The present invention generally relates to the display technology and, more particularly, to a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof.
Flat-panel displays (FPDs) such as the liquid crystal display (LCD) and the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display have gradually replaced the cathode-ray tube (CRT) display. Among them, the OLED display has many advantages such as self-luminescence, low driving voltage, high luminescent efficiency, short response time, high definition and contrast, near 180° viewing angle, wide temperature range, the feasibility of flexible and large-area full-color display, and has thus become the most promising display device.
An OLED display panel is an important part of an OLED display. As shown in
The display principle of an OLED display is that, under a certain driving voltage, electrons and holes are injected to the electron transport layer and the hole transport layer from the cathode and the anode, respectively, and then migrate through the electron transport layer and the hole transport layer to recombine in the organic emitting layer and form excitons, which are decayed to emit visible light through radiation relaxation, as shown in
The OLED display is a current-controlled light-emitting device, and the current intensity directly affects the light intensity. Therefore, the electrical requirements for thin-film transistors are crucial. According to the research by scholars, the resistance often originates from the contact resistance at the electrodes and from the contact resistance between metal and semiconductor. The conventional contact methods and materials are as follows: the semiconductor layer (P—Si) is in contact with the source/drain electrode (Ti/Al/Ti) as a metal-semiconductor contact with a large resistance, and the anode (ITO/Ag/ITO) and the source/drain electrode (Ti/Al/Ti) contact requires a metal annealing process with a corresponding contact resistance. In addition, the indium-tin oxide (ITO) film layer above the anode amorphous, which causes problems of low light transmittance and large electric resistance. Moreover, photons and electric energy in the ITO film layer are converted into heat energy. The lifetime of the organic emitting layer in the OLED display is short, and the life expectancy of the OLED display is drastically reduced in high temperature environments.
In view of this, there is a need to improve the existing OLED display panel to overcome the foregoing problems.
It is one object of the present invention to provide a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof, which form a film by integrating an anode and a drain electrode to reduce the contact resistance between the anode and the drain electrode, thereby leaving out metal annealing. Moreover, the anode is made of zinc oxide, which is superior to ITO in resistance and light transmittance and is easy to be subsequently etched, thereby reducing the turn-on resistance of the display panel and increasing light reflection by the anode.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a display panel is provided, which includes: an array substrate provided with a plurality of thin-film transistors disposed therein; a planarization layer disposed on the array substrate; and a composite electrode disposed on the planarization layer and in contact with a semiconductor layer of each of the thin-film transistors through a via, wherein: the via includes a through hole penetrating the planarization layer and a drain hole communicating with the through hole, and the through hole and the drain hole are integrally formed; a portion of the composite electrode in contact with the semiconductor layer is made of a semiconductor material; and a metal layer and a superposed layer are stackedly disposed on the portion of the composite electrode in contact with the semiconductor layer, the superposed layer is made of zinc oxide and the metal layer is made of silver.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a display panel is provided, which includes: an array substrate provided with a plurality of thin-film transistors disposed therein; a planarization layer disposed on the array substrate; and a composite electrode disposed on the planarization layer and in contact with a semiconductor layer of each of the thin-film transistors through a via, wherein the via includes a through hole penetrating the planarization layer and a drain hole communicating with the through hole, and the through hole and the drain hole are integrally formed.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the composite electrode in contact with the semiconductor layer is made of a semiconductor material.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a metal layer and a superposed layer are stackedly disposed on a portion of the composite electrode in contact with the semiconductor layer.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the superposed layer is made of zinc oxide.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer is made of silver.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the present invention provides a manufacturing method of the display panel described above. The method includes the following steps: providing the array substrate with the plurality of thin-film transistors disposed therein; providing the planarization layer by coating on the thin-film transistors, and patterning the planarization layer to obtain the via including the through hole penetrating the planarization layer and the drain hole communicating with the through hole, the through hole and the drain hole being integrally formed; and forming the composite electrode on the planarization layer and in contact with the semiconductor layer of each of the thin-film transistors through the via.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a portion of the composite electrode in contact with the semiconductor layer is made of a semiconductor material.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a metal layer and a superposed layer are stackedly disposed on a portion of the composite electrode in contact with the semiconductor layer.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the superposed layer is made of zinc oxide.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the metal layer is made of silver.
