KR20160077297A - Organic Light Emitting Display Device - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an organic light emitting display device which can improve image quality. The organic light emitting display device comprises: first and second positive electrodes provided in one pixel, and separated from each other; and a driving thin film transistor provided in the one pixel, and connected to each of the first and second positive electrodes. The first positive electrode is connected to the driving thin film transistor through a repair line. The second positive electrode is extended to the driving thin film transistor, and is connected to the driving thin film transistor.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to an organic light emitting display device,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to an organic light emitting display, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display capable of repairing defective pixels.

In recent years, the importance of display devices has been increasing with the development of multimedia. In response to this, flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal display devices, plasma display devices, and organic light emitting display devices have been commercialized. Among such flat panel display devices, liquid crystal display devices and organic light emitting display devices are widely used in a variety of fields such as a notebook computer, a television, a tablet computer, a monitor, a smart phone, a portable display device, a portable information device, and the like due to their excellent characteristics such as thinness, light weight, And is widely used as a display device of a display device.

The OLED display has a structure in which a light emitting layer is formed between a cathode for injecting electrons and an anode for injecting holes, and electrons generated in the cathode and holes generated in the anode are injected into the light- The excited electrons are combined with the injected electrons and holes to generate an exciton and the generated excitons are emitted from the excited state to the ground state, to be.

Hereinafter, a conventional organic light emitting display will be described with reference to the drawings.

1 is a schematic view showing one pixel P of a conventional OLED display.

1, one pixel P of a conventional organic light emitting diode display includes a light emitting region E for emitting light and a circuit region C for controlling light emission of the light emitting region E And the light emitting region E and the circuit region C are connected to each other.

Specifically, the light emitting region E is provided with an anode A and the circuit region C is provided with a driving thin film transistor Dr_TR. The anode A is connected to the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR, .

The conventional organic light emitting display device has one light emitting region E for each pixel. When a defect occurs in the light emitting region E, the entire pixel is ignited and the image quality is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the image quality by making it possible to drive some of the light emitting regions without causing the entire light emitting region to be ignited when a defect occurs in the light emitting region of one pixel And an organic electroluminescent display device.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display device including a first anode, a second anode, and a first anode and a second anode, And the first anode is connected to the driving thin film transistor through a repair line and the second anode is connected to the driving thin film transistor through the driving thin film transistor .

According to the above-described invention, the following effects can be obtained.

The organic light emitting display according to an embodiment of the present invention can perform a repair process when a defect occurs in a light emitting region of a pixel, thereby improving the image quality. In addition, the organic light emitting diode display according to another embodiment of the present invention has an effect of preventing side effects that may occur due to a repair process.

1 is a schematic view showing one pixel of a conventional organic light emitting diode display.
2 is a schematic diagram of an organic light emitting display according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a schematic view of an OLED display according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a plan view of an OLED display according to another embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a cross-sectional view of line AB of Fig.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

The shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, numbers, and the like disclosed in the drawings for describing the embodiments of the present invention are illustrative, and thus the present invention is not limited thereto. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. In the case where the word 'includes', 'having', 'done', etc. are used in this specification, other parts can be added unless '~ only' is used. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, including the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In interpreting the constituent elements, it is construed to include the error range even if there is no separate description.

In the case of a description of the positional relationship, for example, if the positional relationship between two parts is described as 'on', 'on top', 'under', and 'next to' Or " direct " is not used, one or more other portions may be located between the two portions.

In the case of a description of a temporal relationship, for example, if the temporal relationship is described by 'after', 'after', 'after', 'before', etc., May not be continuous unless they are not used.

The first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, but these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

It is to be understood that each of the features of the various embodiments of the present invention may be combined or combined with each other, partially or wholly, technically various interlocking and driving, and that the embodiments may be practiced independently of each other, It is possible.

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

2 is a schematic diagram of an organic light emitting display according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows two pixels of the first pixel P1 and the second pixel P2.

2, each of the first pixel P1 and the second pixel P2 includes a light emitting region E for emitting light and a circuit region C for controlling light emission of the light emitting region E, And the light emitting region E and the circuit region C are connected to each other.

Specifically, the light emitting region E is provided with an anode A, and the circuit region C is provided with a driving thin film transistor Dr_TR. The anode A of the light emitting region E extends to the circuit region C and is connected to the driving TFT transistor Dr_TR.

