This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 110143860. filed Nov. 24, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
The disclosure relates in general to a color conversion unit, a color conversion structure using the same, and a light-emitting diode display using the same, and more particularly to a color conversion unit including micro light-emitting diodes, a color conversion structure using the same, and a light-emitting diode display using the same.
Recently, the demands for micro light-emitting diode displays in the market have been gradually increased. The micro light-emitting diode display can include a color conversion layer and an array of micro light-emitting diodes, wherein the color conversion layer can convert the light provided by the micro light-emitting diode into a desired wavelength. However, since the size of the micro light-emitting diode is much smaller than the size of the light-emitting diode, the size of the corresponding color conversion layer also needs to be reduced accordingly. For example, the thickness of the color conversion layer may be greatly reduced, making the existing micro light-emitting diodes displays still have the problem of insufficient color conversion efficiency. Therefore, there is still a great need to develop an improved micro light-emitting diode display to overcome the above-mentioned problems.
According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a color conversion unit is provided. The color conversion unit includes a substrate and a color conversion layer. The substrate includes a hole. The color conversion layer is embedded in the hole of the substrate, wherein a ratio of a width to a height of the color conversion layer is between 1:1 and 1:15, and a color conversion mixture used to form the color conversion layer is cured by excitation light wavelength between 385 nm and 1180 nm. A micro light-emitting diode disposed under the color conversion layer is used to provide light to the color conversion layer.
According to another embodiment of the present disclosure, a color conversion structure is proposed. The color conversion structure includes a plurality of color conversion units. The color conversion units include a substrate and a first color conversion layer, a second color conversion layer, and an optical cement adjacent to each other. The first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement are respectively filled in a plurality of holes of the substrate. Emission wavelengths converted by the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement are different, and ratios of widths to heights of the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement are between 1:1 and 1:15, and color conversion mixtures used to form the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer are cured by excitation light wavelength between 385 nm and 1180 nm. A plurality of micro light-emitting diodes disposed under the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement are used to provide light to the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement.
According to a further embodiment of the present disclosure, a light-emitting diode display is provided. The light-emitting diode display includes a color conversion structure, an array of micro light-emitting diodes, and a backplane control structure. The color conversion structure includes a plurality of color conversion units, and the color conversion units include a substrate and a first color conversion layer, a second color conversion layer and an optical cement adjacent to each other. The substrate includes a plurality of holes. The first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement are filled in the holes of the substrate. Emission wavelengths converted by the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement are different, and ratios of widths to heights of the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer and the optical cement is between 1:1 and 1:15, and color conversion mixtures used to form the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer are cured by excitation light wavelength between 385 nm and 1180 nm. The array of micro light-emitting diodes is disposed under the color conversion structure to provide light to the color conversion structure. The backplane control structure is disposed under the color conversion structure for controlling the array of micro light-emitting diodes.
In order to have a better understanding of the above and other aspects of the present disclosure, the following specific embodiments are given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings to describe in detail as follows.
In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the disclosed embodiments. It will be apparent, however, that one or more embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are schematically shown in order to simplify the drawing.
The present disclosure relates to a color conversion unit, a color conversion structure using the color conversion unit, and a light-emitting diode display using the color conversion unit. Compared with the existing micro light-emitting diode display, since the color conversion layers of the color conversion units, the color conversion structure and the light-emitting diode display used in the present disclosure have a higher aspect ratio, the color conversion layers can have a larger thickness, so the color conversion efficiency can be greatly improved. Moreover, compared with the comparative example that uses the black matrix to block light, since the color conversion layers of the present disclosure can be embedded in the holes of the substrate with a high aspect ratio, the substrate can effectively solve the problem of the cross-talk of light between the color conversion layers, and achieve a more excellent light blocking effect.
The following describes the implementations of the present disclosure in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the structure, manufacturing process, and content of the implementations proposed in the embodiments are for illustrative purposes only, and the scope to be protected by the present disclosure is not limited to the described implementations. It should be noted that the present disclosure does not show all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art can change and modify the structure and manufacturing process of the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure to meet actual requirements for applications.
