Patent ID: 8822986

Claim:
A method for manufacturing an organic light-emitting element, comprising: a first step of preparing an ink for forming a functional layer of the organic light-emitting element, the ink including a first solvent, a second solvent that differs from the first solvent, and a functional material that is soluble in the first solvent and the second solvent and that forms the functional layer, the first solvent being a solvent such that when the second solvent is replaced with the first solvent and then a functional layer is formed imitatively, the imitatively formed functional layer has, in a light-emitting region of an organic light-emitting element, a shape such that the functional layer is thicker at both end portions than at a central portion and the top surfaces of the end portions are positioned higher than the top surface of the central portion, the second solvent being a solvent such that when the first solvent is replaced with the second solvent and then a functional layer is formed imitatively, the imitatively formed functional layer has, in a light-emitting region of an organic light-emitting element, a shape such that the functional layer is thicker at a central portion than at both end portions and the top surface of the central portion is positioned higher than the top surfaces of the end portions, the boiling point of the first solvent being equal or similar to the boiling point of the second solvent; a second step of filling the ink into an inkjet device having an ink ejection nozzle; a third step of preparing a substrate that has a base layer, the base layer including a first electrode; a fourth step of causing the inkjet device to eject droplets of the ink with respect to the base layer; a fifth step of forming an ink droplet film by applying the ink droplets onto the base layer; a sixth step of causing the first solvent and the second solvent to evaporate from the ink droplet film at a similar timing and thereby forming the functional layer such that the level of the top surface of the functional layer will become uniform throughout from the end portions to the central portion and the thickness of the functional layer will become uniform from the end portions to the central portion; and a seventh step of forming a second electrode that differs from the first electrode above the functional layer.