WO2020042338A1

WO2020042338A1 - Display panel and preparation method therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2020042338A1
Application number: PCT/CN2018/113347
Authority: WO
Inventors: 卢马才
Original assignee: 深圳市华星光电半导体显示技术有限公司
Priority date: 2018-08-31
Filing date: 2018-11-01
Publication date: 2020-03-05
Also published as: CN109192761A; CN109192761B

Abstract

Disclosed are a display panel and a preparation method therefor.The display panel comprises: a bottom elastic encapsulation layer (30); a flexible substrate unit (31) corresponding to a pixel region and provided on the bottom elastic encapsulation layer (30) in an array, and discrete display units (32) provided on the flexible substrate unit (31); a signal wiring (33) connected to two adjacent display units (32); and a top elastic encapsulation layer (34) provided at a surface of the display units (32), wherein part of the signal wiring (33) between the two adjacent display units (32) is provided in the shape of a curve.

Description

Display panel and preparation method thereof

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of display technology, and in particular, to a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

Background technique

Most of the currently known flexible display screens can only be subjected to general bending deformation, cannot be elastically deformed such as spherical bending or stretching, and cannot be applied to applications that require stretching deformation or spherical deformation. The LCD display is limited to its backlight, and the cell gap (box thickness) cannot be deformed significantly, which makes it impossible to stretch and deform. The OLED display is very sensitive to water and oxygen and has strict packaging requirements, so it is difficult to be elastic. deformation.

Therefore, the prior art has defects and urgently needs improvement.

technical problem

The invention provides a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof, which can realize multi-dimensional deformation such as spherical deformation or tensile deformation of the display panel.

Technical solutions

To solve the above problems, the technical solution provided by the present invention is as follows:

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, which includes the following steps:

Step S10, preparing a flexible substrate layer on a glass substrate, the flexible substrate layer including a pixel reserved area corresponding to a pixel unit and a metal wiring reserved area corresponding to two adjacent pixel units; patterning the flexibility A substrate layer, forming a bump or a recess corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring;

Step S20: forming an array-distributed thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit in sequence at a position of the flexible substrate layer corresponding to the pixel reserved area, and forming a signal trace connecting the thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit. A portion of the signal trace corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged on the protrusion or the depression in a curved shape;

Step S30: forming a top elastic packaging layer on the pixel unit, and the top elastic packaging layer corresponds to the pixel reserved area and the metal wiring reserved area;

In step S40, the glass substrate is peeled off to form a display panel having a spherical deformation or a tensile deformation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the metal wiring reserved area separates two adjacent pixel reserved areas, and the protrusions or depressions corresponding to the adjacent two pixel reserved areas are spaced apart from each other. .

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a shape of a portion of the signal trace corresponding to two adjacent pixel reserved areas matches a shape of the protrusion or the depression.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step S20 includes the following steps:

In step S201, a thin film transistor layer is prepared on the flexible substrate layer. The thin film transistor layer includes a thin film transistor and a first type of signal trace prepared in an inorganic film layer, and the thin film transistor is correspondingly prepared in the pixel. A reserved area, in which a portion of the inorganic film layer corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is removed before and after the first type of signal wiring is laid out to form the thin film transistor unit of the array.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step S20 further includes the following steps:

Step S202: preparing a first electrode layer on the thin film transistor unit, forming a first electrode corresponding to the pixel reserved area after patterning, and forming a second type of signal trace spaced from the first electrode; Wherein, a portion of the second type of signal trace corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area is disposed on the protrusion or the recess in a curved shape and is insulated from the first type of signal trace;

Step S203: preparing a pixel definition layer on the first electrode, patterningly removing a portion of the pixel definition layer corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area, and defining a pixel area in the pixel reserved area;

Step S204: Bind a micro light emitting diode to the first electrode corresponding to the pixel region;

Step S205, a second electrode layer is prepared on the micro light emitting diode, and a second electrode corresponding to the pixel reserved area is formed after patterning.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step S40 further includes the following steps:

Step S401: attach a carrier substrate on the surface of the top elastic packaging layer;

Step S402: performing thinning processing on the flexible substrate layer to remove a portion of the flexible substrate layer corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area to form a spaced-apart flexible substrate unit;

Step S403, preparing a bottom elastic packaging layer on the flexible substrate unit, so that the signal trace corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area is sandwiched between the top elastic packaging layer and the bottom elastic packaging layer. ;

Step S404, the carrier substrate is peeled off.

