The present disclosure relates generally to polysiloxane formulations and coatings made from those compositions, and more particularly to polysiloxane formulations and coatings for use in optoelectronic devices and applications.
Polysiloxane coatings for electronic, optoelectronic, and display devices are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,901,268, entitled, COMPOSITIONS, LAYERS AND FILMS FOR OPTOELECTRONIC DEVICES, METHODS OF PRODUCTION AND USES THEREOF, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
In a typical polysiloxane coating, the coating is formed from a hydrolysis and condensation reaction of silicon-based compounds, such as siloxane monomers or oligomers, often with the use of a condensation catalyst. Typical thick film dielectrics used for displays suffer from history-dependent shrinkage. That is, when the films undergo multiple thermal cycles, the material lacks dimensional stability and can undergo structural change adversely affecting the material in its application. This is particularly relevant in large area manufacturing in which the material has to maintain dimensional stability across the area during process thermal cycles.
Improvements in the foregoing are desired.
The present disclosure provides polysiloxane formulations including one or more solvents and one or more silicon-based compounds. The present disclosure further provides coatings formed from such formulations.
In one exemplary embodiment, a composition is provided. The composition includes a solvent, a catalyst, a polysiloxane including methyl and phenyl pendant groups, and a crosslinker comprising at least one of a phenylene disilyl group and para-disilyl phenylene group. In a more particular embodiment, the crosslinker is selected from the group consisting of 1,4 bistriethoxysilyl benzene and 1,3 bistriethoxysilyl benzene, 2,6-bis(triethoxysilyl)-naphthalene, 9,10-bis(triethoxysilyl)-anthracene, and 1,6-bis(trimethoxysilyl)-pyrene.
In a more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, a ratio of phenyl pendant groups to methyl pendant groups is from greater than 1:1 to less than 10:1. In another more particular embodiment, the ratio of phenyl pendant groups to methyl pendant groups is from 2:1 to 4:1. In another more particular embodiment, the ratio of phenyl pendant groups to methyl pendant groups of the composition between 1:1 and 3:1. In another more particular embodiment, the ratio of phenyl pendant groups to methyl pendant groups of the composition is 2:1 or greater. In another more particular embodiment, the ratio of phenyl pendant groups to methyl pendant groups of the composition is 3:1 or greater.
In one more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the composition comprises from about 0.15 wt. % to about 75 wt. % of the crosslinker, based on a total weight of the composition.
In a more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the catalyst is a heat-activated catalyst. In another more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the composition further comprises at least one of a surfactant or an adhesion promoter.
In a more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the composition is a crosslinkable composition.
In one exemplary embodiment, a crosslinked film is provided. The crosslinked film is formed from a composition according to any of the above embodiments. In a more particular embodiment, the crosslinker forms bonds between silicon groups of the polysiloxane.
In one exemplary embodiment, a device having a surface is provided. The surface includes a crosslinked film according to any of the above embodiments, or includes a crosslinked film formed from any of the above embodiments. In a more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the device is selected from the group consisting of a transistor, a light-emitting diode, a color filter, a photovoltaic cell, a flat-panel display, a curved display, a touch-screen display, an x-ray detector, an active or passive matrix OLED display, an active matrix think film liquid crystal display, an electrophoretic display, a CMOS image sensor, and combinations thereof. In a more particular embodiment of any of the above embodiments, the crosslinked film forms a passivation layer, a planarization layer, a barrier layer, or a combination thereof.
In one exemplary embodiment, a method of forming a coating on a substrate is provided. The method includes providing a composition according to any of the above embodiments and depositing the composition on the substrate.
While multiple embodiments are disclosed, still other embodiments of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which shows and describes illustrative embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and detailed description are to be regarded as illustrative in nature and not restrictive.
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. The exemplifications set out herein are provided to illustrate certain exemplary embodiments and such exemplifications are not to be construed as limiting the scope in any manner.
