TWI679792B - Display panel and method of fabricating the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A display panel includes an active element array substrate, an isolation structure layer, a first luminescent material layer, and a second luminescent material layer. The active device array substrate has a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area. The isolation structure layer is disposed on the active device array substrate. The display panel has a first groove and a second groove defined by at least the isolation structure layer. The first groove and the second groove are disposed in the peripheral area, and the display area is located between the first groove and the second groove. The first luminescent material layer and the second luminescent material layer are filled in the first groove and the second groove, respectively. The shortest distance between the edge of the isolation structure layer defining the first groove and the edge of the display area is substantially equal to the shortest distance between the edge of the isolation structure layer defining the second groove and the edge of the display area. The volume of the first luminescent material layer is larger than the volume of the second luminescent material layer. A method for manufacturing a display panel is also proposed.

Description

Display panel and manufacturing method thereof

The invention relates to a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof, and in particular to a self-luminous display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

In recent years, compared with the current mainstream liquid crystal display panels, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels have gradually attracted various technologies due to their high color saturation, fast response speed and high contrast performance. Investment vision of big factories. However, under the circumstances that its manufacturing cost is high and its service life cannot compete with current mainstream displays, even if the OLED display panel has the above-mentioned excellent display quality, the market share on the consumer side cannot be significantly improved.

In order to find a lower-cost manufacturing method, the development of production equipment and related materials is one of the efforts of many manufacturers. Among them, the use of inkjet printing (IJP) technology to make light-emitting material layers is one of the research focuses. Since the light-emitting material needs to be dripped or injected into the corresponding groove through a printing head, the light-emitting material needs to be dissolved in a suitable solvent to be ejected. However, in the process of inkjet printing, the solvent of the droplets sprayed on the substrate will continue to volatilize, so that the droplets sequentially ejected in different areas have different volatilization degrees, resulting in the formation of the luminescent material layer in different areas The film thickness is also different, which further affects the light emitting uniformity of the display panel. Therefore, how to overcome the above technical bottlenecks is a subject that science and technology factories are desperately trying to solve.

The present invention provides a display panel with excellent light emission uniformity.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, which has a high production yield.

The display panel of the present invention includes an active element array substrate, an isolation structure layer, a first luminescent material layer, and a second luminescent material layer. The active device array substrate has a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area. The isolation structure layer is disposed on the active device array substrate. The display panel has a first groove and a second groove defined by at least the isolation structure layer. The first groove and the second groove are disposed in the peripheral area, and the display area is located between the first groove and the second groove. The first luminescent material layer and the second luminescent material layer are disposed on the active device array substrate, and are respectively filled in the first groove and the second groove. The shortest distance between the edge of the isolation structure layer defining the first groove and the edge of the display area is substantially equal to the shortest distance between the edge of the isolation structure layer defining the second groove and the edge of the display area. The volume of the first luminescent material layer is larger than the volume of the second luminescent material layer.

The method for manufacturing a display panel of the present invention includes providing an active element array substrate, forming an isolation structure material layer on the active element array substrate, performing an etching step, and performing an inkjet printing process. The active device array substrate has a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area. The etching step includes removing two portions of the isolation structure material layer overlapping the peripheral area and located on opposite sides of the display area to form an isolation structure layer defining the first groove and the second groove. The inkjet printing process includes sequentially spraying a first droplet and a second droplet in the first groove and the second groove. The droplet amount of the first droplet is larger than the droplet amount of the second droplet.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the first groove of the display panel has a first depth, the second groove has a second depth, and the first depth is greater than the second depth.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel further includes a flat layer. The flat layer is disposed between the active element array substrate and the isolation structure layer. The first groove extends through the isolation structure layer and into the flat layer. The second groove extends at least in the isolation structure layer. A portion of the flat layer below the first groove has a thickness smaller than a thickness of a portion below the second groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned isolation structure layer of the display panel defines a portion of the first groove having a first thickness, and the portion of the isolation structure layer defining the second groove has a second thickness, and the first The thickness is greater than the second thickness.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel further includes a dummy pattern disposed in the second groove and located below the second luminescent material layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel further includes a first electrode disposed in the display area. The first electrode is located between the active device array substrate and the isolation structure layer. The dummy pattern is located between the active device array substrate and the second luminescent material layer, and the dummy pattern and the first electrode belong to the same film layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a vertical projection area of the first groove of the display panel on the active element array substrate is larger than a vertical projection area of the second groove on the active element array substrate.

