Flexible optoelectronic device and process for manufacturing same
12557440 · 2026-02-17
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
H10H20/857
ELECTRICITY
H10H20/819
ELECTRICITY
H10H29/14
ELECTRICITY
H10H20/00
ELECTRICITY
H10H29/10
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H10H20/819
ELECTRICITY
H10H20/00
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
An optoelectronic device including an optoelectronic circuit including light-emitting diodes, thin-film transistors, and a stack of electrically-insulating layers, said stack being located between the light-emitting diodes, and the transistors stack further including conductive elements, between and through the insulating layers, the conductive elements connecting at least some of the transistors to the light-emitting diodes The device further includes a support having a surface, the support being flexible and/or the surface being curved and non-planar, the optoelectronic circuit being connected to the surface on the side of the thin-film transistors.
Claims
1. An optoelectronic device comprising: an optoelectronic circuit comprising light-emitting diodes; thin-film transistors, and a stack of electrically-insulating layers, said stack being located between the light-emitting diodes and the transistors, said stack further comprising electrically-conductive elements, between and through said electrically-insulating layers, said electrically-conductive elements connecting at least some of the transistors to the light-emitting diodes; and a support having a surface, the support being flexible and/or the surface being curved and non-planar, the optoelectronic circuit being connected to the surface of the support on a thin-film side of the optoelectronic circuit; wherein the light-emitting diodes comprise wire-shaped, conical, or frustoconical semiconductor elements.
2. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the support comprises electrically-conductive tracks, each electrically-conductive track being connected to one of the transistors.
3. The optoelectronic device according to claim 2, further comprising a circuit for controlling the optoelectronic circuit coupled to the electrically-conductive tracks.
4. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the total thickness of the optoelectronic circuit is in the range from 0.1 m to 500 m.
5. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the support is in the range from 5 m to 1,000 m.
6. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the support is at least partly made of polyethylene naphthalate, of polyethylene terephthalate, of polyimide, of cellulose triacetate, of cycloolefin copolymer, of polyetheretherketone, or of a mixture of at least two of these compounds.
7. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the transistors are distributed in at least one stage of thin-film transistors.
8. The optoelectronic device according to claim 7, wherein each stage comprises an electrically-insulating layer forming the gate insulator of all the transistors of this stage.
9. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein, for at least one of the transistors, the source and drain regions and the gate of the transistor are located in a same electrically-insulating layer.
10. The optoelectronic device according to claim 3, wherein the control circuit rests on the support.
11. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the optoelectronic circuit has a monolithic structure.
12. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, comprising a single copy of the optoelectronic circuit.
13. The optoelectronic device according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of copies of the optoelectronic circuit attached to the support and spaced apart from one another.
14. The optoelectronic device according to claim 13, wherein said plurality of copies of the optoelectronic circuit are arranged in rows and in columns, the electrically-conductive tracks extending along the rows and the columns, each electrically-conductive tracks being connected to transistors of a plurality of optoelectronic circuits.
15. A method of manufacturing the optoelectronic device according to claim 1, comprising the forming of an optoelectronic circuit comprising the successive steps of: a) forming light-emitting diodes; b) forming, on the light-emitting diodes, a stack of electrically-insulating layers, said stack further comprising electrically-conductive elements between and through said electrically-insulating layers; and c) forming, on said stack, thin-film transistors, said stack being located between the light-emitting diodes and the transistors, said electrically-conductive elements connecting at least some of the transistors to the light-emitting diodes, the assembly comprising the light-emitting diodes, the stack, and the thin-film transistors forming an optoelectronic circuit.
16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the following step, after step c): d) attaching the optoelectronic circuit to the surface of the support, the support being flexible and/or the surface being curved and non-planar.
17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the optoelectronic circuit is formed in a plurality of copies forming a one-piece structure, the method further comprising the following step, after step c): e) separation of each copy of the optoelectronic circuit.
18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the total thickness of the optoelectronic circuit is in the range from 0.1 m to 500 m.
19. The method according to claim 15, wherein step a) comprises the forming of wire-shaped, conical, or frustoconical semiconductor elements.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein step a) comprises the forming of electrically-conductive or semiconductor seed pads on a substrate and the growth of the semiconductor elements on the seed pads.
21. The method according to claim 15, wherein steps b) and c) are carried out at temperatures smaller than 180 C.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) The foregoing features and advantages, as well as others, will be described in detail in the following description of specific embodiments given by way of illustration and not limitation with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS
(15) Like features have been designated by like references in the various figures. In particular, the structural and/or functional features that are common among the various embodiments may have the same references and may dispose identical structural, dimensional and material properties.
(16) For the sake of clarity, only the steps and elements that are useful for an understanding of the embodiments described herein have been illustrated and described in detail. In particular, electric connections between various conductive portions may be present, without being shown, in the cross-section planes of the drawings or in planes parallel to the cross-section planes of the drawings.
