FLEXIBLE SUBSTRATE WITH ELECTRONIC DEVICES FORMED THEREON

• US 20080026581A1
• Filed: 07/31/2006
• Published: 01/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Original Assignee: Eastman Kodak Company
• Inventors: Tredwell, Timothy J., Kerr, Roger S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,678,701 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 438/691
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1218 with a particular composition or structure of the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1262 with a particular formation, treatment or coating of the substrate
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78603 characterised by the insulating substrate or support H01L29/78657 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 77/111 Flexible substrates
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 Organic PV cells
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 70/50 Manufacturing or production processes characterised by the final manufactured product

Abstract

A method of manufacturing an electronic device (10) provides a substrate (20) that has a plastic material. A particulate material (16) is embedded in at least one surface of the substrate. A layer of thin-film semiconductor material is deposited onto the substrate (20).

Claims

1. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises at least one plastic material;

b) embedding a particulate material in at least one surface of the substrate; and

forming a thin film electronic device on said surface with said particulate material.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said particulate material is a fiber.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

d) embedding the particulate material in a second surface of the substrate; and

e) forming a thin film electronic device on said second surface having said embedded particulate material.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said electronic device comprises one or more thin film transistors.

6. The method of claim 3 wherein said electronic device comprises one or more thin film transistors.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic material is taken from a group consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (HS-PET), polyethylenenapthalate (PEN), polycarbonate (PC), polyarylate (PAR), polyetherimide (PEI), polyethersulphone (PES), polyimide (PI), Teflon poly(perfluoro-alboxy)fluoropolymer (PFA), poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK), poly(ether ketone) (PEK), poly(ethylene tetrafluoroethylene)fluoropolymer (PETFE), and poly(methyl methacrylate), acrylate/methacrylate copolymer (PMMA), cyclic polyolefins, ethylene-chlorotrifluoro ethylene (E-CTFE), poly-tetrafluoro-ethylene (PTFE), and high density polyethylene (HDPE).

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material is selected from a group consisting of glass, ceramics, metals, plastics, and fiberglass.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of embedding a particulate material comprises:

a) heating the plastic material to a temperature near its glass transition temperature Tg; and

b) applying the particulate material to the plastic material.

25. The method of claim 1 further comprising depositing a dielectric material onto said at least one surface of the substrate.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the dielectric material comprises spun-on glass.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material comprises particles that are substantially aligned with respect to one or two directions.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material is magnetic.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material comprises a ferromagnetic material.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material is conductive.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic material comprises a combination of more than one plastic.

32. The method of claim 1 further comprising removing the substrate from a carrier.

33. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material is selected from a group consisting of fibers, rods, or platelets.

34. The method of claim 1 further comprising laminating the substrate onto another device.

37. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic material is substantially transparent.

38. The method of claim 37 wherein the refractive index of the plastic material is substantially equal to the refractive index of the particulate material.

39. The method of claim 37 wherein the refractive index of the plastic material differs by more than 0.1 from the refractive index of the particulate material.

40. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic material is substantially opaque.

41. The method of claim 1 wherein the plastic material comprises a light-absorptive colorant.

42. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate material comprises a light-absorptive colorant.

48. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of providing the substrate comprises unwinding the substrate from a roll.

49. The method of claim 48 further comprising re-winding the substrate having the electronic device formed thereon onto a roll.

50. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling the electronic device formed on said surface with a liquid crystal pixel.

51. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling the electronic device formed on said surface with a light-emitting diode pixel.

52. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling the electronic device formed on said surface with an organic light-emitting diode pixel.

53. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling the electronic device formed on said surface with a stimulable phosphor pixel.

54. The method of claim 1 further comprising coupling the electronic device formed on said surface with a sensor pixel.

5. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises at least one plastic material;

b) embedding a particulate material in at least one surface of the substrate;

c) applying a planarization material to the surface of the substrate having the embedded particulate material, forming a planarization layer thereby; and

d) forming a thin film electronic device on said surface with said particulate material.

23. The method of claim 5 wherein the step of forming a thin film electronic device comprises spin coating a thin-film semiconductor material onto said surface.

43. The method of claim 5 wherein the planarization material comprises a light-absorptive colorant.

7. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises at least one plastic material as a base substrate;

b) coating a composition material onto at least one surface of the base substrate, wherein the composition material comprises at least one plastic binder material and at least one particulate material, forming at least one coated surface thereby; and

c) forming a thin film electronic device on said at least one coated surface.

8. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises at least one plastic material and at least one particulate material;

b) conditioning at least one surface of the substrate to increase the proportion of particulate material to plastic material at that surface; and

c) forming a thin film electronic device on said at least one conditioned surface.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises chemical removal of the plastic material at the surface.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises removal of plastic material at the surface by plasma etching.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises removal of plastic material at the surface by heating.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises removal of plastic material at the surface by exposure to supercritical CO2.

13. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises removal of plastic material at the surface by laser ablation.

14. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises removal of plastic material at the surface by thermal decomposition in a vacuum.

15. The method of claim 8 wherein conditioning at least one surface comprises removal of plastic material at the surface by corona discharge treatment.

16. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and at least one particulate material; and

b) forming a thin film electronic device on at least one surface of said substrate.

17. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), at least one other plastic material, and at least one particulate material; and

b) forming a thin film electronic device on at least one surface of said substrate.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein the at least one other plastic material is polyimide.

18. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate comprising polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and at least one particulate material;

b) laminating said substrate to a carrier; and

c) forming an electronic device on the substrate.

19. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate comprising polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), at least one particulate material, and at least one other plastic material;

b) laminating said substrate to a carrier;

c) forming an electronic device on the substrate; and

d) delaminating the substrate containing the electronic device from the carrier.

35. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises a plastic material and at least one particulate material;

b) mounting the substrate on a carrier layer;

c) conditioning the surface of the substrate for deposition of thin-film semiconductor materials;

d) depositing a layer of thin-film semiconductor material onto the substrate; and

e) forming a pattern by selectively removing portions of the semiconductor material.

36. The method of claim 35 further comprising:

e) removing the substrate from the carrier layer using heat.

44. A method of manufacturing an electronic device comprising:

a) providing a substrate that comprises at least one plastic material;

b) forming a pattern on at least one surface of said substrate;

c) embedding a particulate material into the at least one surface of said substrate;

d) applying a planarization material to the surface of the substrate having the embedded particulate material, forming a planarization layer thereby; and

e) forming a thin film electronic device on said surface with said particulate material.

45. The method of claim 44 wherein forming a pattern comprises embossing.

46. The method of claim 44 wherein the pattern comprises one or more lens elements.

47. The method of claim 44 wherein the one or more lens elements are spatially aligned with the thin film electronic devices formed on said surface.