KR20030026424A - Organic electro luminescence device and fabricateing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An organic electroluminescence device and a method for manufacturing the same are provided to eliminate line defects in a picture and improve the display quality by forming a fuse between an anode electrode and a transparent electrode. CONSTITUTION: An organic electroluminescence(EL) device comprises a transparent substrate(30), a plurality of fragmentary transparent electrodes(32), stripe-shaped anode electrodes(34) inserted between the transparent electrodes(32), fuses(36) formed between the anode electrodes and the transparent electrodes for electrical connection or disconnection, an insulating layer(38) orthogonal to the anode electrodes(34), a barrier rib(40) in a stripe-shape to be orthogonal to the anode electrodes(34), an organic emitting layer(42) for covering the transparent electrodes, the anode electrodes and the barrier rib, and a cathode electrode formed on the front surface of the organic emitting layer(42).

Description

Organic electroluminescent device and its manufacturing method {ORGANIC ELECTRO LUMINESCENCE DEVICE AND FABRICATEING METHOD THEREOF}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electroluminescent device, and more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent device and a method of manufacturing the same, by eliminating line defects on a screen by installing a fuse between an anode electrode and a transparent electrode.

Recently, various flat panel displays have been developed to reduce weight and volume, which are disadvantages of cathode ray tubes. Such flat panel displays include liquid crystal displays (hereinafter referred to as "LCD"), field emission displays (hereinafter referred to as "FED"), plasma display panels (hereinafter referred to as "PDP"). And electroluminescent devices (hereinafter referred to as "ELD"). In particular, ELD is basically formed by attaching electrodes to both sides of an EL layer including a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transport layer, and is attracting attention as a next-generation flat panel display because of its wide viewing angle, high opening ratio, and high color.

Such ELDs are largely divided into inorganic ELDs and organic ELDs depending on the materials used. Among them, the organic ELD has the advantage of being able to be driven at a lower voltage than the inorganic ELD because when the charge is injected into the organic EL layer formed between the hole injection electrode and the electron injection electrode, electrons and holes are paired up and extinguished to emit light. . In addition, organic ELDs can form devices on flexible flexible substrates, such as plastics, and can be driven at lower voltages of 10V or less than PDPs or inorganic ELDs, and have a relatively low power consumption. This is excellent.

The ELD is divided into a passive ELD and an active ELD according to a driving method.

1 is a plan view showing an upper substrate of a general ELD. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a plane cut by "A-A '" in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper substrate of the ELD includes a transparent electrode 4 arranged in a row in a band shape on the transparent substrate 2, and an insulating film formed on the front surface including the transparent electrode 4. 6), an organic electroluminescent layer (hereinafter referred to as "EL layer", 10) formed by laminating a hole transporting layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transporting layer on the insulating film, and a cathode formed on the EL layer in the form of a band crossing the transparent electrode. An electrode 12 is provided. In addition, a partition 8 formed in the same band between the cathode electrode 12 for separating the cathode electrode 12 is provided.

In the panel formed as described above, when the current flows between the transparent electrode 4 for the cathode on the transparent substrate 2 and the cathode electrode 12 of the metal, the EL layer 10 deposited as a thin film between the two electrodes emits light. It will work.

3A to 3E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing an upper substrate of the ELD shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a transparent electrode 4 for a cathode is patterned on a transparent substrate 2 in a stripe pattern by a photolithography method (Phtolithography) including a wet method.

Referring to FIG. 3B, an insulating film 6 is formed on the transparent substrate 2 by photolithography.

Referring to FIG. 3C, the partition wall 8 is formed on the transparent substrate 2 by a photolithography method. At this time, the partition wall is formed at regular intervals to intersect the transparent electrode (4).

Referring to FIG. 3D, the EL layer 10 is deposited on the entire surface on the transparent substrate 2. In this case, the EL layer 10 is formed by stacking a hole transport layer, an emission layer, and an electron transport layer.

Referring to FIG. 3E, the cathode electrode 12 is entirely deposited on the EL layer 10 deposited on the transparent substrate 2. At this time, the cathode electrode 12 is collectively deposited on the entire surface of the light emitting effective surface without any particular shape, but previously separated from the neighboring cathode electrode 12 by the partition wall 8 in a band shape.

