Display substrate, manufacturing method thereof, and display apparatus
11495759 ยท 2022-11-08
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H10K71/00
ELECTRICITY
H10K50/8445
ELECTRICITY
Y02P70/50
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
Y02E10/549
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
International classification
Abstract
A display substrate includes a supporting material layer having at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, which can be alternately and successively arranged in layers. One blocking sub-layer is at a topmost sub-layer of the supporting material layer, and is provided with a well, located in a display area and configured for accommodating a display component therewithin. One or more of the at least one flexible material sub-layer or the at least one blocking sub-layer is configured as a target material layer. The target material layer includes a planar portion and a protruding portion over the planar portion. An orthographic projection of the protruding portion on a bottom surface of the supporting material layer forms a ring-like structure having an opening that covers an orthographic projection of a bottom surface of the well on the bottom surface of the supporting material layer.
Claims
1. A display substrate, comprising a supporting material layer having at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, wherein: one of the at least one blocking sub-layer is at a topmost sub-layer of the supporting material layer, and is provided with a well, located in a display area and configured for accommodating a display component therewithin; and each of the at least one flexible material sub-layer comprises polyimide.
2. The display substrate of claim 1, wherein the at least one flexible material sub-layer and the at least one blocking sub-layer are alternately and successively arranged in layers.
3. The display substrate of claim 2, wherein one or more of the at least one flexible material sub-layer or the at least one blocking sub-layer is a target material layer, wherein the target material layer comprises: a planar portion; and a protruding portion over the planar portion; wherein: an orthographic projection of the protruding portion on a bottom surface of the supporting material layer forms a ring-like structure having an opening that covers an orthographic projection of a bottom surface of the well on the bottom surface of the supporting material layer.
4. The display substrate of claim 3, wherein the target material layer is one of the at least one flexible material sub-layer.
5. The display substrate of claim 4, wherein each of the at least one flexible material sub-layer above the target material layer has a substantially uniform thickness.
6. The display substrate of claim 4, wherein each of the at least one blocking sub-layer above the target material layer has a substantially uniform thickness.
7. The display substrate of claim 4, wherein the supporting material layer comprises one flexible material sub-layer and one blocking sub-layer, wherein: the one flexible material sub-layer is the target material layer; and the one blocking sub-layer is provided with the well.
8. A display substrate, comprising a supporting material layer having at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, wherein: one of the at least one blocking sub-layer is at a topmost sub-layer of the supporting material layer, and is provided with a well, located in a display area and configured for accommodating a display component therewithin; the at least one flexible material sub-layer and the at least one blocking sub-layer are alternately and successively arranged in layers; and one or more of the at least one flexible material sub-layer or the at least one blocking sub-layer is a target material layer, wherein the target material layer comprises: a planar portion; and a protruding portion over the planar portion; wherein: an orthographic projection of the protruding portion on a bottom surface of the supporting material layer forms a ring-like structure having an opening that covers an orthographic projection of a bottom surface of the well on the bottom surface of the supporting material layer; the target material layer is one of the at least one flexible material sub-layer; and wherein the supporting material layer comprises a first flexible material sub-layer, a first blocking sub-layer, a second flexible material sub-layer, and a second blocking sub-layer, successively arranged in layers, wherein: the second blocking sub-layer is provided with the well.
9. The display substrate of claim 8, wherein the first flexible material sub-layer is the target material layer.
10. The display substrate of claim 8, wherein the second flexible material sub-layer is the target material layer.
11. A display substrate, comprising a supporting material layer having at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, wherein: one of the at least one blocking sub-layer is at a topmost sub-layer of the supporting material layer, and is provided with a well, located in a display area and configured for accommodating a display component therewithin; and wherein each of the at least one blocking sub-layer comprises at least one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride.
12. A display apparatus, comprising the display substrate according to claim 1.
13. The display apparatus of claim 12, further comprising a display component, wherein the display component is arranged over the supporting material layer and within the well.
14. The display apparatus of claim 13, wherein a top surface of a sidewall of the well has a larger or substantially equal distance to a bottom surface of the well than a top surface of the display component.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) To more clearly illustrate some of the embodiments, the following is a brief description of the drawings. The drawings in the following descriptions are only illustrative of some embodiments. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings of other embodiments can become apparent based on these drawings.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(17) In the following, with reference to the drawings of various embodiments disclosed herein, the technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure will be described in a clear and fully understandable way. It is obvious that the described embodiments are merely a portion but not all of the embodiments of the disclosure. Based on the described embodiments of the disclosure, those ordinarily skilled in the art can obtain other embodiment(s), which come(s) within the scope sought for protection by the disclosure.
