Patent ID: 7727601

Claim:
An edge-sealed, encapsulated environmentally sensitive device comprising: a substrate; an environmentally sensitive device adjacent to the substrate; and an edge-sealed barrier stack adjacent to the environmentally sensitive device, the edge-sealed barrier stack comprising a decoupling layer and at least two barrier layers, wherein the decoupling layer comprises a polymeric decoupling layer, wherein the decoupling layer has an area, wherein the first barrier layer has an area, and wherein the second barrier layer has an area, the area of the first and second barrier layers being greater than the area of the decoupling layer, the area of the first and second barrier layers extending beyond the edges of the area of the first decoupling layer forming an edge seal, wherein the decoupling layer is positioned between the first and second barrier layers, and wherein the decoupling layer is edge sealed between the first and second barrier layers; and wherein at least one barrier layer of the edge-sealed barrier stack is in contact with the substrate, sealing the environmentally sensitive device between the substrate and the edge-sealed barrier stack forming an environmentally sensitive device seal, wherein an oxygen transmission rate through the environmentally sensitive device seal is less than 0.005 cc/m 2 /day at 23° C. and 0% relative humidity.