WO2011086500A2

WO2011086500A2 - Sealed thin-film device, oled and solar cell

Info

Publication number: WO2011086500A2
Application number: PCT/IB2011/050113
Authority: WO
Inventors: Petrus Cornelis Paulus Bouten; Coen Adrianus Verschuren; Herbert Lifka
Original assignee: Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V.; Nederlandse Organisatie Voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek Tno
Priority date: 2010-01-12
Filing date: 2011-01-11
Publication date: 2011-07-21
Also published as: WO2011086500A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a sealed thin- film device (10) to an organic light emitting diode device (100) and to a solar cell device (200) comprising the sealed thin- film device. The sealed thin-film device comprises a thin-film device (20) and a barrier stack (30) for protecting the thin-film device from environmental influence. The barrier stack (30) comprises an inorganic barrier layer (34) in contact with at least one organic sealing layer (32) which comprises organic material comprising selected organic material selected to comprise a value of the Young's modulus (Eorg) remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega- Pascal during a part of the processing of the sealed thin- film device during which the at least one organic sealing layer comprising the selected organic material has been applied. An effect of the sealed thin- film device according to the invention is that the use of the selected organic material reduces the crack occurrence and growth in the barrier stack which improves the sealing properties of the barrier stack and consequently improves the operational life-time of the thin- film device.

Description

Sealed thin-film device, OLED and solar cell

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a sealed thin- film device.

The invention also relates to an organic light emitting diode device and to a solar cell device comprising the sealed thin- film device. The invention also relates to a method of producing a sealed thin- film device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Thin- film devices are devices which are constituted by a plurality of stacked layers which together constitute an electrical circuit, an electro-optical element or an optical element. Such electrical circuits typically are miniaturized electrical circuits, also known as Integrated Circuits or in short ICs, comprise stacks of conductive, semi-conductive and insulating layers. The electro-optical elements comprise stacks which, for example, constitute a light emitting diode, an organic light emitting diode or a laser diode, and thus typically at least partially have an electrical circuit equivalent to a diode-circuit combined with a light emitting layer which may, for example, be constituted of an organic light emitting layer which results in an Organic Light Emitting Diode (further also referred to as OLED). Optical elements may comprise several optical layers constituting an optical circuit comprising, for example, light guides and light gates. Such optical elements often may be designed to perform similar functions as Integrated Circuits and are often designed to replace Integrated Circuits.

All of these thin-film devices require some kind of sealing to protect the devices from environmental influences. The quality of the seal provided to the thin-film device often determines the operational life-time of the thin-film device. Especially when the thin-film device is an OLED device, the sealing of the OLED device is crucial because moisture and/or oxygen causing corrosion effects inside the OLED device often locally generate black spots in the OLED device. Black spots due to the corrosion effect continue to grow radially starting from, for example, a local crack or pinhole in the sealing layer. Over time, the corrosion effect becomes visible to the human eye which typically is unacceptable when the OLED device is used for illumination purposes. Eventually the corrosion effect may destroy the whole OLED device preventing the OLED device from producing any light.

In known thin- film devices, the sealing may be done via a lid in which the thin- film device is located. However, to reduce a thickness of the thin- film device and to also reduce production cost of the thin- film device, the sealing is preferably done via a sealing layer directly applied to the thin- film device. Such sealing layers are well known, especially applied to OLED devices. Known sealing layers may, for example, comprise a stack of a plurality of layers comprising, for example, Silicon-oxide - organic material - Silicon-oxide, or, for example, Aluminum-oxide - organic material - Aluminum-oxide. The organic layer may be relatively thin (few 100 nm), providing an effective decoupling of cracks and/or pinholes in the Aluminum-oxide or Silicon-oxide layers which act as barrier layers.

Alternatively, the organic layer may be relatively thick and thus also planarize particles which may be present in any of the layers. Such stack of layers constituting the sealing layer does not prevent black-spots from occurring, but delays the growth of the black-spot as it forms a labyrinth for the water to enter the OLED device.

Alternatively the sealing layer may be constituted of a plurality of inorganic layers or a layer constituted via electrochemical plating. The inorganic layers, for example, comprise stacks comprising silicon nitride - silicon oxide - silicon nitride, or silicon nitride - silicon oxinitride - silicon nitride, further also referred to as NON-stacks. Such NON-stacks typically comprise several repetitions of this basic stack, for example about eight layers (i.e. NONONON in which N represents silicon nitride and O represent silicon oxide). In these alternative sealing layers, the number of black spots occurring is strongly reduced. However, any remaining local crack or pinhole in such alternative sealing layer causes the black- spot to continuously grow relatively fast (becoming visible within for instance approximately 1 hour in a dampish environment). The occurrence of such a local crack or pinhole is a production yield problem (a number of local cracks or pinholes per surface area), which is

disadvantageous for smaller devices, but is a much more serious problem for the production of larger devices.

So a disadvantage of the known sealed thin- film devices is that the operational life-time of the thin-film device is still too limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved operational life-time of the thin- film devices. According to a first aspect of the invention the object is achieved with a sealed thin- film device as claimed in claim 1. According to a second aspect of the invention, the object is achieved with an organic light emitting diode device as claimed in claim 12.

According to a third aspect of the invention the object is achieved with a solar cell device as claimed in claim 13. According to a fourth aspect of the invention the object is achieved with a method of producing the sealed thin-film device as claimed in claim 14.

The sealed thin- film device according to the first aspect of the invention comprises a thin- film device and a barrier stack for protecting the thin- film device from environmental influence,

the thin- film device comprising a stack of functional layers, and the barrier stack comprising an inorganic barrier layer in contact with at least one organic sealing layer comprising organic material, the organic material comprising selected organic material selected to comprise a value of a Young's modulus remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal (further also indicated as MPa) during a part of the processing of the sealed thin- film device during which the at least one organic sealing layer comprising the selected organic material has been applied.