In an embodiment of the present invention, a thickness of the first luminescent material layer of the display panel is greater than a thickness of the second luminescent material layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel further includes a third luminescent material layer, which is disposed on the active device array substrate and is located in the display area. The volume of the third luminescent material layer is larger than the volume of the second luminescent material layer and smaller than the volume of the first luminescent material layer. The isolation structure layer further defines a third groove in the display area, and the third luminescent material layer is filled in the third groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the display panel further includes a third light emitting material layer disposed on the active device array substrate. The isolation structure layer further defines a third groove in the peripheral region. The first groove, the second groove, and the third groove surround the display area, and the third light-emitting material layer is filled in the third groove. The volume of the third luminescent material layer is larger than the volume of the second luminescent material layer and smaller than the volume of the first luminescent material layer.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the thickness of each of the first luminescent material layer and the second luminescent material layer of the display panel is gradually increased from the center to the edge.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the vertical projections of the first light emitting material layer and the second light emitting material layer of the display panel on the active device array substrate have a first width and a second width in the first direction, respectively, and The first width is larger than the second width.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the etching step of the above-mentioned manufacturing method of the display panel further includes removing a portion of the isolation structure material layer overlapping the display area to form a third groove. The inkjet printing process further includes spraying a third droplet in the third groove after spraying the first droplet and before spraying the second droplet. The droplet amount of the third droplet is larger than the droplet amount of the second droplet, and smaller than the droplet amount of the first droplet.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned method for manufacturing a display panel further includes a drying and baking step, so that each of the first droplet and the second droplet is cured to form a light-emitting material layer. The volume of the luminescent material layer located in the first groove is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer located in the second groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a display panel, the active device array substrate further includes a flat layer. The etching step further includes removing a portion where the planarization layer overlaps at least one of the two portions of the isolation structure material layer. After the etching step is performed, the thickness of the portion of the flat layer under the first groove is smaller than the thickness of the portion under the second groove.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the method for manufacturing a display panel further includes forming a dummy pattern on the active device array substrate. The dummy pattern is disposed in the second groove, and the second liquid droplet covers the dummy pattern.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a display panel, after the etching step is performed, an area occupied by the first groove has a first width in a first direction. The area occupied by the second groove has a second width in the first direction, and the first width is larger than the second width.

Based on the above, in the display panel of the embodiment of the present invention, a first groove and a second groove are provided in the peripheral area, and the two grooves are respectively disposed on both sides of the display area and filled in the side of the display area. The volume of the luminescent material layer in the first groove is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer filled in the second groove located on the other side of the display area. In this way, it is helpful to improve the uniformity of the film thickness of the light-emitting material layer disposed in the display area, thereby achieving better uniformity of light emission. In addition, in the manufacturing method of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, the step of spraying the droplets of the luminescent material in the first groove is earlier than the step of spraying the droplets of the luminescent material in the second groove, and The amount of droplets is larger than the amount of droplets sprayed into the second groove, which helps to improve the uneven volatilization rate of the droplets of the luminescent material sprayed on the display area, so as to enhance the light emission in different grooves in the display area. The film thickness uniformity of the material layer further improves the production yield.

In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, embodiments are hereinafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As used herein, "about," "approximately," "essentially," or "substantially" includes the stated value and an average value within an acceptable deviation range of a particular value determined by one of ordinary skill in the art, taking into account the The measurement in question and the specific number of measurement-related errors (ie, limitations of the measurement system). For example, "about" may mean within one or more standard deviations of the stated value, or for example within ± 30%, ± 20%, ± 15%, ± 10%, ± 5%. Furthermore, the terms "about", "approximately", "essentially", or "substantially" used herein may be based on measurement properties, cutting properties, or other properties to select a more acceptable range of deviations or standard deviations. Not all standard properties apply.

In the drawings, the thicknesses of layers, films, panels, regions, etc. are exaggerated for clarity. It will be understood that when an element such as a layer, film, region, or substrate is referred to as being "on" or "connected to" another element, it can be directly on or connected to the other element, or Intermediate elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on" or "directly connected to" another element, there are no intervening elements present. As used herein, "connected" may refer to a physical and / or electrical connection. Furthermore, "electrically connected" may mean that there are other components between the two components.

Reference will now be made in detail to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a display panel 10 according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2A to 2F are schematic cross-sectional views of a manufacturing process of the display panel 10 of FIG. 1. 2A to 2E correspond to the section line AA ', section B-B', and section line C-C 'of FIG. 1, and FIG. 2F corresponds to the section line A-A', section C-C ', and Section line D-D '. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the display panel 10 of FIG. 1. It should be noted that, for the sake of clarity, FIG. 1 only illustrates the isolation structure layer 181 and the substrate 110 of the display panel 10, and other possible components included in the display panel 10 will be shown in FIGS. 2A to 2F. As can be seen from FIG. 1, the substrate 110 has a display area AA and a peripheral area PA surrounding the display area AA. The isolation structure layer 181 defines a plurality of first grooves and a plurality of second grooves in the peripheral area PA. The plurality of first grooves include, for example, the groove 181a, and the plurality of second grooves include, for example, the groove 181b. A plurality of third grooves are defined in the display area AA, and the plurality of third grooves include, for example, a groove 181c, where the area of the groove 181c in the display area AA when the display panel 10 performs display may emit light to present a picture. Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the display panel 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described as an example.

