The present invention relates to display devices, specifically flexible display devices that the substrates can be curved, and manufacturing method for those display devices.
The organic EL display device and the liquid crystal display device can be used in curved state by making those devices thin. Further, those display devices can be made flexible by making the substrates from resin, e.g. polyimide. Since the organic EL display devices do not need back lights, they have merit to be made thin.
If the resin substrate is made as thin as 10 to 20 microns, the display device can be made flexible; however, such a thin substrate is difficult to go through the manufacturing process. Therefore, such a resin substrate is formed on the glass substrate of a thickness of 0.5 or 0.7 mm to go through the manufacturing process, and the display elements are formed on the thin resin substrate. The laser is applied for laser abrasion to the interface between the glass substrate and the resin substrate to separate the glass substrate from the resin substrate.
Patent document 1 discloses the technology to separate the glass substrate from the resin substrate with laser.
Patent document 1: WO 2005/050754
Patent document 2: Japanese patent application laid open No. 2010-67957
Patent document 3: Japanese patent application laid open No. 2013-168445
A separation process using laser has following problems. Firstly, the laser machine is expensive. Secondly, a controlling is difficult to align the laser irradiation precisely at an interface between the glass substrate and the resin substrate, consequently, the yield rate in the manufacturing process is decreased.
Patent document 2 and Patent document 3 disclose the following method to separate the glass substrate from the resin substrate without using laser. Namely, a separation layer, from which the resin is easily separated from the glass substrate, is formed on the glass substrate at the area which does not correspond to the peripheral region of the resin substrate. The peripheral region of the resin substrate adheres to the glass substrate firmly, thus, adherence between the glass substrate and the resin substrate is maintained during the manufacturing process. In the final manufacturing process, the region in which the glass substrate and the resin substrate adhere to each other is removed. After the removal, the glass substrate and the resin substrate adhere to each other only at separation layer, thus, the resin substrate is easily separated from the glass substrate. Among the references, Patent document 3 further discloses to recycle the glass substrate.
In Patent document 2 and Patent document 3, the mother substrate must be laid out to secure the extra adhesion area for adhesion with the glass substrate; therefore, there is a problem of the yield rate of the material.
The purpose of the present invention is to realize a manufacturing method in which a laser machine or other expensive machines are not necessary, and the yield rate of the material can be raised.
The present invention overcomes the above explained problems; the concrete structures are as follows.
(1) A device having a resin substrate:
in which the resin substrate has a surface, on which a functional layer is formed, and a back surface, which is rear side from the surface,
the back surface has a peripheral area and an inner area, which is located inner side than the peripheral area in a plan view,
the peripheral area has a rough surface whose surface roughness is larger compared with a surface roughness of the inner area.
(2) A manufacturing method of a device having a resin substrate including:
forming a first layer, which is made of metal or metal oxide on a glass substrate,
forming a second layer, which is made of metal or metal oxide, on the first layer,
forming a third layer, which is made of metal or metal oxide, on the second layer,
patterning the third layer,
forming a resin substrate on the third layer,
forming a functional layer on the resin substrate,
after that, peeling off the resin substrate from the second layer and the third layer.
The present invention is explained by the following embodiments. Although the following embodiments are explained for the structure of the organic EL display device, however, the present invention is applicable to other display devices having resin substrates as e.g. the liquid crystal display device.
In
The polyimide film 101 is formed on the polyimide substrate 100 in a thickness of 2 to 3 microns to make the surface further flatten. The inorganic undercoat film 102 is formed on the polyimide film 101 to protect the organic EL layer from moisture and other impurities invading through the resin substrate 100. The oxide semiconductor 103, which constitutes the switching TFT, is formed on the inorganic undercoat 102. The connecting electrodes 104, formed from Ti or MoW, are formed on the drain portion and the source portion of the oxide semiconductor 103 to protect the oxide semiconductor 103.
The gate insulating film 105 is formed covering the oxide semiconductor 103; the gate electrode 106 is formed on the gate insulating film 105. The interlayer insulating film 107 is formed covering the gate electrode 106; the drain electrode 108 and the source electrode 109 are formed on the interlayer insulating film 107. The drain electrode 108 connects the oxide semiconductor 103 with the video signal line 92. The source electrode 109 connects the oxide semiconductor 103 with the lower electrode 111 for the organic EL layer 113.
The organic passivation film 110 is formed, in a thickness of 2 to 3 microns, covering the drain electrode 108 and the source electrode 109. Polyimide or acrylic resin and so forth are used for the organic passivation film 110. The through hole 1101 is formed in the organic passivation film 110 to connect the source electrode 109 with the lower electrode 111. The lower electrode 111 has a two layer structure; the lower layer is a reflection electrode made of metal and the upper layer is an anode made of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide).