Young's modulus, also known as modulus of elasticity or elastic modulus, provides a measure of stiffness of a material. The Young's modulus allows, amongst others, to analyze the deformation behavior of a layer in a thin- film device when tensile or compression forces are applied on the layer, for example, when reshaping a layer. In a sealed thin- film device, the occurrence of cracks in the brittle inorganic barrier layer strongly influence the operational life-time of the sealed thin-film device. Such brittle inorganic barrier layer is susceptible for crack initiation and/or propagation when a sufficiently high (tensile) strain is applied. This strain might be an intrinsic strain in the layer which results from the deposition process, and/or a strain due to thermal loading and/or mechanical loading of the brittle inorganic barrier layer. Mechanical load may, for example, be applied by a (localized) mechanical contact, for example, used to connect the device to other parts (for example, wires or flex foil) and by explicit load application, such as tensile loading and/or bending the sealed thin- film device.

An effect of the sealed thin-film device according to the invention is that the use of the selected organic material reduces the crack occurrence and growth in the barrier stack which maintains the sealing properties of the barrier stack and consequently improves the operational life-time of the thin- film device. Especially when the sealed thin- film device is, for example, used in a flexible thin- film device such as a flexible OLED which may be used in flexible lighting applications and, for example, OLED displays having flexible OLEDs as backlight in a flexible display device, and, for example, electrophoretic and polymer electronics, the resistance against crack formation and/or growth fully determines the operational life-time of the flexible thin-film device.

In today's known devices, an important selection criterion for choosing an organic material for use in such a thin- film device is focused on limiting the curvature of the device caused by, amongst others polymerisation shrinkage or, for example caused by thermal mismatch between layers. Polymerisation shrinkage occurs when hardening the applied organic material to form the polymer layer. Typically, in the known barrier stacks in which organic materials are in contact with inorganic barrier layers, relatively soft organic material is chosen having a relatively low value of the Young's modulus to limit the curvature of the device due to the processing of the device. Using relatively soft organic material allows residual intrinsic strain to be lessened via this soft organic material. However, experiments of the inventor have shown that in many situations in which relatively soft organic material is in contact with relatively brittle inorganic barrier layer the formation and/or propagation of cracks is enhanced, for example, during temperature variations while processing the thin-film device or during handling of the (sealed) thin-film device.

When producing the sealed thin-film device, the layer stack is subject to heating sequences and cooling sequences to apply different layers on top of each other thus generating the sealed thin- film device. During at least part of this processing the barrier stack is applied to the thin- film device or to a substrate in which the thin- film device is

subsequently deposited on this barrier stack to produce the sealed thin- film device. During this applying of the barrier stack, the temperature of the organic material may increase temporarily. The value of the Young's modulus of a specific material is dependent on the temperature of the specific material. The value of the Young's modulus of the specific material may vary strongly with temperature. Additionally, the rate of change of the value of the Young's modulus may be different for different materials. For example, when subjecting a specific material to a predefined temperature, the Young's modulus of the specific material changes to a specific value of the Young's modulus belonging to that predefined temperature. However, how fast the value of the Young's modulus changes to the specific value depends on the selected specific material.

In the selected organic material according to the invention, the value of the Young's modulus remains equal to or higher than 200 MPa during the part of the processing of the sealed thin- film device during which the at least one organic sealing layer comprising the selected organic material has been applied, so when the organic material has been applied and has sufficiently hardened. This description covers a first situation in which the temperature during processing remains below maximum temperature of the selected organic material in which also the value of the Young's modulus remains at or above 200 MPa, and also covers a second situation in which the temperature during the processing temporarily increased to above this maximum temperature in which the rate of change of the value of the Young's modulus of the selected organic material is such that the increased temperature duration is not sufficient for the varying value of the Young's modulus to cross the level of 200 MPa.

The value of the Young's modulus of a selected organic material may be influenced to a certain degree. For example, when the selected organic material is applied, the curing conditions and/or curing methods may influence the final value of the Young's modulus reached by the selected organic material. These curing conditions and/or methods may be used to at least partially control the value of the Young's modulus of the finally produced organic sealing layer comprising the selected organic material, for example, to comply with the requirements according to the invention. Consequently, by selecting the selected organic material and by ensuring that the selected organic material is produced such that during the part of the processing of the sealed thin- film device during which the at least one organic sealing layer is applied, the value of the Young's modulus of the at least one organic sealing layer remains equal to or above the 200 MPa, the sealing quality of the barrier stack is ensured and the operational life-time of the sealed thin- film device is improved compared to the known devices.

The inventor has found that especially during production of the sealed thin- film device cracks may occur and propagate in the inorganic barrier layer which strongly limits the life-time of the sealed thin- film device. Such cracks cause the leakage of moisture and oxygen which speeds the contamination and destruction of the thin- film device. The barrier stack often comprises the inorganic barrier layer applied to an organic sealing layer. Many different barrier layers and sealing layers have been introduced and have been experimented with in trying to increase the operational life-time of the thin- film device. The organic sealing layer is typically used to planarize or cover any residual dust particles and may even contain moisture absorbing particles to form an additional barrier for any moisture and/or oxygen. The inorganic barrier layer is often applied on top of the organic sealing layer and typically is a relatively brittle layer which is substantially impermeable to moisture and oxygen. The inventor has seen that many of the combinations of organic sealing layer and inorganic barrier layer for generating the seal did hardly increase the operational life-time of the electronic circuit. Experiments have provided evidence that the difference in elasticity between the inorganic barrier layer and the organic sealing layer contribute to the crack formation and growth. Choosing at least one of the organic layers in contact with the brittle inorganic barrier layer to have a relatively high value of the Young's modulus during the production process in which this at least one organic sealing layer has been applied, the overall occurrence of cracks is significantly reduced which strongly increases the overall operational life-time of the sealed thin-film device. Experimentally it has been found that at least one organic layer having selected organic material having a value of the Young's modulus equal to or above the 200 MPa provide a significant improvement in the operational life-time of the sealed thin- film device. This insight of the inventor enables to make a selection in the possible organic materials to choose from to use in the barrier stack such that the operational life-time of the thin- film device is increased. Choosing the sealed thin- film device according to the invention even allows the sealed thin- film device to be deformed such that it may be produced using a roll-to-roll process which significantly reduces the production cost of the sealed thin- film device.