One advantage of the present invention is that, in the OLED display panel of the present invention, the contact resistance between the anode and the drain electrode is reduced by forming the anode and the drain electrode into one, thereby skipping the metal annealing process. Moreover, a film layer formed of boron-doped zinc oxide is provided below the anode film layer to avoid a metal-semiconductor contact between the anode and the semiconductor layer. Above the anode film layer is provided a transparent polycrystalline zinc oxide film layer doped with porous boron, which has the characteristics of easy etching, high transmittance, low electrical resistance, and strong ability of upward hole transportation, thereby reducing the turn-on resistance of the display panel and increasing light reflection by the anode.
In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments or the prior art description will be briefly described below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some implementations of the present invention. For example, other drawings may be obtained, without creative efforts, by those of ordinary skill in the art in light of the inventive work.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described in the following. It is apparent that the described embodiments are only a part, rather than all, of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments of the present application, any other embodiments obtained by a person skilled in the art without creative efforts still fall within the scope of the present application.
In the specification, the claims and the drawings of the present invention, the terms “first”, “second”, “third” and the like (if any) are used to distinguish similar objects, and not necessarily to describe a specific sequence or order. It should be understood that the objects as described are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances. Furthermore, the terms “including” and “having” as well as any of their deformations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.
In this patent document, the drawings discussed below and the embodiments used to describe the principles of the disclosure of the present invention are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present invention may be implemented in any suitably arranged system. Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Furthermore, a terminal according to the exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to like elements.
The term used in this specification are used merely to describe particular embodiments, and is not intended to show the concept of the present invention. Unless the context clearly dictates, otherwise the expressions used in singular forms encompass the plural expressions. In this patent specification, it should be understood that the terms such as “including”, “having”, “comprising” and the like are intended to specify the disclosed features, numbers, steps, actions, or possible combinations thereof existing in the specification, and are not intended to exclude the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, actions, or combinations thereof. Like reference numerals in the drawings refer to like parts.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a display panel and a manufacturing method thereof, as will be respectively described in details below.
Referring to
More particularly, the structure of the thin-film transistors in the array substrate 300 is not limited, and may be a single-gate type, a double-gate type, a top-gate type, a bottom-gate type, etc. Taking the double-gate structure described in
The composite electrode 319 integrates the anode and the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor (with reference to numeral 22 in
The first composite electrode layer 319A is made of a semiconductor material, so that the metal-semiconductor contact between the anode and the semiconductor layer 304 can be avoided. In the present embodiment, the first composite electrode layer 319A is made of zinc oxide. In other embodiments, the first composite electrode layer 319A is made of a semiconductor material such as silicon, germanium or a combination thereof. Preferably, in order to enhance the conductivity of the first composite electrode layer 319A, the first composite electrode layer 319A may be made of a zinc oxide film layer doped with boron or phosphorus in the present embodiment. In this way, the first composite electrode layer 319A directly contacts the semiconductor layer 304 through the doped zinc oxide, significantly reducing the electrical resistance.
The metal layer (i.e., the second composite electrode layer 319B) is made of metal, preferably silver in the present embodiment due to its excellent light reflecting performance.
The superposed layer (i.e., the third composite electrode layer 319C) is made of zinc oxide. If the third composite electrode layer 319C is made of indium-tin oxide (ITO), the film layer is amorphous to facilitate the subsequent etching process. However, the density of an amorphous film layer is relatively low, the resistivity is relatively high, and the light transmittance is poor. If the film layer is polycrystalline, it cannot be etched. Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the third composite electrode layer 319C is made of zinc oxide that has advantages such as high density, low resistivity, and high light transmittance and can be used as a polycrystalline film layer. Preferably, the third composite electrode layer 319C may be zinc oxide doped with porous boron. In this way, it is possible to provide a hole injection layer with stronger hole capability above the anode. In addition, zinc oxide is very capable of blocking metal diffusion from silver, aluminum, etc.
In addition, since the anode and the drain electrode are integrally formed as one single film and the portion of the composite electrode 319 in contact with the semiconductor layer 304 of the thin-film transistors is made of zinc oxide doped with boron or phosphorus, the turn-on resistance of the display panel can be significantly reduced to reduce energy consumption.