I. Polysiloxane Formulation
In one exemplary embodiment, the polysiloxane formulation includes one or more solvents and one or more silicon-based compounds. In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation further includes one or more catalysts. In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation further includes one or more surfactants. In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation further includes one or more additional additives, such as adhesion promoters, plasticizers, organic acids, and monofunctional silanes.
a. Solvent
The formulation includes one or more solvents. Exemplary solvents include suitable pure organic molecules or mixtures thereof that are volatilized at a desired temperature and/or easily solvate the components discussed herein. The solvents may also comprise suitable pure polar and non-polar compounds or mixtures thereof. As used herein, the term “pure” means a component that has a constant composition. For example, pure water is composed solely of H2O. As used herein, the term “mixture” means a component that is not pure, including salt water. As used herein, the term “polar” means that characteristic of a molecule or compound that creates an unequal charge, partial charge or spontaneous charge distribution at one point of or along the molecule or compound. As used herein, the term “non-polar” means that characteristic of a molecule or compound that creates an equal charge, partial charge or spontaneous charge distribution at one point of or along the molecule or compound.
Exemplary solvents include solvents that can, alone or in combination, modify the viscosity, intermolecular forces and surface energy of the solution in order to, in some cases, improve the gap-filling and planarization properties of the composition. It should be understood, however, that suitable solvents may also include solvents that influence the profile of the composition in other ways, such as by influencing the crosslinking efficiency, influencing the thermal stability, influencing the viscosity, and/or influencing the adhesion of the resulting layer or film to other layers, substrates or surfaces.
Exemplary solvents also include solvents that are not part of the hydrocarbon solvent family of compounds, such as ketones, including acetone, diethyl ketone, methyl ethyl ketone and the like, alcohols, esters, ethers and amines. Additional exemplary solvents include ethyl lactate, propylene glycol propylether (PGPE), propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate (PGMEA) or a combination thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, the solvent comprises propylene glycol monomethyl ether acetate.
In one exemplary embodiment, formulation comprises as little as 20 wt. %, 30 wt. %, 40 wt. %, 50 wt. %, 55 wt. %, 60 wt. %, as great as 80 wt. %, 85 wt. %, 90 wt. %, or 99 wt. % of the one or more solvents, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 50 wt. % to 99 wt. %, 55 wt. % to 90 wt. %, or 65 wt. % to 85 wt. %. The determination of the appropriate amount of solvent to add to composition depends on a number of factors, including: a) thicknesses of the desired layers or films, b) desired concentration and molecular weight of the solids in the composition, c) application technique of the composition and/or d) spin speeds, when spin-coating techniques are utilized. In addition, the higher the solid concentration (or the resin or polymer) is in the formulation, the higher the viscosity. Hence, the solid content may be increased (or the solvent amount reduced) to increase the viscosity as desired for a specific coating application technique. In addition, the viscous formulation or formulation with higher solid content will typically provide a thicker film thickness such as greater than 2 μm.
The solvents used herein may comprise any suitable impurity level. In some embodiments, the solvents utilized have a relatively low level of impurities, such as less than about 1 ppm, less than about 100 ppb, less than about 10 ppb, less than about 1 ppb, less than about 100 ppt, less than about 10 ppt and in some cases, less than about 1 ppt. These solvents may be purchased having impurity levels that are appropriate for use in these contemplated applications or may need to be further purified to remove additional impurities and to reach the less than about 10 ppb, less than about 1 ppb, less than about 100 ppt or lower levels that suitable and/or desired.
b. Silicon-Based Compounds
The formulation includes one or more silicon-based compounds that can be crosslinked to form the polysiloxane. Exemplary silicon-based compounds comprise siloxane, silsesquioxane, polysiloxane, or polysilsesquioxane, such as methylsiloxane, methylsilsesquioxane, phenylsiloxane, phenylsilsesquioxane, methylphenylsiloxane, methylphenylsilsesquioxane, dimethylsiloxane, diphenylsiloxane, methylphenylsiloxane, polyphenylsilsesquioxane, polyphenylsiloxane, polymethylphenylsiloxane, polymethylphenylsilsesquioxane, polymethylsiloxane, polymethylsilsesquioxane, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the at least one silicon-based compound comprises polyphenylsilsesquioxane, polyphenylsiloxane, phenylsiloxane, phenyl silsesquioxane, methylphenylsiloxane, methylphenylsilsesquioxane, polymethylphenylsiloxane, polymethylphenylsilsesquioxane, polymethylsiloxane, polymethylsilsesquioxane or a combination thereof.