The barrier stack according to the invention comprises the inorganic barrier layer in contact with at least one organic sealing layer. The inorganic barrier layer in the barrier stack according to the invention may comprise a plurality of layers, such as the NON- stack which is discussed at the "background of the invention". In such a situation, the organic sealing layer applied between the NON-stack and the remainder of the sealed thin- film device may be a planarization layer. Applying the NON-stack on top of the organic sealing layer, still the Young's modulus of the selected organic material is equal to or above the 200 MPA to provide the improvement in operational life-time.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the selected organic material is selected to comprise the value of the Young's modulus remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal during the processing of the sealed thin- film device. In this embodiment the selected organic material is selected such that during the whole processing of the thin-film device the value of the Young's modulus of the selected organic material remains equal or above the 200 MPa. Such selected organic material may, for example, be used in a barrier stack which may be applied on either side of the thin- film device for sealing the thin- film device on both sides of the thin- film device. The first barrier stack may, for example, be initially applied to a substrate, after which the thin- film device is processed on top of that first barrier stack. After processing the full thin- film device, the second barrier stack may be applied to fully seal the thin- film device from environmental influences. In such a situation, the selected organic material of the first barrier stack may even be different than the selected organic material of the second barrier stack because the processing conditions of the organic material in the first barrier stack may be completely different compared to the processing conditions of the organic material in the second barrier stack. The presence of the barrier stack on either side of the thin- film device may be required when, for example, the substrate on which the sealed thin- film device is produces is removed after production, or when the substrate is a polymer foil, such as, for example Polyethylene terephthalate (further also indicated as PET) or Polyethylene naphthalenedicarboxylate (further also indicated as PEN). In a situation in which the first barrier stack may be applied to a PET or PEN substrate, the PET or PEN substrate comprise organic material and may constituted the at least one organic sealing layer in contact with the inorganic barrier layer which has to comply with the requirements as indicated in the current embodiment.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the selected organic material comprises the value of the Young's modulus remaining equal to or higher than 500 Mega- Pascal. Choosing the selected organic material to comprise this higher value of the Young's modulus increases the robustness of the production process of the sealed thin- film device and improves the yield in for instance the roll-to-roll process. This embodiment has as an advantage that an elastic mismatch between the organic sealing layer and the inorganic barrier layer is further reduced which further reduces the occurrence of cracks and which further reduces the growth rate of cracks in the inorganic barrier layer. The elastic mismatch is typically indicated as the Dunders' elastic mismatch parameter a. In the case in which the organic sealing layer is applied to the inorganic barrier layer, the mismatch parameter a is defined as:

inorganic organic

a =

E' inorgaic +E' orgainc

In the present application, the mismatch parameter is preferably larger than 0,80 (a > 0,80). A characteristic value of the mismatch parameter is a > 0,95. Choosing the value of the Young's modulus of the inorganic barrier layer of approximately 100 GPa, and the value of the Young's modulus of the selected organic material of approximately 2,5 GPa, the mismatch parameter a = 0,95. Choosing the value of the Young's modulus of the inorganic barrier layer of approximately 100 GPa, and the value of the Young's modulus of the selected organic material of approximately 500 MPa, the mismatch parameter a = 0,99. Choosing the value of the Young's modulus of the inorganic barrier layer of approximately 100 GPa, and the value of the Young's modulus of the selected organic material of approximately 200 MPa, the mismatch parameter α ~ 0,996.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the organic sealing layer comprises a thickness of 1 micrometer to 100 micrometers, and/or a thickness of 10 micrometers to 100 micrometers, and/or a thickness of 10 micrometers to 40 micrometers, and/or wherein the inorganic layer comprises a thickness of 30 nanometers to 1000 nanometers, an/or a thickness of 30 nanometers to 200 nanometers, an/or a thickness of 30 nanometers to 160 nanometers. A thickness of a specific layer is a dimension measured in a direction substantially perpendicular to the corresponding layer. Reducing a thickness of the organic layer makes the sealed thin- film device more compact and ensures that all layers in the sealed thin- film device are positioned closer to the neutral line allowing more deformation before breaking of any of the layers occurs which leads to cracks. The neutral line indicates a position in the sealed thin-film device in which a bending deformation of the sealed thin- film device causes the tensile strain to increase on one side of the neutral line while on the opposite side of the neutral line the compressive strains increase. As indicated before, the inorganic barrier layer of the barrier stack may be constituted of a plurality of layers, such as the NON-stack as indicated before. In such an embodiment, the inorganic layer may have a thickness up to 1000 nanometer.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the inorganic barrier layer is sandwiched between layers each comprising organic material on either side of the inorganic barrier layer, wherein at least one of the layers between which the inorganic barrier layer is sandwiched comprises the selected organic material. Multiple layers may be present, for example, when the barrier stack comprises a repeating stack of organic sealing layers and inorganic barrier layers, or, for example, when the barrier stack is applied to a polymer substrate like PEN or PET substrate. Alternatively, an additional balancing layer or cover layer may be present on top of the inorganic barrier layer. The balancing layer may, for example, position the neutral line inside the sealed thin- film device to a location inside or near the functional layers of the thin- film device. The position of the neutral line inside or near the functional layer ensures that the strain or tensile forces in the functional layers remain minimal during operation and during deformation. The cover layer may protect the inorganic barrier layer from scratches or damages. So when layers comprising organic material on either side of the inorganic barrier layer the organic layer having the highest value of the Young's modulus determines the maximum strain before the inorganic barrier layer breaks. So when at least one of the organic sealing layers which are arranged on either side of the inorganic barrier layer comprises the selected organic material, the value of the Young's modulus of this at least one organic sealing layer remains high enough during the processing of the sealed thin- film device to ensure that the strain before break is sufficiently high to allow, for example, a roll-to-roll process for producing the sealed thin- film device. If, for example, a further barrier stack is applied directly on the PEN or PET substrate, initially the inorganic barrier layer is applied to the PEN or PET substrate after which the organic sealing layer is applied to the inorganic barrier layer to constitute the further barrier stack. On this organic sealing layer, the thin- film device may be applied. In such a situation, the organic sealing layer applied to the inorganic barrier layer which is applied to the PEN or PET substrate may not need to comprise the selected organic material when the value of the