At this time, the anode A provided in the light emitting region E has a repair region RA. The repair area RA is formed to have a relatively narrow width, and the repair area RA can be cut by laser irradiation when a defect occurs. When the repair area RA is cut, the anode A above the repair area RA and the anode A below the repair area RA are separated from each other.

The anode A included in the second pixel P2 is connected to the circuit region C of the second pixel P2. When a defect occurs, the anode A is connected to the first pixel P1 by a welding process. Can also be connected to the circuit region (C). More specifically, the anode A of the second pixel P2 is connected to the repair line RL, and the repair line RL is connected to the circuit region C of the first pixel P1. To the upper portion of the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of FIG. At this time, the repair line RL can be connected to the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of the first pixel P1 through the welding process, so that the anode A provided in the second pixel P2 And may be connected to the circuit region C of the first pixel P1.

Therefore, if a failure occurs in the second pixel P2, the repair area RA provided in the anode A of the second pixel P2 is cut through the rare-earth irradiation, The anode A on the upper side and the anode A on the lower side of the repair region RA are separated from each other. Thereafter, the repair line RL is connected to the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of the first pixel P1 through a welding process. The anode A above the repair area RA of the second pixel P2 is connected to the circuit area C of the first pixel P1 and the repair of the second pixel P2, The anode A under the region RA is connected to the circuit region C of the second pixel P2. As a result, if a defect occurs in the region of the anode A above the repair region RA of the second pixel P2, the anode A under the repair region RA of the second pixel P2 may be damaged, When the defect is generated in the region of the anode (A) below the repair region (RA) of the second pixel (P2), the region of the anode (A) above the repair region (A) area is normally driven. Accordingly, even if a defect occurs in one pixel, the entire light emitting region E is not ignited, and a part of the light emitting region E can be normally driven.

However, in the case of the organic light emitting diode display of FIG. 2, since the repair area RA is designed to be narrow, there is a possibility that the repair area RA is disconnected in a normal driving state in which no defect occurs. In addition, there is a possibility that an additional defect may occur in the light emitting region E in the process of removing the repair region RA by irradiating a laser to the repair region RA due to a defect. Also, the process is complicated because a welding process for connecting the repair line RL to the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of the first pixel P1 is necessary when a defect occurs.

The inventor of the present invention has studied a method of solving the disadvantages of the organic light emitting device according to the above-described FIG. 2, and developed an organic light emitting display according to another embodiment of the present invention as follows.

3 is a schematic view of an OLED display according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows one pixel P of the OLED display.

3, one pixel constituting the organic light emitting diode display includes a light emitting region E and a circuit region C for controlling light emission of the light emitting region E, and the light emitting region E ) And the circuit region (C) are connected to each other.

Specifically, the light emitting region E is provided with a first anode A1 and a second anode A2. The first anode A1 and the second anode A2 are separated from each other. The circuit region C is provided with a driving thin film transistor Dr_TR.

The first anode A1 provided in the light emitting region E is connected to the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of the circuit region C through a repair line RL. The second anode A2 provided in the light emitting region E extends to the circuit region C and is connected to the driving TFT transistor Dr_TR. That is, the first anode A1 and the second anode A2, which are separated from each other, are connected to the driving thin film transistor processor Dr_TR of the circuit region C.

The repair line RL connects the first anode A1 and the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of the circuit region C so that the first anode A region can be driven. The repair line RL is made of a transparent conductive material and does not lower the transmittance of the light emitting region E even if the repair line RL overlaps with the light emitting region E.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since both the first anode A1 and the second anode A2 are connected to the driving thin film transistor processor Dr_TR of the circuit region C during normal driving, And light is emitted from the entire luminescent region (E).

On the other hand, if a defect occurs, the region where the defect is generated in the light emitting region E is darkened while the region where no defect occurs normally operates.

For example, when a defect occurs in the area of the first anode (A1), the repair line (RL) is irradiated with a laser to cut off the connection between the first anode (A1) and the circuit area (C) . Then, light is emitted only in the region of the second anode (A2) where no defect occurs. At this time, by appropriately adjusting the cutting position of the repair line (RL), it is possible to reduce the occurrence of additional defects in the repair process. More specifically, when cutting a part of the repair line RL located between the second anode A2 region and the circuit region C, there is a possibility of causing additional defects in the light emitting region E in the cutting process Is reduced.

When a defect occurs in the second anode (A2) region, a part of the second anode (A2) extending to the circuit region (C) is cut off. Thus, light is emitted only in the region of the first anode (A1) where no defect occurs.