The emission principle of the organic ELD emits light by recombination of holes and electrons injected through the transparent electrode 4 and the cathode electrode 12. That is, the carriers (electrons and holes) are injected from the electrodes into the organic film, the carriers move to the opposite electrodes of the injected carriers, the excitons are generated by recombination of the carriers, the excitons are moved (diffusion), and the light is emitted from the excitons. . Thus, light of any particular wavelength determined by the material is irradiated, and the material is excited and emits light. At least one of the transparent electrode 4 and the cathode electrode 12 is transparent or translucent and light is emitted to the outside through the transparent or translucent electrode.

However, the organic ELD according to the related art has an electrical short between the transparent electrode 4 and the cathode electrode 12 due to an overcurrent during the operation of the device due to a defect of the transparent electrode 4, for example, spikes or the like. Will occur. As a result, one data line including a pixel in which an electric short has occurred is developed to be shorted, thereby causing a line defect in the screen.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an organic electroluminescent device and a method of manufacturing the same, which eliminate the predecession of a screen and improve display quality by forming a fuse between an anode electrode and a transparent electrode.

1 is a plan view showing an upper substrate of a general ELD.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a surface cut along the line “A-A '” in FIG. 1; FIG.

3A to 3E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing an upper substrate of the ELD shown in FIG. 2.

4 is a plan view showing an upper substrate of a general ELD.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a surface cut along the line “B-B ′” in FIG. 4. FIG.

6A to 6H are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating the manufacturing process of the organic ELD according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a surface cut along the line “C-C ′” in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a surface cut along the line “D-D ′” in FIG. 4. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a plane cut along line “E-E ′” in FIG. 4. FIG.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

2,30: transparent substrate 4,32: transparent electrode

6,38 insulating film 8,40 partition wall

10,42 EL layer 12,44 cathode

34 anode electrode 36 fuse

In order to achieve the above object, the organic electroluminescent device according to the present invention comprises a transparent substrate, a plurality of transparent electrodes formed in three pieces on the transparent substrate, an anode electrode formed in a stripe shape to be inserted between the transparent electrodes and A fuse formed on the transparent substrate to electrically connect and short-circuit the anode electrode and the transparent electrode, an insulating layer formed on the transparent substrate so as to be orthogonal to the anode electrode, and formed on the insulating layer to And a stripe-shaped partition wall orthogonal to an anode electrode, an organic light emitting layer formed on the entire surface of the transparent substrate to cover the transparent electrode, the anode electrode and the partition wall, and a cathode electrode formed on the entire surface of the organic light emitting layer. .

The fuse in the present invention is easily shorted by overcurrent, and is characterized in that the melting point is a non-ferrous metal of 200 ° C or less.

Non-ferrous metal in the present invention is characterized in that any one of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni).

A method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device according to the present invention includes the steps of: patterning transparent electrodes on a substrate, forming anodes in the form of stripes between the transparent electrodes, and fuses between the transparent electrodes and the anode electrodes. Forming an insulating layer on the anode electrode so as to cross the anode electrode, forming a barrier rib on the insulating layer so as to cross the anode electrode, and forming the barrier rib, the transparent electrode and the anode. And sequentially forming an organic material layer and a cathode electrode on the front surface of the transparent substrate to cover the electrode.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above object will be apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 9.

4 is a plan view illustrating an upper substrate of an organic ELD according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a surface cut along the line “B-B ′” in FIG. 4.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the upper substrate of the ELD is a transparent electrode 32 and a transparent electrode 32 patterned to form a panel portion on the transparent substrate 30 sequentially on the substrate 30. An anode electrode 34, a fuse 36, an insulating layer 38, a partition 40, an EL layer 42 formed by stacking a hole transporting layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transporting layer on the front of the panel are formed so as to be orthogonal to the EL electrode 42 and the EL layer. A cathode electrode 44 is formed on the 42 to form a stripe shape so as to intersect the anode electrode 34 and the transparent electrode 32. In addition, a partition 8 formed in the same band between the cathode electrode 12 for separating the cathode electrode 12 is provided.

The anode 34 is made of a metal conductive material and receives data from a data driving circuit (not shown). The cathode electrode 44 is made of a conductive material and receives a scanning pulse from the gate driving circuit.