The bank 112 is formed covering the periphery of the lower electrode 111. The resin, as polyimide or acrylic resin and so forth, is formed all over the display area, then, holes 1121 are formed in the resin at the places corresponding to the lower electrodes 111. The bank 112 is formed between the holes 1121. The organic EL layer 113, as the light emitting layer, is formed in the hole 1121, then the upper electrode 114 is formed from transparent conductive film as ITO. The upper electrode 113 is formed all over the display area.
The protective film 115 is formed on the upper electrode 114 to protect the organic EL layer 113 from e.g. external moisture. The protective layer 115 is e.g. a laminated film of an inorganic film like SiN and an organic film of e.g. polyimide or acrylic resin.
The organic EL display devices explained in
The material for the polyimide containing polyamic acid is coated with e.g. slit coater on the mother glass substrate on which many organic EL display devices are to be formed. The material for the polyimide is e.g. SEMICOFINE SP-020 of Toray Industries Incorporation; specific ingredients are 85% of N-Methyl Pyrrolidone and 15% of Polyamic Acid. Among them, the polyamic acid is transformed to polyimide through imidization. The material is coated on the mother glass substrate so that the TFT substrate 100 of polyimide becomes approximately 10 microns after baking.
The organic EL display device is completed after the structure of
In
The first layer 12 may be referred to as the first adhesive layer in this specification. The first layer 12 has a large adhesive strength with both the lower layer of glass substrate 11 and the upper layer of second layer 13. As shown in
The adhesive strength between the first layer 12 and the glass substrate 11 and between the first layer 12 and the second layer 13 is stronger than the peel off strength between the second layer 13 and the organic E1 display device, and between the third layer 14 and the organic EL display device. In other words, the total adhesive strength between the organic EL display device and the second layer 13, and between the organic EL display device and the third layer 14 is smaller than an adhesive strength between the glass substrate 11 and the first layer 12, and between the first layer 12 and the second layer 13.
The second layer 13 is formed on the first layer 12 on all over the mother glass substrate 11. The second layer 13 is also referred to as a separation layer 13 in this specification. The second layer 13 has a strong adhesive strength with the first layer 12, which is a lower layer, however, it has a weak adhesive strength with the resin substrate 100, which is an upper layer; thus, the resin substrate 100 can be peeled off easily from the second layer 13. As shown in
The third layer 14 is formed on the second layer 13 in a shape of frame in a periphery corresponding to the individual organic EL display device. Firstly, the third layer 14 is formed on the second layer 13 all over the mother glass substrate 11; after that it is patterned by etching. The third layer 14 has a strong adhesive strength with both the second layer 13 and the polyimide substrate 100; however, the adhesive strength with the second layer 13 is stronger than the adhesive strength with the polyimide substrate 100. The purpose is to make the third layer 14 remain on the second layer 13 after peeling off of the organic EL display device.
As shown in
In
The polyimide substrate 100 is formed covering the second layer 13 and the third layer 14; the organic EL array layer 150 is formed on the polyimide substrate 100. Among them, the polyimide substrate 100 and the organic EL array layer 150 constitute the organic EL display device. The glass substrate 31, the first layer 12, the second layer 13 and the third layer 14 need to be removed from the polyimide substrate 100.
The feature of the present invention is that adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the mother substrate 10 or glass substrate 31 is mainly maintained by the third layer 14. The second layer 13, which contact in large area with the polyimide substrate 100, has weak adhesive strength with the polyimide substrate 100, therefore, the second layer 13 is easily peeled off from the polyimide substrate 100. For example, the edge of the second layer 13 tends to peel off at the edge of the glass substrate 21 after the individual organic EL display device is separated from the mother panel 20. However, such a peel off at the edge of the glass substrate 31 occurs after the individual organic EL display device is separated from the mother substrate 20 by e.g. dicing; and such a peel off does not occur during the manufacturing process.
In the present invention, the organic EL display device is peeled off manually from the glass substrate 31 utilizing the peel off portion at the edge of the substrate as shown in
In
The patterned third layer 14 is formed from AlO; the adhering strength between the AlO film 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 is strong. Therefore, the adhering strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the mother substrate 10 in the manufacturing process is mostly maintained by the third layer 14. On the other hand, the adhering strength between the AlO film 14 and the second layer 13 is strong. The adhesive strength between the AlO film 14 and the second layer 13, namely, the Cu film 13, is stronger than the adhesive strength between the A1O film 14 and the polyimide substrate 100; thus, adherence between the A1O film 14 and the Cu film 13 is maintained during the polyimide substrate 100 is being peeled off from the AlO film 14. Consequently, the polyimide substrate 100 is peeled off from the AlO film 14.