As described above, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the first anode A1 and the second anode A2 are arranged separately from each other in the light emitting region E of one pixel, and the first anode A1, The first anode A2 is connected to the driving thin film transistor Dr_TR of the circuit region C through the repair line LR and the second anode A2 is extended to the circuit region C, ), There is no possibility of disconnection in the normal drive state as in the other structures shown in Fig. 2, and the repairing process is simplified because the welding process is not necessary. In addition, since the portion to be transferred in the repairing process can be located outside the light emitting region E, no additional defect occurs in the light emitting region E in the repairing process.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of an OLED display according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-B of FIG. The organic light emitting display shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 corresponds to the organic light emitting display according to FIG.

First, a planar structure will be described with reference to FIG. 4, and then a cross-sectional structure will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG.

4, the organic light emitting diode display according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a substrate 1, anodes A1 and A2, a repair line RL, a gate line GL, a data line DL, A connection line CL, a sensing line SL, a power supply line VDD, a switching thin film transistor T1, a driving thin film transistor T2 and a sensing thin film transistor T3.

The substrate 1 may be made of glass or transparent plastic, but is not limited thereto.

The positive electrodes A1 and A2 include a first positive electrode A1 and a second positive electrode A2. The first and second positive electrodes A1 and A2 are separated from each other. The second anode A2 has one end extended and connected to the second source electrode S2 of the driving TFT T2 through the fourth contact hole CH4.

The repair line RL connects the first anode A1 with the second source electrode S2 of the driving TFT T2. More specifically, one side of the repair line RL is connected to the protrusion A1-k of the first positive electrode A1 through a sixth contact hole CH6, and the other side of the repair line RL And is directly connected to the second source electrode S2 of the driving TFT T2. The protrusion A1-k is a portion provided at an end A1-L of the first anode A1 which does not face the second anode A2, and one side of the repair line RL And to be connected to the first anode A1. The repair line RL can be connected to the first anode A1 without loss of the light emitting region E by providing the protrusions A1-k at the ends A1-L of the first anode A1 .

Since the repair line RL is made of a transparent conductive material, the light transmittance of the OLED display device does not decrease even if the repair line RL overlaps with the first anode A1 and the second anode A2.

The gate lines GL are arranged on the substrate 1 in a first direction, for example, in the horizontal direction. The gate line GL is connected to the switching thin film transistor Tl and the sensing thin film transistor T3, respectively.

The data lines DL are arranged on the substrate 1 in a second direction, for example, a longitudinal direction. The data line DL is connected to the switching TFT T1.

The connection line CL connects the power supply line VDD and the driving TFT T2. That is, one side of the connection line CL is connected to the power line VDD through a second contact hole CH2, and the other side of the connection line CL is connected to the drain electrode of the driving TFT T2. (D2) and the third contact hole (CH3).

The sensing line SL is connected to the sensing thin film transistor T3. Although not shown in detail, the sensing line SL is connected to a reference line, and it is possible to sense whether the threshold voltage of the driving TFT T2 is lowered.

The power supply line VDD is arranged on the substrate 1 in a second direction, for example, a longitudinal direction. The power supply line VDD is connected to the connection line CL through a contact hole CH2.

The switching thin film transistor T1 includes a first gate electrode G1, a first source electrode S1, a first drain electrode D1, and a first active layer (not shown).

The first gate electrode G1 may be formed as a part of the gate line GL but may be branched from the gate line GL in some cases. GL) and a separate electrode connected through the contact hole. The first source electrode S1 may have a structure branched from the first data line DL1. The first drain electrode D1 faces the first source electrode S1. The first drain electrode D1 is connected to the second gate electrode G2 of the driving TFT T2 through a first contact hole CH1. The first active layer (not shown) is connected to the first source electrode S1 and the first drain electrode D1 to function as an electron movement channel.

The driving TFT T2 includes a second gate electrode G2, a second source electrode S2, a second drain electrode D2, and a second active layer (not shown).

The second gate electrode G2 is connected to the first drain electrode D1 of the switching TFT T1 through the first contact hole CH1 as described above. The second drain electrode D2 is connected to the connection line CL. The second source electrode S2 faces the second drain electrode D2. The second source electrode S2 also functions as a third source electrode S3 of the sensing thin film transistor T3 described later. The second source electrode S2 is connected to the first anode A1 through the repair line RL. The second active layer (not shown) is connected to the second source electrode S2 and the second drain electrode D2 to function as an electron transfer channel.

The sensing thin film transistor T3 includes a third gate electrode G3, a third source electrode S3, a third drain electrode D3, and a third active layer (not shown).