When a scanning pulse is supplied to the cathode electrode 42 and data is applied to the anode electrode 48, holes are accelerated toward the cathode electrode 42 and electrons are accelerated toward the anode electrode 48.

The transparent electrode 32 is formed of a transparent conductive material and serves to connect the anode electrode 34 and the applied voltage to the cathode electrode 48 through the fuse 36.

The EL layer 42 includes a hole injection layer, a light emitting layer and an electron injection layer between the anode electrode 34 and the cathode electrode 44. When a driving voltage of several tens of V is constantly applied to the anode electrode 34 and the cathode electrode 44, the holes in the hole injection layer connected to the anode electrode 34 and the electrons in the electron injection layer connected to the cathode electrode are respectively directed toward the light emitting layer. Proceeding to excite the fluorescent material in the light emitting layer. Thus, an image or an image is displayed by the visible light generated from the light emitting layer.

That is, the EL layer 42 in which the organic ELDs are arranged in a matrix structure constitutes a red light emitting organic layer, the organic material layer next to the green light emitting organic layer, and the organic material layer next to the blue light emitting organic layer constitute color display. Can be implemented.

The fuse 36 is formed between the anode electrode 34 and the transparent electrode 32 so that when an overcurrent is applied due to a pixel defect, the fuse is blown so that the current is no longer supplied to the pixel.

6A to 6H are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating the manufacturing process of the organic ELD according to the present invention shown in FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6A, a transparent electrode 32 is formed on the substrate 30. The transparent electrode 32 is formed by depositing a transparent conductive material on the entire surface and then patterning the transparent electrode 32 into a predetermined fragment shape.

The substrate 30 is made of transparent glass or transparent plastic, and the transparent electrode 32 is made of indium tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as “ITO”) and indium zinc oxide (Indium Zinc), which are transparent conductive materials. Oxide (hereinafter referred to as "IZO") and indium tin zinc oxide (hereinafter referred to as "ITZO").

Referring to FIG. 6B, the stripe-shaped transparent electrode 32 is an anode electrode 34 of a conductive metal material in a stripe form between the transparent electrodes 32 in the long direction. The anode electrode 34 is made of metal having a small electrical resistance.

Referring to FIG. 6C, a fuse 36 is formed between the anode electrode 34 and the transparent electrode 32.

The fuse 36 is formed using a metal having a low melting point on either of the transparent electrodes 32 based on the anode electrode 34. At this time, the metal is usually lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) and the like.

Referring to FIG. 6D, an insulating layer 38 is formed on the transparent substrate 30. The insulating layer 38 uses a chemical vapor deposition apparatus (CVD) or a sputtering apparatus to separate the insulating material between the transparent electrodes 32 having a short shape from the transparent electrodes 32 having a short shape. By vapor deposition and patterning at the same time. The insulating material is formed of a black inorganic insulating material or organic insulating material such as chromium oxide (Cr ₂ O ₃ ) or a carbon-based material, an epoxy compound or an organic pigment.

Referring to FIG. 6E, the partition wall 40 is formed on the substrate 30 on which the insulating layer 38 is formed. The partition 38 is formed by depositing an insulating material on the insulating layer 38 and then patterning the insulating material. The partition wall 38 is formed to be orthogonal to the cathode electrode formed later to insulate the cathode electrode 44.

The partition 38 is formed of any one of inorganic materials such as SiNx and SiO _2, and organic materials such as polyimide and acrylic.

Referring to Fig. 6F, an EL layer 42 is formed on the transparent electrode 32 and the anode electrode 34. Figs.

The EL layer 42 is formed by entirely depositing the EL layer 42 on which the hole injection layer, the light emitting layer, and the electron transporting layer are sequentially formed on the entire surface of the transparent substrate 30 on which the transparent electrode 32 and the anode electrode 34 are formed.

Referring to FIG. 6G, the cathode electrode 44 is formed on the EL layer 42 by depositing it on the entire surface.

In this case, the cathode electrode 44 is formed of a conductive material such as Al, which is a metal layer.

Referring to these operating principles, when the voltage of several to several tens of volts (V) is constantly applied to the anode electrode 34 and the cathode electrode 44, the anode electrode 34, the conductive fuse 36 and the transparent electrode ( The visible light is emitted from the EL layer 42 by the combination of holes injected through the path 32 and electrons of the cathode electrode 44. Since the visible light emits light of various wavelengths according to the type of the EL layer 42, color organic ELD may be implemented using light of one selected wavelength range.

