KR20060021215A - Method of fabricating donor substrate and method of fabricating oled using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for producing a donor substrate and a method for producing an organic electroluminescent device using the same are provided. The method of manufacturing a donor substrate and a method of manufacturing an organic EL device using the same include the steps of: unwinding a base substrate having a light-to-heat conversion layer (LTHC), cutting the unwinding substrate substrate, Attaching the substrate substrate to the frame using a clamp and forming a transfer layer on the substrate substrate attached to the frame. By attaching the substrate substrate to the frame using a clamp and forming a transfer layer on the substrate substrate to form a donor substrate, it is possible to prevent particles and other contamination from occurring on the donor substrate and to prevent sagging or bending of the donor substrate. It provides an advantage that can be prevented.

LITI, frame, donor substrate, lamination

Description

Method of manufacturing donor substrate and method of manufacturing organic electroluminescent device using same {Method of fabricating donor substrate and method of fabricating OLED using the same}             

1A to 1F are process flowcharts illustrating a method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

2A to 2C are process diagrams illustrating a method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

3A to 3F are process drawings for explaining a method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

4A to 4C are process flowcharts for describing a method of manufacturing an organic EL device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

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

100: base substrate 110: cutting machine

120: frame 130: clamp

140, 240; Transfer layer 150, 250, 480: donor substrate

220a: upper plate of the frame 220b: lower plate of the frame

340: alignment unit 350: alignment plate

360: alignment pin 450: substrate

460 pixel electrode 470 organic film layer pattern

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a donor substrate and a method of manufacturing an organic EL device using the same, and more particularly, to a donor substrate attached to a frame used in forming an organic layer pattern using laser induced thermal imaging (LITI). The manufacturing method and the method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent element using it are related.

In general, an organic EL device, which is a flat panel display device, includes an anode electrode and a cathode electrode, and organic layer layers interposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode. The organic layer may include at least a light emitting layer, and may further include a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer in addition to the light emitting layer. The organic electroluminescent device is divided into a polymer organic electroluminescent device and a low molecular organic electroluminescent device according to the material of the organic layer, in particular the light emitting layer.

In the organic electroluminescent device, in order to implement full colorization, the light emitting layer should be patterned. As a method for patterning the light emitting layer, there is a method of using a shadow mask in the case of a low molecular organic electroluminescent device. In the case of the organic electroluminescent device, there is ink-jet printing or laser induced thermal imaging (hereinafter referred to as LITI). Among these, LITI has the advantage of being able to finely pattern the organic film layer, to be used for a large area, and to be advantageous for high resolution, and the ink-jet printing is a wet process, whereas there is an advantage of being a dry process.

The formation method of the organic film layer pattern by LITI requires a light source, an organic electroluminescent element substrate, and a donor substrate at least. The patterning of the organic layer on the substrate is performed when light from the light source is absorbed by the light-heat conversion layer of the donor substrate and converted into thermal energy, and the material forming the transfer layer is transferred onto the substrate by the thermal energy. do. This is disclosed in Korean Patent Application Nos. 1998-51844 and US Pat. Nos. 5,998,085, 6,214,520 and 6,114,088.

In this case, a process of laminating the donor substrate on the substrate is required. In the past, the donor substrate was laminated on the substrate using a lamination roll. That is, the donor substrate on which the transfer layer is formed is wound on a lamination roll and then cut and moved, and the donor substrate wound on the lamination roll is laminated while being unrolled onto the substrate. Although the lamination method is simple, there is a problem that can lower the characteristics of the organic EL device. That is, contaminants such as cracks or particles generated when the flexible donor substrate is wound on the lamination roll may be generated. In particular, since the process of forming the transfer layer on the base substrate and the lamination process for LITI are separated from each other, there is a problem in that the characteristics of the organic EL device may be degraded due to particle and other contamination that may occur between these processes. .

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the particle and other contamination that may occur between the process of forming a transfer layer on the base substrate and laminating the donor substrate on which the transfer layer is formed on the substrate It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a donor substrate that can be used to prevent generation as well as to improve transfer efficiency and a method of manufacturing an organic EL device using the same.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a donor substrate. The method includes the steps of releasing a base substrate having a light-to-heat conversion layer (LTHC), cutting the unwrapped substrate substrate, and framing the cut substrate substrate using at least two clamps. Attaching to and forming a transfer layer on the substrate substrate attached to the frame.

In order to achieve the above technical problem, the present invention also provides a method of manufacturing an organic EL device. The method includes providing a substrate on which a pixel electrode is formed, laminating a donor substrate manufactured by the method of manufacturing the donor substrate on the entire surface of the substrate, and irradiating a laser to a predetermined region of the donor substrate. And forming an organic film layer pattern on the pixel electrode.

The cut base substrate may be attached to an upper surface or a lower surface of the frame.

