Organic light-emitting display apparatus and manufacturing method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9735223-B2
Application number	US-201314036430-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 25, 2013
Priority date	Apr 12, 2013
Publication date	Aug 15, 2017
Grant date	Aug 15, 2017

Abstract

An organic light-emitting display apparatus and a manufacturing method thereof. The organic light-emitting display apparatus includes a substrate, a display unit arranged on the substrate, a dam unit arranged at a periphery of the display unit and on the substrate and an encapsulating layer to encapsulate the display unit, wherein the encapsulating layer includes an organic film covering the display unit, and an inorganic film covering the organic film and the dam unit, and wherein a hardness of the dam unit is lower than that of the inorganic film. According to this, lateral moisture-proof characteristics of the organic light-emitting display apparatus are improved.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An organic light-emitting display apparatus, comprising:
a substrate;
a display unit arranged on the substrate;
a dam unit arranged at a periphery of the display unit and on the substrate;
a lower inorganic film covering the display unit and the dam unit; and
an encapsulating layer to encapsulate the display unit,
wherein the encapsulating layer includes an organic film covering a portion of the lower inorganic film, and an upper inorganic film covering the organic film and the dam unit, the organic film covers an entirety of the display unit,
wherein a hardness of the dam unit is lower than that of the upper inorganic film, and
wherein the dam unit is arranged at a periphery of the organic film, the substrate being a flexible substrate.

2. The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the organic film is spaced apart from the dam unit, does not overlap the dam unit and is spaced-apart from the display unit by only the lower inorganic film.

3. The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the dam unit comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, an epoxy and an acryl, wherein the dam unit has elasticity and can change its shape according to a shape of a groove of a mask that attaches to the dam unit.

4. The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the upper inorganic film comprises a material selected from a group consisting of SiN x , Al 2 O 3 , SiO 2 , and TiO 2 , the upper inorganic film being vacuum deposited and having a non-planar upper surface.

5. The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the organic film and the dam unit do not overlap.

6. The organic light-emitting display apparatus of claim 1 , the lower inorganic film covering an entirety of opposing sidewalls of the dam unit.

7. A method of manufacturing an organic light-emitting display apparatus, comprising:
forming a dam unit on a substrate;
forming a display unit inside the dam unit and on the substrate; and
forming an encapsulating layer on the display unit to encapsulate the display unit, wherein the forming of the encapsulating layer includes:
combining a mask with the substrate, the mask having a groove into which the dam unit is inserted;
forming an organic film to cover the display unit by using the mask;
separating the mask; and
forming an inorganic film to cover the organic film and the dam unit.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein a depth of the groove is equal to or smaller than a height of the dam unit, and a width of the groove is equal to or greater than a width of the dam unit.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the dam unit comprises a material selected from a group consisting of silicon, an epoxy and an acryl.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the dam unit is produced by a technique selected from a group consisting of an inkjet printing technique and a screen printing technique.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the groove has a tapered shape.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein when the dam unit is combined to the groove, a shape of the dam unit changes elastically according to a shape of the groove.

13. The method of claim 7 , wherein the organic film is spaced apart from the dam unit.

14. The method of claim 7 , wherein a hardness of the dam unit is lower than that of the inorganic film.

15. The method of claim 7 , further comprising forming a lower inorganic film to cover the display unit and the dam unit, wherein the organic film is formed to cover a portion of the lower inorganic film, and wherein the combining the mask to the substrate includes inserting the dam unit covered by the lower inorganic film into the groove of the mask.

16. The method of claim 7 , wherein the organic film comprises a material selected from a group consisting of polyurea and polyacrylate, the organic film being produced by evaporating a liquefied monomer that is non-directional.

17. An organic light-emitting display apparatus, comprising:
a substrate;
a display unit arranged on the substrate;
a dam unit arranged at a periphery of the display unit and on the substrate;
a lower inorganic film covering the display unit and the dam unit; and
an encapsulating layer to encapsulate the display unit, wherein the encapsulating layer includes an organic film covering a portion of the lower inorganic film, and an upper inorganic film covering the organic film and the dam unit, the organic film entirely covering the display unit,
wherein a hardness of the dam unit is lower than that of the upper inorganic film, and
wherein the dam unit is arranged at a periphery of the organic film.

18. The organic light emitting display device of claim 17 , wherein an upper surface of the upper inorganic film that faces away from the substrate is non-planar due to the underlying display unit and the dam unit, wherein a distance from the substrate to upper inorganic film in a direction normal to an upper surface of the substrate varies with location.

19. The organic light emitting display device of claim 17 , the organic film comprising at least one of polyuria and polyacrylate to relax an internal stress of the upper inorganic film, the organic film preventing external moisture and oxygen from reaching the display unit by filling minute pinholes and cracks in the upper organic film.

Assignees

• Samsung Display Co Ltd

Inventors

• Oh Min-Ho
• Cho Yoon-Hyeung
• Kim Yong-Tak
• Lee So-Young
• Kim Jong-Woo
• Moon Ji-Young

Classifications

• H10K71/00

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

• H10K59/10

  OLED displays · CPC title

• H10K59/87

  Passivation; Containers; Encapsulations · CPC title

• H10K59/873 Primary

  Encapsulations · CPC title

• H01L51/0011

  Electricity · mapped topic