ultra-high-definition televisions. It can be used in the manufacture of relatively high resolution displays for many applications, such as large size displays. One or more of the embodiments described above can achieve a reduced fill factor when using a conventional pixel arrangement. In a conventional pixel arrangement, the fill factor for a display with a resolution of 300-400 ppi has a fill factor of less than 40%, often less than 30%, due to the confinement well structure contribution to the inactive pixel area. Alternatively, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention can achieve a fill factor of over 40%, in some examples, 60% for a display with a resolution of 300-440 ppi. Exemplary embodiments can be used for any pixel size and arrangement, including pixel arrangement in high resolution displays.

Exemplary embodiments can be used in any size display, more specifically in a small display with high resolution. For example, exemplary embodiments of the present invention may be used in displays having a diagonal size of 3-70 inches and a resolution of greater than 100 ppi, such as greater than 300 ppi.

Although only a few exemplary embodiments have been described in detail, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments within the scope of the present invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are included in the scope defined in the following claims.

Additional aspects are disclosed in the next section.

The first aspect relates to a method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display. The first aspect includes providing a plurality of electrodes on a substrate. The first hole conductive layer may be deposited over a plurality of electrodes on the substrate through inkjet printing. The liquid affinity of the selected surface portion of the first hole conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region. Each light emitting layer confinement region has a portion corresponding to each of the plurality of first electrodes provided on the substrate. The organic light emitting layer may be deposited in each light emitting layer confinement area through inkjet printing.

In a second aspect according to the first aspect, the method may further include depositing a second hole conductive layer between the plurality of electrodes and the first hole conductive layer through inkjet printing.

In a third aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method may further include providing a confinement structure on the substrate surrounding the plurality of electrodes.

In a fourth aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method may further include a plurality of electrodes disposed within the active area of the display.

In a fifth aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method further includes a second electrode deposited on each organic emission layer, wherein the plurality of electrodes may be a plurality of first electrodes.

In a sixth aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method may further include a pixel forming layer deposited on a portion of the angular cavity of the plurality of electrodes.

In a seventh aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method may further include a pixel forming layer having a thickness ranging from about 50 nm to about 1500 nm.

In an eighth aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method may further include changing the liquid affinity of the surface by emitting a selected surface portion of the first hole conductive layer through the opening in the mask. .

In a ninth aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method may further include radiation comprising at least one of infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light.

In a tenth aspect according to any one of the above aspects, the method is a blanket deposited over a plurality of electrodes to form a substantially continuous layer of material, wherein the surface opposite the substrate has a non-planar topography. It may further include a one-hole conductive layer.

In an eleventh aspect according to any of the above aspects, the method is a blanket deposited over a second hole conductive layer to form a substantially continuous layer of material, the first hole opposite the second hole conductive layer. The conductive layer may further include a first hole conductive layer having non-planar topography.

The twelfth aspect relates to an organic light emitting display. The twelfth aspect may include a plurality of electrodes disposed on the substrate. The plurality of electrodes may be arranged in an array form. The confinement structure can be disposed on the substrate. The confinement structure may surround a plurality of electrodes. The first hole conductive layer may be disposed on a plurality of electrodes in the floating structure. The liquid affinity of the surface portion of the first conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region in the one hole conductive layer. The organic light emitting layer may be disposed within each light emitting layer confinement area.

In a thirteenth aspect according to the twelfth aspect, the display may further include a second hole conductive layer disposed between the plurality of electrodes and the first hole conductive layer.

In a fourteenth aspect according to the twelfth or thirteenth aspect, the display may further include a respective light emitting layer confinement area that may be surrounded by a liquid-rejection area.

In a fifteenth aspect according to any of the twelfth to fourteenth aspects, the display may further include each organic light-emitting confinement region not individually surrounded by a confinement structure.

In a sixteenth aspect according to any one of the twelfth to fifteenth aspects, the display may further include a plurality of electrodes disposed within the active area of the display.

The seventeenth aspect relates to an organic light emitting display manufactured by a process. The seventeenth aspect may include providing a substrate including a plurality of electrodes disposed on the substrate. At least one hole conductive layer may be deposited over the plurality of electrodes on the substrate through inkjet printing. The liquid affinity of the selected portion of the at least one hole conductive layer can be varied to form a light emitting layer confinement region on the surface of the at least one hole conductive layer. The organic light emitting layer can be deposited in each light emitting layer confinement structure formed in at least one hole conductive layer through inkjet printing.

In an eighteenth aspect according to the seventeenth aspect, the display produced by the process includes providing a confinement structure on a substrate, the confinement structure forming a well surrounding a plurality of electrodes.

In a seventeenth aspect or a nineteenth aspect according to the eighteenth aspect, the display produced by the process comprises a first hole conductive layer deposited over a plurality of electrodes on the substrate, through inkjet printing, wherein the light emitting layer confinement region is It can be formed on the surface of the one-hole conductive layer.

In the twentieth aspect according to the seventeenth to nineteenth aspect, the display manufactured by the process is a first hole conductive layer deposited on a plurality of electrodes on a substrate through inkjet printing and a second hole conductivity over the first hole conductive layer Including a layer, the light emitting layer confinement region may be formed on the surface of the second hole conductive layer.