By the way, if the adhesive strength between the third layer 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 is too strong, they are difficult to be separated from each other. In contrast, if the adhesive strength between the third layer 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 is too weak, the third layer 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 are separated from each other during the manufacturing process. When the adhesive strength is evaluated by 90 degrees peel strength according to ASTM (American Society for Testing and Material) D1876-01, the adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the Cu film 13, which is the second layer 13, is 0.01 to 0.1 N/cm. On the other hand, the adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the AlO film 14, which is the third layer 14, is 2 to 4 N/cm, which is 40 to 200 times larger than the adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the Cu film 13.
Therefore, most of the adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the glass substrate 31 or the mother substrate 10 is maintained by adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the third layer 14. The merit of the present invention is that the adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the mother substrate 10 can be easily controlled by e.g. changing the width w of the third layer 14. The adhesive strength is proportional to the width w of the third layer 14, provided the pattern of the third layer 14 is fixed. If the width w of the third layer 14 can be changed from 0.1 to 5 mm, the adhesive strength can be controlled from 1 to 50 times.
Further, since the third layer 14 can be patterned by etching, the plan view of the third layer can be changed freely. Therefore, various shapes can be applicable to the third layer 14 considering the adhesive strength during the manufacturing process and peel off strength in the peel off process.
As described above, the first layer 12, the second layer 13 and the third layer 14 are not remained in the organic EL display device after the peel off. Since the influence of those layers is not visible to the human eyes, the commercial value is not deteriorated. In the microscopic view, however, a trance of the process remains on the bottom of the TFT substrate 100.
In addition, since the adhesive strength of the third layer 14 with the polyimide substrate 100 is much stronger than the adhesive strength of the second layer 13 with polyimide substrate 100, a rough surface 160 is remained on the polyimide substrate 100 in the place where the third layer 14 has existed due to strong peel off stress. In other words, the surface roughness of the back side of the polyimide substrate 100 where the third layer 14 has contacted is larger than the surface roughness of the back side of the polyimide substrate 100 where the second layer 13 has contacted.
The surface roughness is defined by JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard); the roughness can be compared by any one of parameters Ra, Rz, and Rms. The surface roughness can be measured with surface roughness tester as SURFCOM or with atomic force microscope (AFM).
The surface roughness tester, however, is difficult to measure a roughness of the 10 to 50 nm, which correspond to a thickness of the third layer 14. In addition, the surface roughness tester is difficult to measure when the rate of the roughness is small. In such a case, the surface roughness can be measured with scanning electron microscope (SEM) or transmission electron microscope (TEM).
The inner area than the frame portion shown by broken lines is the area where the second layer 13 has existed in the mother substrate 10. Since the second layer 13 and the polyimide substrate 100 have contacted each other in this area, the ingredient of the second layer 13 diffuses into the polyimide substrate 100, consequently, a trace of the precipitated material is remained in the substrate 100. For example, when Cu is used for the second layer 13, cupper atoms diffuse into the polyimide substrate 100, and connect with oxygen to precipitate Cupper oxide. This precipitate can be detected by transmission electron microscopy (TEM); it is also detectable by component analysis using electron beam or X ray.
The notation d in
Since a total thickness of the polyimide substrate 100 and the organic EL array layer 150 is 20 to 30 microns, the organic EL display device shown in
In the present invention, the adhesive strength between the third layer 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 can be flexibly determined not only by a width of the third layer 14 but also by a shape of a plan view of the third layer 14. The adhesive strength between the third layer 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 must take a balance between the adhesive strength required in the manufacturing process and easiness of peel off in the peel off process. The present invention can control the adhesive strength between the third layer 14 and the polyimide substrate 100 by changing the shape of a plan view of the third layer 14, thus, can provide a great flexibility in designing the organic EL display device.
In
By the way, the gap g1 becomes an abnormal point; however, a thickness of the third layer 14 is 10 to 50 nm, and a thickness of the polyimide substrate 100 is 10 to 20 microns, therefore, this abnormal point does not raise a problem. It is the same in the cases of
In
The third layer 14 remains on the glass substrate 39, however it does not remain on the polyimide substrate 100 after the peeling off of the polyimide substrate 100 from the glass substrate 31. Even some traces of third layer 14 can be found by microscopic view or by some analysis, the trace is not visible for human eyes. Therefore, the third layer 14 can be formed in the display area. The adhesive strength between the polyimide substrate 100 and the glass substrate 31 can be more easily controlled by forming the third layer 14 in the display area.
A shape of the third layer 14 is not limited by
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2019-027234 | Feb 2019 | JP | national |
The present application is a continuation application of International Application No. PCT/JP2020/005979, filed on Feb. 17, 2020, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-027234, filed on Feb. 19, 2019. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/JP2020/005979 | Feb 2020 | US |
Child | 17391518 | US |