The present invention also provides a display panel, including:

The bottom elastic packaging layer includes a pixel reserved area corresponding to a pixel unit and a metal wiring reserved area corresponding to two adjacent pixel units;

A flexible substrate unit, which is disposed on the bottom elastic packaging layer corresponding to the pixel reserved area array;

A thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit are sequentially stacked on the flexible substrate unit to form an independently spaced display unit;

A signal trace for connecting two adjacent display units to realize signal transmission between the two adjacent display units;

A top elastic packaging layer is disposed on the surface of the display unit;

Wherein, the portion of the signal trace corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged in a curve, and is sandwiched on the surfaces of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer to realize spherical deformation of the display panel. Or stretch deformation.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the pixel unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a micro light emitting diode sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a material of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer is polydimethylsiloxane.

The present invention also provides a display panel, including:

A top elastic packaging layer is disposed on the surface of the display unit;

Wherein, the portion of the signal trace corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged in a curve, and is sandwiched between the surfaces of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer, and the signal wiring corresponds to the metal The length of a portion of the wiring reserved area is greater than the distance between two adjacent pixel reserved areas to achieve spherical deformation or tensile deformation of the display panel.

Beneficial effect

The beneficial effect of the present invention is that, compared with the existing display panel, the display panel provided by the present invention and the manufacturing method thereof are produced by manufacturing a thin film transistor unit on a discrete flexible substrate unit and binding a micro light emitting diode (Micro LED), forming discrete display units, extending the signal traces between pixels, and encapsulating them with an elastic packaging layer, so that the display panel can undergo multi-dimensional deformation such as spherical deformation or tensile deformation without destroying the display characteristics of the panel Can meet the requirements of specific occasions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to more clearly explain the embodiments or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are merely inventions. For some embodiments, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

1 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2A-2I are schematic flowcharts of a method for manufacturing a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of signal wiring of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode of the Invention

The following descriptions of the embodiments are made with reference to additional illustrations to illustrate specific embodiments in which the present invention can be implemented. The directional terms mentioned in the present invention, such as [up], [down], [front], [rear], [left], [right], [in], [out], [side], etc., are for reference only. The direction of the attached schema. Therefore, the directional terms used are for explaining and understanding the present invention, but not for limiting the present invention. In the figure, similarly structured units are denoted by the same reference numerals.

The present invention is directed to the display panel of the prior art, because it cannot perform the multi-dimensional element elastic deformation such as spherical bending or stretching, and cannot meet the technical problem of specific occasions. This embodiment can solve this defect.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a method for manufacturing a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIGS. 2A to 2I are schematic flowcharts of a method for manufacturing a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method includes the following steps:

2A to 2B, a glass substrate 20 is provided, and a flexible substrate layer 21 is prepared on the glass substrate 20. The flexible substrate layer 21 includes a pixel reserved area 210 corresponding to a pixel unit, and a corresponding The metal wiring reserved area 211 between two adjacent pixel units; the flexible substrate layer 21 is patterned to form a protrusion 21A or a depression 21B corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211. The metal wiring reserved area 211 separates two adjacent pixel reserved areas 210, and the protrusions 21A or the depressions 21B correspond to the two adjacent pixel reserved areas 210. .

The cross-sectional shape of the protrusion 21A and the depression 21B may be a trapezoid, a triangle, a semicircle, or the like. In addition, the protrusions 21A and the depression 21B may be linearly spaced, or may be curved or circular. Shape distribution. The shape, size, and arrangement of the protrusions 21A and 21B are not limited here, as long as the length of the signal traces laid here is greater than between the two adjacent pixel reserved areas 210 The straight line distance can be designed.

As shown in FIG. 2C, after step S10, the method further includes the following steps: preparing a buffer layer 22 on the flexible substrate layer 21, and patterning removing the buffer layer 22 corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211. section.