(18) In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a display substrate. The display substrate includes a supporting material layer having at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer. It is configured such that one of the at least one blocking sub-layer is at a topmost sub-layer of the supporting material layer, and is provided with a well, located in a display area and configured for accommodating a display component therewithin.
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(20) The supporting material layer 01 specifically comprises a flexible material sub-layer 011 and a blocking sub-layer 012, which are arranged in layers. A display component M is further arranged over the blocking sub-layer 012.
(21) Herein, the blocking sub-layer 012 can have a composition of an inorganic material. During use of the display substrate, things such as water and oxygen may pass through the flexible material sub-layer 011 and influence the display component M inside the display substrate. As such by configuring the blocking sub-layer 012 in the display substrate, a surface (i.e. the bottom surface as illustrated in
(22) In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the supporting material layer 01 comprises a component region 11 and a surrounding region 12 that surrounds the component region 11, as indicated by the boxes with dotted lines in
(23) As further indicated by
(24) Herein, the display component M is disposed over the blocking sub-layer 012, and the display component M is arranged within the component region 11.
(25) Because the thickness d1 of the portion of the supporting material layer 01 within the surrounding region 12 that surrounds the component region 11 is larger than the thickness d2 of the portion of the supporting material layer 01 within the component region 11, the blocking sub-layer 012 can also protect sidewalls of the display component M located within the component region 11 of the supporting material layer 01.
(26) In summary, the display substrate disclosed herein substantially includes a supporting material layer 01. The supporting material layer 01 comprises a flexible material sub-layer 011 and a blocking sub-layer 012. The supporting material layer 01 is further configured to include a component region 11 and a surrounding region 12, wherein the surrounding region 12 is arranged to surround the component region 11, and the component region 11 is configured for arranging a display component M therein.
(27) Because a thickness of a portion of the supporting material layer 01 within the surrounding region 12 is larger than a thickness of a portion of the supporting material layer 01 within the component region 11, the blocking sub-layer 012 not only can protect a surface of the display component M that is close to the supporting material layer 01, but also can protect sidewalls of the display component M. As such, the blocking sub-layer 012 in the display substrate disclosed herein can realize a better protection of the display component M.
(28) Herein and throughout the disclosure, the display component is referred to as an assembly of elements for display functionality, which can comprise a light-emitting element (such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs)), TFTs, signal lines, or driving circuits, and so on.
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(30) One blocking sub-layer 012 is configured between each pair of adjacent flexible material sub-layers 011, and one flexible material sub-layer 011 is configured between each pair of adjacent blocking sub-layers 012. Through the above configuration of the plurality of blocking sub-layers 012, the protection of the display component can be further improved.
(31) Specifically in the embodiments as shown in
(32) Through the above configuration of a total of two blocking sub-layers 012A and 012B, the display component M can be better protected by the blocking sub-layers 012A and 021B. In addition, there is no need to increase the thickness of the display substrate, and the difficulties of the manufacturing process thereof are also not increased too much.
(33) In the above embodiments of the display substrate illustrated in
(34) According to some embodiments as illustrated in
(35) In the embodiments as specifically shown in
(36) Correspondingly, as shown in
(37) As such, in the embodiments of the display substrate described above and illustrated in
(38) Further in the embodiments of the display substrate as illustrated in
(39) It is noted that in some other embodiments of the display substrate, the target material layer can also be any one of the first blocking sub-layer 012A, the second flexible material sub-layer 011B, or the second blocking sub-layer 012B.
(40) For example, in the embodiments as shown in
(41) Correspondingly, in these above embodiments of the display substrate as illustrated in
(42) In any one of the embodiments as described above and illustrated in
(43) Throughout the disclosure, a component region is defined as a region of the supporting material layer whose orthographic projection on a plane that is substantially parallel to the supporting material layer (such as the bottom surface of the flexible material sub-layer 011 in
(44) Throughout the disclosure, a target material layer is defined as a sub-layer in the supporting material layer that comprises a planar portion and a protruding portion, wherein the planar portion of the target material layer is configured to cover the component region and the surrounding region of the supporting material layer (i.e. an orthographic projection of the planar portion of the target material layer on the base substrate is arranged to cover an orthographic projection of the component region and the surrounding region on the base substrate), and the protruding portion of the target material layer is configured to form a ring-like structure to surround the component region of the supporting material layer (i.e. an orthographic projection of the protruding portion of the target material layer on the base substrate forms a ring-like structure having an inside opening covering an orthographic projection of the component region of the supporting material layer on the base substrate).