Please refer to FIG. 2A. First, an active device array substrate 100 is provided. The active device array substrate 100 includes a substrate 110, an active device T, and a gate insulating layer 130. The active device T is disposed on the substrate 110 and has a gate G, a source S, a drain D, and a semiconductor pattern SC. The gate insulating layer 130 is disposed between the semiconductor pattern SC and the gate G. For example, in this embodiment, the gate G of the active device T may be selectively disposed above the semiconductor pattern SC to form a top-gate TFT, but the present invention is not This is the limit. According to other embodiments, the gate G of the active device T may also be disposed below the semiconductor pattern SC, that is, the gate G is located between the semiconductor pattern SC and the substrate 110 to form a bottom gate thin film transistor (bottom-gate transistor). TFT). In this embodiment, the active device array substrate 100 may optionally further include a buffer layer 120 disposed between the substrate 110 and the active device T. In addition, the area where the active device T is located is, for example, an area where a screen is to be displayed. Therefore, it can be understood that the active devices T are all located in the display area AA of FIG. 1, and the peripheral area PA can be regarded as an area without the active device T.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor pattern SC may include a source region SR, a lightly doped source region LSR, a channel region CH, a lightly doped drain region LDR, and a drain region DR. The lightly doped source region LSR is located at the source Between the electrode region SR and the channel region CH, the lightly doped drain region LDR is located between the channel region CH and the drain region DR, and the gate G overlaps the channel region CH of the semiconductor pattern SC, but the present invention does not use this. Limited. According to other embodiments, the semiconductor pattern SC may include only the source region SR, the channel region CH, and the drain region DR.

Following the above, the active element array substrate 100 further includes an interlayer insulating layer 140 disposed on the gate insulating layer 130 and covering the gate G of the active element T. The source S and the drain D of the active device T are disposed on the interlayer insulating layer 140 and overlap the two different regions of the semiconductor pattern SC, respectively. In detail, both the source S and the drain D of the active device T pass through the interlayer insulating layer 140 and the gate insulating layer 130 to electrically connect the source region SR and the drain region DR of the semiconductor pattern SC, respectively.

In this embodiment, the material of the semiconductor pattern SC is, for example, a low temperature poly-silicon (LTPS) semiconductor, that is, the active device T may be a low-temperature poly-silicon thin film transistor (LTPS TFT). However, the present invention is not limited to this. In other embodiments, the active device T may be an amorphous silicon thin film transistor (a-Si TFT), a micro-crystalline silicon thin film transistor (micro-Si TFT), or a metal. Oxide transistor (Metal Oxide Transistor).

The active device array substrate 100 further includes an insulating layer 150 and a flat layer 160. The insulating layer 150 covers part of the surface of the source S, the drain D of the active device T, and the interlayer insulating layer 140, and may optionally have an opening 150a that overlaps the drain D of the active device T. The flat layer 160 covers part of the surfaces of the insulating layer 150 and the drain electrode D.

It should be noted that the gate electrode G, the source electrode S, the drain electrode D, the gate insulating layer 130, the interlayer insulating layer 140, the insulating layer 150, and the flat layer 160 may be used by any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field. Any gate, any source, any drain, any gate insulation layer, any interlayer insulation layer, any insulation layer and any flat layer of the display panel are implemented, and the gate G, the source S The drain electrode D, the gate insulating layer 130, the interlayer insulating layer 140, the insulating layer 150, and the flat layer 160 can be formed by any method well known to those having ordinary knowledge in the technical field, so they are not described in detail here. .

Next, a plurality of first electrodes 171 are formed on the active device array substrate 100 and arranged in the display area AA. The plurality of first electrodes 171 are disposed on the flat layer 160, and each of the first electrodes 171 is electrically connected to the drain electrode D of the corresponding active device T through the flat layer 160. Specifically, although FIG. 2A shows only one active element T for clarity of the drawing, a plurality of active elements T may be formed on the substrate 110, and each of the first electrodes 171 may be connected to one of the active elements T correspondingly. In some embodiments, the first electrode 171 is, for example, a light-transmissive electrode. The material of the light-transmissive electrode includes metal oxides, such as indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, aluminum tin oxide, and aluminum zinc oxide. Materials, or other suitable oxides, or stacked layers of at least two of the above, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first electrode 171 may also be a reflective electrode. The material of the reflective electrode includes a metal, an alloy, a nitride of a metal material, an oxide of a metal material, an oxynitride of a metal material, or other suitable materials. Materials, or stacked layers of metallic materials and other conductive materials.