Further, the same or similar reference numerals are used in the same or similar elements in the embodiments to facilitate clear description. In addition, the drawings have been simplified to clearly illustrate the content of the embodiments, and the sizes of elements in the drawings are not drawn in the same proportion related to the actual products, so they are not used to limit the protected scope of the present disclosure.
Furthermore, the ordinal numbers used in the specification and the scope of the present disclosure, such as the terms “first”, “second”, etc., are used to modify the elements in the scope of the present disclosure, and do not in themselves mean and represent any previous ordinal number of the claimed element, and does not represent the order of a certain claimed element and another claimed element, or the order of the manufacturing method. The use of these ordinal numbers is only used to enable a claimed element with a certain name to be clearly distinguished over another claimed element with the same name.
First, referring to
Thereafter, referring to
After the holes 112u are formed, referring to
The color conversion layers 114 may include a first color conversion layer 114A, a second color conversion layer 114B, and an optical cement 114C. The optical cement 114C may include scattering particles, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In the present embodiment, the micro light-emitting diodes 110A, 110B, 110C . . . are blue light micro light-emitting diodes. In one pixel, the color conversion mixtures can correspond to a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel, respectively. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the color conversion mixtures may correspond to sub-pixels of other colors, such as the yellow sub-pixel, the purple sub-pixel, or the other sub-pixel in suitable color. According to the present embodiment, the color conversion mixture corresponding to the red sub-pixel includes a quantum dot material that can release a red spectrum, a photoresist, a photoinitiator, and other suitable materials. The color conversion mixture corresponding to the green sub-pixel includes quantum dot materials that can release the green spectrum, photoresist, photoinitiator, and other suitable materials. The material corresponding to the blue sub-pixel may include a scattering material, a photoresist, a photoinitiator, air, and other suitable materials, and may not include a color conversion mixture. That is, in the present embodiment, the first color conversion layer 114A includes a quantum dot material that can release a red spectrum, the second color conversion layer 114B includes a quantum dot material that can release a green spectrum, and the optical cement 114C does not include the color conversion mixture. In other embodiments, the micro light-emitting diode is a blue micro light-emitting diode, so the blue sub-pixel may not include the color conversion mixture. The solid content of the quantum dot materials is in between 10 wt % to 40 wt %, and the viscosity of the quantum dot materials is in between 5 cP to 90 cP. The scattering material is, for example, titanium dioxide (TiO2), organic scattering particles or other suitable scattering materials. In the embodiment where ultraviolet light is used as the excitation light (that is, for curing the color conversion mixture), the color conversion mixture used to form the color conversion layer 114 may be cured between 385 nm and 440 nm, between 395 nm and 405 nm, between 400 nm and 420 nm, or in other suitable ranges of the excitation light wavelength.
In some embodiments that use ultraviolet light to cure the color conversion mixture (e.g. 385 nm to 440 nm of the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture), the photoinitiator may be a compound without a nitrogen atom, such as 2-hydroxy-2-methylpropiophenone, diphenyl(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)-phosphine oxide, 9,10-dibutoxyanthracene, 9,10-diethoxyanthracene, phenylbis(2,4,6-trimethylbenzoyl)phosphine oxide, benzophenone, or the arbitrary combination of the above.
In some embodiments using near-infrared light to cure the color conversion mixture, the color conversion mixture is cured, for example, between 700 nm and 950 nm, between 700 nm and 850 nm, between 800 nm and 950 nm, or in other suitable ranges of the excitation light wavelength.
In some embodiments using near-infrared light to cure the color conversion mixture (e.g. 700 nm to 850 nm of the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture), the photoinitiator may be bisdialkylamino-substituted diphenylpolyene, bisdiarylamino-substituted diphenylpolyene, bis(styryl)benzene, or the arbitrary combination of the above, for example, the chemical formula of the photoinitiator can be as shown in the following Formula 1 to Formula 8:
In Formula 1, “Me” represents a methyl group, “n-Bu” represents an n-butyl group, and “n” represents an integer of 3 to 5. The wavelength of light absorption of the photoinitiator shown in Formula 1 is, for example, 710 nm to 730 nm.