Young's modulus of the PEN or PET substrate remains within the defined range during the processing of the sealed thin- film device. However, if an additional relatively soft organic material is applied between the PEN or PET and the inorganic barrier layer, at least one of the additional organic material or the organic barrier layer which both are in contact with the inorganic barrier layer comprises the selected organic material having the value of the

Young's modulus remaining sufficiently high during the remainder of the processing of the sealed thin- film device.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the sealed thin- film device comprises a further barrier stack arranged on an opposite side of the thin-film device compared to the barrier stack, the further barrier stack comprising an inorganic barrier layer in contact with an organic sealing layer comprising organic material being selected organic material. When using a PEN or PET substrate an additional barrier stack is preferred between the PEN or PET substrate and the thin- film device to ensure a good sealing of the thin- film device. This additional barrier stack is indicated as the further barrier stack. Alternatively, the use of the further barrier stack enables to have a removable substrate for the sealed thin- film device such that the sealed thin- film device may be more flexible due to the omission of the substrate. Between such a removable substrate and the further barrier stack, an additional releasing layer which typically also comprises organic material may be present between the substrate to be removed and the further barrier stack. In such an arrangement, at least one of the organic layers (being either the organic sealing layer of the further barrier stack or the additional releasing layer on the substrate) in contact with the inorganic barrier layer of the further barrier stack comprises the selected organic material having the value of the Young's modulus remaining sufficiently high during the remainder of the processing of the sealed thin- film device or during the releasing of the substrate from the sealed thin- film device. In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the selected organic material of the further barrier stack is different compared to the selected organic material of the barrier stack. In this embodiment, the further barrier stack, for example, is arranged between the thin- film device and the substrate and the barrier stack is arranged on the opposite side of the thin- film device compared to the further barrier stack. During production of the sealed thin- film device, the further barrier stack typically is produced first on the substrate, after which the thin- film device is processed on top of the further barrier stack. Finally, the barrier stack is applied on top of the processed thin- film device to fully seal the thin- film device. In such a stack of layers, the further barrier stack may experience completely different processing conditions compared to the barrier stack. To comply with the requirements of the at least one organic sealing layer to have a Young's modulus value remaining equal to or higher than 200 MPa during the part of the processing during which the organic sealing layer has been applied to the substrate or to the thin- film device, the selected organic material of the further barrier stack may need to be different compared to the selected organic material of the barrier stack. A further reason for selecting a different selected organic material for the further barrier stack compared to the barrier stack is that the barrier stack or further barrier stack may need to be transmissive for light having a predefined wavelength or predefined wavelength range. Also cost reasons may be used to select a different selected material for the barrier stack compared to the further barrier stack. For example, to comply with the requirements of the selected organic material in the further barrier stack, a relatively expensive organic material or relatively expensive processing steps for applying the organic material may be required compared to the requirements of the barrier stack applied on top of the processed thin- film device. For each situation and location the optimal organic material may be selected as selected organic material.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the sealed thin- film device comprises a substrate on which the sealed thin- film device is manufactured, the substrate comprising glass, and/or the substrate comprising a metal, and/or the substrate comprising a semiconducting material and/or the substrate comprising polymer material. Substrates constituted of glass or semiconductor material and some metal substrates typically are relatively stiff and maintain their shape. Furthermore, already existing infrastructure for such substrates allows relatively low investments to produce the sealed thin-film devices. A drawback is that the glass or semiconductor substrate is relatively expensive and may not be deformed. A benefit when using a metal foil or substrates comprising polymer material (such as PET or PEN) is that the substrate is relatively flexible which enables a roll-to-roll process or which enables a flexible lighting product as sealed thin- film device.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the sealed thin- film device is removably attached to the substrate. As indicated before, the sealed thin- film device may be used in a flexible application, such as a flexible lighting application. When producing the sealed thin- film device such that the substrate on which the sealed thin- film device is produced is removable, the flexibility of the sealed thin- film device may be strongly enhanced and the thickness of the sealed thin- film device substantially reduced. Removing of the substrate may be done in any of the known removal techniques, such as peeling, etching, UV release or thermal release. Between such a removable substrate and the further barrier stack, an additional releasing layer may be present which facilitates in the removing of the substrate. Such additional releasing layer often also comprises organic material.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the sealed thin- film device comprises a stack comprising a plurality of barrier stacks, each barrier stack comprising an inorganic barrier layer in contact with at least one organic sealing layer comprising selected organic material. Typically the occurrence of cracks in the relatively brittle inorganic barrier layer is a substantially random process. Consequently, cracks occurring in a first inorganic barrier layer of a first barrier stack are not related to cracks occurring in a second inorganic barrier layer of a second barrier stack applied on top of the first barrier stack. Consequently, by applying the second barrier stack on top of the first barrier stack to form the stack comprising the plurality of barrier stacks, the sealing efficiency of the sealed thin-film device typically enhances with more than a factor two. The selected organic material may be different in the first and second barrier stack.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the sealed thin- film device comprises a balancing layer applied to the thin- film device and/or to the sealed thin- film device for positioning a neutral line of the sealed thin- film device in or near the stack of functional layers of the thin- film device. As indicated before, this embodiment has as an advantage that the neutral line inside or near the functional layer ensures that the strain or tensile forces in the functional layers remain minimal during operation and during deformation.