On the other hand, the active device array substrate 100 may optionally include a plurality of signal lines, such as a signal line SL1 and a signal line SL2, where the signal line SL1 is, for example, a scan line, a data line, or a power line, and the signal line SL2 is, for example, Peripheral wiring, but the invention is not limited to this. In this embodiment, based on the consideration of conductivity, the materials of the signal lines SL1 and SL2 are generally metal materials. However, the present invention is not limited to this. According to other embodiments, the signal line SL1 and the signal line SL2 may also use other conductive materials, such as: alloys, nitrides of metal materials, oxides of metal materials, oxynitrides of metal materials, Or other suitable materials, or stacked layers of metal materials and other conductive materials.

Referring to FIG. 2B, an isolation structure material layer 180 is formed on the active device array substrate 100. The isolation structure layer 180 covers a part of the surface of the first electrode 171 and the flat layer 160. Referring to FIG. 2C, after forming the isolation structure material layer 180, an etching step is performed to remove portions of the isolation structure material layer 180 to form the isolation structure layer 181 of the display panel 10 and at least the area defined by the isolation structure layer 181. Multiple grooves. In this embodiment, the etching step may optionally include removing at least a portion of the plurality of portions of the planarization layer 160 overlapping the isolation structure material layer 180, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, a plurality of grooves can be arranged on the substrate 110 in an array, and the plurality of grooves include, for example, a groove 181 a, a groove 181 b, and a groove 181 c. The groove 181 c is disposed in the display area AA of the substrate 110, and The grooves 181a and 181b are respectively provided in the peripheral areas PA on opposite sides of the display area AA. The vertical projection area of the area occupied by each groove on the substrate 110 may be substantially the same, but the invention is not limited thereto. In addition, the shortest distance S1 between the edge of the groove 181a defined by the isolation structure layer 181 and the edge of the area occupied by the display area AA on the substrate 110 is substantially equal to the edge of the groove 181b defined by the isolation structure layer 181 and the display area The shortest distance S2 between the vertical projections of the edges of the area occupied by AA on the substrate 110. All the grooves 181c are located in the display area AA and all the grooves 181a and 181b are not in the display area AA.

Please refer to FIG. 2C. In this embodiment, both the groove 181a and the groove 181b in the peripheral area PA can extend through the isolation structure layer 181, and the groove 181c in the display area AA also extends through the isolation structure layer 181 and is exposed. A part of the surface of the first electrode 171 is exposed. In addition, the groove 181a can also selectively extend into the flat layer 160. For example, the thickness t1 of the portion of the flat layer 160 below the groove 181a is smaller than the thickness t2 of the portion of the flat layer 160 below the groove 181b, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other words, the depth d1 of the groove 181a in the direction of the vertical substrate 110 is greater than the depth d2 of the groove 181b in the direction of the vertical substrate 110.

In some embodiments, the plurality of grooves located in the peripheral area PA may not penetrate the isolation structure layer 181, but the depth d1 of the groove 181a is still greater than the depth d2 of the groove 181b. That is, a portion of the isolation structure layer 181 under the groove 181a has a thickness smaller than a thickness of a portion of the isolation structure layer 181 under the groove 181b. In this way, the groove 181a has a larger depth than the groove 181b, and therefore can provide a larger accommodation space.

After the etching step is completed, an inkjet printing process is performed, and droplets to be formed into a light emitting structure are sequentially sprayed in a plurality of grooves. For example, referring to FIG. 1, the inkjet printing process may start at one corner of the display panel 10, first across the width of the entire display panel 10 along the process path P1 and dripping liquid into each groove on the process path P1. Drop, and then the same process is performed along the process path P2, until the width of the entire display panel 10 is traversed along the process path Pn and drops are dripped into the grooves on the process path Pn, and then the entire display panel 10 can be All grooves are filled with droplets. In this embodiment, the directions of two adjacent process paths (for example, process path P1 and process path P2) are the same, but in other embodiments, the directions of two adjacent process paths may be opposite.

In other words, please refer to FIG. 2D. For example, the inkjet printing process of this embodiment sprays droplets LD1, LD2, and LD3 in order in the grooves 181a, 181c, and 181b. It can be seen from FIG. 2D that the droplet amount of the droplet LD1 is larger than the droplet amount of the droplet LD3. In this embodiment, the droplet amount of the droplet LD1 may be selectively larger than the droplet amount of the droplet LD2, and the droplet amount of the droplet LD3 may be selectively smaller than the droplet amount of the droplet LD2, but the present invention It is not limited to this. In the process of inkjet printing, the nozzles carrying liquid droplets are sprayed in the groove 181a, then sprayed in the groove 181c, and then sprayed in the groove 181b. That is, in the grooves 181a and 181b located in the peripheral area PA, a larger amount of liquid droplets are dripped first, and then a relatively small amount of liquid droplets are sprayed. In addition, the groove 181c located in the display area AA can be dripped with a constant amount of liquid droplets without changing the order of the inkjet steps.