(17) Unless specified otherwise, when reference is made to two elements connected together, this signifies a direct connection without any intermediate elements other than conductors, and when reference is made to two elements coupled together, this signifies that these two elements can be connected or they can be coupled via one or more other elements.
(18) In the following disclosure, unless otherwise specified, when reference is made to absolute positional qualifiers, such as the terms front, back, top, bottom, left, right, etc., or to relative positional qualifiers, such as the terms above, below, upper, lower, etc., or to qualifiers of orientation, such as horizontal, vertical, etc., reference is made to the orientation shown in the figures. Unless specified otherwise, the expressions around, approximately, substantially and in the order of signify within 10%, and preferably within 5%. Further, it is here considered that the terms insulating and conductive respectively mean electrically insulating and electrically conductive.
(19) In the following description, embodiments are described for optoelectronic devices comprising three-dimensional light-emitting diodes, that is, for which each light-emitting diode comprises a wire-shaped, conical, or frustoconical semiconductor element, for example, a microwire or a nanowire. However, these embodiments may also be implemented for planar light-emitting diodes, that is, for light-emitting diodes formed from a stack of planar semiconductor layers.
(20) The term microwire or nanowire designates a three-dimensional structure having an elongated shape along a preferred direction, having at least two dimensions, called minor dimensions, in the range from 5 nm to 5 m, preferably from 50 nm to 2.5 m, the third dimension, called major dimension or height, being at least equal to 1 time, preferably at least 5 times, and more preferably still at least 10 times, the largest minor dimension. In certain embodiments, the minor dimensions may be smaller than or equal to approximately 1 m, preferably in the range from 100 nm to 1 m, more preferably from 100 nm to 300 nm. In certain embodiments, the height of each microwire or nanowire may be greater than or equal to 500 nm, preferably in the range from 1 m to 50 m. The base of the wire for example has an oval, circular, or polygonal shape, particularly triangular, rectangular, square, or hexagonal.
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(22) According to an embodiment, optoelectronic device 10 comprises a flexible support 50 and a flexible optoelectronic circuit 100 attached to flexible support 50. Flexible support 50 comprises a flexible substrate 52 and conductive tracks 54 at the surface of substrate 52. Optoelectronic device 10 may comprise an integrated circuit or more than one integrated circuit attached to flexible support 50, a single integrated circuit 56 being shown in
(23) Optoelectronic circuit 100 comprises a first portion 100a comprising the optoelectronic components of optoelectronic circuit 100 and a second portion 100b comprising electronic circuits adapted to controlling the optoelectronic components.
(24) First portion 100a comprises: an insulating seed layer 112; conductive or semiconductor seed pads 114, at least partially resting on layer 112, layer 112 being made of a material favoring the growth of pads 114; light-emitting diodes 104, four light-emitting diodes being shown in
(25) Each light-emitting diode 104 may be controlled by a voltage delivered between pad 114 connected to one of the anode or of the cathode of light-emitting diode 104 and electrode layer 118, connected to the other one of the anode or of the cathode of light-emitting diode 104.
(26) The total thickness of first portion 100a is in the range from 50 nm to 30 m. The total thickness of second portion 100b is in the range from 50 nm to 499.95 m. The total thickness of optoelectronic circuit 10 is in the range from 0.1 m to 500 m. Due to its small thickness, optoelectronic circuit 10 has a flexible character.
(27) Certain blocks 122 may be transparent to the radiations emitted by light-emitting diodes 104, for example, in the case of light-emitting diodes 104 emitting blue light. Blocks 122 may have a monolayer or multilayer structure. According to an embodiment, blocks 122 comprise at least one layer deposited by a conformal deposition method. According to an embodiment, blocks 122 comprise at least one first layer deposited by a conformal deposition method and in contact with conductive layer 118, and at least one second layer for filling the spaces between light-emitting diodes to obtain a substantially planar front surface. Each block 122, or at least one of the layers forming it when block 122 has a multilayer structure, may further comprise a photoluminescent material capable, when it is excited by the light emitted by the light-emitting diode(s) covered with the block, of emitting light at a wavelength different from the wavelength of the light emitted by the light-emitting diode(s). Walls 123 prevent the radiation of each light-emitting diode from reaching the neighboring blocks 122.
(28) As a variant, seed layer 112 and/or seed pads 114 may not be present.
