DE102006001854A1 - Display with energy storage, as well as manufacturing process - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an electronic component in thin-film technology which comprises at least one display and an energy store. Here, self-sufficient displays in thin-film technology are presented for the first time through a clever combination of layers.

Description

The The invention relates to an electronic component in thin-film technology, which comprises at least one display and an energy store.

At The production of flexible, very cost-effective displays has been over ten Years worked. First promising approaches are based on so-called electrochromic (inorganic / organic), electrophoretic (physical) and organic light emitting materials (e.g., OLEDs, electroluminescence).

One However, a major problem of the displays is their supply of Energy, technically the same requirements in terms of flexibility and thickness of construction got to. additionally The energy storage must as often as possible in a very short time again be rechargeable to short-term the necessary energy for color change provide. This is especially true when the circuit has no high flow rate permits, like the control electronics in the so-called "polymer electronics".

It There are currently many approaches the displays and the power supply on a substrate, in one housing wall integrated or similar However, the known solutions always include at least two separate units.

in the The ever-growing demand for more compactness and simpler Production paths, it is therefore an object of the invention, a display with a power supply available in one Step, i. with a construction technique can be produced.

These The object is solved by the subject matter of the claims, the figures and the description.

object The invention is an electronic component, at least two Comprising components, a display and a thin-film energy store, wherein the functional layers of the thin film capacitor and the Displays are combined.

Besides that is The invention relates to a method for producing an electronic Component according to one of the claims 1 to 13 wherein the layers of a device on a substrate, a housing wall and / or an encapsulation of a lower component by screen printing, spraying and / or roll-to-roll printing processes.

Under Combination of the functional layers of the two components display and capacitor is understood that the electronic component is built in a process, in other words as a unit, for example can be produced by printing.

advantageously, the component with the at least two components has only one housing, one Encapsulation, sealing and / or protective layer that the device for example harmful environmental influences protects.

advantageously, finds the combination of the thin film capacitor and the display so that at least one layer is present in the device which serves as a functional layer for both components.

To an advantageous embodiment the display is an electrochromic display. Alternatively, too a display based on LCD technology, one with an active layer made of electrophoretic material, an OLED or LED display and various others and combinations of the mentioned display techniques used become.

there Various systems and structures are conceivable, for example can be the capacitor or energy storage on the back be arranged of the display, such that the one electrode the memory on the back the carrier of the Back electrode is applied.

Of the However, energy storage can also be arranged on the same side of the baking electrode carrier be.

The Storage electrode of the energy storage is also used as a baking electrode used the display.

For example can also the electrolyte of the energy storage at the same time the electrolyte the display. On the other hand, the two electrolytes also be on one level and be separated.

As well can the two electrodes baking electrode of the display and energy storage electrode but lie on a layer plane but be separated.

Of Further, at least one electrode material may include carbon ("C atoms").

To an embodiment the baking electrode can be carried self-supporting, whereby the carrier layer the baking electrode of the display is eliminated. The baking electrode is then preferably impermeable for the Electrolytes of the display. The electrolyte of the display and the electrolyte of the energy store can for example, housed on one level but in separate electrolyte spaces be.

Finally, can the component also be extended as desired, so for example a symmetrically arranged energy storage two external displays supply.

advantageously, the display is an organic-based display, that is, that at least one of the functional layers of a non-silicon-containing Material is constructed.

advantageously, the display is an electrochromic display, particularly preferred one on an organic basis.

advantageously, the device is at least partially in layering, so by successive application of layers made.

It There are currently no approaches the display and power supply in one step, i. with a Process technology appear to be produced. Furthermore, no Structure known to integrate this, if necessary, directly into a housing.

With previous approaches it is not possible, flexible To create displays that are in the same construction an energy supply that is preferred should also be rechargeable, include and still in the Thin-film process, So preferably in a total thickness of less than 1.5 mm, preferably smaller 1mm can be produced. In all known approaches are the display and the rechargeable power supply (e.g. a flat, rechargeable battery) two separate units, each have their own "sealing" (encapsulation) and thicker. So far Display and power supply in, completely separate from each other, Processes are produced, which has major disadvantages (especially regarding. features and on the cost side).

A possibility for the Production of the electronic component is in the direct Application of a thin-film capacitor the carrier the back electrode of the electrochromic displays, so that an integrated Module off display and rechargeable within seconds Energy supply is created.