In this embodiment, the material of the droplet LD1, the droplet LD2, and the droplet LD3 may optionally include a light emitting structure material and a solvent, wherein the light emitting structure material includes, for example, a hole injection material, a hole transport material, a light emitting material, and an electron. For the transmission material and the electron injection material, the solvent is, for example, a volatile liquid that can be used to dissolve the light emitting structure material. In detail, in the inkjet printing process, since the groove 181a to be sprayed is dripped with the droplet LD1 having a larger amount of droplets, the volatile solvent contained in the groove 181a is also large. After the droplet LD1 is dropped into the groove 181a, the volatile solvent of the droplet LD1 in the groove 181a may be volatilized until all the grooves are dropped into the droplet. Because more volatile solvents are contained in the groove 181a, a larger vapor pressure can be generated near the groove 181a. In this way, although the groove 181c adjacent to the groove 181a in the display area AA is sprayed with the droplet LD2 earlier than the groove 181c in the other area in the display area AA, the droplet LD2 is not easy to be evaporated by the solvent during this period. And prematurely dry. Therefore, although the plurality of grooves 181c in the display area AA are dripped into the droplet LD2 at different times, after the inkjet printing process is completed, the solvent content of the droplets LD2 in all the grooves 181c does not differ much. In this way, it is helpful to improve the uniformity of film formation of the light-emitting structure materials located in different regions after drying.

Please refer to FIG. 2E. Next, a drying and baking step is performed, so that the solvent of the droplets dropped or injected into each groove can be volatile and removed, and the light-emitting structure material is cured to form a corresponding light-emitting material layer 190. In this embodiment, the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 formed in the groove 181a is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 formed in the groove 181b. In addition, the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 formed in the groove 181c may be selectively smaller than the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 formed in the groove 181a, and may be selectively larger than the luminescent material layer formed in the groove 181b. 190 volume, but the invention is not limited to this.

From another point of view, in this embodiment, the minimum thickness t3 of the luminescent material layer 190 located in the groove 181a may be selectively larger than the minimum thickness t4 of the luminescent material layer 190 located in the groove 181b. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is worth mentioning that the thickness of the luminescent material layer 190 gradually increases from the center to the edge, that is, the thickness of the luminescent material layer 190 in the portion near the edge of the groove is greater than the thickness in the portion far from the edge of the groove .

1 and 2F, the plurality of grooves defined by the isolation structure layer 181 in the peripheral area PA further include a groove 181d, wherein the groove 181a, the groove 181b, and the groove 181d are respectively located in different parts of the peripheral area PA. And surround the display area AA. For example, in the inkjet printing process described in FIG. 2D, the spraying order of the droplets is the groove 181a, the groove 181d, and the groove 181b, and the light-emitting material layer 190 filled in the groove 181d is sequentially The volume is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181b, and smaller than the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181a. In some embodiments, the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181d may be selectively smaller than that of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181c. In another part of the embodiment, the volume of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181d may also be larger than that of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181c.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, in this embodiment, the display panel 10 has a plurality of light emitting structures 200 formed in the grooves 181 a, 181 b, and 181 c. Each light emitting structure 200 may include a hole injection layer 191, a hole transmission layer 192, a light emitting layer 193, and an electron transmission layer 194 sequentially stacked on the first electrode 171. The hole injection layer 191, the hole transmission layer 192, and Each of the light emitting layers 193 can be manufactured by using the manufacturing method of the light emitting material layer 190 in FIGS. 2D and 2E. For example, in this embodiment, the hole injection layer 191, the hole transmission layer 192, and the light emitting layer 193 are formed in a manner that includes firstly dropping or injecting the corresponding light emitting structure material into the isolation structure layer 181 in an inkjet manner. A plurality of grooves are defined, and the dripped or injected material is dried and solidified to form a corresponding film layer. It should be noted that the present invention does not limit the type and number of the luminescent material layers formed through the inkjet printing process. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field may adjust the suitable use according to the process characteristics and requirements of the luminescent material. The number of luminescent material layers formed by the inkjet printing method.