(29) The second portion 110b of optoelectronic circuit 100 comprises: a stack 126 of insulating layers, represented in
(30) Optoelectronic circuit 100 and integrated circuit 56 are connected to the conductive tracks 54 of flexible support 50 by connection elements, for example, solder balls 150. Flexible support 50 may be connected to other elements, for example, a flexible cable, not shown, by connection elements 152, for example, solder balls. According to an embodiment, the optoelectronic device comprises a single copy of optoelectronic circuit 100. According to another embodiment, the optoelectronic device comprises a plurality of copies of optoelectronic circuit 100 attached to flexible support 50. Optoelectronic circuits 100 may be arranged in rows and in columns on flexible support 50. Conductive tracks 54 may extend on flexible support 50 along the rows and the columns. Each conductive track 54 may be connected to a plurality of optoelectronic circuits 100. Conductive tracks 54 are coupled to a control circuit, for example, integrated circuit 56, or an electronic circuit which does not rest on flexible support 50. According to an embodiment, each optoelectronic circuit 100 is connected to at least first and second conductive tracks 54, the first conductive track being used by the control circuit to select optoelectronic circuit 100 and the second conductive track being used by the control circuit to transmit data to optoelectronic circuit 100.
(31) Substrate 52 may have a monolayer structure or correspond to a stack of at least two layers. Substrate 52 may correspond to a film made of PEN (polyethylene naphthalate), PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PI (polyimide), TAC (cellulose triacetate), COP (cycloolefin copolymer), or PEEK (polyetheretherketone). The thickness of substrate 52 may be in the range from 5 m to 1,000 m, preferably from 10 m to 300 m, more preferably from 75 m to 250 m, particularly in the order of 125 m. According to an embodiment, substrate 52 may be a flexible film having a flexible behavior, that is, substrate 52 may, under the action of an external force, deform, and particularly bend, without breaking or tearing. Conductive tracks 54 may be metallic, for example, made of copper.
(32) Each light-emitting diode 104 comprises two semiconductor elements, one of which is for example a three-dimensional element as previously described, for example, a wire, and an active layer interposed between the two semiconductor elements.
(33) Seed pads 114, also called seed islands, are made of a material favoring the growth of the wires of light-emitting diodes 104. As an example, the material forming seed pads 114 may be a nitride, a carbide, or a boride of a transition metal from column IV, V, or VI of the periodic table of elements, or a combination of these compounds. As an example, seed pads 114 may be made of aluminum nitride (AlN), of boron (B), of boron nitride (BN), of titanium (Ti), of titanium nitride (TiN), of tantalum (Ta), of tantalum nitride (TaN), of hafnium (Hf), of hafnium nitride (HfN), of niobium (Nb), of niobium nitride (NbN), of zirconium (Zr), of zirconium borate (ZrB.sub.2), of zirconium nitride (ZrN), of silicon carbide (SiC), of tantalum carbonitride (TaCN), of magnesium nitride in Mg.sub.xN.sub.y form, where x is approximately equal to 3 and y is approximately equal to 2, for example, magnesium nitride in Mg.sub.3N.sub.2 form or magnesium gallium nitride (MgGaN), of tungsten (W), of tungsten nitride (WN), or of a combination thereof.
(34) The insulating materials may be selected from the group comprising silicon oxide (SiO.sub.2), silicon oxynitride (SiON), silicon nitride (SiN), aluminum nitride (AlN), titanium oxide (TiO.sub.2), aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2O.sub.3), electrically-insulating organic materials, for example, parylene or ALX resin, and mixtures of at least two of these compounds.
(35) The semiconductor elements of light-emitting diodes 104 are at least partly formed based on at least one semiconductor material. The semiconductor material may be silicon, germanium, silicon carbide, a III-V compound, a II-VI compound, or a combination of these compounds.
(36) The semiconductor elements may be at least partly made of semiconductor materials mainly comprising a III-V compound, for example, III-N compounds. Examples of group-III elements comprise gallium (Ga), indium (In), or aluminum (Al). Examples of III-N compounds are GaN, AN, InN, InGaN, AlGaN, or AlInGaN. Other group-V elements may also be used, for example, phosphorus or arsenic. Generally, the elements in the III-V compound may be combined with different molar fractions.
(37) The semiconductor elements may be at least partly formed based on semiconductor materials mainly comprising a II-VI compound. Examples of group-II elements comprise group-IIA elements, particularly beryllium (Be) and magnesium (Mg), and group-IIB elements, particularly zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd). Examples of group-VI elements comprise group-VIA elements, particularly oxygen (O) and tellurium (Te). Examples of II-VI compounds are ZnO, ZnMgO, CdZnO, or CdZnMgO. Generally, the elements in the II-VI compound may be combined with different molar fractions.
(38) The semiconductor elements may comprise a dopant. As an example, for III-V compounds, the dopant may be selected from the group comprising a P-type group-II dopant, for example, magnesium (Mg), zinc (Zn), cadmium (Cd), or mercury (Hg), a P-type group-IV dopant, for example, carbon (C), or an N-type group-IV dopant, for example, silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), selenium (Se), sulfur (S), terbium (Tb), or tin (Sn).
