KR20060075170A - Organic electroluminescent display assembly and method for manufacturing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An organic electroluminescent display comprising a test element is provided in an assembly. The organic electroluminescent display assembly includes a transparent substrate, an organic electroluminescent display on which at least one is formed on the transparent substrate, and a transparent substrate other than the region on which the organic electroluminescent display is formed, each of three anode electrodes and three anode electrodes, respectively. The test device may include a test device including an organic electroluminescent layer including an organic material emitting red light, and a cathode electrode formed for each organic electroluminescent layer. Also provided is a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent device in which an organic electroluminescent display comprising a test element is provided.

Organic electroluminescent element, white color

Description

Organic electroluminescent display assembly and method for manufacturing the same

1 is a plan view of an organic electroluminescent display assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flowchart of a test method using a TEG pattern formed on an organic electroluminescent display assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the organic electroluminescent display assembly taken along the line of AA ′ of FIG. 2.

4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion B of FIG. 3.

5A through 5F are cross-sectional views sequentially illustrating processes of an organic electroluminescent display assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

10: liquid crystal display display assembly

100: unit pixel 200: test element

300: transparent substrate 400: organic electroluminescent device

500: active area 600: inactive area

The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display assembly (OELD assembly) and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent display assembly and a method of manufacturing the same that can test the optical properties before the modular operation. will be.

In general, an organic electroluminescent display is generated when electrons and holes are injected into an organic light emitting layer formed between a cathode electrode, which is an electron injection electrode, and an anode electrode, which is a hole injection electrode, and the injected electrons and holes are transported into the organic light emitting layer to be recombined. It is an element emitting light with energy.

In such an organic electroluminescent display, a thin film transistor (TFT) is formed on a transparent glass or a transparent plastic substrate, and an anode electrode, a light emitting layer, a cathode electrode, and the like are stacked thereon.

Meanwhile, recently, due to the development of technology, one large organic electroluminescent display is made on a large transparent substrate such as a glass substrate, or a plurality of organic electroluminescent displays are simultaneously made.

According to this trend, when making one large organic electroluminescent display on a large transparent substrate or making multiple organic electroluminescent displays at the same time, the material applied on the glass substrate during the process, for example, the organic material is centered over the edge portion. In the part is applied thicker. Therefore, it is difficult to secure the luminance and uniformity, and it is also difficult to confirm this during the process. In particular, if the display modularization process is performed without securing the luminance and uniformity, this is a waste of time and economics.

Therefore, it is required to determine whether there is a defect in the organic electroluminescent display product by checking the characteristics of the organic electroluminescent display, for example, brightness and uniformity through white color inspection, during the process, especially before the complicated process.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an organic electroluminescent display assembly capable of testing optical properties before a modularization process.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent display assembly capable of testing optical properties before a modularization process.

Technical problems to be achieved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned technical problems, and other technical problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

An organic electroluminescent display assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is on a transparent substrate other than the transparent substrate, the organic electroluminescent display formed with at least one on the transparent substrate and the region on which the organic electroluminescent display is formed And a test device including three anode electrodes, an organic electroluminescent layer including organic materials emitting blue, green, and red colors for each of the three anode electrodes, and a cathode electrode formed for each organic electroluminescent layer.

The organic electroluminescent display assembly manufacturing method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above technical problem is a step of preparing a transparent substrate, and at the same time forming at least one organic electroluminescent display formed on the transparent substrate, Three anode electrodes are formed on a transparent substrate outside the region where the electroluminescent display is formed, and an organic electroluminescent layer is formed to include organic materials emitting blue, green, and red colors for each of the three anode electrodes, and for each organic electroluminescent layer. Forming a cathode to form a test element.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but may be implemented in various forms. It is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the present invention is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, an organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

Prior to the description, an embodiment of the present invention assumes and describes an active matrix organic electroluminescent display (AMOELD) having a full color structure.

1 is a plan view of an organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As in FIG. 1, the organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 includes a transparent substrate 300, such as at least one organic electroluminescent display 400 formed on a glass substrate.

The transparent substrate 300 is divided into an 'activation region 500' in which an organic light emitting material is coated to form an organic electroluminescent display 400, and a 'inactivation region 600' in which an organic electroluminescent display 400 is not formed. It is.

As mentioned above, at least one organic electroluminescent display 400 is formed in the active region 500, and in the inactive region 600, a gate extending from each organic electroluminescent display 400 is not shown. Lines, data lines, power lines and the like exist. These lines exist for connection with a drive circuit for driving the organic electroluminescent display 50.

At least one test element group (TEG) pattern 200 is formed in the inactive region 600, which may be used to process optical or electrical characteristics of the organic electroluminescent display 400 in a predetermined process, such as a panel modular work process. It is used to check whether there is a defect occurrence by checking before.

In the organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, a unit pixel 200 having the same configuration as that of the unit pixel 100 constituting the organic electroluminescent display 400 is used as the TEG pattern.