(45) It is noted that in any one of the embodiments of the display substrate as described above, the material for the flexible material sub-layer 011 (as illustrated in
(46) It is further noted that in any one of the embodiments of the display substrate as described above, the material for the flexible material sub-layer 011 (as illustrated in
(47) In summary, in the first aspect of the present disclosure, a display substrate comprises a supporting material layer and a display component. The supporting material layer comprises at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, and the display component is disposed on one of the at least one blocking sub-layer. The supporting material layer comprises a component region and a surrounding region. The component region is configured to arrange a display component therein, and the surround region is configured to surround the component region.
(48) Because a thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer within the surrounding region is larger than the thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer within the component region, and the display component is arranged within the component region, the at least one blocking sub-layer not only can protect the surface of the display component that is close to the supporting material layer, but also can protect the sidewalls of the display component. As such, the display component in the display substrate can be better protected.
(49) In a second aspect, the present disclosure further provides a method of manufacturing a display substrate.
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(51) S501: Forming a supporting material layer over a base substrate.
(52) Herein, the supporting material layer can comprise at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, alternately arranged in layers; the supporting material layer comprises a component region and a surrounding region that surrounds the component region; a thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer located within the surrounding region is larger than a thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer located within the component region.
(53) S502: Forming a display component within a component region of the supporting material layer.
(54) Herein, the display component may be formed at the component region of the supporting material layer. Because the thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer located within the surrounding region is larger than the thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer located within the component region, one or more of the at least one blocking sub-layer in the supporting material layer can protect the side wall of the display component and further extend the working life of the display substrate. Herein, the display component may comprise one or more thin film transistors, one or more signal lines, and one or more driving circuits and so on.
(55) S503: Lifting off the base substrate.
(56) After the display component is formed within the component region of the supporting material layer, the base substrate can be further removed in step S503 through a laser lift-off process or a mechanical lift-off process, to thereby obtain the display substrate.
(57) As such, in the display substrate obtained by the manufacturing method described above, the supporting material layer substantially comprises at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer; and the supporting material layer comprises a component region and a surrounding region. Because the thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer within the surrounding region is larger than the thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer within the component region, and the display component is arranged at the component region, the at least one blocking sub-layer in the supporting material layer not only can protect a surface of the display component that is close to the supporting material layer, but also can protect sidewalls of the display component. Thereby, the at least one blocking sub-layer in the supporting material layer in the display substrate can provide a better protection to the display component.
(58) According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the supporting material layer can comprise one flexible material sub-layer and one blocking sub-layer, as illustrated in
(59) According to some other embodiments of the present disclosure, the supporting material layer can include a plurality of flexible material sub-layers and a plurality of blocking sub-layers, as illustrated in
(60) For example, in the embodiments illustrated in
(61) In any one of the embodiments as described above, at least one of the at least one flexible material sub-layer and the at least one blocking sub-layer is configured as a target material layer.
(62) It is configured that the target material layer comprises a planar portion and a protruding portion, such that the planar portion covers the component region and the surrounding region of the supporting material layer (i.e. an orthographic projection of the planar portion of the target material layer on the base substrate is arranged to cover an orthographic projection of the component region and the surrounding region on the base substrate).
(63) It is further configured such that the protruding portion forms a ring-like structure surrounding the component region of the supporting material layer (i.e. an orthographic projection of the protruding portion of the target material layer on the base substrate forms a ring-like structure having an inside opening covering an orthographic projection of the component region of the supporting material layer on the base substrate).
(64) As such, the step S501 of forming a supporting material layer over a base substrate comprises a sub-step of:
(65) S5010: Forming a target material layer over the base substrate.
(66) Specifically, as illustrated in
(67) S5010-1: Forming a planar portion that covers the component region and the surrounding region over the base substrate; and
(68) S5010-2: Forming a ring-shaped protruding portion over the planar portion within the surrounding region.
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(70) As shown in
(71) S601: Providing a base substrate.
(72) Herein, a base substrate is provided as a support, over which the supporting material layer and the display component can be formed. The base substrate can be a glass substrate, but can also be another material.
(73) S602: Forming a planar portion of a first flexible material sub-layer over the base substrate, such that the planar portion covers a component region and a surrounding region.
(74) Herein, the component region is defined as a region configured for arranging the display component therewithin, and the surrounding region is defined as a region configured to surround the component region.
(75) Furthermore, the planar portion can have a composition of PI material. As such, a PI material of a uniform thickness can be coated over the component region and the surrounding region of the base substrate through a nozzle-coating process or a screen printing process, to thereby form the planar portion of the first flexible material sub-layer.
(76) Specifically, the base substrate 10 and the planar portion S1 formed over the base substrate 10, after step S602, are shown in
(77) S603: Forming a ring-shaped protruding portion of the first flexible material sub-layer over the planar portion within the surrounding region, such that the protruding portion surrounds the component region.