In a twenty-first aspect according to the seventeenth aspect to the twentieth aspect, the display manufactured by the process may include a plurality of electrodes disposed in the active area of the display.

It can be understood that various embodiments described herein are to be treated as examples. Elements and materials, and arrangements of these elements and materials, may be substituted for those shown and described herein, portions may be reversed, and will be apparent to those skilled in the art after taking the advantages described herein. Changes to elements described herein may be made within the spirit and scope of the claims, including the detailed description and equivalents.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications of the construction and method of exemplary embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention.

Also, a person skilled in the art may use various combinations of various features disclosed for one exemplary embodiment of the present specification in combination with other exemplary embodiments, as appropriately modified, even if the combination is not explicitly described herein. Will know.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations of the devices, methods, and systems of the present invention may be made within the scope of the detailed description and claims. Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the detailed description and examples of the invention disclosed herein. The detailed description and examples are only examples.

Claims (21)

Board; A plurality of electrodes disposed on the substrate;
A first hole conductive layer overlying the plurality of electrodes disposed on the substrate; And
A plurality of organic light emitting material layers included in different confinement regions on the first hole conductive layer,
Each of the confinement regions including each of the plurality of organic light emitting materials is not individually surrounded by a bank structure (bank structure), characterized in that the organic light emitting display. The organic light-emitting display of claim 1, wherein each of the confinement regions corresponds to one or more of a plurality of electrodes. The organic light-emitting display of claim 2, wherein each of the confinement regions extends over an active region of each of the one or more electrodes. The organic light emitting display of claim 1, further comprising a common electrode disposed on a plurality of organic light emitting material layers included in the confinement region. The organic light emitting display of claim 4, wherein the common electrode is a blanket deposited on a plurality of organic light emitting material layers included in the confinement region. 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising a bank structure on the substrate, wherein the bank structure forms a well surrounding a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of confinement regions, and the common electrode is a continuous layer within the well. Organic light emitting display. The organic light emitting display of claim 1, wherein the first hole conductive layer is a continuous layer over a plurality of electrodes. The organic light emitting display of claim 1, wherein the surface of the first hole conductive material facing the direction away from the substrate has a non-planar shape. The organic light-emitting display of claim 1, wherein the plurality of organic light-emitting materials are more hydrophilic than the area surrounding the confined area. In the method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display, the method,
Depositing an organic light emitting material on a hole conductive layer disposed over a plurality of electrodes on the substrate surface through inkjet printing,
The hole conductive layer includes: a plurality of confinement regions separated from each other by a boundary region having a first surface energy characteristic and a second surface energy characteristic different from the first surface energy characteristic-each of the confinement regions being the Associated with one or more of the plurality of electrodes, and extending over an area greater than the active area of the one or more electrodes, and
And treating the organic light emitting material deposited over the hole conductive layer to form an organic light emitting material layer, and allowing the organic light emitting material layer to confine the different first and second surface energy properties to the confinement region. A method for manufacturing an organic light emitting display, characterized by the above-mentioned. 12. The method of claim 10, further comprising depositing additional electrodes on the organic light emitting material layer confined in each of the confinement areas. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein depositing the additional electrode comprises blanket-depositing the additional electrode over a layer of organic light emitting material in a plurality of confinement regions. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of processing the hole conductive layer to change the surface energy property in a selected region of the hole conductive layer, thereby creating a confinement area having the first surface energy property and 2 A method for manufacturing an organic light emitting display, characterized in that a boundary region having surface energy characteristics is generated. 15. The method of claim 13, wherein the step of processing the hole conductive layer comprises emitting the hole conductive layer through a mask opening. 15. The method of claim 14, comprising applying a reaction-surface-active material to the hole conductive layer before emitting the hole conductive layer. 11. The method of claim 10, The first surface energy property is sufficient to attract the organic light emitting material deposited on the hole conductive layer, the second surface energy property is the organic light emitting material deposited on the hole conductive layer A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display, characterized in that it is sufficient to exclude. 11. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a confinement structure on the substrate to enclose a plurality of confinement areas and boundary areas. The method of claim 10, wherein the hole conductive layer is deposited on a plurality of electrodes to form a continuous hole conductive layer on the substrate. 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising depositing another continuous hole conducting layer over a plurality of electrodes through inkjet printing, prior to depositing the hole conducting layer. 12. The method of claim 10, wherein the one or more electrodes comprises a plurality of electrodes associated with each confinement region, each of the plurality of electrodes associated with each confinement region is a separately addressed electrode forming a sub-pixel, the plurality of electrodes A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display, characterized in that each sub-pixel formed by each is associated with a different pixel. 11. The method of claim 10, Deposition of the organic light-emitting material to deposit an organic light-emitting material having a wavelength associated with one of red light, green light and blue light, to form an organic material layer in the confinement region, the organic material A method of manufacturing an organic light emitting display, characterized in that the layer corresponds to a pixel of a predetermined pattern in order to emit red light, green light and blue light.

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