This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 101107973, filed Mar. 8, 2012, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to a display device and method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a display device having pixel define units and method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
The light emitting mechanism of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) displayer is electroluminescent mechanism. Because the OLED displayer has lots of advantages such as wide viewing angle, short response time, high luminescence efficiency, low operating voltage, thin panel thickness, can be produced by simple manufacturing process and can be manufactured into large scale panel as well as flexible panel, OLED displayer has developed to be one of the mainstream displayers in market.
OLED displayer has a three-layer structure which includes a cathode electrode, an anode electrode and an organic material sandwiched between the cathode electrode and the anode electrode. When an electric field being applied to the cathode and the anode electrodes, electrons and electron holes flow into the organic materials respectively and incorporate with each other to form excitons. The exciton-forming process will radiate light during energy releasing procedure.
However, the mismatch of refractive index between the organic material layer and the two side layers adjacent to the organic material layer trend to induce waveguide effect. Therefore, some of the light generated by the organic material would be totally reflected at the boundaries between the organic material layer as well as the two side layers and incapable to emit light to outside, thereby reducing the luminous efficiency.
The invention is directed to a display device having a plurality of pixel define units. By utilizing the specific first electrode layer of the pixel define units, light totally reflected in the emission layer and incapable to emit to outside can be reflected. Besides, the specific structure of the first electrode layer can be used to improve the contact area between the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer to improve the luminous efficiency.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a display device comprising a first substrate, a second substrate opposite to the first substrate, a plurality of light emitting pixel units and a plurality of pixel define units disposed between the first substrate and the second substrate is disclosed. Each of the pixel define units comprises patterned pixel define sections, a first electrode layer, a emission layer and a second electrode layer. The patterned pixel define section has a first lateral surface and a second lateral surface opposite to the first lateral surface. The first electrode layer comprises a first sub-electrode and a second sub-electrode, the first sub-electrode is disposed on the first lateral surface and the second sub-electrode is disposed on the second lateral surface. The first sub-electrode and the second sub-electrode are spaced apart. The emission layer is disposed on the first electrode layer. The second electrode layer is disposed on the emission layer.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a display device is disclosed. The method comprises following steps. A first substrate is provided. A plurality of patterned pixel define sections are formed on the first substrate. A first electrode layer is formed on the substrate and the patterned pixel define section. The first electrode layer comprises a first sub-electrode and a second sub-electrode. The first sub-electrode and the second sub-electrodes are spaced apart from each other. A emission layer is form on the first electrode layer. A second electrode layer is formed on the emission layer. A second substrate is provided and the second substrate is opposite to the first substrate.
The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiment(s). The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in
As shown in
In this embodiment, the display device 1 comprises light emitting pixel unit 12 and pixel define units 14. In this embodiment, the display device 1 is for example an OLED display device, the light emitting pixel unit 12 is for example an OLED pixel unit, the pixel define units 14 are for example OLED pixel define units. The pixel define units 14 comprise patterned pixel define sections 102′, the first electrode layer 104′, the insulating layer 106′, the emission layer 108 and the second electrode layer 110. The first electrode layer 104′ is for example a reflect electrode layer, the second electrode layer is for example a transparent electrode layer. The insulating layer 106′ covers the patterned pixel define sections 102′ exposed by the spacing W11 and parts of the first electrode layer 104′. The insulating layer 106′ is used for electrical insulating the first electrode layer 104′ and the second electrode layer 110. In particular, as long as the electrical insulation between the first electrode layer 104′ and the second electrode layer 110 can be achieved, there is no limitation to the shape of the insulating layer 106′. Besides, the height h11 of the insulating layer 106′ is preferably larger than or equal to the height h12 of the first electrode layer 104′.
In this embodiment, by disposing the first electrode layer 104′ on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 102′, problems of total reflection of light caused by a refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 108 and the electrode adjacent to the emission layer 108 can be solved. Therefore, the light L transmitted inside the emission layer 108 can be guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency can be improved. In addition, the less the insulating layer 106′ covers the first electrode layer 104′, the larger the contact area between the first electrode layer 104′ and the emission layer 108 on the patterned pixel define section 102′. Therefore, the light emission area of the display device 1 can be improved.
In this embodiment, the first substrate 10 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 10 can be transparent or non-transparent substrate. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 16.
In particular, the insulating layer 206 in this embodiment covers at least the patterned pixel define section 202 exposed from the spacing w21. Besides, the height h21 of the insulating layer 206 is preferably larger than or equal to the height h22 of the first electrode layer 204.
By disposing the first electrode layer 204 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 202, problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 208 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 208 can be solved. Therefore, the light L transmitted inside the emission layer 208 is guided to the outside and the luminous efficiency can be improved. Moreover, since the insulating layer 206 covers merely the patterned pixel define section 202 exposed from the spacing w21, contact areas between the first electrode layer 204 and emission layer 208 on the patterned pixel define sections 202 can be increased and light emitting area of the display device 2A can also be increased.