The third gate electrode G3 may be formed as a part of the gate line GL, but is not limited thereto. The third gate electrode G3 may have a structure branched from the gate line GL, GL) and a separate electrode connected through the contact hole. The third source electrode S3 may be a second source electrode S2 of the driving TFT T2 as described above. The third drain electrode D3 faces the third source electrode S3. The third active layer (not shown) is connected to the third source electrode S3 and the third drain electrode D3 to function as an electron movement channel.

5, an active layer 2 is formed on a substrate 1, and an interlayer insulating layer 4 is formed on the active layer 2. As shown in FIG. The active layer 2 constitutes the active layer of the driving thin film transistor T2 described above. On the other hand, a gate insulating layer 3 and a connection line CL are sequentially formed between the active layer 2 and the interlayer insulating layer 4. The connection line CL is formed in the same layer as the gate electrode or the gate line GL and therefore the gate insulation layer 3 is formed below the connection line CL.

On the interlayer insulating layer 4, a repair line RL is formed. The repair line RL is connected to the active layer 2 of the driving TFT T2 through a contact hole formed in the interlayer insulating layer 4. [

A second source electrode S2 and a connection electrode 5 of the driving TFT T2 are formed on the repair line RL. The second source electrode S2 is formed on one side of the repair line RL. Therefore, the second source electrode S2 is connected to the active layer 2 through the repair line RL. The connection electrode 5 is formed on the other side of the repair line RL. The connection electrode 5 may be formed of the same material as the second source electrode S2. The connection electrode 5 serves to connect the repair line RL to the first anode A1. At this time, the repair line RL and the first anode A1 are made of a transparent conductive material, but the transparent conductive material has a disadvantage that the resistance is large. Therefore, the connection electrode 5 is provided between the repair line RL and the first anode A1, thereby improving the electrical conductivity between the repair line RL and the first anode A1 .

A planarization layer 6 is formed on the second source electrode S2 and the connection electrode 5.

The first anode A1 and the second anode A2 are formed on the planarization layer 6 while being separated from each other. The first anode A1 is connected to the connection electrode 5 through a contact hole CH6 formed in the planarization layer 6. [ Therefore, the first anode A1 is connected to the second source electrode S2 of the driving TFT T2 through the connection electrode 5 and the repair line RL. The second anode A2 is connected to the second source electrode S2 through a contact hole CH4 formed on the planarization layer 6. [

Bank layers 7a, 7b and 7c are formed on the first anode A1 and the second anode A2. The bank layers 7a, 7b and 7c are formed of a first bank layer 7a overlapping with one end of the first anode A1 and concretely overlapping the connection electrode 5, And a third bank layer 7c overlapping with the other end of the second anode A2. The second bank layer 7b overlaps the other end of the second anode A2 and one end of the second anode A2. At this time, since the second bank layer 7b is provided between the first anode A1 and the second anode A2, the first anode A1 and the second anode A2, An organic light emitting layer may be provided on each of the light emitting layers. Therefore, for example, even if a defect occurs in the organic luminescent layer on the first anode A1, the organic luminescent layer on the second anode A2 may not be affected.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to those embodiments and various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. . Therefore, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are intended to illustrate rather than limit the scope of the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of protection of the present invention should be construed according to the claims, and all technical ideas within the scope of equivalents should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

1: substrate GL: gate line
DL: Data line VDD: Power line
SL: sensing line T1: switching thin film transistor
T2: driving thin film transistor T3: sensing thin film transistor
RL: Repair Line

Claims (8)

A first anode and a second anode provided in one pixel and separated from each other; And
And a driving thin film transistor provided in the one pixel and connected to each of the first anode and the second anode,
Wherein the first anode is connected to the driving thin film transistor through a repair line and the second anode is connected to the driving thin film transistor through the driving thin film transistor. The method according to claim 1,
And the repair line is overlapped with the first anode and the second anode. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a protrusion is provided at an end of the first anode not facing the second anode, and the repair line is connected to the protrusion of the first anode. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the repair line is made of a transparent conductive material. The method according to claim 1,
And a connection electrode connecting between the first anode and the repair line. 6. The method of claim 5,
And the connection electrode is made of the same material as the source electrode constituting the driving thin film transistor. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the second anode is connected to a source electrode constituting the driving thin film transistor, and the source electrode is connected to an active layer constituting the driving thin film transistor through the repair line. 8. The method of claim 7,
And a bank layer provided between the first anode and the second anode.

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