Transfer film and process for producing organic electroluminescent device using the same

• US 6,805,979 B2
• Filed: 05/02/2002
• Issued: 10/19/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2001
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Sharp Kabushiki Kaisha (Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ogura, Takashi, Akai, Tomonori, Yamana, Shinji
• Primary Examiner(s): Garrett, Dawn L.
• Application Number:
  US10/136,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20020172813A1
• Time in Patent Office: 901 Days
• Field of Search: 428/212, 428/690, 428/917, 428/32.6, 428/32.77, 428/32.8, 428/32.81, 156/67, 156/57, 427/66, 430/200, 313/504, 313/506
• US Class Current: 428/690
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/00 Integrated devices, or assemblies of multiple devices, comprising at least one organic light-emitting element covered by group H10K50/00
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/12 Active-matrix OLED [AMOLED] displays
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/13 using printing techniques, e.g. ink-jet printing or screen printing
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/18 using non-liquid printing techniques, e.g. thermal transfer printing from a donor sheet
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/324 comprising aluminium, e.g. Alq3
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/631 Amine compounds having at least two aryl rest on at least one amine-nitrogen atom, e.g. triphenylamine
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 428/917 Electroluminescent
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/24942 including components having same physical characteristic in differing degree

Abstract

A transfer film comprising a base film, a transfer layer, and a transfer auxiliary layer formed between the base film and the transfer layer so as to be in contact with at least the transfer layer, this transfer auxiliary layer having a melting point or a glass transition temperature lower than that of the transfer layer, wherein at least a portion of the transfer layer can be thermally transferred onto a substrate.

Claims

1. A transfer film comprising a base film, a transfer layer, and a transfer auxiliary layer formed between the base film and the transfer layer so as to be in contact with at least the transfer layer, wherein this transfer auxiliary layer comprises a compound selected from the group consisting of diphenylamine, triphenylene, para-terphenyl, stearic acid and behenic acid and has a melting point or a glass transition temperature lower than that of the transfer layer, wherein at least a portion of the transfer layer can be thermally transferred onto a substrate and wherein the transfer layer has an electroluminescent layer containing at least an organic light-emitting material or the transfer layer has a transparent conductive film layer that transmits light.

2. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer auxiliary layer comprises stearic acid.

3. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer layer is an organic layer or a combination of at least one electrode layer and the organic layer to be a constituent layer of an organic electroluminescent device, and the organic layer is of a single-layer structure or of a multi-layer structure formed of one or more layers selected from an organic light-emitting layer, a hole transporting layer, an electron transporting layer, a hole injecting layer and a blocking layer.

4. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer layer has an electroluminescent layer containing at least an organic light-emitting material.

5. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer layer has a metal electrode layer.

6. A transfer film according to claim 5, wherein the metal electrode layer is a metal thin-film layer that transmits light.

7. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer layer has a transparent conductive film layer.

8. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer auxiliary layer and the transfer layer are formed continuously in inert gas or in a vacuum.

9. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the base film has a light-to-heat conversion layer at a transfer layer side thereof.

10. A transfer film according to claim 1, wherein the transfer layer is a multi-layer film of (8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum complex (Alq₃) layer/N,N′

-di(naphthalene-1-yl)-N,N′

-diphenyl-bendizine (NPD) layer, a multi-layer film of Aluminum (Al) layer/Alq₃ layer/NPD layer, a multi-layer film of light transmitting metal thin-film Al layer/Alq₃ layer/NPD layer or a multi-layer film of transparent conductive layer/NPD layer/Alq₃ layer.

11. A process for producing an organic electroluminescent device comprising the step of attaching to a substrate a transfer film comprising a base film, a transfer layer to be a constituent layer of the organic electroluminescent device and a transfer auxiliary layer formed between the base film and the transfer layer so as to be in contact with at least the transfer layer, wherein this transfer auxiliary layer comprises a compound selected from the group consisting of diphenylamine, triphenylene, para-terphenyl, stearic acid and behenic acid and has melting point or a glass transition temperature lower than that of the transfer layer, in such a manner that the transfer layer is in contact with a face of the substrate on which the transfer layer is to be transferred;

and the step of heating the transfer auxiliary layer from the base film side for transferring at least a portion of the transfer layer onto the substrate, to thereby form the constituent layer of the organic electroluminescent device.

12. A process for producing an organic electroluminescent device according to claim 11, wherein the step of heating is partially performed to the transfer auxiliary layer at the base film side for forming a patterned light-emitting section of the organic electroluminescent device.

13. A process for producing an organic electroluminescent device according to claim 12, wherein the patterned light-emitting section has a plurality of luminescent colors.

14. A process for producing an organic electroluminescent device according to claim 11, wherein the transfer film has a light-to-heat conversion layer at a transfer layer side of the base film, and the step of heating is partially performed to the transfer auxiliary layer at the base film side by light irradiation.

15. A process for producing an organic electroluminescent device according to claim 14, wherein the light irradiation is performed by using laser light irradiation.