In particular, in the manufacturing process of the display panel 10, the inkjet printing step of the hole transport layer 192 is performed after the hole injection layer 191 is cured, and the light emitting layer 193 is performed after the hole transport layer 192 is cured. Inkjet printing step. In this way, the thicknesses of the hole injection layer 191, the hole transmission layer 192, and the light-emitting layer 193 can be controlled by the inkjet printing step, and the materials of the hole injection layer 191, the hole transmission layer 192, and the light-emitting layer 193 are mutually No mixed dyeing occurs during inkjet printing. In addition, the stacking of the hole injection layer 191, the hole transmission layer 192, and the light emitting layer 193 is for illustration purposes only. In other embodiments, the hole injection layer 191, the hole transmission layer 192, and the light emitting layer 193 Optionally, one or more other film layers may be included between any two adjacent layers.

On the other hand, after the inkjet printing process and the drying and baking step, an electron transport layer 194 may be formed on the light emitting layer 193 by using a thermal evaporation method, for example, to complete the multilayer stacked light emitting structure 200. In some embodiments, the electron-transporting layer 194 can also be formed on the light-emitting layer 193 by a method similar to the inkjet printing of FIGS. 2D and 2E. Next, a second electrode 172 is formed on the isolation structure layer 181 and the light emitting structure 200, and the second electrode 172 covers the isolation structure layer 181 and the light emitting structure 200. In detail, in this embodiment, the second electrode 172 may be continuously extended from above the isolation structure layer 181, conform to the sidewall of the isolation structure layer 181, extend above the light emitting structure 200, and cover the light emitting structure 200. In particular, in some embodiments, the second electrode 172 may be formed using the same manufacturing method as the electron transport layer 194 on the light emitting structure 200, such as thermal evaporation. The second electrode 172 may have a substantially uniform film thickness.

Following the above, in this embodiment, the second electrode 172 is, for example, a light-transmitting electrode. The material of the light-transmitting electrode includes metal oxides, such as indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, aluminum tin oxide, Aluminum zinc oxide, or other suitable oxides, or a stacked layer of at least two of the above, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the second electrode 172 may also be a reflective electrode. The material of the reflective electrode includes a metal, an alloy, a nitride of a metal material, an oxide of a metal material, an oxynitride of a metal material, or other suitable materials. Materials, or stacked layers of metallic materials and other conductive materials. Here, the display panel 10 of this embodiment is completed.

As can be seen from FIGS. 1 and 3, the display panel 10 includes an active device array substrate 100, an isolation structure layer 181, a first electrode 171, a light emitting structure 200, and a second electrode 172. The isolation structure layer 181 defines a plurality of grooves in the display panel 10, and the light emitting structure 200 is filled in each groove. The plurality of grooves include, for example, a groove 181a, a groove 181b, and a groove 181c. The light-emitting structures 200 filled in the recesses 181c are sandwiched between the first electrode 171 and the second electrode 172 and can emit light through the driving of the active element T as a display element. Therefore, the area where the groove 181c is located can be regarded as the display area AA. Neither the light emitting structure 200 filled in the grooves 181a nor 181b is used as a display element. Therefore, the areas where the grooves 181a and 181b are located can be regarded as the peripheral area PA, and the grooves 181a and 181b are located on opposite sides of the display area AA, respectively. Since the light emitting layer 193 in the light emitting structure 200 can be made of an organic light emitting material, the display panel 10 is substantially an organic light emitting display panel.

In this embodiment, for example, one of the first electrode 171 and the second electrode 172 is a light-transmissive electrode layer, and the other may be a light-transmissive electrode layer or a reflective electrode layer. The light emitting structure 200 includes a hole injection layer 191, a hole transport layer 192, a light emitting layer 193, and an electron transport layer 194 sequentially stacked on the first electrode 171. The display panel 10 of this embodiment is, for example, a top emission type display panel. However, the present invention is not limited to this. According to other embodiments, the display panel 10 may be a bottom emission type display panel.

Here, the edge of the display area AA is defined by, for example, an outer edge of the groove 181b located at the outermost periphery, and may also be an interface between the groove 181b located at the outermost periphery and an adjacent groove 181a or 181b. The shortest distance S1 between the edge of the isolation structure layer 181 defining the groove 181a and the edge of the display area AA is substantially equal to the shortest distance S2 between the edge of the isolation structure layer 181 defining the groove 181b and the edge of the display area AA. In addition, the volume of the luminescent material layer located in the groove 181a is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer located in the groove 181b. That is, if the grooves 181a, 181b, and 181c can be provided at an equal interval and an equal interval. However, the volumes of the light emitting structures 200 filled in the grooves 181a, 181b and 181c may be different.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display panel 20 according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 4. The difference between the display panel 20 of this embodiment and the display panel 10 of FIG. 2F is that the display panel 20 may optionally include a dummy pattern 175 disposed in the groove 181 b and located under the light emitting structure 200. In addition, the plurality of grooves of the display panel 20 are defined only by the isolation structure layer 181. That is, the manufacturing method of the display panel 20 may optionally further include forming a dummy pattern 175 on the active device array substrate 100.