Specifically, the step S20 includes the following steps:

As shown in FIG. 2D, a thin film transistor layer is prepared on the buffer layer 22, and the film structure of the thin film transistor layer is consistent with that in the prior art, and details are not described herein again. It is worth noting that before the first type of signal wiring 230 is wired, the portion of the inorganic film layer corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211 is removed, and the first type of signal wiring 230 is directly arranged on the The positions of the protrusions 21A and the depressions 21B of the flexible substrate layer 21. Of course, after the wiring of the first type signal trace 230 is completed, the inorganic film layer in the thin film transistor layer may continue to be prepared. After the thin film transistor layer is prepared, the first type The portion of the signal wiring 230 corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211 is partially removed from the inorganic film layer, so that the metal wiring reserved area 211 retains only the first type of signal wiring 230, thereby forming mutually independent TFT transistor unit 23.

The first type of signal wiring 230 includes, but is not limited to, scanning lines and data lines connecting two adjacent thin film transistor units 23, as long as the signal wirings laid during the formation of the thin film transistor layer belong to The first type of signal trace 230. The first type of signal traces 230 are arranged in a curve in a portion corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211. It can be understood that different signal traces in the first type of signal traces 230 are insulated from each other. .

Preferably, the shape of a portion of the first type of signal trace 230 corresponding to two adjacent pixel reserved areas 210 matches the shape of the protrusion 21A or the depression 21B.

After the thin film transistor unit 23 is prepared, a flat layer 24 is prepared on the surface of the thin film transistor unit 23, and a portion of the flat layer 24 corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211 is removed after patterning.

For steps S202 to S205, please refer to FIG. 2E. After the first electrode layer is patterned, a first electrode 250 corresponding to the pixel reserved area 210 is formed, and a first electrode layer 250 is formed. 250-spaced first signal traces (not shown in the figure); the layout of the first signal traces is the same as the layout of the first-type signal traces 230, and they are all directly laid on the flexible substrate layer On 21, I will not repeat them here. Then, a pixel definition layer 26 is prepared and patterned on the first electrode layer, a portion of the pixel definition layer 26 corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 211 is removed, and a pixel area is defined.

After that, the micro light emitting diode 251 is transferred to the pixel area and bound to the first electrode 250; since the volume ratio of the micro light emitting diode 251 is small and cannot fill the pixel area, The pixel area other than the micro light emitting diode 251 is packaged and filled, and may be filled with an inorganic material, an organic material, or an inorganic-organic mixed material, which is not limited herein.

Next, a second electrode layer is prepared and patterned to form a second electrode 252 disposed opposite to the first electrode 250 and a second signal trace (not shown in the figure) disposed at a distance from the second electrode 252. , The layout of the second signal trace is the same as that of the first type of signal trace 230. The first electrode 250 and the micro light-emitting diode 251 and the second electrode 252 form a pixel unit 25. The pixel unit 25 is electrically connected to the thin film transistor unit 23 and forms a plurality of display units disposed at intervals.

The second type of signal trace includes, but is not limited to, the first signal trace and the second signal trace, as long as the signal traces formed during the preparation process of the pixel unit 25 belong to the The second type of signal routing.

As shown in FIG. 2F, a top elastic packaging layer 27 is formed on the pixel unit 25, and the top elastic packaging layer 27 corresponds to the pixel reserved area 210 and the metal wiring reserved area 211, that is, the top elasticity The encapsulation layer 27 encapsulates the entire display panel. It can be understood that the top elastic encapsulation layer 27 fills a gap between two adjacent display units and forms a relatively flat surface.

The step S40 further includes the following steps:

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2G, the glass substrate 20 is peeled from the flexible substrate layer 21, and then the carrier substrate 28 is bonded to the surface of the top elastic packaging layer 27 by an adhesive layer.

After the step S401, the following steps are further included:

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2H, after the thinning process is performed on the flexible substrate layer 21, an independent flexible substrate unit 21C corresponding to the pixel reserved area 210 is formed.

