Silicon and semiconducting oxide thin-film transistor displays

• US 9,543,370 B2
• Filed: 09/24/2014
• Issued: 01/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Tsai, Tsung-Ting, Gupta, Vasudha, Lin, Chin-Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Eugene
• Application Number:
  US14/494,931
• Publication Number:
  US 20160087022A1
• Time in Patent Office: 839 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1225 with semiconductor materials not belonging to the group IV of the periodic table, e.g. InGaZnO
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1251 comprising TFTs having a different architecture, e.g. top- and bottom gate TFTs
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 27/1255 integrated with passive devices, e.g. auxiliary capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78651 Silicon transistors H01L29/78606 - H01L29/78645 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/78672 Polycrystalline or microcrystalline silicon transistor
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 29/7869 having a semiconductor body comprising an oxide semiconductor material, e.g. zinc oxide, copper aluminium oxide, cadmium stannate
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/311 Flexible OLED
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1213 the pixel elements being TFTs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1216 the pixel elements being capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/124 Insulating layers formed between TFT elements and OLED elements
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/131 Interconnections, e.g. wiring lines or terminals
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 77/111 Flexible substrates
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 10/549 Organic PV cells

Abstract

An electronic device display may have an array of pixel circuits. Each pixel circuit may include an organic light-emitting diode and a drive transistor. Each drive transistor may be adjusted to control how much current flows through the organic light-emitting diode. Each pixel circuit may include one or more additional transistors such as switching transistors and a storage capacitor. Semiconducting oxide transistors and silicon transistors may be used in forming the transistors of the pixel circuits. The storage capacitors and the transistors may be formed using metal layers, semiconductor structures, and dielectric layers. Some of the layers may be removed along the edge of the display to facilitate bending. The dielectric layers may have a stepped profile that allows data lines in the array to be stepped down towards the surface of the substrate as the data lines extend into an inactive edge region.

Claims

1. An organic light-emitting diode display, comprising:

a substrate;

an array of pixel circuits that form an active area of the substrate;

circuitry in an inactive area of the substrate;

dielectric layers that have a first thickness in the active area, are not present in the inactive area, and have a second thickness that is less than the first thickness between the active area and the inactive area, wherein each pixel circuit comprises;

an organic light-emitting diode;

a silicon transistor coupled in series with the organic light-emitting diode;

a storage capacitor coupled to the silicon transistor; and

a semiconducting oxide transistor coupled to the storage capacitor.

2. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 1 wherein the substrate is bent in the inactive area.

3. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 2 wherein the silicon transistor in each pixel circuit comprises a silicon channel, wherein the dielectric layers include a buffer layer between the substrate and the silicon channel, and wherein the buffer layer is not present in the inactive area.

4. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 3 further comprising a first metal layer in the active area, wherein some of the first metal layer forms a gate for the silicon transistor in each pixel circuit.

5. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 4 wherein some of the first metal layer forms a gate for the semiconducting oxide transistor in each pixel circuit.

6. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 4 further comprising a second metal layer, wherein the second metal layer is patterned in the active area to form source-drain terminals for the silicon transistor and for the semiconducting oxide transistor.

7. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 6 wherein the second metal layer is patterned in the inactive area to form data lines that are coupled between the array of pixel circuits and the circuitry in the inactive area.

8. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 7 wherein the substrate is a bent flexible substrate and wherein the data lines are bent and are formed on a surface of the substrate so that none of the dielectric layers are interposed between the data lines and the substrate.

9. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 8 wherein the semiconducting oxide transistor in each pixel comprises a semiconducting oxide channel.

10. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 9 wherein the dielectric layers include a silicon nitride layer that overlaps the silicon channel of the silicon transistor in each pixel circuit and that does not overlap the semiconducting oxide channel of the semiconducting oxide transistor in each pixel circuit.

11. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 10, wherein the storage capacitor has a first electrode formed from the second layer of metal and has a second electrode.

12. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 11 wherein the dielectric layers include an additional silicon nitride layer, wherein the additional silicon nitride layer is interposed between the first and second electrodes of the storage capacitor in each pixel circuit.

13. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 12 further comprising a silicon oxide layer that overlaps the semiconducting oxide channel in each pixel circuit and that is locally removed in the storage capacitor of each pixel circuit so that none of the silicon oxide layer is interposed between the first and second electrodes of the storage capacitor.

14. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 2 further comprising data lines that extend from the active area to the inactive area, wherein the dielectric layers have a stepped profile that reduces from the first height to the second height when transitioning from the active area to the inactive area, and wherein the data lines are formed on the dielectric layers with the stepped profile.

15. The organic light-emitting diode display defined in claim 1 wherein the semiconducting oxide transistor in each pixel circuit comprises a drive transistor and wherein the silicon transistor in each pixel circuit comprises a switching transistor.

16. An organic light-emitting diode display, comprising:

a flexible polymer substrate;

an array of pixel circuits on the substrate, each pixel circuit including an organic light-emitting diode, at least two semiconducting oxide transistors each having a semiconducting oxide channel, at least one silicon transistor coupled in series with the organic light-emitting diode, and at least one storage capacitor;

dielectric layers on the flexible polymer substrate that have a stepped profile that reduces in height when transitioning from the array of pixel circuits to an inactive area adjacent to the array of pixel circuits; and

data lines on the dielectric layers that follow the stepped profile, wherein the dielectric layers include a dielectric layer that overlaps the at least one silicon transistor and that does not overlap the semiconducting oxide channels.