Here, the unit pixel 200 as the TEG pattern formed in the inactive region 600 is formed in the same process and in the same configuration as the unit pixel 100 constituting the organic electroluminescent display 400, and the organic electroluminescent display 400 In the same manner as the unit pixel 100 constituting), an anode, a hole transport layer, an organic light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and a cathode are stacked on the glass substrate 300 (see FIG. 3).

Here, one thing to note, although the thin film transistor layer is formed between the transparent substrate 300 and the light emitting structure in the unit pixel 100 constituting the organic electroluminescent display 400, the TEG pattern formed in the inactive region 600. The unit pixel 200 is a thin film transistor layer that is a layer on which a thin film transistor is formed.

For reference, an embodiment of the present invention is described as using one unit pixel as a TEG pattern, but is not limited thereto. A plurality of unit pixels may be used as a TEG pattern in groups. Of course, at least one such group should also be formed in the inactive region.

On the other hand, since the thin film transistor layer capable of applying a voltage to the anode is not formed in the unit pixel 200 as the TEG pattern, the anode electrode is formed to be exposed to the outside and then a voltage is applied or the anode electrode is connected to a power voltage line. It can be driven by applying voltage.

1 and 2, each organic electroluminescent display 400 formed on the organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 using the unit pixel 200 as a TEG pattern formed in the inactive region 600. It will be described how to determine whether a plurality of materials applied to the, for example, the organic material is uniformly applied.

2 is a flowchart of a test method using a TEG pattern formed on an organic electroluminescent display assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, a plurality of unit pixels 200 as the TEG pattern as described above are formed on the inactive region 600 (S1). Subsequently, a predetermined voltage is applied to the anode and the cathode of each unit pixel 200 to emit some or all of them, and the optical characteristics emitted from each unit pixel 200 are examined (S2). For example, the luminance and white color of light emitted from each unit pixel 200 may be inspected, and a plurality of materials, for example, organic materials, may be applied to each organic electroluminescent display 400 formed on the organic electroluminescent display assembly 10. It is determined whether the coating is uniformly (S3).

As a result of the inspection and determination of the light characteristic from each unit pixel 200, if the light characteristic from each unit pixel 200 is within a predetermined error range, the organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 may be subjected to the following process, for example, a panel separation and The modularization process is carried out (S4), otherwise it is fed back to the previous process or discarded (S5).

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 3, each unit pixel 200 constituting the organic electroluminescent display 400 formed on the active region 500 of the organic electroluminescent display assembly 10 and the inactive region 500 are formed. The structure of the unit pixel 300 as a TEG pattern will be described.                     

3 is a cross-sectional view of the organic electroluminescent display assembly (see 10 of FIG. 1) taken along the line of AA ′ of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 3, each unit pixel 200 and an inactive region (FIG. 1) constituting an organic electroluminescent display (see 400 in FIG. 1) formed on an active region (see 500 in FIG. 1) of the organic electroluminescent display assembly. A cross-sectional view of the unit pixel 300 as a TEG pattern formed on 600) is shown.

For reference, each unit pixel 200 constituting the organic electroluminescent display formed on the active region is assumed and described as a unit pixel of a full-color active matrix organic electroluminescent display, but is not limited thereto. An active matrix organic electroluminescent display of structure may be formed on the active region.

As shown in FIG. 3, each unit pixel 200 constituting the organic electroluminescent display includes red, green, and blue sub-pixels Pr, Pg, and Pb, which are the minimum units for implementing the screen, as illustrated. The thin film transistor element 302 is formed on the transparent substrate 300 in units of subpixels.

In the region covering the thin film transistor element 302, a protective layer 304 having a contact hole 314 exposing a portion of the thin film transistor element 302 is formed.

The first electrode 306 as an anode connected to the thin film transistor element 302 through the contact hole 341 is patterned in units of subpixels Pr, Pg, and Pb on the passivation layer 304. The red, green, and blue sub-pixels Pr, Pg, and Pb form one pixel P.                     

A buffer pattern 308 is formed on a region of the first electrode 306 that opens the main region of the first electrode 306 and partially covers the edge of the first electrode 306. In the region 308, a bank of columns 310 is formed.

Here, the buffer pattern 308 and the bank 310 are formed at positions surrounding the boundary portions of the red, green, and blue sub-pixels (Pr, Pg, and Pb) regions, and the red, green, and blue regions are formed using the bank 310 as a boundary portion. Red, green, and blue organic EL layers 312a, 312b, and 312c are sequentially formed in the subpixels Pr, Pg, and Pb.

Here, the red, green, and blue organic electroluminescent layers 312a, 312b, and 312c form an organic electroluminescent layer 312 constituting one pixel.

The second electrode 316 as a cathode is formed on the entire surface of the substrate covering the organic electroluminescent layer 312. The first and second electrodes 306 and 316 and the organic EL layer 312 form an organic EL device E.