Step S404, the carrier substrate is peeled off.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2I, a bottom elastic packaging layer 29 is prepared on a surface of the flexible substrate unit 21C facing away from the pixel unit 25, and the bottom elastic packaging layer 29 corresponds to the pixel reserved area 210 and all pixels. The metal wiring reserved area 211 is separated from the carrier substrate 28. The first type signal traces 230 and the second type signal traces between two adjacent display units are sandwiched between the top elastic packaging layer 27 and the bottom elastic packaging layer 29.

Because the display unit of the display panel has a discrete design, the signal wiring between the two display units is extended, and the display unit and the signal wiring are both elastically packaged. The layer is protected, so that multi-dimensional deformation such as spherical deformation or tensile deformation of the display panel can be achieved without destroying the display characteristics of the panel.

In the manufacturing method of the display panel provided by another embodiment, the difference from the above embodiment is that the manufacturing method of this embodiment does not include the steps S401 to S404 in the above embodiment; also That is, in this embodiment, after the top elastic encapsulation layer is formed, the glass substrate is peeled off to form a display panel having a spherical deformation or a tensile deformation. The signal trace is sandwiched between the top elastic encapsulation layer and the flexible substrate layer. Because the flexible substrate layer has flexible characteristics, it does not affect the display panel to undergo multi-dimensional deformation. For specific methods, refer to the above. The embodiment is not repeated here.

As shown in FIG. 3, it is a schematic structural diagram of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The display panel includes: a bottom elastic encapsulation layer 30, which includes a pixel reserved area corresponding to a pixel unit and corresponding two adjacent pixel units. Metal wiring reserved area; a flexible substrate unit 31 corresponding to the pixel reserved area array is disposed on the bottom elastic packaging layer 30; and a thin film transistor unit is sequentially stacked on the flexible substrate unit 31 And the pixel unit, forming an independently spaced display unit 32; the pixel unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode opposite to each other, and a micro-light emission sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode A diode; a signal trace 33 for connecting two adjacent display units 32 to realize signal transmission between the two adjacent display units 32; a top elastic packaging layer 34 provided on the surface of the display unit 32; The portion of the signal trace 33 corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged in a curve, and is sandwiched between the bottom elastic packaging layer 30 and the top elastic packaging layer 34. Surface, the spherical display panel to realize the deformation or tensile deformation.

Preferably, a length of a portion of the signal trace 33 corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area is greater than a distance between two adjacent pixel reserved areas.

Preferably, the bottom elastic encapsulation layer 30 and the top elastic encapsulation layer 34 are made of polydimethylsiloxane.

For the specific film layer structure of the display panel, please refer to FIGS. 2A to 2I and the description in the foregoing embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

As shown in FIG. 4, it is a schematic diagram of signal wiring of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The display panel includes a pixel reserved area 43 and a metal wiring reserved area corresponding to the pixel reserved area 43. 45. The thin film transistor 44 and the pixel unit are prepared corresponding to the pixel reserved area 43 to form discrete display units. The signal traces connect two adjacent display units, and the signal traces correspond to the metal wiring. The portions of the reserved area 45 are arranged in a curve, so that the trace length of the portion of the signal wiring corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area 45 is greater than the straight line distance between two adjacent pixel reserved areas 43. The signal wiring includes, but is not limited to, a high-potential source line 41, a scanning line 42, and a data line 40.

In summary, although the present invention has been disclosed as above with preferred embodiments, the above preferred embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. This kind of modification and retouching, therefore, the protection scope of the present invention is subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

A method for manufacturing a display panel, wherein the method includes the following steps:

Step S10, preparing a flexible substrate layer on a glass substrate, the flexible substrate layer including a pixel reserved area corresponding to a pixel unit and a metal wiring reserved area corresponding to two adjacent pixel units; patterning the flexibility A substrate layer, forming a bump or a recess corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring;

Step S20: forming an array-distributed thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit in sequence at a position of the flexible substrate layer corresponding to the pixel reserved area, and forming a signal trace connecting the thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit. A portion of the signal trace corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged on the protrusion or the depression in a curved shape;

Step S30: forming a top elastic packaging layer on the pixel unit, and the top elastic packaging layer corresponds to the pixel reserved area and the metal wiring reserved area;