The silicon-based compound includes organic substituents, such as alkyl and aryl groups. Exemplary alkyl groups include methyl and ethyl. Exemplary aryl groups include phenyl. In some embodiments, a ratio of aryl groups to alkyl groups in the silicon-based compound is as little as greater than 1:1, 1.5:1, 2:1, as great as 3:1, 4:1, 5:1, 6:1, 7:1, 8:1, 9:1, 10:1, less than 10:1, or between any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as from greater than 1:1 to less than 5:1, from 2:1 to 4:1, or 2.5:1 to less than 5:1.
Without wishing to be held to any particular theory, it is believed that increasing the ratio of aryl groups to alkyl groups increases the organic to organic group cohesion resulting in a polysiloxane that is less flexible.
Some contemplated silicon-based compounds include compositions formed from hydrolysis-condensation reactions of at least one reactant having the formula:
R1xSi(OR2)y
where R1 is an alkyl, alkenyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, and x is an integer between 0 and 2, and where R2 is a alkyl group or acyl group and y is an integer between 1 and 4. Materials also contemplated include silsesquioxane polymers of the general formula: (C6H5SiO1.5)x where x is an integer greater than about 4.
In some exemplary embodiments, the silicon-based compound includes one or more polysiloxane resins, such as the Glass Resin polysiloxane resins available from Techneglas Technical Products, Perrysburg, Ohio. In one exemplary embodiment, polysiloxane resins are silicon-based oligomers formed from a limited hydrolysis and condensation reaction of one or more silicon-based monomers. Exemplary suitable silicon-based monomers include organoalkoxysilanes having a Si—C bond, such as methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMOS), methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS), dimethyldiethoxysilane (DMDEOS), phenyl triethoxysilane (PTEOS), dimethyldimethoxysilane and phenyltrimethoxysilane. Other suitable silicon-based monomers lack an Si—C bond, such as tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS). Exemplary resin materials include glass resins derived from organoalkoxysilanes such as methylsiloxane, dimethylsiloxane, phenylsiloxane, methylphenylsiloxane, tetraethoxysilane, and mixtures thereof.
In one exemplary embodiment, the polysiloxane resins have a structure selected from the group consisting of a linear structure, a cyclic structure, a cage-type structure, a ladder-type structure, and a partial-ladder/partial-cage type structure. In a more particular embodiment, the polysiloxane resins have a partial-ladder/partial-cage type structure.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane resins include one or more alkyl groups and/or one or more aryl groups. Exemplary polysiloxane resins containing alkyl groups include methylsiloxane and dimethylsiloxane. Exemplary polysiloxane resins containing aryl groups include phenylsiloxane. Exemplary polysiloxane resins containing both alkyl and aryl groups include methylphenylsiloxane.
In one exemplary embodiment, each polysiloxane resin has a weight average molecular weight as little as 900 atomic mass unit (AMU), 950 AMU, 1000 AMU, 1100 AMU, 1150 AMU, as great as 2000 AMU, 3000 AMU, 4000 AMU, 5000 AMU, 10,000 AMU , or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 900 AMU to 10,000 AMU, 1000 AMU to 10,000 AMU, or 900 AMU to 5000 AMU. In a more particular embodiment, the polysiloxane resin include a first polysiloxane resin containing alkyl groups such as methylsiloxane and/or dimethylsiloxane and a second polysiloxane resin containing aryl groups such as phenylsiloxane. In one embodiment, the first polysiloxane resin further contains aryl groups such as phenylsiloxane. In an even more particular embodiment, the first polysiloxane resin has a weight average molecular weight as little as 1000 atomic mass unit (AMU), 2000 AMU, 2200 AMU, 3000 AMU, 3800 AMU, 4000 AMU, as great as 4500 AMU, 4800 AMU, 5000 AMU, 7500 AMU, 10,000 AMU or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 1000 AMU to 10,000 AMU, 2000 AMU to 5000 AMU, or 3800 AMU to 4800 AMU and the second polysiloxane resin has a weight average molecular weight as little as 900 atomic mass unit (AMU), 950 AMU, 1000 AMU, as great as 1150 AMU, 2000 AMU, 2500 AMU, 5000 AMU or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 900 AMU to 5000 AMU, 900 AMU to 2000 AMU, or 950 AMU to 1150 AMU.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 1 wt. %, 2 wt. %, 5 wt. %, 10 wt. %, 15 wt. %, 20 wt. %, 25 wt. %, 30 wt. %, 40 wt. %, as great as 50 wt. %, 60 wt. %, 70 wt. %, 75 wt. %, or 80 wt. % of the one or more silicon-based compounds, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 01 wt. % to 80 wt. %, 5 wt. % to 50 wt. %, or 20 wt. % to 35 wt. %.