The frame may be formed of an upper plate and a lower plate, and the base substrate may be attached between the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame.

Before attaching the base substrate between the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame, the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame may be aligned using an alignment plate positioned under the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame.

It is preferable that the size inside the frame is larger than the size of the front surface of the substrate.

Cutting the base substrate may include cutting the base substrate in a traveling direction of the base substrate and cutting the base substrate perpendicular to a traveling direction of the base substrate.

The method may further include cleaning the base substrate before attaching the base substrate to the frame.

The cleaning is preferably carried out using a dry or wet cleaning method.

The method may further include cleaning the substrate substrate after attaching the substrate substrate to a frame.

The cleaning is preferably carried out using a dry cleaning method.

The substrate substrate may be surface treated before or after the step of attaching the substrate substrate to the frame.

Static electricity of the base substrate may be removed before or after the step of attaching the base substrate to the frame.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in order to describe the present invention in more detail. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the specification.

1A to 1F are process flowcharts illustrating a method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1A, the base substrate 100 in a roll form is released. The light-to-heat conversion layer is provided on the roll-shaped substrate substrate 100, but the transfer layer is not formed. A buffer layer (not shown) may be further included on the light-to-heat conversion layer.

After releasing the base substrate 100 in a roll form, the step of cutting the base substrate 100 is performed. Cutting the base substrate 100 means cutting the roll substrate to a sheet substrate. There may be various methods for cutting the substrate substrate 100. In this embodiment, the substrate substrate 100 is cut in the advancing direction of the substrate substrate and the substrate substrate is in the advancing direction of the substrate substrate. It shows how to cut by dividing into two stages. In addition, the substrate may be cut and used at a time to fit the size of the frame to be described later.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the roll-shaped substrate substrate 100 that is suitably unrolled is cut in the traveling direction of the substrate substrate in the form of a roll by using the cutting machine 110. At this time, it may include a step of winding the remaining substrate substrate by separately adding a device for winding the remaining substrate substrate that is not cut to be used as the substrate substrate.

Referring to FIG. 1C, the substrate substrate 100 cut in the advancing direction of the roll-shaped substrate substrate is cut perpendicularly to the advancing direction of the substrate substrate in the roll form using the cutting machine 110. That is, the base substrate 100 in roll form is cut into the base substrate 100 in sheet form.

Since the cut substrate substrate 100 is laminated on a substrate on which a predetermined element is formed in a subsequent process, it is preferable to cut the substrate substrate 100 to an appropriate size to cover the entire surface of the substrate.

At this time, before the step of attaching the cut substrate substrate 100 to be described later to the frame, it may further comprise the step of cleaning the substrate substrate 100.

Particles and other contaminants may be generated on the surface of the substrate substrate 100 in the step of releasing the roll substrate substrate 100 and cutting the substrate substrate, so that the cleaning process is performed to remove such contaminants. can do.

The cleaning can be carried out using dry or wet cleaning methods.

The dry cleaning method refers to a method of cleaning in a gaseous state or a gas state without using a harmful chemical solution. Currently, the dry cleaning method includes a vapor cleaning method, a cleaning method using UV, a plasma cleaning method, and a sputter cleaning method.

The wet cleaning method refers to a method of cleaning using a chemical solution. Currently, the wet cleaning method includes an RCA cleaning method, a Piranha cleaning method, a DHF cleaning method and an ozone cleaning method.

Referring to FIG. 1D, the base substrate 100 cut in a sheet form is attached to the frame 120. In this case, the base substrate 100 is attached to the frame 120 using at least two clamps 130. The clamp 130 refers to a device that fixes a predetermined object and an object.

The frame 120 is formed of one plate, and the inside thereof is larger than the size of the front surface of the substrate. In detail, since the laser beam is irradiated into the frame 120 in the transfer process for forming the organic film layer pattern layer, the transfer process is performed. Thus, laminating the entire substrate on which the organic film layer pattern is to be formed onto a donor substrate. It is preferable to improve the transfer efficiency. Therefore, the size of the inside of the frame 120 is preferably made larger than the size of the front surface of the substrate.

The base substrate 100 is attached to an upper surface of the frame 120. In addition, when the base substrate 100 is attached to the lower surface of the frame 120, the upside down of the frame has the same result as the base substrate 100 attached to the upper surface of the frame 120 Does not matter.

As described above, the base substrate 100 is attached to the frame 120 by the clamp 130. That is, the substrate 130 is attached to the frame 120 by clamping the substrate substrate 100 and the frame 120 together. The clamp 130 is attached to two sides of the frame perpendicular to the advancing direction of the substrate substrate 100, and seven clamps 130 are used for each side. However, the number of the clamps 130 is only an example, and it is preferable to use an appropriate number for attaching the substrate substrate 100 to the frame 120.