In this embodiment, the material of the dummy pattern 175 may include metals, alloys, nitrides of metal materials, oxides of metal materials, oxynitrides of metal materials, or other suitable materials, or metal materials and other conductive materials. Stacked layers. In addition, the dummy pattern 175 and the first electrode 171 may selectively belong to the same film layer and are spaced apart from each other. That is, the dummy pattern 175 is electrically independent of the first electrode 171.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display panel 30 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. Please refer to FIG. 5. The difference between the display panel 30 of this embodiment and the display panel 10 of FIG. 2F is that the portion of the isolation structure layer 181-1 of the display panel 30 defining the groove 181a has a thickness t5, and the isolation structure layer 181-1 The portion defining the groove 181b has a thickness t6, and the thickness t5 is greater than the thickness t6.

FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of a display panel 40 according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the display panel 40 of FIG. 6. Please refer to FIGS. 6 and 7. The difference between the display panel 40 of this embodiment and the display panel 10 of FIG. 2F is that the area occupied by the groove 181 a defined by the isolation structure layer 181-2 of the display panel 40 is on the active device array substrate. The vertical projection area on 100 is larger than the vertical projection area of the area occupied by the groove 181 b on the active device array substrate 100.

For example, the vertical projection of the area occupied by the groove 181a on the substrate 110 has a width W1 in the direction z, the vertical projection of the area occupied by the groove 181b on the substrate 110 has a width W2 in the direction z, and the width W1 may It is selectively larger than the width W2. In other words, the width of the vertical projection of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181 a on the substrate 110 in the direction z may be selectively larger than the vertical projection of the luminescent material layer 190 filled in the groove 181 b on the substrate 110. The width in the direction z.

In summary, in the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, a first groove and a second groove are provided on the peripheral area, and the two grooves are respectively disposed on both sides of the display area and are filled in the display area. The volume of the luminescent material layer in the first groove on the side is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer filled in the second groove on the other side of the display area. In this way, it is helpful to improve the uniformity of the film thickness of the light-emitting material layer disposed in the display area, thereby achieving better light-emitting uniformity. In addition, in the manufacturing method of the display panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, the step of spraying the droplets of the luminescent material in the first groove is earlier than spraying the droplets of the luminescent material in the second groove and spraying the droplets into the first groove. The amount of droplets is larger than the amount of droplets sprayed into the second groove, which helps to improve the uneven volatilization rate of the droplets of the luminescent material sprayed on the display area, so as to improve the The film thickness uniformity of the luminescent material layer further improves the production yield.

Although the present invention has been disclosed as above with the examples, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make some modifications and retouching without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The protection scope of the present invention shall be determined by the scope of the attached patent application.

10, 20, 30, 40‧‧‧ display panel

100‧‧‧ Active Element Array Substrate

110‧‧‧ substrate

120‧‧‧ buffer layer

130‧‧‧Gate insulation

140‧‧‧Interlayer insulation

150‧‧‧ Insulation

150a‧‧‧ opening

160‧‧‧ flat layer

171‧‧‧first electrode

172‧‧‧Second electrode

175‧‧‧Dummy Pattern

180‧‧‧Isolated structural material layer

181, 181-1, 181-2‧‧‧Isolation structure layer

181a, 181b, 181c‧‧‧ groove

190‧‧‧luminescent material layer

191‧‧‧hole injection layer

192‧‧‧ Hole Transmission Layer

193‧‧‧Light-emitting layer

194‧‧‧ electron transmission layer

200‧‧‧light emitting structure

AA‧‧‧Display Area

CH‧‧‧Channel area

D‧‧‧ Drain

DR‧‧‧Drain

d1, d2‧‧‧ depth

G‧‧‧Gate

LDR‧‧‧Lightly Doped Drain Region

LD1 ~ LD3‧‧‧ droplet

LSR‧‧‧lightly doped source region

PA‧‧‧Peripheral area

S‧‧‧Source

SC‧‧‧Semiconductor pattern

SL1, SL2‧‧‧ signal line

SR‧‧‧Source area

S1, S2‧‧‧ distance

T‧‧‧active element

t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, t6‧‧‧thickness

W1, W2‧‧‧Width

z‧‧‧ direction

A-A ’, B-B’, C-C ’, D-D’, E-E ’, F-F’, G-G’‧‧‧ hatched

P1, P2, Pn‧‧‧ process path

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 2A to 2F are schematic cross-sectional views of a manufacturing process of the display panel of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the display panel of FIG. 1. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a display panel according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of a display panel according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the display panel of FIG. 6.