c. Catalysts
In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation includes one or more catalysts. In some embodiments, the catalyst is a heat-activated catalyst. A heat-activated catalyst, as used herein, refers to a catalyst that is activated at or above a particular temperature, such as an elevated temperature. For example, at one temperature (such as room temperature) the composition maintains a low molecular weight, thus enabling good planarization ability over a surface. When the temperature is elevated (such as to greater than 50° C.), the heat-activated catalyst catalyzes a condensation reaction between two Si—OH functional groups, which results in a more dense structure and, in some cases, improved performance overall. Suitable condensation catalysts comprise those catalysts that can aid in maintaining a stable silicate solution. Exemplary metal-ion-free catalysts may comprise onium compounds and nucleophiles, such as an ammonium compound (such as quaternary ammonium salts), an amine, a phosphonium compound or a phosphine compound.
In some embodiments, the catalyst is relatively molecularly “small” or is a catalyst that produces relatively small cations, such as quaternary ammonium salts. In some embodiments, the one or more catalysts is selected from tetramethylammonium acetate (TMAA), tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH), tetrabutylammonium acetate (TBAA), cetyltrimethylammonium acetate (CTAA), tetramethylammonium nitrate (TMAN), other ammonium-based catalysts, amine-based and/or amine-generating catalysts, and combinations thereof. Other exemplary catalysts include (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium chloride, (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium hydroxide, (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium acetate, (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium formate, (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium nitrate, (2-hydroxyethyl)trimethylammonium benzoate, tetramethylammonium formate and combinations thereof. Other exemplary catalysts include (carboxymethyl)trimethylammonium chloride, (carboxymethyl)trimethylammonium hydroxide, (carboxymethyl)trimethyl-ammonium formate and (carboxymethyl)trimethylammonium acetate.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 0.001 wt. %, 0.004 wt. %, 0.01 wt. %, 0. 1 wt. %, 0.3 wt. %, as great as 0.5 wt. %, 1 wt. %, 2 wt. %, 5 wt. %, or 10 wt. % of the one or more catalysts, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 0.1 wt. % to 10 wt. % or 1 wt. % to 2 wt. %.
In some exemplary embodiments, the one or more catalysts comprise TMAN. TMAN may be provided by either dissolving TMAN in water or in an organic solvent such as ethanol, propylene glycol propyl ether (PGPE), or by converting TMAA or TMAH to TMAN by using nitric acid.
d. Surfactant
In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation includes one or more surfactants. Surfactants may be added to lower surface tension. As used herein, the term “surfactant” means any compound that reduces the surface tension when dissolved in H2O or other liquids, or which reduces interfacial tension between two liquids, or between a liquid and a solid. Contemplated surfactants may include at least one anionic surfactant, cationic surfactant, non-ionic surfactant, Zwitterionic surfactant or a combination thereof. The surfactant may be dissolved directly into the composition or may be added with one of the compositions components (the at least one silicon-based compound, the at least one catalyst, the at least one solvent) before forming the final composition. Contemplated surfactants may include: polyether modified polydimethylsiloxanes such as BYK 307 (polyether modified poly-dimethyl-siloxane, BYK-Chemie), sulfonates such as dodecylbenzene sulfonate, tetrapropylenebenzene sulfonate, dodecylbenzene sulfonate, a fluorinated anionic surfactant such as Fluorad FC-93, and L-18691 (3M), fluorinated nonionic surfactants such as FC-4430 (3M), FC-4432 (3M), and L-18242 (3M), quaternary amines, such as dodecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide or cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, alkyl phenoxy polyethylene oxide alcohols, alkyl phenoxy polyglycidols, acetylinic alcohols, polyglycol ethers such as Tergitol TMN-6 (Dow) and Tergitol minifoam 2× (Dow), polyoxyethylene fatty ethers such as Brij-30 (Aldrich), Brij-35 (Aldrich), Brij-58 (Aldrich), Brij-72 (Aldrich), Brij-76 (Aldrich), Brij-78 (Aldrich), Brij-98 (Aldrich), and Brij-700 (Aldrich), betaines, sulfobetaines, such as cocoamidopropyl betaine, and synthetic phospholipids, such as dioctanoylphosphatidylcholine and lecithin and combinations thereof.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 0.001 wt. %, 0.005 wt. %, 0.01 wt. %, 0.05 wt. %, 0.1 wt. %, 0.25 wt. %, as great as 0.5 wt. %, 1 wt. %, 2 wt. %, or 5 wt. % of the one or more surfactants, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 0.001 wt. % to 5 wt. % or 0.001 wt. % to 1 wt. %, or 0.05 to 0.5 wt. %. The determination of the appropriate amount of a composition-modifying constituent to add to the composition depends on a number of factors, including: a) minimizing defects in the film, and/or b) balancing the film between good adhesion and desirable film properties.