In this embodiment, the first substrate 20 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 20 can be transparent or non-transparent substrate. The color filter, such as RGB color filter or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 26.
In
In this embodiment, the first substrate 20′ can be a glass substrate or a flexible substrate. The first substrate 20′ can be transparent or non-transparent. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 26.
As shown in
By disposing the first electrode layer 304 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define section 302, problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 308 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 308 can be solved. Therefore, the light L transmitted inside the emission layer 308 is guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency can be improved. Moreover, since the insulating layer 306 merely covers the patterned pixel define section 302 exposed from the spacing w21, contact areas between the first electrode layer 304 and emission layer 308 on the patterned pixel define section 302 can be increased and the light emitting area of the display device 3 can also be increased.
In this embodiment, the first substrate 30 can be a glass substrate or a flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 30 can be transparent or non-transparent. The color filter, such as RGB color filter or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 36.
The pixel define units 44 in
In this embodiment, the first electrode layer 404 comprises a first sub-electrode 404a and a second sub-electrode 404b, a minimum distance between the first sub-electrode 404a and the second sub-electrode 404b is the spacing w41. The spacing w41 is smaller than a width w42 (maximum width of the patterned pixel define section 402). A height of the insulating layer 406 in the spacing w41 is height h41. Preferably, the height h41 is larger than or equal to a height h42 of the first electrode layer 404. A cross section of one of the patterned pixel define sections 402 is a trapezoid shape with a base angle θ2. A range of the base angle θ2 can be equal to the base angle θ1 in
In this embodiment, the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 408 and electrodes adjacent to the emission layer 408 can be solved by disposing the first electrode layer 404 on opposite side surfaces of the patterned pixel define section 402, so as to guide the light L transmitting in the emission layer 408 to the outside. Therefore, the luminous efficiency can be increased. In addition, the less area the insulating layer 406 covers the first electrode layer 404, the more contact area between the first electrode layer 404 and the emission layer 408 on the patterned pixel define sections 402. Therefore, the luminous area of the display device 4 can be increased.
In this embodiment, the first substrate 40 can be a glass substrate or a flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 40 can be transparent or non-transparent. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 46.
In
In this embodiment, a cross section of the patterned pixel define section 502 is trapezoid shaped and has a base angle θ3. A range of the base angle θ3 is the same as that of the base angle θ1 in
In this embodiment, the first substrate 50 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 50 can be transparent or non-transparent substrate. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 56.
As shown in
By disposing the first electrode layer 604 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define section 602, problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 608 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 608 can be solved. Therefore, the light L transmitted inside the emission layer 608 is guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency can be improved. Moreover, since the insulating layer 606 covers merely the patterned pixel define sections 602 exposed from the spacing w61, contact areas between the first electrode layer 604 and emission layer 608 on the patterned pixel define section 602 can be increased and the light emitting area of the display device 6 can also be increased.
In this embodiment, the first substrate 60 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 60 can be transparent or non-transparent substrate. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 66.
The pixel define units 74 in
In this embodiment, the triangle shaped patterned pixel define section 702 has a base angle θ5. A range of the base angle θ5 is the same as the base angle θ4 in
In this embodiment, by disposing the first electrode layer 704 on the opposite surfaces of the patterned pixel define sections 702, problems of the total reflection of light caused by the refractive index mismatch between the emission layer 708 and the electrode layers adjacent to the emission layer 708 can be improved. Therefore, the light L transmitted inside the emission layer 708 is guided to the outside and the luminous efficiency can be improved. Moreover, since the insulating layer 706 covers merely the patterned pixel define sections 702 exposed from the spacing w71, contact areas between the first electrode layer 704 and emission layer 708 on the patterned pixel define sections 702 can be increased and the light emitting area of the display device 7 can also be increased.
In this embodiment, the first substrate 70 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 70 can be transparent or non-transparent substrate. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 76.
In
In this embodiment, the triangle shaped patterned pixel define section 802 has a base angle θ6. A range of base angle θ6 can be the same as the range of the base angle θ4 in
In this embodiment, the first substrate 80 can be glass substrate or flexible substrate. Besides, the first substrate 80 can be transparent or non-transparent substrate. A color filter, such as a RGB or RGBW color filter can be disposed on the second substrate 86.
Based on the above, a display device according to the embodiments described above can be manufactured by uncomplicated manufacturing processes. By disposing an electrode layer on opposite side surfaces of patterned pixel define sections of the display device, the total reflection of light caused by a refractive index mismatch between the emission layer and the electrode adjacent to the emission layer can be destroyed. Therefore, the light transmitted inside the emission layer can be guided to the outside so that the luminous efficiency of the display device can be improved.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiment(s), it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101107973 | Mar 2012 | TW | national |