MASKING FOR LIGHT EMITTING DEVICE PATTERNS

• US 20140306208A1
• Filed: 10/12/2012
• Published: 10/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd. (Xiaomi Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Schwab, Holger, Fleige, Reinhold Antonius
• Granted Patent: US 9,806,297 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 257/40
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2933/0016 relating to electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/19 Tandem OLEDs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/813 characterised by their shape
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/822 characterised by their shape
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/32 Stacked devices having two or more layers, each emitting at different wavelengths
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/00 Manufacture or treatment specially adapted for the organic devices covered by this subclass

Abstract

The present invention relates to a light emitting device with at least two active areas and a more robust method of manufacturing such a device, wherein a first electrode layer (20) is deposited through a mask overcoating an active material (10). A second active material (30) is deposited through another mask in such a way that an area which covers and extends beyond the first electrode layer (20) is overcoated with the organic material. Then, a second electrode layer (40) is coated through a mask such that it overcoats the whole second active material (30).

Claims

1. A light emitting device comprising:

a substrate comprising a first anode and a second anode separated by an isolation area;

a first active layer arranged on top of said substrate and forming a first active area that covers the first anode and extends to the isolation area;

a first electrode layer overcoating said first active area to form a first diode structure adapted to emit light of a first color, the first electrode layer being adapted to form a transparent interelectrode;

a second active layer overcoating said first diode structure so that it extends beyond said first diode structure, and forming a second active area that covers the interelectrode above the first anode and extends across the second anode; and

a second electrode layer over-coating said second active area to form a second diode structure adapted to emit light of a second color.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said device comprises at least said two patterned active areas, wherein said first electrode layer extends to an edge of said substrate to provide a first contact portion of said light emitting device, wherein said second electrode layer excludes at least a part of said first contact portion and extends to an edge of said light emitting device to provide a second contact portion, and wherein said first and second active areas can be addressed individually via said first and second contact portions.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein said first and second electrode layers are cathode layers.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein said light emitting device is an organic light emitting diode device, and wherein said first and second active layers are organic layers or organic layer stacks.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein an area covered by said second cathode layer is larger than said second active area.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein said interelectrode comprises a terminal for supplying electric power to vary its light transmission properties.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein said interelectrode is adapted to provide a color filter characteristic.

13. The method according to claim 8, further comprising forming said interelectrode with a terminal for supplying electric power to vary its light transmission properties.

14. The method according to claim 8, further comprising forming said interelectrode to provide a color filter characteristic.

15. The method according to claim 8, wherein said masking process comprises shadow masking.

6. (canceled)

7. (canceled)

10. A method of manufacturing a light emitting device, said method comprising:

providing a substrate;

providing said substrate with a first anode and a second anode separated by an isolation area;

depositing a first organic layer forming a first active area on top of said substrate covering said first anode and extending to said isolation area by using a first masking process;

depositing a first electrode layer overcoating said first active area by using a second masking process to form a first diode structure adapted to emit light of a first color, the first electrode layer being adapted to form a transparent interelectrode;

depositing a second organic layer forming a second active area to cover the interelectrode above said first anode and to extend across said second anode, and overcoating said first diode structure so that it extends beyond said first diode structure by using a third masking process; and

depositing a second electrode layer over-coating said second active area to form a second diode structure adapted to emit light of a second color by using a fourth masking process.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein said method is adapted to form at least said two patterned active areas, wherein said first electrode layer is formed to extend to an edge of said substrate to provide a first contact portion of said light emitting device, wherein said second electrode layer is formed to exclude at least a part of said first contact portion and to extend to an edge of said light emitting device to provide a second contact portion, and wherein said first and second active areas are formed to be individually addressable via said first and second contact portions.

12. (canceled)