e. Crosslinker
In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation includes one or more crosslinkers. Crosslinkers form bonds between the silicon-based compound. In some exemplary embodiments, the crosslinker maintains a high degree of aryl to aryl interaction in the formed coating, and additionally adds a physical covalent bond between chains to further stabilize movement of the attached chains. Without wishing to be held to any particular theory, it is believed that, from a visco-elastic viewpoint, the crosslinker helps to strengthen the elastic part of the response as well as add to the plastic response from the aryl to aryl interaction. Suitable crosslinkers may be incorporated into the formulation incorporate without phase separation. Exemplary crosslinkers include compounds having an aryl disilyl, such as 1,3 bistriethoxysilyl benzene, 1,4 bistriethoxysilyl benzene, 2,6-bis(triethoxysilyl)-naphthalene, 9,10-bis(triethoxysilyl)-anthracene, 1,6-bis(trimethoxysilyl)-pyrene. In one exemplary embodiment, the crosslinker includes an aryl organic functional group having at least two hydrolyzable siloxy units, such as alkyoxysilanes or hydrosilanes, that may be hydrolyzed to silanols for reaction with other silanols within the silicate.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 0.15 wt. %, 0.25 wt. %, 0.5 wt. %, 1 wt. %, 2 wt. %, 5 wt. %, 10 wt. %, as great as 20 wt. %, 25 wt. %, 30 wt. %, 40 wt. %, 50 wt. %, or 75 wt. % of the crosslinker, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 0.15 wt. % to 75 wt. %, 0.15 wt. % to 1 wt. %, 1 wt. % to 10 wt. %, or 5 wt. % to 75 wt. %.
f. Other Additives
In some exemplary embodiments, the formulation may include one or more additional additives, such as adhesion promoters, endcapping agents, and organic acids.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation includes one or more adhesion promoters in order to influence the ability of the layer, coating or film to adhere to surrounding substrates, layers, coatings, films and/or surfaces. The adhesion promoter may be at least one of: a) thermally stable after heat treatment, such as baking, at temperatures generally used for optoelectronic component manufacture, and/or b) promotes electrostatic and coulombic interactions between layers of materials, as well as promoting understood Van derWaals interactions in some embodiments. Exemplary adhesion promoters include aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTEOS) and salts of APTEOS, vinyltriethoxy silane (VTEOS), glycidoxypropyltrimethoxy silane (GLYMO), and methacryloxypropyltriethoxy silane (MPTEOS). Other exemplary adhesion promoters include 3-(triethoxysilyl)propylsuccininc anhydride, dimethyldihydroxy silane, methylphenyl dihydroxysilane or combinations thereof. In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 0.001 wt. %, 0.01 wt. %, 0.1 wt. %, 0.26 wt. % as great as 1 wt. %, 2.6 wt. %, 5 wt. %, 10 wt. %, 20 wt. % of the one or more adhesion promoters, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 0.001 wt. % to 20 wt. % or 0.26 wt. % to 2.6 wt. %.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation includes one or more endcapping agents such as monofunctional silanes that include a single reactive functionality that is capable of reacting with silanol groups on polysiloxane molecules. Exemplary endcapping agents include trialkylsilanes such as trimethylethoxy silane, triethylmethoxy silane, trimethylacetoxy silane, trimethylsilane. In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 0.1%, 0.5%, 1%, 2%, as great as 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% of the one or more endcapping agents as a percentage of total moles of polysiloxane, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 2% to 20% or 5% to 10%.