In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the sealed thin- film device comprises a cover layer for protecting the sealed thin- film device and/or for protecting an inorganic barrier layer of the sealed thin- film device. The balancing layer may also function as the cover layer of the sealed thin- film device. In an embodiment of the sealed thin- film device, the inorganic barrier layer comprises a stack of inorganic layers. This stack of inorganic layers may, for example, comprise layers comprising the same material but processed slightly different, or may, for example, comprise a plurality of layers, such as the NON-stack which is discussed at the "background of the invention".

The organic light emitting diode device according to the second aspect of the invention comprises the sealed thin- film device according to the invention.

The solar cell device according to the third aspect of the invention comprises the sealed thin- film device according to the invention.

The method according to the fourth aspect of the invention comprises the method of producing the sealed thin- film device according to the invention. The sealed thin- film device comprises a thin- film device and a barrier stack for protecting the thin- film device from environmental influence. The thin- film device comprises a stack of functional layers, and the barrier stack comprises an inorganic barrier layer in contact with at least one organic sealing layer comprising organic material. The method comprises a step of:

selecting selected organic material for producing the at least one organic sealing layer, the selected organic material being selected to comprise a Young's modulus remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal during a part of the processing of the sealed thin-film device during which the at least one organic sealing layer comprising the selected organic material has been applied, and

applying the at least one organic sealing layer comprising the selected organic material. As indicated before, ensuring that at least one organic layer which is in contact with the inorganic barrier layer comprises the selected organic material causes the strain before break of the inorganic barrier layer to be sufficiently high to allow the processing of the sealed thin- film device to be done in a roll-to-roll process.

In an embodiment of the method, the step of applying at least one organic sealing layer is performed on the inorganic barrier layer applied to the substrate. This combination of the organic sealing layer and inorganic barrier layer constitutes the further barrier stack which is present between the thin- film device and the substrate. Such further barrier stack may be required when using a substrate comprising a polymer material, such as PET or PEN. Furthermore, the further barrier stack may be required when the substrate is a removable substrate. The substrate comprising the further barrier stack may be a semi manufactured product which may subsequently be used as basis to deposit the functional layers of the thin- film device on which may subsequently be sealed using the barrier stack.

In an embodiment of the method, the step of applying at least one organic sealing layer is performed on the inorganic barrier layer applied to the thin- film device. In such an embodiment, the organic sealing layer is sandwiched between a first inorganic barrier layer applied to the thin- film device and a second inorganic barrier layer applied to the organic sealing layer for sealing the sealed thin- film device from environmental influences.

In an embodiment of the method, the step of applying at least one organic sealing layer is performed on the thin- film device before the inorganic barrier layer is applied to the at least one organic sealing layer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will be elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1A, IB, 1C, ID, IE, IF, 1G and 1H are schematic representations of a sealed thin- film device according to the invention, and

Fig. 2 shows a failure strain of a barrier stack applied to a PEN foil, and Fig. 3A is an organic light emitting diode device comprising the sealed thin- film device according to the invention, and Fig. 3B is a solar cell device comprising the sealed thin- film device according to the invention.

The figures are purely diagrammatic and not drawn to scale. Particularly for clarity, some dimensions are exaggerated strongly. Similar components in the figures are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 1A, IB, 1C, ID, IE, IF, 1G and 1H are schematic representations of a sealed thin- film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 according to the invention. The sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 comprises a thin-film device 20 and a barrier stack 30, 40, 50 which is configured for protecting the thin-film device 20 from

environmental influences. The thin-film device 20 is typically constituted by a plurality of stacked layers 22 (schematically indicated with horizontal line-structure in the thin- film device 20) which together constitute an electrical circuit 20, an electro-optical element 20 or an optical element 20. In the embodiment in which the thin-film device 20 is an electrical circuit 20, the electrical circuit 20 may, for example, be a miniaturized electrical circuit, also known as Integrated Circuit 20 or in short ICs 20 which comprise stacks of conductive, semi- conductive and insulating layers. In the embodiment in which the thin- film device 20 is an electro-optical element 20, the electro -optical element 20 comprises a stack which, for example, constitutes a light emitting diode 20, an organic light emitting diode 20 or a laser diode 20. Such electro-optical element 20 typically at least partially comprises an electrical circuit equivalent to a diode-circuit combined with a light emitting layer which may, for example, be constituted of an organic light emitting layer which results in an Organic Light Emitting Diode (further also referred to as OLED). In the embodiment in which the thin- film device 20 is an optical element 20, the optical element 20 may comprise several optical layers 22 which together constitute an optical circuit 20 comprising, for example, light guides 22 and light gates 22. Such optical elements 20 often may be designed to perform similar functions as Integrated Circuits and are often designed to replace Integrated Circuits.