Claims (16)

A display panel includes: an active element array substrate having a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area; an isolation structure layer disposed on the active element array substrate, and the display panel having at least the isolation structure layer A first groove and a second groove are defined, wherein the first groove and the second groove are disposed in the peripheral area, and the display area is located between the first groove and the second groove. A first luminescent material layer and a second luminescent material layer, which are arranged on the active element array substrate and filled in the first groove and the second groove, respectively, wherein the isolation structure layer defines the first The shortest distance between the edge of a groove and the edge of the display area is substantially equal to the shortest distance between the edge of the isolation structure defining the second groove and the edge of the display area, and the first luminescent material The volume of the layer is larger than that of the second luminescent material layer; and a third luminescent material layer is disposed on the active device array substrate and is located in the display area, and the volume of the third luminescent material layer is larger than the second luminescent material layer. The volume of the light material layer is smaller than the volume of the first light emitting material layer, wherein the isolation structure layer defines a third groove in the display area, and the third light emitting material layer fills the third groove. in. According to the display panel of claim 1, the first groove has a first depth, the second groove has a second depth, and the first depth is greater than the second depth. The display panel according to item 2 of the scope of patent application, further comprising a flat layer disposed between the active element array substrate and the isolation structure layer, wherein the first groove extends through the isolation structure layer and Protruding into the flat layer, the second groove extending at least in the isolation structure layer, and a portion of the flat layer below the first groove has a thickness smaller than that of the portion below the second groove thickness. The display panel according to item 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein the portion of the isolation structure layer defining the first groove has a first thickness, and the portion of the isolation structure layer defining the second groove has a first thickness. Two thicknesses, and the first thickness is greater than the second thickness. The display panel according to item 1 of the patent application scope further includes a dummy pattern disposed in the second groove and located below the second luminescent material layer. The display panel according to item 5 of the scope of patent application, further comprising a first electrode disposed in the display area, and the first electrode is located between the active device array substrate and the isolation structure layer, wherein the dummy pattern is located at Between the active element array substrate and the second luminescent material layer, the dummy pattern and the first electrode belong to the same film layer. The display panel according to item 1 of the application, wherein a vertical projection area of the first groove on the active element array substrate is larger than a vertical projection area of the second groove on the active element array substrate. The display panel according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the thickness of the first luminescent material layer is greater than the thickness of the second luminescent material layer. The display panel according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: a fourth luminescent material layer disposed on the active device array substrate, wherein the isolation structure layer further defines a fourth groove in the peripheral region. The first groove, the second groove, and the fourth groove surround the display area, and the fourth luminescent material layer is filled in the fourth groove, and the volume of the fourth luminescent material layer is larger than the The volume of the second luminescent material layer is smaller than the volume of the first luminescent material layer. The display panel according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein the thickness of each of the first luminescent material layer and the second luminescent material layer gradually increases from the center to the edge. The display panel according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein a vertical projection of the first luminescent material layer and the second luminescent material layer on the active element array substrate has a first width and a first direction in a first direction, respectively. A second width, and the first width is larger than the second width. A method for manufacturing a display panel includes: providing an active device array substrate, wherein the active device array substrate has a display area and a peripheral area surrounding the display area; forming an isolation structure material layer on the active device array substrate; An etching step removes two portions of the isolation structure material layer overlapping the peripheral area and located on opposite sides of the display area to form an isolation structure layer defining a first groove and a second groove, wherein the The etching step further includes removing the isolation structure material layer overlapping a part of the display area to form a third groove; and performing an inkjet printing process, sequentially in the first groove and the second groove. Spraying a first droplet and a second droplet, wherein the droplet amount of the first droplet is larger than the droplet amount of the second droplet, and the inkjet printing process further includes spraying the first droplet and Before spraying the second droplet, spray a third droplet in the third groove, wherein the droplet amount of the third droplet is larger than the droplet amount of the second droplet and smaller than that of the first droplet. Droplet volume. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to item 12 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: performing a drying and baking step to cure the first droplet and the second droplet to form a light-emitting material layer, wherein The volume of the luminescent material layer in the first groove is larger than the volume of the luminescent material layer in the second groove. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to item 12 of the application, wherein the active device array substrate has a flat layer, and the etching step further includes removing the flat layer overlapping the two parts of the isolation structure material layer. At least one part, and after the etching step is performed, a portion of the flat layer under the first groove has a thickness smaller than a thickness of a portion under the second groove. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to item 12 of the scope of patent application, further comprising: forming a dummy pattern on the active device array substrate, wherein the dummy pattern is disposed in the second groove, and the second droplet Overwrite the dummy pattern. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to item 12 of the scope of patent application, wherein after the etching step is performed, an area occupied by the first groove has a first width in a first direction, and the area formed by the second groove is The occupied area has a second width in the first direction, and the first width is larger than the second width.