In the present exemplary embodiment, only the clamp 130 is attached to two sides of the frame, but the substrate may be attached to the frame by attaching the clamp to all sides of the frame.

FIG. 1E is a cross-sectional view at AA ′ shown in FIG. 1D.

Referring to FIG. 1E, it can be seen that the base substrate 100 is attached onto the frame 100 by clamping the base substrate 100 and the frame 100 together.

After attaching the substrate substrate 100 cut in the above-described sheet form to the frame 120, the method may further include cleaning the substrate substrate 100.

Since the process of forming the transfer layer is performed after attaching the cut substrate substrate 100 to the frame 120, it is preferable to remove contaminants generated on the surface of the substrate substrate 100. That is, a cleaning process may be performed to remove particles and other contaminants that may occur during the step of attaching the cut substrate substrate 100 to the frame 120.

As described above, the cleaning process may be performed before and after the step of attaching the substrate substrate to the frame, and may perform the first and second cleaning processes, and also before or after the step of attaching the substrate substrate to the frame. In addition, a cleaning process may be performed.

The cleaning is preferably carried out using a dry cleaning method. This is because if the wet substrate is cleaned after the cut substrate substrate 100 is attached to the frame 120, the substrate substrate 100 attached to the frame 120 may be denatured.

In addition, the substrate substrate 100 may be surface treated before or after attaching the cut substrate substrate 100 to the frame 120. The surface treatment may be performed using a plasma. Through surface treatment of the substrate substrate 100, particles and other contaminants that may occur on the surface of the substrate substrate 100 may be removed, and in forming the transfer layer to be described later, adhesion is enhanced to easily form the transfer layer. The advantage is that you can.

In addition, since the static electricity may be generated in the substrate substrate 100 during the cutting of the substrate substrate 100 or other processes, the static electricity may be removed before or after attaching the substrate substrate 100 to the frame. A device can be added to remove the static electricity. When static electricity is generated in the base substrate 100, contaminants may stick to each other, and static electricity that may be generated in the base substrate 100 may be prevented from being deposited in the transfer layer forming process, which will be described later. It is preferable to remove.

1F is a cross-sectional view of the donor substrate 150 on which the transfer layer 140 is formed.

Referring to FIG. 1F, the donor substrate 150 is completed by forming the transfer layer 140 on the base film 100 attached to the frame 120. The transfer layer 140 may be formed using a general coating method such as extrusion, spin, knife coating method, vacuum deposition method, CVD.

Conventionally, since the transfer layer was previously formed on the base substrate in roll form, a lot of cracks and particles could be generated. However, in the present invention, as described above, after the base substrate 100 is attached to the frame 120, the transfer layer is attached. By forming the cracks and particles can be prevented. In addition, the base substrate 100 may be prevented from sagging or bending.

2A to 2C are process diagrams illustrating a method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2B is a sectional view taken along the line B-B ', and FIG. 2C is a sectional view of the donor substrate on which the transfer layer is formed. The drawings explaining the steps of releasing and cutting the base substrate shown in the first embodiment of the present invention are omitted.

2A and 2B, the frame includes a top plate 220a of the frame and a bottom plate 220b of the frame, and the substrate substrate 100 is disposed between the top plate 220a of the frame and the bottom plate 220b of the frame. Is placed. At this time, the substrate substrate 100 placed between the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame and the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame using a plurality of clamps 130. By tightening, the base substrate 100 is attached between the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame.

In this embodiment, the frame consists of an upper plate and a lower plate, and thus the base substrate can be more firmly attached to the frame. Therefore, it is possible to further prevent the donor substrate formed in the subsequent process from sagging or forming a bend on the base substrate.

Referring to FIG. 2C, the donor substrate 250 is completed by forming the transfer layer 240 on the base film 100 attached between the upper and lower plates 220a and 220b of the frame.

Except for the above, the method of manufacturing the donor substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention is the same.

3A to 3F are process diagrams illustrating a method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3A is a bottom view of the upper plate of the frame, FIG. 3B is a plan view of the lower plate of the frame, and FIG. 3C is an alignment. 3D is a front view of the components aligned, FIG. 3E is a top view of the substrate substrate attached to the frame, and FIG. 3F is a front view of the substrate substrate attached to the frame. The drawing explaining the step of releasing and cutting the donor substrate shown in the first embodiment of the present invention and the step of forming the transfer layer shown in the second embodiment of the present invention are omitted.

Referring to FIG. 3A, an alignment part 340 is formed near four vertices of the upper plate 220a of the frame. The alignment unit 340 is a hole in a round shape, and the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate of the frame are aligned through the alignment unit 340.

Referring to FIG. 3B, the base substrate 100 is placed on the lower plate 220b of the frame. Similar to the upper plate 220a of the frame, the alignment portion 340 is formed near the four vertices of the lower plate 220b of the frame.