These thin- film devices 20 often require some kind of sealing to protect the thin-film devices 20 from environmental influences. The quality of the seal provided to the thin-film device 20 often determines the operational life-time of the thin-film device 20. The sealed thin- film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 according to the invention comprises a barrier stack 30, 40, 50 which comprises an inorganic barrier layer 24, 25, 34, 44, 54 in contact with at least one organic sealing layer 32, 42, 52, 60 comprising selected organic material. The selected organic material is selected to comprise a value of a Young's modulus (E_org) remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal during a part of the processing of the sealed thin- film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 during which the selected organic material has been applied, for example, to the thin-film device 20 or to a substrate 60. The inventor has found that especially during production of the sealed thin- film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 cracks may occur in the inorganic barrier layer 24, 25, 34, 44, 54 which strongly limit the life-time of the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Such initial cracks may grow over time increasing the leakage of moisture and oxygen which speeds the contamination and destruction of the thin-film device 20. Known barrier stacks often comprise an inorganic barrier layer applied to an organic sealing layer. However, such known barrier stacks only have limited success in increasing the operational life-time of the thin- film device as the sealing characteristics of these known barrier stacks seem to be insufficient. The inventor has found that a limitation of the difference in elasticity between the inorganic barrier layer 24, 25, 34, 44, 54 and the at least one organic sealing layer 32, 42, 52, 60 cause a significant improvement of the maximum allowable strain before cracks are formed in the inorganic barrier layer 24, 25, 34, 44, 54 which enables a strong maintaining of the sealing capability of the barrier stack 30, 40, 50 according to the invention. By limiting the difference in elasticity between the at least one organic sealing layer 32, 42, 52, 60 and the inorganic barrier layer 24, 25, 34, 44, 54 and, in addition, by ensuring that the difference in elasticity is maintained throughout the part of the production processes during which this at least one organic sealing layer has been applied, the occurrence of cracks is significantly reduced which strongly increases the overall operational life-time of the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. Experimentally it has been found that organic material having a value of the Young's modulus equal to or above the 200 MPa as selected organic material provide a significant improvement in the operational life-time of the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and allows a deformation of the inorganic barrier layers 24, 25, 34, 44, 54 in the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 to make roll-to- roll processing possible to produce the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19. This insight of the inventor enables to make a selection in the possible organic materials to choose from to use in the barrier stack 30, 40, 50.

The value of the Young's modulus of the specific material may vary strongly with temperature. Additionally, the rate of change of the value of the Young's modulus may be different for different materials. For example, when subjecting a specific material to a predefined temperature, the Young's modulus of the specific material changes to a specific value of the Young's modulus belonging to that predefined temperature. However, how fast the value of the Young's modulus changes to the specific value depends on the selected specific material. The value of the Young's modulus of a selected organic material may even be influenced to a certain degree. For example, when the selected organic material is applied, the curing conditions and/or curing methods may influence the final value of the Young's modulus reached by the selected organic material when the selected organic material has been applied. These curing conditions and/or methods may be used to at least partially control the value of the Young's modulus of the finally produced organic sealing layer 32, 42, 52, 60 comprising the selected organic material. Consequently, by selecting the selected organic material and by ensuring that the selected organic material is produced such that during the part of the processing of the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 during which the selected organic material has been applied the value of the Young's modulus of the organic sealing layer 32, 42, 52, 60 remains equal to or above the 200 MPa, the sealing quality of the barrier stack 30, 40, 50 is ensured and the operational life-time of the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 is improved compared to the known devices. Furthermore, roll-to-roll processing may be used to produce the sealed thin-film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 according to the invention.

Fig. 1A is a first embodiment of a sealed thin- film device 10 according to the invention in which the thin- film device 20 constituted of functional layers 22 applied to a substrate 60 is protected by the barrier stack 30 constituted by an organic sealing layer 32 and an inorganic barrier layer 34. The organic sealing layer 32 is directly applied to the thin- film device 10 and comprises the selected organic material. The inorganic barrier layer 34 is applied directly on the organic sealing layer 32. The inorganic barrier layer 34 may, for example, comprise Si0₂, Si or A1₂0₃. The organic sealing layer 32 comprises the selected organic material, such as acrylates, poly-urethanes and epoxies or other cross-linking polymers which have been produced to have a Young's modulus equal to or higher than 200 MPa.

Fig. IB is a second embodiment of a sealed thin- film device 20 according to the invention in which a further barrier stack 40 is applied on an opposite side of the thin- film device 20 compared to the barrier stack 30 to seal the thin- film device 20 from the environment. Initially the further barrier stack 40 is applied on the substrate 60 after which the thin-film device 20 is applied on the further barrier stack 40. Finally, after the thin-film device 20 is fully applied, the barrier stack 30 is applied to fully seal the thin-film device 20 from the environment. This embodiment has as the advantage that the sealed thin- film device 20 may be produced on a polymer substrate 60, for example, a substrate comprising

Polyethylene terephthalate (further also indicated as PET) or Polyethylene

naphthalenedicarboxylate (further also indicated as PEN). Such polymer substrate 60 also comprises organic material and as such may also constitute the organic sealing layer 60 which is in contact with the inorganic barrier layer 44 of the further barrier stack 40 according to the invention. The maximum strain before break of the inorganic barrier layer 34, 44 is determined by the organic material in contact with the inorganic barrier layer 34, 44 which has the highest value of the Young's modulus. By ensuring that at least one of the organic sealing layers 42, 60 on either side of the inorganic barrier layer 42 of the further barrier stack 40 comprises a value of the Young's modulus remaining equal to or higher than 200 MPa during the part of the processing during which the at least one organic sealing layer has been applied, the maximum strain before break of the inorganic barrier layer 44 is sufficient to, for example, allow roll-to-roll processing to produce the sealed thin- film device 12. Furthermore, the use of the barrier stack 30 and the further barrier stack 40 on either side of the thin- film device 20 enables to have a removable substrate 60 for the sealed thin- film device 20 such that the sealed thin- film device 20 may be more flexible due to the omission of the substrate 60. The selected organic material of the further barrier stack 40 may be different compared to the selected organic material of the barrier stack 30, because during production of the sealed thin- film device 20, the further barrier stack 40 may experience different processing conditions compared to the barrier stack 30 which may require a different selected organic material to comply with the requirements of the organic sealing layer 32, 42 to have the value of the Young's modulus to remain equal to or higher than 200 MPa during the part of the processing during which the organic sealing layer 32, 42 is applied to the thin-film device 20.