In Formula 2, the wavelength of light absorption of the photoinitiator shown in Formula 2 is, for example, 670 nm to 690 nm.
In Formula 3, “n-Bu” represents an n-butyl group.
In Formula 4, “n-Bu” represents an n-butyl group, and “Me” represents a methyl group.
In Formula 6, “R” represents C12H25.
In Formula 7, “n-Bu” represents an n-butyl group, and “Me” represents a methyl group.
In Formula 8, “R” represents C12H25.
In some embodiments of using near-infrared light to cure the color conversion mixture (e.g. 800 nm to 950 nm of the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture), the photoinitiator may be donor-acceptor-donor distyrylbenzene, wherein the donor can be di-n-butyl, diphenylamino or other suitable donor groups, and the acceptor can be cyano or other suitable acceptor groups; for example, the chemical formula of the photoinitiator can be as shown in the following Formula 9 to Formula 13:
In Formula 9, “R” represents n-butyl or methyl. The wavelength of absorption light of the photoinitiator shown in Formula 9 is, for example, 830 nm.
In Formula 11, “R” represents n-butyl or methyl. The wavelength of absorption light of the photoinitiator shown in Formula 11 is, for example, 800 nm.
In Formula 13, “R” represents n-butyl or methyl. The wavelength of absorption light of the photoinitiator shown in Formula 13 is, for example, 730 nm.
In some embodiments using the infrared light to cure the color conversion mixture (e.g. 1030 nm to 1180 nm of the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture), the photoinitiator can be squaraine, cyanine or other suitable ingredients; for example, the chemical formula of the photoinitiator can be as shown in the following Formula 14 to Formula 15:
In Formula 15, “R” represents CH3 or C3H7.
According to some experimental data using ultraviolet light as the excitation light, it is known that the emission intensity of the color conversion mixture when absorbing the light from a light source of 365 nm is greater than the emission intensity of the color conversion mixture when absorbing the light from a light source of 385 nm. Therefore, the degree of absorption in the color conversion mixture for the light from the light source of 365 nm is greater than the degree of absorption in the color conversion mixture for the light from the light source of 385 nm, that is, the light from light source of 365 nm has a greater influence on the optical properties of the color conversion mixture. It should be noted that in the color conversion mixture of the present disclosure, the formula of the photoinitiator can be adjusted according to the light absorption spectrum or light emission spectrum of the quantum dot material. For example, the quantum dot material has a first main absorption band for ultraviolet light (for example, 365 nm), the photoinitiator has a second main absorption band for ultraviolet light (for example, greater than 365 nm), and most of the second main absorption band is different from the first main absorption band. That is, in the color conversion mixture, a photoinitiator that avoids the main light absorption band of the quantum dot material should be selected to prevent a large part of the exposed light from being absorbed by the quantum dot material during the exposure step, and the color conversion mixture can only be cured by a part of the light, resulting in that the color conversion mixture cannot be cured completely. Especially, when a color conversion layer 114 with a large thickness (that is, a high aspect ratio) is formed, the color conversion mixture at the bottom is less likely to absorb the exposed light and is difficult to be cured. If the amount of exposure is increased in order to make the color conversion mixture to be cured in a more complete way, it may cause the quantum dot material to be damaged by the excitation light. Compared with the comparative example in which the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture greatly overlaps the main absorption band of the quantum dot material, since the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture to form the color conversion layer 114 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is between 385 nm and 1180 nm, most range of the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture is different from the main absorption wavelength of the quantum dot material (for example, the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture is greater than the main absorption wavelength of the quantum dot), which can prevent the absorption of the quantum dots from affecting the color conversion mixture to be cured into a film. This solves the problem of incomplete curing of the color conversion mixture. In addition, when the excitation light having a longer wavelength is used to cure the color conversion mixture, the excitation light having a longer wavelength can have stronger penetrating ability, which is beneficial to form the color conversion layer 114 with a larger thickness. The color conversion layer 114 with a larger thickness of film may have more excellent color conversion efficiency.