Referring to
The present invention provides a manufacturing method of the display panel described above. The method includes the following steps.
Referring to
More particularly, the structure of the thin-film transistors in the array substrate 300 is not limited, and may be a single-gate type, a double-gate type, a top-gate type, a bottom-gate type, etc. Taking the double-gate structure described in
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
The array substrate 300 is coated with polyimide to form the planarization layer 317, and the planarization layer 317 is patterned by exposure to form a through hole 318 penetrating the planarization layer 317 and communicating with the drain hole 311 obtain the through hole 330 formed by the via 318 and the drain hole 311.
Referring to
More particularly, the composite electrode 319 integrates the anode and the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor in one. Therefore, the contact resistance between the anode and the drain electrode can be avoided, thereby skipping the metal annealing process. The composite electrode 319 includes a portion (or referred to as a first composite electrode layer 319A) in contact with the semiconductor layer 304 of the thin-film transistors, a metal layer (or referred to as a second composite electrode layer 319B) and a superposed layer (or referred to as a third composite electrode layer 319C) stackedly disposed on the first composite electrode layer 319A, as shown in
The first composite electrode layer 319A is made of a semiconductor material, so that the metal-semiconductor contact between the anode and the semiconductor layer 304 can be avoided. In the present embodiment, the first composite electrode layer 319A is made of zinc oxide. In other embodiments, the first composite electrode layer 319A is made of a semiconductor material such as silicon, germanium or a combination thereof. Preferably, in order to enhance the conductivity of the first composite electrode layer 319A, the first composite electrode layer 319A may be made of a zinc oxide film layer doped with boron or phosphorus in the present embodiment. In this way, the first composite electrode layer 319A directly contacts the semiconductor layer 304 through the doped zinc oxide, significantly reducing the electrical resistance.
The metal layer (i.e., the second composite electrode layer 319B) is made of metal, preferably silver in the present embodiment due to its excellent light reflecting performance.
The superposed layer (i.e., the third composite electrode layer 319C) is made of zinc oxide. If the third composite electrode layer 319C is made of indium-tin oxide (ITO), the film layer is amorphous to facilitate the subsequent etching process. However, the density of an amorphous film layer is relatively low, the resistivity is relatively high, and the light transmittance is poor. If the film layer is polycrystalline, it cannot be etched. Therefore, in one embodiment of the present invention, the third composite electrode layer 319C is made of zinc oxide that has advantages such as high density, low resistivity, and high light transmittance and can be used as a polycrystalline film layer. Preferably, the third composite electrode layer 319C may be zinc oxide doped with porous boron. In this way, it is possible to provide a hole injection layer with stronger hole capability above the anode. In addition, zinc oxide is very capable of blocking metal diffusion from silver, aluminum, etc.
Since the anode and the drain electrode are integrally formed as one single film and the portion of the composite electrode 319 in contact with the semiconductor layer 304 of the thin-film transistors is made of zinc oxide doped with boron or phosphorus, the turn-on resistance of the display panel can be significantly reduced to reduce energy consumption. In the subsequent steps, the process can be simplified by skipping the metal annealing process for the purpose of reducing the contact resistance between the anode and the drain electrode of the thin-film transistor.
The method further includes Step S540 as shown in
One advantage of the present invention is that, in the OLED display panel of the present invention, the contact resistance between the anode and the drain electrode is reduced by forming the anode and the drain electrode into one, thereby skipping the metal annealing process. Moreover, a film layer formed of boron-doped zinc oxide is provided below the anode film layer to avoid the metal-semiconductor contact between the anode and the semiconductor layer 304. Above the anode film layer is provided a transparent polycrystalline zinc oxide film layer doped with porous boron, which has the characteristics of easy etching, high transmittance, low electrical resistance, and strong ability of upward hole transportation, thereby reducing the turn-on resistance of the display panel and increasing light reflection by the anode.
The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that those skilled in the art can make several improvements and modifications without departing from the principles of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be considered to fall within the scope of the present invention.
The subject matter of the present application can be manufactured and used in the industry with industrial applicability.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201811536561.8 | Dec 2018 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2019/082453 | 4/12/2019 | WO | 00 |