Fig. 1C is a third embodiment of a sealed thin- film device 14 according to the invention in which an additional getter material layer 70 is present in the sealed thin- film device 30. Such a getter material layer 70 ensures that substantially any residual moisture or oxygen which might penetrate the inorganic barrier layer 34 and the organic sealing layer 32 reacts with the getter material layer 70 first before reaching the thin- film device 20. The residual moisture or oxygen is subsequently captured in the getter material layer 70 such that it may no longer harm the thin-film device 20. Alternatively, getter material 70 may be mixed in the organic sealing layer 32 (not shown). In such an embodiment, when the mixture of the organic sealing layer 32 comprising the getter material 70 is the at least one organic sealing layer 32 in contact with the inorganic barrier layer 34, this at least one organic sealing layer 32 complies with the requirements of the current invention such that the value of the Young's modulus is at or above 200 MPa.

Fig. ID is a fourth embodiment of the sealed thin- film device 16 according to the invention in which the inorganic barrier layer 34 of the sealed thin- film device 16 is sandwiched between layers 32, 72 each comprising organic material on either side of the inorganic barrier layer 34. The maximum strain before break is determined by the organic material in contact with the inorganic barrier layer 34 which has the highest value of the Young's modulus. By ensuring that at least one of the organic materials of the layers 32, 72 between which the inorganic barrier layer 34 is sandwiched comprises the selected organic material the value of the Young's modulus is high enough to ensure relatively high operational life-time and to allow roll-to-roll processing. Multiple layers may be present, for example, when the barrier stack 30, 50 (see Fig. IE) comprises a repeating stack 30, 50 of organic sealing layers 32, 52 and inorganic barrier layers 34, 54. Alternatively, an additional balancing layer 72 may be present for, for example, ensuring that the position of a neutral line 74 inside the sealed thin- film device 16 is inside or near the functional layers 22 of the thin-film device 20. The position of the neutral line 74 (indicated with a dash-dotted line in Fig. ID) inside or near the functional layer 22 ensures that the strain or tensile forces in the functional layers 22 remain minimal during operation and during deformation. Even further alternatively, a cover layer 72 may be present to protect the inorganic barrier layer 34 from scratches or damages. The balancing layer 72 may also function as a cover layer 72. So when the multiple layers 32, 72 which each comprise organic material in which each of these multiple layers 32, 72 are in direct contact with the inorganic barrier layer 34, at least one of these multiple layers 32, 72 comprises the selected organic material to ensure that the value of the Young's modulus of the at least one layer 32, 72 of the multiple layers 32, 72 complies with the requirements of the invention.

Fig. IE is a fifth embodiment of the sealed thin- film device 18 according to the invention in which multiple barrier stacks 30, 50 are applied on top of each other to further enhance the sealing of the thin- film device 20. In such a repeating stack 30, 50 of organic sealing layers 32, 52 and organic barrier layers 34, 54, one of the inorganic barrier layers 34, 54 may be sandwiched between layers 32, 52 each comprising organic material on either side of the inorganic barrier layer 34. In such an arrangement, at least one of the organic layers 32, 53 in direct contact with the inorganic barrier layer 34 comprises the selected organic material to comply with the requirements of the current invention.

Fig. IF is a sixth embodiment of the sealed thin- film device 19 according to the invention in which multiple barrier stacks 30, 40 are arranged, one at each side of the thin- film device 20 to protect the thin- film device 20 from environmental influences. In the embodiment shown in Fig. IF the substrate 60 has been removed. Removing of the substrate 60 may be done in any of the known removal techniques, such as pealing, etching, UV release or thermal release.

Fig. 1G is a seventh embodiment of the sealed thin- film device 15 according to the invention which is similar to the embodiment shown in Fig. ID with an additional inorganic barrier layer 24, 25 between the barrier stack 30 and the further barrier stack 40. The additional organic barrier layer 24, 25 may be considered to be part of the barrier stack 30 and the further barrier stack 40. In such an embodiment, the organic sealing layer 32 in the barrier stack 30 may determine the maximum strain before break of both the inorganic barrier layer 34 and the additional inorganic barrier layer 24. Also the organic sealing layer 42 in the further barrier stack 40 may determine the maximum strain before break of both the inorganic barrier layer 44 and the additional inorganic barrier layer 25.

Fig. 1H is an eighth embodiment of the sealed thin-film device 17 according to the invention which is similar to the embodiment shown in Fig. ID with an additional organic layer 65 arranged between the further barrier stack 40 and the substrate 60. Such additional organic layer 65 may be a releasing layer 65 which may be used to facilitate the removal of the substrate 60 after the sealed thin- film device 17 is produced on the substrate 60. Between such a removable substrate 60 and the further barrier stack 40, the additional releasing layer 65 is applied which typically also comprises organic material. The additional organic layer 65 may alternatively be a planarization layer 65 for planarizing the substrate 60 or the additional organic layer 65 may function both as a planarization layer 65 and releasing layer 65. Part of the releasing layer 65 may, after the substrate 60 has been released, function as cover layer for protecting the sealed thin- film device 17 from scratches. In such an arrangement, at least one of the organic layers 42, 65 (being either the organic sealing layer 42 of the further barrier stack 40 or the additional releasing layer 65 on the substrate 60) in contact with the inorganic barrier layer 44 of the further barrier stack 40 comprises the selected organic material having the value of the Young's modulus remaining sufficiently high during the remainder of the processing of the sealed thin- film device 17 or during the releasing of the substrate 60 from the sealed thin- film device 17.