Meanwhile, the unit pixel 300 as the TEG pattern formed on the inactive region 40 also has the same structure as that of each unit pixel 200 constituting the organic electroluminescent display 50.

However, since the thin film transistor need not be formed in the inactive region 40, the thin film transistor layer is not separately formed in the unit pixel 300 as the TEG pattern formed in the inactive region 40.

4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a portion B of FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 4, a cross-sectional view of an organic electroluminescent layer 312 of an organic electroluminescent display is shown.

As shown in FIG. 4, the organic electroluminescent layer 312 has a structure in which a cathode 316, an electron transport layer 322, an emission layer 320, a hole transport layer 318, and an anode 306 are stacked. The cathode 316 here serves as the cathode electrode and the anode 306 serves as the anode electrode.

Next, the operation principle of the organic electroluminescent layer 312 will be briefly described. First, a voltage is applied to the anode 306 and the cathode 316. When a voltage is applied to both electrodes, holes are injected from the anode 306 and electrons are injected from the cathode 316 into the light emitting layer 320, respectively.

At this time, the electrons and holes injected into the light emitting layer 320 are recombined in the light emitting layer 320, and the organic electroluminescent layer 312 emits light using the energy generated in this process.

Hereinafter, referring to FIGS. 5A through 5F, each unit pixel 200 constituting the organic electroluminescent display formed on the active region of the organic electroluminescent display assembly and the unit pixel 300 as the TEG pattern formed on the inactive region are processed by step. It will be described as.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, a thin film transistor 302 is formed in an active region of a transparent substrate.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, a protective layer 304 for protecting the thin film transistor 302 is formed. For reference, in FIG. 4B, the protective layer 304 is also formed on the inactive region, but since the thin film transistor 302 is not formed on the inactive region, the protective layer 304 may not be generated.

Subsequently, the contact layer 307 may be formed to be connected to the thin film transistor 302 by performing a photoresist process, an exposure process, a developing process, and an etching process on the protective layer 304 formed in the active region.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, in order to form the anode 306, a material such as indium tin oxide (ITO) is mainly formed in front of the activation region and the inactivation region by using a technique such as sputtering or ion implantation. Let's do it. After the ITO layer is formed as described above, the ITO layer contacts the thin film transistor 302 through the contact hole 307 in the activation region.

Subsequently, surface treatment is performed using plasma to improve resistance characteristics.

After the surface treatment using plasma is completed, a photoresist PR is formed on the entire surface of the ITO using a roll coater or spin coater, and then exposed using a photomask having a desired pattern, followed by development. And an anode 306 is formed through an etching process.

After the anode 306 is formed, as shown in FIG. 5D, a film for forming the buffer layer 308 is deposited and etched to expose the top surface of the anode 306.

Next, as in FIG. 5E, a film is deposited to form a bank 310 for defining the sub-pixels to be formed thereafter. Subsequently, the film 310 is etched to form the bank 310 to form the bank 310. In this case, the bank 310 is patterned to be formed only on the buffer layer 308.

After the bank 310 is formed, the organic electroluminescent layer 312 is formed using an inkjet printing technique as shown in FIG. 5F. In this case, the light emitting layer 320 used for the organic electroluminescent layers 312a, 312b, and 312c used for the subpixels is formed of an organic material that emits red, green, and blue light when electrical stimulation is received from the outside.

After the organic electroluminescent layer 312 is formed in this manner, a cathode (see 316 of FIG. 3) as a cathode is formed on the entire surface of the transparent substrate 300 to complete the structure of FIG. 3.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments and can be variously modified and implemented by those skilled in the art without departing from the technical scope of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical and / or electrical characteristics may be tested before the modular operation of the organic light emitting display assembly to determine whether the process is fed back or not.

Claims (5)

Transparent substrates; At least one organic electroluminescent display formed on the transparent substrate; And On the transparent substrate outside the region where the organic electroluminescent display is formed, three anode electrodes, an organic electroluminescent layer including organic light emitting green, green, and red for each of the three anode electrodes, and a cathode formed for each of the organic electroluminescent layers An organic electroluminescent display assembly comprising a test element comprising an electrode. According to claim 1, And an anode electrode, an organic electroluminescent layer and a cathode electrode of the test device are formed simultaneously with the anode electrode, the organic electroluminescent layer and the cathode electrode of the organic electroluminescent display. The method according to claim 1 or 2, At least two test devices are formed. Preparing a transparent substrate; At the same time as forming an organic electroluminescent display having at least one formed on the transparent substrate, three anode electrodes are formed on a transparent substrate outside the region where the organic electroluminescent display is formed, and each of the three anode electrodes An organic electroluminescent display assembly is formed to include an organic material emitting green and red light, and a cathode is formed for each organic electroluminescent layer to form a test device. The method of claim 4, wherein The forming of the test device may be performed in at least two regions in a region other than a region in which the organic electroluminescent display is formed in the transparent substrate.

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