Pixel circuit of organic light-emitting display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9601052-B2
Application number	US-201314021432-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 9, 2013
Priority date	Apr 25, 2013
Publication date	Mar 21, 2017
Grant date	Mar 21, 2017

Abstract

A pixel of an OLED display is disclosed. A gate voltage of a driving transistor can be precisely adjusted using a second gate electrode that can supply DC power easily securing an operation range of an OLED. Further, by only adding one power line that can precisely adjust a gate voltage of a driving transistor to an OLED display, an operation range of the OLED can be easily secured and thus a drain current can be reduced without increasing a channel length of the driving transistor resulting in a narrower pixel area. According to various embodiments, the pixel can secure an operation range of the OLED by reducing a magnitude of a drain current by adjusting a gate voltage of a driving transistor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, comprising:
a display unit comprising a plurality of pixels, wherein each of the pixels comprises at least one thin film transistor (TFT), at least one capacitor, and at least one OLED;
a scan driver configured to transfer a plurality of scanning signals to the display unit;
a light emission driver configured to transfer a plurality of light-emitting signals to the display unit;
a data driver configured to transfer a plurality of data signals to the display unit;
a DC power source unit configured to transfer direct current (DC) power to the display unit; and
a controller configured to control the scan driver, the light emission driver, the data driver, and the DC power source unit,
wherein the at least one TFT comprises a driving transistor configured to control a driving current flowing to the OLED,
wherein the driving transistor comprises a first gate electrode formed over a first insulation layer and configured to receive a data voltage from the data driver and a second gate electrode configured to receive a DC voltage from the DC power source unit,
wherein the OLED display further comprises a second insulation layer that is interposed between and in direct physical contact with the first and second gate electrodes,
wherein a contact electrode is electrically connected to the first gate electrode, wherein the contact electrode is electrically insulated to the second gate electrode by a third insulation layer, wherein a first contact hole is formed in the second insulation layer, wherein a second contact hole is formed in the third insulation layer, and wherein a portion of the contact electrode is inserted into the first and second contact holes and is in direct physical contact with the first gate electrode.

2. The OLED display of claim 1 , wherein the driving transistor is a p-MOSFET, and wherein the DC voltage supplied to the second gate electrode of the driving transistor is higher than the data voltage.

3. The OLED display of claim 1 , where the driving transistor is an n-MOSFET and wherein the DC voltage supplied to the gate electrode of the driving transistor is lower than the data voltage.

4. The OLED display of claim 1 , wherein the scan driver is configured to i) supply at least two of the scanning signals to one of the pixels, wherein the at least two scanning signals comprise first and second scanning signals, ii) supply one of the data signals to the one pixel according to the first scanning signal, and iii) supply an initialization voltage to the one pixel according to the second scanning signal.

5. The OLED display of claim 4 , wherein the scan driver is further configured to supply the first scanning signal to the one pixel after the second scanning signal is supplied to the one pixel.

6. The OLED display of claim 1 , wherein a first contact hole is formed in the second insulation layer, wherein the driving transistor further comprises a contact electrode that is inserted into the first contact hole and is in direct physical contact with the first gate electrode, and wherein the contact electrode does not directly contact the second gate electrode.

7. A pixel for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, the pixel comprising:
an OLED;
a first transistor configured to control a driving current flowing to the OLED; and
a second transistor configured to transfer a data voltage to the first transistor according to a scanning signal,
wherein the first transistor comprises a first gate electrode formed over a first insulation layer and electrically connected to the second transistor and a second gate electrode electrically connected to a DC power source,
wherein the OLED display further comprises a second insulation layer that is interposed between and in direct physical contact with the first and second gate electrodes,
wherein the first transistor further comprises a contact electrode that is electrically connected to the first gate electrode wherein the first transistor is electrically insulated b a third insulation layer, wherein a first contact hole is formed in the second insulation layer, wherein a second contact hole is formed in the third insulation layer, and wherein a portion of the contact electrode is inserted into the first and second contact holes and is in direct physical contact with the first gate electrode.

8. The pixel of claim 7 , wherein the first transistor is a p-MOSFET, and wherein the DC voltage supplied to the second gate of the first transistor is higher than the data voltage.

9. The pixel of claim 7 , wherein the first transistor is an n-MOSFET, and wherein the DC voltage supplied to the second gate of the first transistor is lower than the data voltage.

10. A transistor for driving a pixel of an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, the transistor comprising:
a polysilicon layer;
a first insulation layer formed over the polysilicon layer;
a first gate electrode formed over the first insulation layer;
a second insulation layer formed over the first gate electrode; and
a second gate electrode formed over the second insulating layer, wherein the second insulation layer is interposed between and in direct physical contact with the first and second gate electrodes, and
wherein the second gate electrode is electrically insulated from the first gate electrode and is electrically connected to a DC power source,
wherein the second insulation layer comprises a first contact hole, wherein the second gate electrode comprises an opening, wherein the third insulation layer comprises a second contact hole, and wherein the transistor comprises a contact electrode electrically connected to the first gate through the first contact hole, the opening, and the second contact hole.

11. The transistor of claim 10 , further comprising a third insulation layer formed over the second gate electrode.

12. A display device, comprising:
a plurality of pixels;
a plurality of data lines comprising first and second data lines; and
a direct current (DC) power source,
wherein each of the pixels comprises at least one thin film transistor (TFT) and at least one organic light-emitting diode (OLED), wherein the at least one TFT comprises a driving transistor configured to control a driving current flowing to the OLED,
wherein the driving transistor comprises a first gate electrode formed over a first insulation layer and configured to receive a first data signal from the first data line and a second gate electrode configured to receive a DC voltage from the DC power source,
wherein the display device further comprises a second insulation layer that is interposed between and in direct physical contact with the first and second gate electrodes,
wherein the driving transistor further comprises a contact electrode that is electrically connected to the first gate electrode, wherein the driving transistor is electrically insulated by a third insulation layer, wherein a first contact hole is formed in the second insulation layer, wherein a second contact hole is formed in the third insulation layer, and wherein a portion of the contact electrode is inserted into the first and second contact holes and is in direct physical contact with the first gate electrode.

13. The display device of claim 12 , further comprising at least two scan lines that include first and second scan lines, wherein a source electrode of the driving transistor is configured to receive a second data signal from the second data line according to a first scanning signal received from the first scan line, and wherein the first gate electrode is configured to receive the first data s

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Jeon Mu-Kyung

Classifications

• G09G3/3291

  in which the data driver supplies a variable data voltage for setting the current through, or the voltage across, the light-emitting elements · CPC title

• G09G3/3233 Primary

  with pixel circuitry controlling the current through the light-emitting element · CPC title

• G09G2300/0819

  used for counteracting undesired variations, e.g. feedback or autozeroing · CPC title

• G09G2300/0814

  used for selection purposes, e.g. logical AND for partial update · CPC title

• H10D30/6733

  Multi-gate TFTs · CPC title