Organic light-emitting display apparatus and method of manufacturing the same

• US 10,593,906 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2017
• Issued: 03/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/03/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Samsung Display Company Limited (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Lee, Jae-Man, Yoo, Seung-Joon, Choi, Hyun-Soo, Shin, Jae-Wook
• Primary Examiner(s): Wilczewski, Mary A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chiu, Tsz K
• Application Number:
  US15/467,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20170194598A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/8426 Peripheral sealing arrangements, e.g. adhesives, sealants
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/12 Active-matrix OLED [AMOLED] displays
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1213 the pixel elements being TFTs
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/00 Manufacture or treatment specially adapted for the organic devices covered by this subclass

Abstract

In an aspect, an organic light-emitting display apparatus is provided, including a display substrate; a sealing substrate configured to face the display substrate; a sealing material for bonding the display substrate and the sealing substrate and surrounding a circumference of the display unit; and a bonding layer comprising a plurality of through holes, wherein the plurality of through holes comprise partition walls therein.

Claims

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

a display substrate comprising a first surface;

a sealing substrate comprising a second surface facing the first surface of the display substrate;

a display unit between the first surface of the display substrate and the second surface of the sealing substrate, wherein the display unit comprises a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and a plurality of thin-film transistors (TFTs) each electrically connected to a corresponding one of the OLEDs, wherein the plurality of OLEDs defines a display area;

a sealing material disposed between the display substrate and the sealing substrate, and surrounding the display area; and

an insulating layer comprising a plurality of through holes disposed in a region corresponding to the sealing material, wherein a partition wall is disposed within each of the plurality of through holes such that each of the plurality of through holes is divided into a plurality of sub-through holes, wherein each partition wall comprises a first sub-partition wall and a second sub-partition wall that comprise an insulating material and intersect with each other to form an intersection point when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the first surface of the display substrate, wherein a first intersection point of the partition wall in a first through hole and a second intersection point of the partition wall in a second through hole are arranged along a direction from an edge of the display substrate to the display area when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the first surface of the display substrate.

2. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein a first distance between neighboring ones of the plurality of through holes is greater than a second distance between neighboring ones of the sub-through holes of each through hole when viewed in the direction perpendicular to the first surface of the display substrate.

3. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein the insulating layer comprises at least one of an inorganic insulating layer or an organic insulating layer.

4. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein the sealing material comprises frit.

5. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, further comprising a light absorption layer disposed in the region corresponding to the sealing material.

6. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein a width of each of the partition walls is from 5% to 20% of a diameter of each of the plurality of through holes.

7. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein a diameter of an upper portion of each of the plurality of through holes is different from that of a lower portion of each of the plurality of through holes.

8. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein a TFT of the plurality of TFTs comprises:

an active layer including amorphous silicon, poly silicon, or an organic semiconductor; and

a gate electrode overlapping a portion of the active layer.

9. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 8, further comprising:

a buffer layer disposed between the display substrate and the TFT;

a gate insulating layer between the active layer and the gate electrode; and

an interlayer insulating layer disposed over the gate insulating layer;

wherein the insulating layer comprises the same material as at least one of the buffer layer, the gate insulating layer, or the interlayer insulating layer.

10. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein a portion of the sealing material is disposed in each of the plurality of through holes.

11. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein the sealing material contacts the partition wall and a side wall of at least a part of the plurality of through holes.

18. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 1, wherein the first sub-partition wall and the second sub-partition wall are disposed between the display substrate and the sealing material.

12. An organic light-emitting display device comprising a display unit and a sealing unit surrounding the display unit, wherein the sealing unit comprises:

a display substrate;

an insulating layer on the display substrate;

a plurality of through holes disposed in a region surrounding the display unit, each of the plurality of through holes comprising a partition wall therein, each of the plurality of through holes is divided into a plurality of sub-through holes by the partition wall, wherein a first distance between neighboring ones of the plurality of through holes is greater than a second distance between neighboring ones of the sub-through holes of each through hole when viewed in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the display substrate, and wherein each partition wall comprises a first sub-partition wall and a second sub-partition wall that comprise an insulating material and intersect with each other to form an intersection point, and wherein a first intersection point of the partition wall in a first through hole and a second intersection point of the partition wall in a second through hole are arranged along a direction from an edge of the display substrate to the display unit when viewed in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the display substrate; and

a sealing material overlapping at least a part of the plurality of through holes.

13. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 12, wherein the insulating layer comprises at least one of an inorganic insulating layer or an organic insulating layer.

14. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 12, wherein the insulating layer comprises at least one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride.

15. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 12, further comprises a light absorption layer including a conductive material, the light absorption layer corresponding to the region surrounding the display unit.

16. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 12, wherein the sealing material comprises frit.

17. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 12, wherein the partition wall comprises a first sub-partition wall and a second sub-partition wall crossing each other.

19. The organic light-emitting display device of claim 12, wherein the first sub-partition wall and the second sub-partition wall are disposed between the display substrate and the sealing material.