That is, the EL layer 42 in which the organic ELDs are arranged in a matrix structure can be a flat display capable of color display by forming a red light emitting organic EL layer, a green light emitting organic EL layer, and a blue light emitting organic EL layer.

The fuse 36 in the organic ELD according to the present invention has two characteristics. First, if an overcurrent is applied due to a pixel defect generated during driving of an organic ELD by forming a metal that is easily shorted to overcurrent, the fuse 36 is blown and no more current is supplied to the pixel, thereby shorting only one pixel. You will be contacted. Secondly, it is possible to prevent further pixel defects, thereby fundamentally preventing the development of line defects.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a plane taken along the line “C-C ′” in FIG. 4. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a surface cut along the line “D-D ′” in FIG. 4. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a surface cut along line “E-E ′” in FIG. 4. The configuration and manufacturing process for these are the same as described in FIG. Accordingly, the manufacturing process of the organic EL device will be omitted.

As described above, the organic electroluminescent device and its manufacturing method can prevent line defects of the organic electroluminescent device by providing a fuse between the anode electrode and the transparent electrode formed on the transparent substrate, thereby improving display quality and reducing power consumption. Can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to improve the life of the organic electroluminescent device.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (14)

With a transparent substrate, A plurality of transparent electrodes configured in three pieces on the transparent substrate, An anode electrode formed in a stripe shape to be inserted between the transparent electrodes; A fuse formed on the transparent substrate to electrically connect and short-circuit the anode electrode and the transparent electrode; An insulating layer formed on the transparent substrate so as to be orthogonal to the anode electrode; A barrier rib having a stripe shape formed on the insulating layer so as to be orthogonal to the anode electrode; An organic light emitting layer formed on an entire surface of the transparent substrate to cover the transparent electrode, the anode electrode and the partition wall; An organic electroluminescent device comprising a cathode electrode formed on the entire surface of the organic light emitting layer. The method of claim 1, The anode electrode is an organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that composed of a metal having a low electrical resistance. The method of claim 1, The transparent electrode may be formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), which are transparent conductive materials. Organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that composed of any one. The method of claim 1, The insulating layer is formed of any one of a black inorganic insulating material or an organic insulating material, The black inorganic insulating material is a chromium oxide or carbon-based material, the black organic insulating material is an organic electroluminescent display device, characterized in that the epoxy compound or an organic pigment. The method of claim 1, The organic material layer and the hole injection layer receives a hole from the anode, An electron injection layer receiving electrons from the cathode electrode; And a light emitting layer for exciting holes from the hole injection layer with electrons from the electron injection layer to excite the fluorescent material. The method of claim 1, The fuse is easily shorted by an overcurrent and the organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that the melting point is a non-ferrous metal of 200 ℃ or less. The method of claim 6, The non-ferrous metal is an organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that any one of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni). Patterning the transparent electrodes on the substrate; Forming anodes having a stripe shape between the transparent electrodes; Forming a fuse between the transparent electrode and the anode electrode; Forming an insulating layer on the anode to cross the anode; Forming a partition wall on the insulating layer to intersect the anode electrode; And sequentially forming an organic material layer and a cathode electrode on the front surface of the transparent substrate so as to cover the partition wall, the transparent electrode, and the anode electrode. The method of claim 8, The forming of the fuse may include forming the fuse so as to be connected to any one of both transparent electrodes based on the anode electrode. The method of claim 9, The fuse is a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that the non-ferrous metal is formed melting point of 200 ℃ or less. The method of claim 10, The nonferrous metal is a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that any one of lead (Pb), nickel (Ni) is formed. The method of claim 8, The insulating layer is formed of any one of a black inorganic insulating material or an organic insulating material, The black inorganic insulating material is chromium oxide or carbon-based material, The black organic insulating material is a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that the epoxy compound or an organic pigment. The method of claim 8, Forming the hole injection layer on the anode; Forming a light emitting layer on the hole injection layer; The method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device further comprising the step of forming an electron injection layer on the light emitting layer. The method of claim 8, The transparent electrode may be formed of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO), which are transparent conductive materials. Method for manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device, characterized in that any one is formed by patterning.