In the present embodiment, the micro light-emitting diodes 110A, 110B, 110C . . . are blue light micro light-emitting diodes. After the emitted blue light is transmitted to the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B and the optical cement 114C, the emitted blue light is converted into red light and green light through the first color conversion layer 114A and the second color conversion layer 114B, respectively; since the optical cement 114C does not include the color conversion mixture, the blue light is directly transmitted through the optical cement 114C and appears as blue light. That is, the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B, and the optical cement 114C can respectively correspond to the red sub-pixel, the green sub-pixel, and the blue sub-pixel. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B, and the optical cement 114C can respectively correspond to sub-pixels of other colors.
After the color conversion layer 114 is formed, the color conversion layer 114 and the substrate 112 may be covered by a sealing layer 116 to form the light-emitting diode display 10 as shown in
In the present embodiment, the color conversion structure T1 corresponds to a pixel including, for example, a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The array of micro light-emitting diodes 110 includes a plurality of micro light-emitting diodes 110A, 110B, 110C . . . arranged in a matrix. The color conversion structure T1 includes a plurality of color conversion units U1. The color conversion units U1 include a substrate 112 and a first color conversion layer 114A, a second color conversion layer 114B, and an optical cement 114C adjacent to each other. The substrate 112 includes a plurality of holes 112u. The holes 112u correspond to the micro light-emitting diodes 110A, 110B, and 110C, respectively. The first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114E and the optical cement 114C are filled in the holes 112u of the substrate 112. The emission wavelengths converted by the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B, and the optical cement 114C are different from each other. The micro light-emitting diodes 110A, 110B, 110C . . . disposed under the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B and the optical cement 114C are used to provide light to the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B and the optical cement 114C. The sealing layer 116 and the array of micro light-emitting diodes 110 may be disposed on opposite sides of the color conversion layer 114.
The ratios of widths to heights of the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B, and the optical cement 114C are between 1:1 and 1:15, between 1:7 and 1:15, between 1:8 and 1:13 or in other suitable range. Moreover, when the ultraviolet light is used for curing, the color conversion mixture used to form the first color conversion layer 114A and the second color conversion layer 114B is cured by excitation light wavelength between 385 nm and 440 nm. In other embodiments, when the optical cement 114C includes the color conversion mixture, the color conversion mixture is cured by excitation light wavelength between 385 nm and 440 nm. In some embodiments, the thickness of the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B, and the optical cement 114C can be between 2 μm and 20 μm, between 5 μm and 15 μm, between 7 μm and 12 μm, or in other suitable range. In the present embodiment, the thickness of the first color conversion layer 114A, the second color conversion layer 114B, and the optical cement 114C may be 5.5 μm, and the color conversion efficiency (CCE) of the first color conversion layer 114A and the second color conversion layer 114B can reach 50%. In a comparative example, the thickness of the first color conversion layer, the second color conversion layer, and the optical cement is 1.5 μm, and the color conversion efficiency of the first color conversion layer and the second color conversion layer is only 10%. It can be seen that the thickness of the color conversion layer 114 in the present disclosure is relatively large, which can greatly improve the color conversion efficiency.
Compared with the comparative example in which the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture greatly overlaps the main absorption wavelength of the quantum dot material, since the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture in the light-emitting diode display 10 of the present disclosure is between 385 nm and 1180 nm, which is greater than the main absorption wavelength of the quantum dot material, that is, the range of the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture in the present disclosure is different from the main absorption wavelength of the quantum dot material, which can prevent the light absorption of the quantum dots from affecting the color conversion mixture to be cured into a film. Therefore, the formed color conversion layer 114 can have a good quality in curing. Moreover, it is beneficial in the present disclosure to form the color conversion layer 114 with a high aspect ratio (that is, a larger thickness) without a large amount of exposure. On the one hand, it can reduce the damage and degradation of the quantum dot material during exposure and improve the efficiency of the quantum dot; on the other hand, the color conversion layer 114 can have a sufficient thickness of the film to exhibit the color conversion efficiency to be more excellent. In addition, if the black matrix is disposed between the color conversion layers to block the light, the black matrix is limited by the process conditions, and the thickness of the black matrix is not large enough to effectively block the light; therefore, in comparison with the comparative example that the black matrix is disposed between the color conversion layers to block the light, since the color conversion layers 114 with sufficient thickness (for example, high aspect ratio) in the present disclosure can be embedded in the holes 112u of the substrate 112, the substrate 112 can surround the color conversion layers 114 and is disposed between the color conversion layers 114, the substrate 112 has an excellent effect for blocking the light, and can solve the problem of the cross-talk of light, accordingly.