In step S40, the glass substrate is peeled off to form a display panel having a spherical deformation or a tensile deformation.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the metal wiring reserved area separates two adjacent pixel reserved areas, and the protrusion or the depression corresponds to two adjacent pixel reserved areas. Spaced between them.
The method of claim 2, wherein a shape of a portion of the signal trace corresponding to a space between two adjacent pixel reserved areas matches a shape of the protrusion or the depression.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step S20 comprises the following steps:

In step S201, a thin film transistor layer is prepared on the flexible substrate layer. The thin film transistor layer includes a thin film transistor and a first type of signal trace prepared in an inorganic film layer, and the thin film transistor is correspondingly prepared in the pixel. A reserved area, in which a portion of the inorganic film layer corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is removed before and after the first type of signal wiring is laid out to form the thin film transistor unit of the array.
The method according to claim 4, wherein the step S20 further comprises the following steps:

Step S202: preparing a first electrode layer on the thin film transistor unit, forming a first electrode corresponding to the pixel reserved area after patterning, and forming a second type of signal trace spaced from the first electrode; Wherein, a portion of the second type of signal trace corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area is disposed on the protrusion or the recess in a curved shape and is insulated from the first type of signal trace;

Step S203: preparing a pixel definition layer on the first electrode, patterningly removing a portion of the pixel definition layer corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area, and defining a pixel area in the pixel reserved area;

Step S204: Bind a micro light emitting diode to the first electrode corresponding to the pixel region;

Step S205, a second electrode layer is prepared on the micro light emitting diode, and a second electrode corresponding to the pixel reserved area is formed after patterning.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the step S40 further comprises the following steps:

Step S401: attach a carrier substrate on the surface of the top elastic packaging layer;

Step S402: performing thinning processing on the flexible substrate layer to remove a portion of the flexible substrate layer corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area to form a spaced-apart flexible substrate unit;

Step S403, preparing a bottom elastic packaging layer on the flexible substrate unit, so that the signal trace corresponding to the metal wiring reserved area is sandwiched between the top elastic packaging layer and the bottom elastic packaging layer. ;

Step S404, the carrier substrate is peeled off.
A display panel includes:

The bottom elastic packaging layer includes a pixel reserved area corresponding to a pixel unit and a metal wiring reserved area corresponding to two adjacent pixel units;

A flexible substrate unit, which is disposed on the bottom elastic packaging layer corresponding to the pixel reserved area array;

A thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit are sequentially stacked on the flexible substrate unit to form an independently spaced display unit;

A signal trace for connecting two adjacent display units to realize signal transmission between the two adjacent display units;

A top elastic packaging layer is disposed on the surface of the display unit;

Wherein, the portion of the signal trace corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged in a curve, and is sandwiched on the surfaces of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer to realize spherical deformation of the display panel. Or stretch deformation.
The display panel according to claim 7, wherein the pixel unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a micro light emitting diode sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode.
The display panel according to claim 7, wherein a material of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer is polydimethylsiloxane.
A display panel includes:

The bottom elastic packaging layer includes a pixel reserved area corresponding to a pixel unit and a metal wiring reserved area corresponding to two adjacent pixel units;

A flexible substrate unit, which is disposed on the bottom elastic packaging layer corresponding to the pixel reserved area array;

A thin film transistor unit and the pixel unit are sequentially stacked on the flexible substrate unit to form an independently spaced display unit;

A signal trace for connecting two adjacent display units to realize signal transmission between the two adjacent display units;

A top elastic packaging layer is disposed on the surface of the display unit;

Wherein, the portion of the signal trace corresponding to the reserved area of the metal wiring is arranged in a curve, and is sandwiched between the surfaces of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer, and the signal wiring corresponds to the metal The length of a portion of the wiring reserved area is greater than the distance between two adjacent pixel reserved areas to achieve spherical deformation or tensile deformation of the display panel.
The display panel according to claim 10, wherein the pixel unit includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a micro light emitting diode sandwiched between the first electrode and the second electrode.
The display panel according to claim 10, wherein a material of the bottom elastic packaging layer and the top elastic packaging layer is polydimethylsiloxane.