In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation includes one or more organic acids. In some embodiments, the organic acid additives are volatile or decompose at high temperatures and help stabilize the formulation. Exemplary organic acids include p-toluenesulfonic acid, citric acid, formic acid, acetic acid, and trifluoroacetic acid. In one exemplary embodiment, the formulation comprises as little as 0. 1 wt. %, 0.5 wt. %, 1 wt. %, 2 wt. %, as great as 5 wt. %, 10 wt. %, 15 wt. %, 20 wt. %, or 25 wt. % of the one or more organic acids, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as 2 wt. % to 20 wt. % or 5 wt. % to 10 wt. %.
II. Polysiloxane Coating
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane formulation forms a polysiloxane coating on a surface located in or on an electronic, optoelectronic, or display device.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane formulation forms a light-transmissive coating. In a more particular embodiment, the light-transmissive coating has a transmittance to light in the visible optical wavelength range from 400 to 1000 nm. In some embodiments, the optical transmittance is as high as 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 97%, 98%, 99%, or higher, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values.
In some exemplary embodiments, one or polymer resins are selected to provide a desired refractive index. In one exemplary embodiment, the relative molar percentage of a resin having a relatively low refractive index, such as 100% methyltriethoxysilane resin, is relatively high to produce a polysiloxane coating having a relatively low refractive index. In another exemplary embodiment, the relative molar percentage of a resin having a relatively high refractive index, such as 100% phenyl triethoxysilane, is relatively high to produce a polysiloxane coating having a relatively high refractive index. In another exemplary embodiment, the relative molar proportions of a first resin having a relatively high refractive index and a second resin having a relatively low refractive index are selected to produce a polysiloxane coating having a desired refractive index between the refractive index of the first and second resins.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane formulation forms a coating having a refractive index that is as little as less than 1.4, 1.4, 1.45, as great as 1.5, 1.55, 1.56, 1.6, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values, such as from less than 1.4 to 1.6 or from 1.4 to 1.56.
Exemplary devices to which coatings of the present disclosure may be provided include CMOS Image Sensors, transistors, light-emitting diodes, color filters, photovoltaic cells, flat-panel displays, curved displays, touch-screen displays, x-ray detectors, active or passive matrix OLED displays, active matrix thin film liquid crystal displays, electrophoretic displays, and combinations thereof.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane coating forms a passivation layer, a barrier layer, a planarization layer, or a combination thereof.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane coating has a thickness as little as 0.1 μm, 0.3 μm, 0.5 μm, 1 μm, 1.5 μm, as great as 2 μm, 2.5 μm, 3 μm, 3.5 μm, 4 μm, or greater, or within any range defined between any two of the foregoing values.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane coating is formed by applying the formulation to a surface and polymerizing the formulation. In one exemplary embodiments, a baking step is provided to remove at least part or all of the solvent. In some embodiments, the baking step is as short as 1 minute, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, as long as 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, or longer, at a temperature as low as 100° C., 200° C., 220° C., as high as 250° C., 275° C., 300° C., 320° C., 350° C., or higher. In one exemplary embodiment, a curing step is provided to polymerize the at least one silicon-based material such as by activating a heat-activated catalyst. In some embodiments, the curing step is as short as 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, as long as 30 minutes, 45 minutes, 60 minutes, or longer, at a temperature as low as 250° C., 275° C., 300° C., as high as 320° C., 350° C., 375° C., 380° C., 400° C. or higher.
In some exemplary embodiments, the polysiloxane coating is resistant to multiple heating steps, such as curing or deposition of additional coatings or layers on the formed polysiloxane coating.
Samples of polysiloxane compounds with a 1:1 and 3:1 phenyl to methyl group ratio underwent molecular modeling to study and predict the compositional effects of different aryl to alkyl ratios on the performance properties of the materials.