Fig. 2 shows a graph indicating a maximum strain before failure of a barrier stack 30 as shown in Fig. 1A in which an inorganic barrier layer 32 of 150 nanometer Si _x is deposited on an organic sealing layer 32 of about 35 micrometer UV-curable polymer, applied to a PEN foil substrate 60. The strain at failure of this barrier stack 30 is given in the graph shown in Fig. 2 as function of the Young's modulus of the UV-cured layer. From this graph, it is clear that choosing a value of the Young's modulus of the organic sealing layer 32 of 200 MPa or above a relatively large strain before break of 0.4 % is achieved such that roll- to-roll processing of the sealed thin- film device is achievable.

Fig. 3 A is an organic light emitting diode device 100 comprising the sealed thin- film device 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 according to the invention.

Fig. 3B is a solar cell device 200 comprising the sealed thin- film device 10,

12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 according to the invention.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. In the claims, any reference signs placed between parentheses shall not be construed as limiting the claim. Use of the verb "comprise" and its conjugations does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those stated in a claim. The article "a" or "an" preceding an element does not exclude the presence of a plurality of such elements. The invention may be implemented by means of hardware comprising several distinct elements. In the device claim enumerating several means, several of these means may be embodied by one and the same item of hardware. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A sealed thin- film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprising a thin- film device (20) and a barrier stack (30, 40, 50) for protecting the thin-film device (20) from environmental influence,

the thin- film device (20) comprising a stack of functional layers (22), and the barrier stack (30, 40, 50) comprising an inorganic barrier layer (24, 25, 34,

44, 54) in contact with at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprising organic material, the organic material comprising selected organic material selected to comprise a value of a Young's modulus (E_org) remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal during a part of the processing of the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) during which the at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprising the selected organic material has been applied.

2. A sealed thin- film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the selected organic material is selected to comprise the value of the Young's modulus (E_org) remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal during the processing of the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19).

3. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the selected organic material comprises the value of the Young's modulus (E_org) remaining equal to or higher than 500 Mega-Pascal.

4. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprises a thickness of 1 micrometer to 100 micrometers, and/or a thickness of 10 micrometers to 100 micrometers, and/or a thickness of 10 micrometers to 40 micrometers, and/or wherein the inorganic layer comprises a thickness of 30 nanometers to 1000 nanometers, an/or a thickness of 30 nanometers to 200 nanometers, an/or a thickness of 30 nanometers to 160 nanometers.

5. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inorganic barrier layer (34) is sandwiched between layers (32, 72; 32, 52) each comprising organic material on either side of the inorganic barrier layer (34), wherein at least one of the layers (32, 72; 32, 52) between which the inorganic barrier layer (34) is sandwiched comprises the selected organic material.

6. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprises a further barrier stack (40) arranged on an opposite side of the thin- film device (20) compared to the barrier stack (30, 50), the further barrier stack (40) comprising an inorganic barrier layer (44) in contact with an organic sealing layer (42) comprising organic material being selected organic material.

7. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 6, wherein the selected organic material of the further barrier stack (40) is different compared to the selected organic material of the barrier stack (30, 50).

8. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprises a substrate (60) on which the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) is manufactured, the substrate (60) comprising glass, and/or the substrate (60) comprising a metal, and/or the substrate (60) comprising a semiconducting material and/or the substrate (60) comprising polymer material.

9. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim

8, wherein the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) is removably attached to the substrate (60).

10. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprises a stack (35) comprising a plurality of barrier stacks (30, 40, 50), each barrier stack (30, 40, 50) comprising an inorganic barrier layer (24, 25, 34, 44, 54) in contact with at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprising selected organic material.

11. The sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprises a balancing layer (72) applied to the thin- film device (20) and/or to the sealed thin- film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) for positioning a neutral line (74) of the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) in or near the stack of functional layers (22) of the thin- film device (20), and/or wherein the sealed thin- film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprises a cover layer (72) for protecting the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) and/or for protecting an inorganic barrier layer (24, 25, 34, 44, 54) of the sealed thin- film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19), and/or wherein the inorganic barrier layer (24, 25, 34, 44, 54) comprises a stack of inorganic layers.

12. An organic light emitting diode device (100) comprising the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to any of the claims 1 to 11.

13. A solar cell device (200) comprising the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14,

15, 16, 17, 18, 19) according to any of the claims 1 to 11.

14. A method of producing a sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,

19), the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) comprising a thin-film device (20) and a barrier stack (30, 40, 50) for protecting the thin-film device (20) from

environmental influence,

the thin- film device (20) comprising a stack of functional layers (22), and the barrier stack (30, 40, 50) comprising an inorganic barrier layer (24, 25, 34, 44, 54) in contact with at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprising organic material,

the method comprising a step of:

selecting selected organic material for producing the at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60), the selected organic material being selected to comprise a Young's modulus (E_org) remaining equal to or higher than 200 Mega-Pascal during a part of the processing of the sealed thin-film device (10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19) during which the at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprising the selected organic material has been applied, and

applying the at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) comprising the selected organic material.

15. The method of producing according to claim 14, wherein the step of applying at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60) is performed:

on the inorganic barrier layer (44) applied to a substrate (60), and/or on the inorganic barrier layer (24) applied to the thin- film device (20), and/or on the thin- film device (20) before the inorganic barrier layer (34) is applied to the at least one organic sealing layer (32, 42, 52, 60).