First, referring to
Thereafter, referring to
After the holes 212u are formed, as shown in
Thereafter, referring to
As shown in
After filling the color conversion mixture, referring to
Thereafter, referring to
In the present embodiment, the color conversion structure T2 corresponds to, for example, a pixel including a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The color conversion structure T2 includes a plurality of color conversion units U2. The color conversion unit U2 includes a substrate 212 and a first color conversion layer 214A, a second color conversion layer 214B, and an optical cement 214C adjacent to each other. The sealing layer 216 and the mirror structure 220 may be disposed on opposite sides of the color conversion layer 214. Moreover, the sealing layer 216 is closer to the array of micro light-emitting diodes 110 than the mirror structure 220. The cover plate 222 is disposed on the mirror structure 220, the substrate 212 and the color conversion layers 214.
First, referring to
Thereafter, referring to
After forming the trenches 312k, referring to
After forming the holes 312u, as shown in
After that, referring to
Referring to
In the present embodiment, the color conversion structure T3 corresponds to, for example, a pixel including a red sub-pixel, a green sub-pixel, and a blue sub-pixel, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The color conversion structure T3 includes a plurality of color conversion units U3. The color conversion units U3 include a substrate 312 and a color conversion layer 314 (i.e., a first color conversion layer 314A, a second color conversion layer 314B, and an optical cement 3140 adjacent to each other). The sealing layer 316 and the oxide layer 312y may be disposed on opposite sides of the color conversion layer 314. The oxide layer 312y is disposed above the color conversion layer 314. The sealing layer 316 is closer to the array of micro light-emitting diodes 110 than the oxide layer 312y.
Referring to
After the holes 412u are formed, referring to
After that, referring to
In some embodiments, the embodiments of the light-emitting diode displays 10 to 30 can be combined arbitrarily, or the light-emitting diode displays 10 to 30 can be combined with other embodiments. According to some embodiments, a color filter (not shown) may be disposed on the color conversion layers 114, 214, or 314. For example, a color filter (not shown) may be disposed between the color conversion layers 214 and the mirror structure 220.
In summary, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, a color conversion unit is provided. The color conversion layer is filled in a hole of the substrate, wherein a ratio of a width to a height of the color conversion layer is between 1:1 and 1:15, and the color conversion mixture used to form the color conversion layer is cured by excitation light wavelength between 385 μm and 1180 μm.
Compared with the comparative example where the ratio of the width to the height of the color conversion layer is 1:0.4, since the ratio of the width to the height of the color conversion layer in an embodiment of the present disclosure is between 1:1 and 1:15, the color conversion layer has a relatively large thickness, so the color conversion efficiency can be improved.
Compared with the comparative example in which the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture to form the color conversion layer is 365 nm, since the excitation light wavelength of the present disclosure is between 385 nm and 1180 nm, the excitation light wavelength that cures the color conversion mixture is different from the main absorption wavelength of the quantum dot material, which can prevent the light absorption of the quantum dots from affecting the curing of the color conversion mixture into a film, so the formed color conversion layer can have a good quality in curing. Moreover, the present disclosure is beneficial for forming a color conversion layer with a high aspect ratio (that is, a larger thickness) without a large amount of exposure. On the one hand, it can reduce the damage and degradation of the quantum dot material during exposure and improve the efficiency of the quantum dot; on the other hand, the color conversion layer can have a sufficient film thickness to exhibit the color conversion efficiency to be more excellent.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed embodiments. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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110143860 | Nov 2021 | TW | national |