Organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016204175-A1
Application number	US-201514860230-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 21, 2015
Priority date	Jan 8, 2015
Publication date	Jul 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

An organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a buffer layer formed on a substrate; a gate insulating layer formed over the buffer layer; an interlayer insulating layer formed over the gate insulating layer; a first opening formed through the gate insulating layer and the interlayer insulating layer; a first organic insulating layer formed over the interlayer insulating layer and including a second opening that overlaps with the first opening; a pixel electrode formed in the second opening, and directly contacting the buffer layer; a light emission layer formed over the pixel electrode; and an opposite electrode formed over the light emission layer.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An organic light-emitting display apparatus comprising:
a substrate comprising a major surface; a buffer layer formed over the substrate; a thin-film transistor formed over the buffer layer, and comprising an active layer, a gate electrode, a source electrode, and a drain electrode; a gate insulating layer formed between the active layer and the gate electrode; an interlayer insulating layer formed between the gate electrode and the gate insulating layer such that the gate electrode is disposed between the gate insulating layer and the interlayer insulating layer; a first opening formed through the gate insulating layer and the interlayer insulating layer, wherein the first opening does not overlap with the thin-film transistor when viewed in a viewing direction perpendicular to the major surface; a first organic insulating layer formed over the interlayer insulating layer and covering the source and drain electrodes, the first organic insulating layer comprising a second opening that overlaps with the first opening when viewed in the viewing direction; a pixel electrode formed in the second opening, and directly contacting the buffer layer; a second organic insulating layer formed over the first organic insulating layer and covering edges of the pixel electrode, the second organic insulating layer comprising a third opening that overlaps with the second opening when viewed in the viewing direction; an light emission layer formed over the pixel electrode; and an opposite electrode formed over the emission layer.

2 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pixel electrode is formed of a second transparent conductive oxide layer, a transflective metal layer, and a first transparent conductive oxide layer that are sequentially stacked on the substrate.

3 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 2 , wherein each of the first and second transparent conductive oxide layers comprises at least one material selected from the group consisting of indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), zinc oxide (ZnO), indium oxide (In 2 O 3 ), indium gallium oxide (IGO), and aluminum zinc oxide (AZO).

4 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the transflective metal layer comprises silver (Ag) or a silver alloy.

5 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first opening is larger than the second opening, and the second opening is larger than the third opening.

6 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the buffer layer comprises a silicon oxide layer and a silicon nitride layer that are sequentially stacked over the substrate, wherein the silicon oxide layer is disposed between the substrate and silicon nitride layer.

7 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 6 , wherein a thickness of the silicon nitride layer is greater than a thickness of the silicon oxide layer.

8 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of 6 , wherein the first opening is formed further through the silicon nitride layer, and the pixel electrode directly contacts the silicon oxide layer.

9 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the silicon oxide layer comprises a first portion located between the pixel electrode and the substrate and contacting the pixel electrode, wherein the silicon oxide layer comprises a second portion located between the silicon nitride layer and the substrate, wherein the first portion has a thickness smaller than that of the second portion.

10 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the buffer layer comprises a silicon nitride layer, and the pixel electrode directly contacts the silicon nitride layer.

11 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a capacitor that comprises a first capacitor electrode formed of the same material as the gate electrode, and a second capacitor electrode formed of the same material as the source electrode.

12 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising a protective layer disposed over each of the source electrode, the drain electrode, and the second capacitor electrode.

13 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a pad electrode formed of the same material as the source electrode or the drain electrode.

14 . The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 13 , further comprising a protective layer disposed over the pad electrode.

15 . A method of manufacturing an organic light-emitting display apparatus, the method comprising:
forming a buffer layer over a substrate comprising a major surface; forming an active layer of a thin-film transistor over the buffer layer; forming a gate insulating layer over the buffer layer and the active layer; forming a gate electrode of the thin-film transistor and a first capacitor electrode of a capacitor over the gate insulating layer; forming an interlayer insulating layer over the gate insulating layer, the gate electrode and the first capacitor electrode; forming a first opening and a contact hole through the interlayer insulating layer and the gate insulating layer, wherein the first opening exposes the buffer layer, and the contact hole exposes a portion of the active layer; forming a source electrode, a drain electrode, and a second capacitor electrode of the capacitor over the interlayer insulating layer; forming a first organic insulating layer over the interlayer insulating layer and covering the source electrode and the drain electrode, the first organic insulating layer covering the buffer layer in the first opening; forming a second opening through the first organic insulating layer in the first opening to expose the buffer layer through the second opening, wherein the second opening overlaps with the first opening; forming a pixel electrode in the second opening, the pixel electrode contacting the buffer layer; and forming a second organic insulating layer over the first organic insulating layer and covering edges of the pixel electrode.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein forming the buffer layer comprises sequentially stacking a silicon oxide layer and a silicon nitride layer over the substrate.

17 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising, after forming the first opening and the contact hole, performing a Buffered Oxide Etchant (BOE) cleaning process on the first opening and the contact hole.

18 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising, after forming the second opening, performing the BOE cleaning process on the second opening.

19 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising irradiating laser beams toward the pixel electrode through the substrate and the buffer layer such that a substantial amount of the laser beams reaches a target portion of the pixel electrode to break the target portion.

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kim Daewoo
• Park Jonghyun

Classifications

• H01L2227/323

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L27/3258 Primary

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L27/3265

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01L27/3262

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H10K71/00

  Manufacture or treatment specially adapted for the organic devices covered by this subclass · CPC title