(78) Herein, by means of step S603, the ring-shaped protruding portion can be formed through a patterning process at the surrounding region of the planar portion. The planar portion and the ring-shaped protruding portion can together form the first flexible material sub-layer. The ring-shaped protruding portion is configured to surround the display component disposed within the component region in the display substrate, and the display component is therefore protected. Herein, the patterning process can comprise a nozzle-coating or a screen printing.
(79) Specifically, the diagram of the ring-shaped protruding portion S2 formed over the planar portion at the surrounding region, after step S603, is illustrated in
(80) It should be noted that in order to improve the efficiency of the manufacturing process of the display substrate, the base substrate 10 provided in step 601 can be configured to have a relatively large area to thereby allow the manufacturing of more than one display substrates, and therefore, the base substrate 10 can be called a mother board.
(81) Correspondingly, as shown in
(82) S604: Forming a first blocking sub-layer over the first flexible material sub-layer.
(83) Herein, the first blocking sub-layer can have a composition of an inorganic material, and the first blocking sub-layer can be of a uniform thickness. As such, an inorganic material of uniform thickness can be formed over a surface of the first flexible material sub-layer 011A that is far away from the base substrate 10 through a physical vapor deposition (PVD) process, to thereby form the first blocking sub-layer 012A. The inorganic materials can be at least one of silicon oxide, silicon nitride, or silicon oxynitride.
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(85) S605: Forming a second flexible material sub-layer over the first blocking sub-layer.
(86) After step S605, the second flexible material sub-layer 011B can be formed over a surface of the first blocking sub-layer 012A that is far away from the base substrate 10. Herein, the second flexible material sub-layer 011B can be formed by nozzle-coating the PI material, and the second flexible material sub-layer 011B can be of a uniform thickness.
(87) Specifically, as illustrated in
(88) S606: Forming a second blocking sub-layer over the second flexible material sub-layer.
(89) As specifically illustrated in
(90) Herein, the first flexible sub-layer 011A, the first blocking sub-layer 012A, the second flexible material sub-layer 011B, and the second blocking sub-layer 012B that are successively disposed over the base substrate 10 together form the supporting material layer, which is configured to support one or more display components in the display substrate.
(91) S607: Forming a display component within each component region of the supporting material layer.
(92) As specifically illustrated in
(93) Herein, the display component can comprise TFTs, signal lines or driving circuits, and so on. Additionally, the patterning process employed for forming the display component may comprise a photo etching process, and so on. There are no limitations herein.
(94) S608: Cutting the surrounding region of each component region.
(95) Herein, as specifically illustrated in
(96) S609: Lifting off the base substrate.
(97) In step S609, the base substrate in each display substrate to be lifted off can be lifted off through a laser lift-off process or a mechanical lift-off process to thereby obtain a plurality of display substrates. The specific structure of each of the plurality of display substrates is illustrated in
(98) It should be noted that the above specific steps S601-S608 in the method for manufacturing the display substrate serve as illustrating purpose only, and do not impose a limitation to the scope of the disclosure. The specific order of the steps in the manufacturing method as described above may be changed or modified, new steps may be added, and/or some steps may be bypassed according to different situations. There are no limitations herein.
(99) In summary, the present disclosure provides a display substrate and its manufacturing method. The display substrate comprises a supporting material layer and a display component. In the display substrate, the supporting material layer comprises at least one flexible material sub-layer and at least one blocking sub-layer, and the display component is disposed on one of the at least one blocking sub-layer. The supporting material layer comprises a component region and a surrounding region. The component region is configured to arranged a display component therein, and the surround region is configured to surround the component region.
(100) Because a thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer within the surrounding region is larger than the thickness of the portion of the supporting material layer within the component region, and the display component is arranged within the component region, the at least one blocking sub-layer not only can protect the surface of the display component that is close to the supporting material layer, but also can protect the sidewalls of the display component. As such, the display component in the display substrate can be better protected.
(101) In a third aspect, the present disclosure further provides a display apparatus.
(102) The display apparatus comprises the display substrate according to any of the embodiments as described above. Herein, the display apparatus can be any products or components that have a display function. Examples of the display apparatus include liquid crystal display (LCDs) panels, electronic papers, organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels, AMOLED panels, mobile phones, tablets, televisions, monitors, laptops, digital frames, or navigators.
(103) All references cited in the present disclosure are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Although specific embodiments have been described above in detail, the description is merely for purposes of illustration. It should be appreciated, therefore, that many aspects described above are not intended as required or essential elements unless explicitly stated otherwise.
(104) Various modifications of, and equivalent acts corresponding to, the disclosed aspects of the exemplary embodiments, in addition to those described above, can be made by a person of ordinary skill in the art, having the benefit of the present disclosure, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure defined in the following claims, the scope of which is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass such modifications and equivalent structures.