Displays with delamination stopper and corrosion blocking structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10642079-B2
Application number	US-201816041685-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2018
Priority date	Oct 25, 2017
Publication date	May 5, 2020
Grant date	May 5, 2020

Abstract

A display may have contacts that mate with a flexible printed circuit. The contacts may be used in providing data and control signals to pixels. A metal layer may be patterned to form metal traces for signal lines that extend outwardly towards an edge of the display from the contacts. Delamination stopper structures may be formed along the periphery of the display to inhibit delamination between layers of material on the display. The delamination stopper structures may be formed from bent portions of the metal traces, a slot-shaped inorganic layer opening that runs perpendicular to the metal traces, and a segmented trench in an organic layer. A corrosion blocker structure may be formed by creating metal trace gaps in the metal traces that are each bridged by a pair of vias that are shorted together using transparent conductive material such as a pair of indium tin oxide layers.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A display, comprising:
pixels that are configured to display images, wherein the pixels are formed using layers on a substrate, wherein the layers on the substrate are configured to form contacts, and wherein the substrate has an edge;
a flexible printed circuit configured to bond to the contacts;
metal traces that form signal lines that extend respectively between each of the contacts and the edge; and
delamination stopper structures between the contacts and the edge that are configured to inhibit delamination in the layers, wherein the delamination stopper structures include an opening with a slot shape in at least one layer in the layers and wherein the opening extends at a non-zero angle from the metal traces.

2. The display defined in claim 1 wherein the delamination stopper structures include portions of the metal traces with bends.

3. The display defined in claim 2 wherein the layers include an inorganic dielectric layer and wherein the opening is the inorganic dielectric layer.

4. The display defined in claim 3 wherein the opening runs perpendicular to the metal traces.

5. The display defined in claim 4 wherein the layers include an organic dielectric layer and wherein the inorganic dielectric layer is formed on the organic dielectric layer.

6. The display defined in claim 5 wherein the delamination stopper structures include a trench.

7. The display defined in claim 6 wherein the trench is formed in at least the organic dielectric layer and runs parallel to the opening.

8. The display defined in claim 7 wherein the trench is segmented and has a series of gaps.

9. The display defined in claim 8 wherein each of the metal traces passes through a respective one of the gaps in the trench.

10. The display defined in claim 9 wherein each metal trace has a metal trace gap that separates a first portion of that metal trace from a second portion of that metal trace.

11. The display defined in claim 10 further comprising transparent conductive material that electrically shorts the first portion to the second portion in each metal trace.

12. The display defined in claim 11 wherein the transparent conductive material includes first and second layers of indium tin oxide.

13. The display defined in claim 12 further comprising, for each metal trace, first and second vias that are shorted to each other using the transparent conductive material, wherein the first via is shorted to the first portion of that metal trace and wherein the second via is shorted to the second portion of that metal trace.

14. The display defined in claim 1 wherein each metal trace has a metal trace gap that is bridged by a corrosion blocker structure having first and second vias that are shorted to each other.

15. The display defined in claim 14 further comprising at least one layer of transparent conductive material that is included in the first and second vias and that shorts the first via to the second via.

16. A display, comprising:
pixels that are configured to display images, wherein the pixels are formed using layers on a substrate, wherein the layers on the substrate are configured to form contacts and wherein the substrate has an edge;
anisotropic conductive film;
a flexible printed circuit bonded to the contacts with the anisotropic conductive film;
metal traces, wherein each metal trace extends between a respective one of the contacts and the edge, wherein the delamination stopper structures include portions of the metal traces that bend at an acute angle; and
delamination stopper structures between the contacts and the edge that are configured to inhibit delamination in the layers.

17. The display defined in claim 16 further comprising corrosion blocker structures interposed in each metal trace.

18. The display defined in claim 17 wherein the layers include an organic layer and an inorganic layer on the organic layer and wherein the delamination stopper structures include an opening in the inorganic layer and a trench in the organic layer.

19. The display defined in claim 18 wherein the corrosion blocker structures include first and second vias coupled respectively to first and second portions of each metal trace that are separated by a metal trace gap.

20. A display with contacts configured to bond to a flexible printed circuit using anisotropic conductive film, comprising:
pixels that are configured to display images, wherein the pixels are formed using first and second layers and a layer of liquid crystal material between the first and second layers, wherein the first layer is a thin-film transistor layer having thin-film transistor circuitry formed on a substrate, wherein the substrate has an edge, and wherein the thin-film transistor circuitry is formed from a plurality of layers of material including an organic dielectric layer, an inorganic dielectric layer, and at least one metal layer configured to form signal lines that extend from the contacts to the edge of the substrate; and
delamination stopper structures between the contacts and the edge that are configured to inhibit delamination in the layers of material, wherein the delamination stopper structures include bent portions of the signal lines, an opening in the inorganic dielectric layer, and a trench in the organic dielectric layer.

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Chen yu cheng
• Yu Cheng-Ho
• Yeh Shin-Hung
• Lee Sungki

Classifications

• G02F1/133514

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• G02F1/1345

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• G02F2201/50

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• G02F1/133528

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• G02F1/13458

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