When base for the display with power supply serves, for example, a Plastic substrate, that on one side with an electrically conductive layer (e.g., gold, aluminum or other, e.g., conductive layers based on organic electronics). This serves in the display as baking electrode. On the baking electrode is the electrochromic Applied material and on the transparent, electrically conductive viewing electrode (e.g., ITO). This structure preferably has a thickness of less than 500 μm, preferably less than 300 microns and particularly preferably less than 200 microns.

On the other side of the plastic substrate is, for example the cathode of the capacitor applied in thin-film technique, the thickness the electrode in the range between 5 to 500 microns, preferably between 7 and 350 microns and in particular preferably between 10 and 100 microns is. On the cathode directly the electrolyte and the anode is applied (with comparable thickness), so that the thickness of the entire component preferably less than 1.5 mm, more preferably less than 1 mm.

This Construction of condenser and display can be, if necessary, directly into a housing or a housing inside integrate, whereby a separate housing is not required.

Prefers the electronic component is encapsulated. Unless the case material not for yourself an encapsulation is suitable, so no hermetic seal provides, can be an extra Encapsulation done. The encapsulation can be a variety of designs and properties, it is at least transparent and transparent at the viewing window should protect the device from harmful environmental influences, in particular against air, moisture and / or mechanical damage.

In addition, functionalities such as Sensors and / or connections be integrated into the encapsulation, depending on the embodiment of the component.

The here as a preferred embodiment The invention described combination of double-layer capacitor and electrochromic display leaves For example, about a screen printing process, a spraying process and / or a roll-to-roll Produce printing process. All the above methods are distinguished by the possibility a cheap mass production.

critical is that characterized by the special, combined construction of display and capacitor extremely thin Create elements that also provide the property of flexibility.

The complete element leaves For example, in a continuous process, resulting in a significant cost advantage over separate production created by display and capacitor. In combination with an organic printable Electronics could Display, power supply, logic and driver circuit in one compatible high-throughput printing process.

The element would be especially for the production of active smart cards are suitable.

Possible applications of these displays are in the first step e.g. Smart Active Labels, smart card or e-paper displays, i.e. Displays with properties of "printed paper". The essential innovation is here the extremely small thicknesses, the flexibility of the displays and the low Costs. In particular on packaging, tickets, documents of all kinds can the displays as particularly lurid Presentation and / or advertising are used.

The Applications lie between publicity stunt and information about technical Products, between decoration and proof of observed storage and Transport conditions.

in the The invention will be described below with reference to some embodiments explained in more detail.

1 shows the simplest construction of a stacked arrangement,

2 shows a structure in which two electrodes lie on a layer plane,

3 shows a structure similar to that 2 , where a separation between electrochromic and electrolytic material is inserted,

4 again shows a similar structure as 2 , this time with separate back electrodes of energy storage and display,

5 shows a structure in which the counter electrode and the viewing electrode of the display lie on a layer plane.

Back to 1 : There you can see the viewing electrode at the top 1 , the transparent electrode of the display, for example of titanium oxide. Underneath lies the electrochromic layer 2 , This is, for example, a formulation for use in electrochromic components as known from the DE 10 2005 032 316.2 and / or the DE 10 2005 024 946.9 are known. On the viewing electrode 1 opposite side of the electrochromic active layer 2 is the counter electrode 3 which is, for example, a metallic layer such as a thin gold and / or aluminum layer. Of course, another conductive layer is equally suitable as a counter electrode, for example, carbon black (black carbon) or an organic, for example, even polymeric conductive layer 3 , This conductive electrode layer 3 lies on a carrier layer 4 , which is made for example of a film, thinnest glass and / or quartz or other, as a substrate or support at this point advantageously usable material.

On the lower, so the counter electrode 3 the electrochromic device side facing away from the carrier 4 is the cathode according to this embodiment of the invention 5 of the thin-film capacitor. Below the cathode 5 is the electrolyte layer 6 of the capacitor and below it is the anode 7 of the thin film capacitor in this embodiment of the invention.

The entire structure is here on a housing wall 8th shown, according to the invention, but such a structure on an almost arbitrary surface 8th be attached.

For example, the baking electrode or anode of the energy storage 7 be self-supporting and impermeable to the electrolyte. It is advantageous if the display and the energy storage have two independent electrolyte spaces.

In 2 Again, a construction according to an embodiment of the invention can be seen, here again a combination of display and memory can be seen, which are housed in a common housing and / or encapsulation, wherein for both systems at least one component is used together. The display is preferably an electrochromic display, but it is also conceivable an electrophoretic display or other type of display, such as LCD, OLED, LED or much more.