Referring to FIG. 3C, alignment pins 360 to be coupled to the alignment unit 340 are formed around four vertices of the alignment plate 350, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 3D, the upper plate 220a and the lower plate 220b of the frame on which the alignment unit 340 is formed are aligned on the lower plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame. The upper pin 220a and the lower plate 220b of the frame are aligned by the alignment pin 360 formed on the coupling unit 340.

Referring to FIGS. 3E and 3F, the base substrate 100 and the erla disposed between the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame, the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame. By clamping the plate 350 using the plurality of clamps 130, it can be seen that the substrate substrate 100 is attached between the upper plate 220a of the frame and the lower plate 220b of the frame.

In this embodiment, the frame consists of an upper plate and a lower plate, and the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame are aligned using the alignment plate, so that the base substrate and the frame can be accurately aligned.

Except for the above, the method of manufacturing the donor substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention is the same.

4A to 4C are process flowcharts for describing a method of manufacturing an organic EL device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4A, a substrate 450 on which a pixel electrode 460 is formed is introduced. In this case, on the substrate 450, a thin film transistor, a planarization layer (not shown) disposed above the pixel electrode, and a pixel electrode are generally formed on the planarization layer.

Referring to FIG. 4B, the donor substrate 480 manufactured by the method of manufacturing a donor substrate according to the first to fourth embodiments of the present invention described above is laminated on the substrate 450 on which the pixel electrode 460 is formed. .

Conventionally, since the transfer layer was previously formed on the substrate substrate in roll form, a lot of cracks and particles could be generated. However, in the present invention, the substrate substrate 100 cut as described above is applied to the frame 120 using a clamp. By attaching the transfer layer 140 after adhesion, cracks and particles can be suppressed. In addition, the donor substrate 100 may be prevented from sagging or bending. In addition, since the adhesion to the substrate 450 on which the pixel electrode 460 is formed is easy and the vacuum is maintained, the transfer efficiency can be improved.

Referring to FIG. 4C, the donor substrate 480 on which the transfer layer 140 is formed is irradiated with a laser to form an organic layer pattern 470 on the pixel electrode 460.

The process of forming the organic layer pattern 470 may be performed in an N ₂ atmosphere. Since an oxygen component is present in the general atmosphere, the organic layer layer pattern 470 to be transferred may be oxidized, and thus the transfer process may be performed in a nitrogen atmosphere in which the oxygen component is removed. In addition, the transfer process can be performed in a vacuum atmosphere, there is an effect that can suppress the generation of bubbles between the donor substrate and the substrate during the lamination process.

The organic layer pattern formed in the transfer process may be one single layer selected from the group consisting of a light emitting layer, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron transfer layer, and an electron injection layer, or may be two or more multilayers.

After the transfer process, a cathode is formed on the organic layer pattern to complete the organic EL device.

According to the present invention as described above, by attaching the substrate substrate to the frame using a clamp and forming a transfer layer on the substrate substrate to form a donor substrate, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of particles and other contamination on the donor substrate, The present invention provides an advantage of preventing sag or bending of the donor substrate. In addition, in forming the organic film layer pattern using LITI, by attaching the substrate substrate to the frame using a clamp to form a donor substrate, by laminating the donor substrate on the substrate, particles and other contamination on the donor substrate Can be prevented from occurring, and sagging or bending of the donor substrate can be prevented to reduce the occurrence of defects in the organic electroluminescent device, and the donor substrate can be easily adhered to the substrate and the vacuum is maintained, thereby improving the transfer efficiency. Provide an advantage.

While the foregoing has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be able to variously modify and change the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims below. Could be.

Claims (7)

Releasing a base substrate having a light-to-heat conversion layer (LTHC); Cutting the unwrapped substrate substrate; And Attaching the cut substrate substrate to a frame using at least two clamps; And forming a transfer layer on the base substrate attached to the frame. The method of claim 1, And attaching the cut substrate substrate to an upper surface or a lower surface of the frame. The method of claim 1, The frame comprises a top plate and a bottom plate, the method of manufacturing a donor substrate, characterized in that the base substrate is attached between the top plate and the bottom plate of the frame. The method of claim 3, wherein Before attaching the base substrate between the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame, A method of manufacturing a donor substrate, characterized in that the upper plate and the lower plate of the frame are aligned by using an alignment plate positioned below the upper and lower plates of the frame. The method of claim 1, And the size of the inside of the frame is larger than the size of the front surface of the substrate. The method of claim 1, Cutting the base substrate is Cutting the base substrate in the advancing direction of the base substrate; And And cutting the base substrate perpendicularly to the traveling direction of the base substrate. Providing a substrate on which a pixel electrode is formed; Laminating a donor substrate manufactured by the method of claim 1 on the entire surface of the substrate; And And irradiating a laser to a predetermined region of the donor substrate to form an organic layer pattern on the pixel electrode.

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