Patent Publication Number: US-2023157093-A1

Title: Organic light-emitting display and manufacturing method thereof

Description:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION 
     Field of Invention 
     The present application relates to a field of display technology, in particular to an organic light-emitting display and a manufacturing method thereof. 
     Description of Prior Art 
     An existing transparent antenna for an OLED display panel, such as a metal grid antenna, usually needs to be fabricated on a separate transparent film substrate, and then pasted on an upper surface of a flexible OLED through transparent OCA adhesive, which is easy to cause poor appearance such as Morie patterns. 
     At present, the metal grid antenna separately fabricated on an additional transparent film substrate includes an opaque metal area at one end or a periphery of the metal grid antenna, and the opaque metal area includes a signal line and a ground line of the antenna. The signal line and the ground line need to be connected to a motherboard (Main Carrier Board) of an entirety of a device coplanar waveguide flexible print circuit through a coaxial transmission line (coplanar waveguide flexible print circuit, CPW FPC), whose structural design is more complicated and occupies more space. 
     In order to solve the deficiencies of the prior art, an object of the present application is to provide an organic light-emitting display and a manufacturing method thereof. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     The present application provides an organic light-emitting display, including a display panel, wherein the display panel includes a substrate layer, an organic light-emitting layer, and a thin film encapsulation layer stacked sequentially from bottom to top, and the organic light-emitting display further includes an antenna disposed on an upper surface of the thin film encapsulation layer. 
     original translation  1   
     In some embodiments, the display panel includes a display area, the organic light-emitting layer includes a plurality of sub-pixels disposed side-by-side, the antenna includes a transparent trace area, the transparent trace area is located in the display area, and an orthographic projection of the transparent trace area on the organic light-emitting layer is between adjacent ones of the sub-pixels. 
     In some embodiments, the transparent trace area has a metal grid structure. 
     In some embodiments, the transparent trace area includes an antenna area for emitting and receiving electromagnetic wave signals and an open border area for shielding peripheral noise, the open border area is located at a periphery of the antenna area, and the antenna area and the open border area are separated by a fracture. 
     In some embodiments, the display panel further includes a non-display area disposed around the display area, the antenna includes an opaque metal area located in the non-display area, the opaque metal area is connected to a periphery of the transparent trace area, the display panel further includes a thin film transistor layer disposed between the substrate layer and the organic light-emitting layer, and the opaque metal area is electrically connected to the thin film transistor layer. 
     In some embodiments, the opaque metal area includes a signal line and a ground line, the signal line and the ground line are electrically connected to the thin film transistor layer, and are connected to a flexible circuit board through the thin film transistor layer. 
     In some embodiments, the antenna includes a plurality of groups of antennas selected from one or more of near-field communication antennas, Wi-Fi antennas, Bluetooth antennas, fifth-generation communication antennas, and global positioning system antennas. 
     The present application also provides method of manufacturing the organic light-emitting display according to claim  1 , including the steps of: providing the substrate layer; sequentially forming the organic light-emitting layer and the thin film encapsulation layer on the substrate layer to form the display panel; forming a metal layer on the thin film encapsulation layer; and patterning the metal layer to form the antenna. 
     In some embodiments, the thin film encapsulation layer includes a first inorganic layer, an organic layer, a second inorganic layer, and a third inorganic layer deposited sequentially from bottom to top, and the metal layer is formed on the third inorganic layer. 
     In some embodiments, the manufacturing method further include a step of electrically connecting the antenna to a flexible circuit board, wherein the flexible circuit board is electrically connected to a motherboard of an entirety of the organic light-emitting display. 
     Compared with the prior art, the present application has the following beneficial effects and advantages: 
     The present application integrates the antenna trace directly above the effective display area of the organic light-emitting display, wherein the size of the antenna is no longer limited by the extremely limited space of the prior art, and the size and position of the antenna are more flexible in design, proving a better solution for future flexible or transparent wireless electronic products. The antenna is directly placed on the thin film encapsulation layer, which dodges light-emitting pixels in the light-emitting layer, thereby avoiding the occurrence of Moire. The antenna is invisible to a naked eye and replaces a metal antenna in a specific area outside the effective display area in a traditional smartphone. The antenna is prepared on an upper surface of the thin film encapsulation layer of the OLED, and directly extends down to the driving pixel substrate, so as to be electrically connected to the flexible circuit board, such that the flexible circuit board is electrically connected to a motherboard of an entirety of the display, wherein the flexible circuit board can be integrated with the flexible circuit board used for the display, that is the two are integrated into one, thereby making the manufacturing process simpler and the cost lower. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an organic light-emitting display according to an embodiment of the present application. 
         FIG.  2    is a schematic plan view of an antenna and sub-pixels of the organic light-emitting display of  FIG.  1   . 
         FIG.  3    is a schematic diagram showing the relative positional relationship between sub-pixels and a transparent trace area of the organic light-emitting display according to an embodiment of the present application. 
         FIG.  4    is a schematic diagram illustrating a three-dimensional structure of an organic light-emitting display according to an embodiment of the present application. 
         FIG.  5    is a schematic top view showing an antenna according to an embodiment of the present application. 
         FIG.  6    is a schematic structural diagram illustrating an organic light-emitting display according to an embodiment of the present application. 
         FIG.  7    is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing an organic light-emitting display according to an embodiment of the present application. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The present application provides a physical keyboard input system, a keyboard input method, and a storage medium. In order to make the purpose, technical solutions, and effects of the present application clearer and clearer, the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application, and are not used to limit the present application. 