Prefers Both the display, as well as the energy storage in thin-film technology produced.

At the in 2 In the embodiment shown, the energy store is located on the same side of the carrier 4 like the display, therefore the carrier is omitted here 4 out 1 and the whole component is on the surface 8th , which may be a housing wall, a surface of a smart card or otherwise.

You can see it on the surface 8th first the counter or baking electrode 3 which serves both the display and the energy storage as a counter electrode. In this embodiment, the baking electrode of the display is also used as a storage electrode.

Then there is a layer of a material that can form the capacitive middle electrolyte layer in an electrochromic device, the optically active layer as well as in an energy storage. In this layer are simultaneously the electrolyte of the display and the electrolyte of the energy storage, so it includes the electrolyte 6 and the electrochromic material 2 out 1 , This layer is below with 26 be records.

Over the shift 26 there is a plane with two electrodes 1 and 7 on the one hand, the transparent viewing electrode 1 the display and the second the anode 7 of the energy store. Between the two electrodes is the material of the encapsulation, with which the entire device is encapsulated, wherein preferably the area 9 above the viewing electrode is recessed from the encapsulation, so that a viewing window 9 of the display results.

3 shows a similar embodiment of the invention as 2 , only with the difference that the layer 26 through a separator 11 is divided into two parts and thereby the electrolytes of the components are separated. So there is through the separator 11 separated present on one level the layer 2 made of electrochromic material and the electrolyte layer 6 ,

4 again shows a similar embodiment to the 2 and 3 , but here is not the common electrolyte layer 26 out 2 through a second separator 12 is shared, but the common electrode layer 3 so that two separate electrodes 3 and 5 available. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one electrode material comprises carbon in the form of carbon black or the like.

The two embodiments of the 3 and 4 may also be present in combination as a further embodiment of the invention.

5 shows again a structure, as he from the 2 is known, but this time combined with a further energy storage, located below the baking electrode layer 3 out 2 connects by a simple two-layer construction. This two-layer construction points to the 2 known structure still under the common counter electrode 3 the first energy storage and the display another electrolyte layer 13 an energy store and another counter electrode 14 an energy store.

This in 5 embodiment shown opens up the possibility of further variants in that, for example, in a symmetrical arrangement, a centrally located memory supplies two outside displays, so that the dashed line 15 serves as a line of symmetry and the structure shown here upwards repeats itself down again and as the lowest layer, for example, again a surface 8th (not shown here) serves as a carrier of the device.

The Component according to the invention preferably comprises at least one functional, ie active layer such as electrode layer, optically active layer, Electrolyte layer and / or carrier layer from predominantly organic material. Under organic material is to understand any material that is not in the conventional Silicon-based semiconductor technology or electronics used becomes. Although according to the invention currently because of the better processability polymeric, usually containing carbon atoms organic polymers wide However, the invention is by no means intended to refer to these materials limited can, rather, can organic-metallic hybrids, silicones, oligomers or even monomers present components, the latter being used, for example, in the form of "small molecules".

The Invention should open a wide range of applications, since Here for the first time self-supplying displays in thin-film technology presented become.

Claims (15)

Electronic component, at least two components, a display and a thin-film energy storage comprising, wherein the functional layers of the thin film capacitor and the display combined. Component according to claim 1, wherein at least one functional layer of a component of the component predominantly is organic material. Component according to one of claims 1 or 2, wherein at least a component of the device is present encapsulated. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the at least two components only a housing, an encapsulation, sealing and / or Have protective layer. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the components are combined so that in the component at least a layer is present as a functional layer for both components serves. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the display is an electrochromic display. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the energy storage on the back the counter electrode or the carrier the counter electrode of the display is arranged. Component according to one of the preceding An Claims 1 to 6, wherein the energy storage is arranged on the same side of the carrier as the display. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the counter electrode of the display as the electrode of the energy storage is being used. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the electrolyte of the display simultaneously electrolyte of the energy storage is. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein Although the at least two electrodes of the at least two components on one level, but separated. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the electrolyte of the at least two components on one level, but is present separated. Component according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least one electrode material comprises carbon. Method for producing an electronic component according to one of the claims 1 to 13 wherein the layers of a device on a substrate, a housing wall and / or an encapsulation of a lower component by screen printing, spraying and / or roll-to-roll printing processes. The method of claim 14, wherein in thin film technology is working.