(39) The active layer is the layer from which most of the radiation delivered by the light-emitting diode is emitted. As an example, the active layer may comprise confinement means, such as a single quantum well or multiple quantum wells. It is for example formed of an alternation of GaN and InGaN layers having respective thicknesses from 5 to 20 nm (for example, 8 nm) and from 1 to 10 nm (for example, 2.5 nm). The GaN layers may for example be N- or P-type doped.
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(43) As a variant, a step of removal of seed layer 112 and/or of seed pads 114 may further be provided.
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(46) As a variant, vias 144 and/or 146 may be formed at once after the forming of insulating layer 142.
(47) The steps of manufacturing transistors 110 are steps of manufacturing of thin-film transistors, for example, IGZO transistors. More precisely, these steps are preferably carried out at a maximum temperature smaller than 180 C. These steps are, in the present embodiment, performed in the reverse order with respect to the usual order of the steps of thin-film transistor manufacturing, that is, the gate is formed before the source and drain regions.
(48) According to an embodiment, a plurality of optoelectronic circuits are simultaneously formed according to the steps previously described in relation with
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(54) The method carries on with the removal of handle 170 to obtain the optoelectronic device 10 shown in
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(56) Device 500 thus comprises two stages of thin film transistors. As a variant, optoelectronic device 500 may comprise more than two stages of thin-film transistors. The presence of a plurality of transistor stages has the advantage of increasing the density of transistors.
(57) As a variation, some of conductive elements 514 may connect conductive tracks 506 to conductive tracks 140.
(58) Although, in the embodiment of
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(60) Seed pads 702 rest on a conductive layer 704. Layer 704 is preferably at least partially transparent to the radiations emitted by light-emitting diodes 704. Pads 702 are in contact with layer 704 to form an electric connection. Layer 704 thus forms an electrode common to all the light-emitting diodes 104.
(61) Layer 704 is covered with a plurality of photoluminescent blocks 705, photoluminescent blocks 705 being similar to the previously-described photoluminescent blocks 122. More particularly, each block 705 is located opposite a light-emitting diode 104. Further, blocks 705 are separated from one another by walls 707 similar to the previously-described walls 123.
(62) The rest of device 700 is identical to device 10, with the difference that each light-emitting diode 104 is in contact, by the side opposite to seed pad 702, with a conductive element 132 of the interconnection network.
(63) Thus, each light-emitting diode 104 may be controlled by a voltage applied between one of the anode or of the cathode, via a pad 702, and the other one of the anode or of the cathode, via a conductive element 132.
(64) The previously-described embodiments implement a flexible support 50. According to another embodiment, the surface of support 50 having optoelectronic circuit 100 resting thereon is a non-planar curved surface, support 50 being flexible or rigid. According to an embodiment, optoelectronic circuit 100 is directly attached to the non-planar curved surface of support 50. According to another embodiment, optoelectronic circuit 100 is attached to support 50 in an initial configuration of support 50 where the surface having optoelectronic circuit 100 attached thereon is planar and support 50 is deformed, according to a plastic deformation when support 50 is rigid, to bring the surface having optoelectronic circuit 100 attached thereon into a final configuration where this surface is curved and non-planar.
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(66) Thus, transistor 800 is formed in an insulating layer 802, for example, made of silicon oxide. Transistor 800 comprises, in layer 802: two semiconductor blocks 804, forming the drain and source areas; a semiconductor block 806 extending between blocks 804, and being in contact with blocks 804. Block 806 forms the channel of transistor 800; and blocks 808, made of a semiconductor or conductive material, located on either side of block 806 and forming the gate of transistor 800. Blocks 808 are separated from channel 806 by a portion of insulating layer 802.
(67) Insulating layer 802, comprising transistors 800, may replace the layers, for example layers 135, 136, and 142, comprising transistors 110.
(68) An advantage of the previously-described embodiments is that the manufacturing of the interconnection levels of stack 126 and of thin-film transistors 110 has a thermal budget compatible with light-emitting diodes 104, that is, the manufacturing of transistors 110 may be performed on a structure already comprising light-emitting diodes 104 without negatively impacting the performance of light-emitting diodes 104.
(69) As previously described, a plurality of optoelectronic circuits are simultaneously formed in monolithic fashion on a same integrated circuit wafer.
(70) More precisely, such an embodiment comprises the successive steps of: a) simultaneous forming on the same substrate 160 of a plurality of copies of the first portion 100a of optoelectronic circuit 100, comprising light-emitting diodes 104, particularly by the simultaneous carrying out, in a plurality of copies on the same substrate 160, of the steps previously described in relation with
(71) Various embodiments and variants have been described. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that certain characteristics of these various embodiments and variants may be combined, and other variants will occur to those skilled in the art. In particular, the embodiment of
(72) Finally, the practical implementation of the embodiments and variants described herein is within the capabilities of those skilled in the art based on the functional indications provided hereinabove.