     Embodiment 
     This embodiment provides an organic light-emitting display  100 . As shown in  FIGS.  1  and  2   , the organic light-emitting display  100  includes a display panel  10 , an antenna  20  disposed above the display panel  10 , and a touch control panel  30  disposed above the antenna  20 . The display panel  10  includes a substrate original translation  4  layer  11 , a thin-film transistor layer  12 , an organic light-emitting layer  13 , and a thin-film encapsulation layer  14  that are stacked sequentially from bottom to top. The organic light-emitting layer  13  includes a plurality of sub-pixels  131  disposed side-by-side. The plurality of sub-pixels  131  may include a red sub-pixel R, a blue sub-pixel B, and a green sub-pixel G The antenna  20  is integrated on an upper surface of the thin film encapsulation layer  14 . As shown in  FIGS.  3  and  4   , the display panel  10  includes a display area  101  and a non-display area  102 . The non-display area  102  is located at a periphery of the display area  101 . The antenna  20  includes a transparent trace area  21  and an opaque metal area  22 , wherein the transparent trace area has a metal grid structure, the opaque metal area  22  is connected to a periphery of the metal grid structure, the metal grid structure is located in the display area  101 , and an orthographic projection of a grid line of the metal grid structure on the organic light-emitting layer  13  is between adjacent ones of the sub-pixels  131 , that is, at a gap between the sub-pixels  131 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  4   , the metal grid structure includes an antenna area  211  for emitting and receiving electromagnetic wave signals and an open border area  212  for shielding peripheral noise, the open border area  212  is located at a periphery of the antenna area  211 , and the antenna area  211  and the open border area  212  are separated by a fracture  40 . 
     The opaque metal area  22  is located in the non-display area  102 . The antenna  20  is connected to the thin film transistor layer  12 , that is, the array substrate. Specifically, the opaque metal area  22  is electrically connected to the array substrate, and the array substrate is then electrically connected to the flexible circuit board  50 . 
     The opaque metal area  22  includes a signal line  221  and a ground line  222 , and the signal line  221  is electrically connected to a signal line of the flexible circuit board  50 ; the ground line  222  is electrically connected to a ground line of the flexible circuit board  50 , and the flexible circuit board  50  is then electrically connected to a motherboard  60  of an entirety of the organic light-emitting display. 
     As shown in  FIG.  5   , a full-surface metal grid structure is formed on the upper surface of the thin film encapsulation layer  14  of the OLED, and then a fracture  40  is set at a specific position correspondingly, to form a specific antenna area, wherein the antenna  20  includes a plurality of groups of antennas selected from one or more of Wi-Fi antennas/Bluetooth antennas  201 , global positioning system (GPS) antenna  202 , fifth-generation communication (5G) antenna  203 , and near-field communication (NFC) antenna  204 . 
     Another embodiment also provides a method of manufacturing an organic light-emitting display, as shown in  FIG.  7   , including the following steps: providing a substrate layer  11 ; and sequentially forming a thin film transistor layer  12 , an organic light-emitting layer  13 , and a thin film encapsulation layer  14  on the substrate layer  11 . Specifically, the organic light-emitting display further includes a protective film and a double-layered polyimide layer sequentially from top to bottom. A light blocking layer (SiNx/SiOx) and a buffer layer (SiNx/SiOx) may also be provided on the substrate layer  11 . 
     The thin film transistor layer  12  includes a semiconductor active layer p-Si, a gate insulating layer, and a gate layer, an interlayer dielectric layer, and a source/drain layer formed on the gate insulating layer. 
     The organic light-emitting layer  13  includes an anode layer, a light-emitting material layer, a cathode layer, and a pixel definition layer. 
     The thin-film encapsulation layer  14  includes a first inorganic layer  141 , an organic layer  142 , a second inorganic layer  143 , and a third inorganic layer  144  stacked sequentially. A metal layer is formed on an entire surface of the third inorganic layer  144 . Material of the metal layer includes copper; the first inorganic layer  141 , the second inorganic layer  143 , and the third inorganic layer  144  are formed into a film by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and the third inorganic layer  144  includes SiNx/SiOx composite layer. The metal layer is fabricated by low-temperature sputtering, and the third inorganic layer serves as a buffer layer before the metal layer is fabricated on the thin-film encapsulation layer  14 , to prevent the film of the encapsulation layer  14  from damage during directly sputtering the metal layer. 
     A photoresist is coated on a surface of the metal layer, and a photomask with a preset pattern is used to pattern the entire surface of metal layer through processes, such as exposure, development, etching and so on, to form a hollow metal grid structure and a periphery opaque metal area. In the process of forming the metal grid structure, the fracture  40  is formed correspondingly at the predetermined position of a path and an open on the metal grid structure, and the antenna area  211  and the open border area  212  are separated by a fracture  40  to maintain electrical isolation. A resonant frequency of the antenna is regulated by adjusting a size of the antenna area  211  and the open border area  212 ; 
     The opaque metal area  22  passes through metal leads and via holes and extends down to the thin film transistor layer  12 . As shown in  FIG.  6   , the thin film transistor layer  12  is connected to the flexible circuit board  50  through an anisotropic conductive adhesive (ACF). The flexible circuit board  50  is electrically connected to the motherboard  60  of an entirety of the display. The opaque metal area  22  includes a signal line  221  and a ground line  222 . The signal line  221  is connected to a signal line of the flexible circuit board  50  through a thin film transistor, and the ground line  222  is connected to a ground line of the flexible circuit board  50 . 
     A touch sensor  30  and A polarizer are sequentially attached on the antenna layer through an optical transparent adhesive to form the touch panel  30 . 
     While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.