Molecular modeling is a flexible platform to study and predict compositional effects on the performance properties of materials, and previous performance issues include the impact of process cycles as a source of failure. In these cases, as shown in
The unit cell used for this study was examined for changes in dimensions to see whether there was a net change that might be a reason to expect a residual stress development from the process.
Thermal coefficients of expansion were modeled using thermal cycling with the molecular modeling program “Discover” used within the Materials Studio graphical interface from Biovia, San Diego, Calif. as described in further detail below. The samples would be quenched at different rates after curing and then undergo subsequent thermal cycling as shown in
The initial conditions for the samples were developed depending upon a cooling history from the cure condition assumed. The equilibrated cool (from cure) was created by an extended 100ps equilibration at room temperature. The quenched case (from an assumed curing temperature of 400° C.) was created by using an initial room temperature equilibrated case, which was then equilibrated at 400° C. for 10 ps at constant content (N), pressure (P), and temperature (T) (NPT) followed by an immediate drop to room temperature for 10 ps at constant content (N), volume (V), and temperature (T) (NVT), constant volume. The assumption for the NVT quench step is that there is inadequate time for relaxation, so no volume change is assumed. The rest of the steps for both cases (equilibrated and quenched) use a relatively gradual temperature change (compared to the quench step), with temperature changes in 100° C. steps and each step being equilibrated for 10 ps as shown in
Table 1 provides the exemplary formulations that were modeled in the Examples.
As shown in
As shown in
Comparing the volume changes between different cooling conditions, Formulation 2 behaved similarly to the crosslinked phenylene case (
For the quenched case, increasing the phenyl to methyl ratio from 1:1 to 3:1 seems to have stabilized the quenched state shrinkage. It has done so in a similar manner as the cross-linked 1:1 phenyl to methyl compound indicating that the phenyl to phenyl interaction stabilizing the volume changes.
The equilibrated case has a lower volume change as compared to the quenched case as shown in
In both the quenched and equilibrated case, the model indicated that a Formulation 2 had increased stability compared to Formulations 1 and 3 indicating that a higher phenyl to methyl ratio led to increased stability and lower volume change after undergoing process cycling.
Samples of the polysiloxane compounds with different phenyl to methyl ratios underwent thermal cycling of Example 1 to also determine the effect of the ratio on the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) for the polymers.
Cross-linking of polysiloxane compounds may also have an effect on the CTE of the polymer in the quenched state. As shown in
As shown in
Cross-linking of polysiloxane compounds may also have an effect on the CTE of the polymer in the equilibrated state. As shown in
Samples of polysiloxane compounds with and without crosslinking underwent molecular modeling to study and predict the compositional effects on the performance properties of the compounds after thermal cycling.
As shown in
As shown in
In comparing the quenched and equilibrated cases, when Formulation 4 was quenched, the maximum shrinkage experienced by the compound was approximately 50 ppm, but when the compound was in the equilibrated case, there was a slight expansion with a maximum expansion of approximately 50 ppm. Since both cases represent extremes of the polymer state when cycled, it is possible that an intermediate quenched state may rebalance the stress states experienced to minimize either the tensile or compressive responses during temperature cycling.
Comparing Formulations 1 and 3 of
Quenched Case
As shown in
The crosslinked compounds offered structural stability over many cycles by having the lowest volume change over multiple thermal cycles as compared to fused ladders without crosslinking and random ladders data.
Equilibrated Case
As shown in
Comparison of Quenched and Equilibrated Cases
In comparing the quenched and equilibrated cycling cases,
The highest shrinkage trend has been found with the case where the polymer has been quenched from a high temperature. The case in which the polymer has been equilibrated at room temperatures exhibited significantly less shrinkage. This suggests that the polymer is sensitive to thermal conditioning that can lead to a stress state in which shrinkage becomes progressively worse with thermal cycling. The thermal conditioning can arise from the conditions of the initial cure and cooling history, but can also arise during subsequent integration processes and thermal histories which build-in the high stress state.
As shown in
Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplary embodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer to particular features, the scope of this invention also includes embodiments having different combinations of features and embodiments that do not include all of the above described features.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/307,958, filed Mar. 14, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62307958 | Mar 2016 | US |