JP2001297878A - Manufacturing method of organic EL panel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To improve productivity by simplifying the manufacturing process,
Provided is a method for manufacturing an organic EL panel that can reduce the manufacturing cost of the organic EL panel. SOLUTION: In an organic EL element formation step, an organic EL element 18 in which an organic layer 4 is sandwiched between a transparent electrode 3 and a back electrode 5 is formed at a plurality of places on a translucent support substrate 19. In the organic EL element sealing step, a sealing substrate 22 having first and second concave portions 20 and 21 corresponding to the number of the organic layers 4 is prepared, and the organic EL element 18 and the first concave portion 20 face each other. Electrode portion 1 serving as a lead portion of transparent electrode 3 and back electrode 5
The sealing substrate 22 is disposed on the supporting substrate 19 so that the third and the third concave portions 21 face the second concave portion 21.
19 and the sealing substrate 22 are bonded. In the first cutting step, the support substrate 19 and the sealing substrate 22 are cut to obtain individual organic EL panels 1. In the second cutting step, a portion corresponding to the second concave portion 21 is cut to expose the electrode portions 13 and 17 of the transparent electrode 3 and the back electrode 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an organic EL panel provided with an organic EL element (organic electroluminescence element) which emits a predetermined light emission, at least one of which is sandwiched between a pair of translucent electrodes. is there.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The structure of an organic EL panel will be described with reference to FIGS. In the organic EL panel 1, a transparent electrode (anode) 3 is formed on a glass substrate 2 by ITO (indium tin oxide) or the like, and a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, and an electron transport layer are formed on the transparent electrode 3. Are sequentially laminated, an organic layer 4 is formed, a back electrode (cathode) 5 of aluminum (Al) or the like is formed on the organic layer 4, and the transparent electrode 3, the organic layer 4, and the back electrode 5 are covered. A sealing cap 6 having a concave shape made of a glass material is provided on the support substrate 2 with an ultraviolet-curing adhesive 7.
In the organic EL panel 1, the light emitting layer emits a predetermined light by applying a DC voltage between the transparent electrode 3 and the back electrode 5. Things. In addition, the organic EL panel 1 includes a polyimide-based insulating layer 8 formed on the periphery of the transparent electrode 3 in order to clearly display the outline of the light emitting region or to ensure insulation between the transparent electrode 3 and the back electrode 5. Are formed on the glass substrate 2 so as to slightly overlap with the substrate.

In the organic EL panel 1, an electrode group 9 extended from the transparent electrode 3 and the back electrode 5 is arranged on one side of a rectangular glass substrate 2, and the electrodes on the glass substrate 2 are formed. Forming area 10 of part 9
Are configured to be exposed from the sealing cap 6.

[0004]

As a method of manufacturing such an organic EL panel 1, a transparent electrode 3, an insulating layer 8, an organic layer 4, and a back electrode 5 are appropriately provided at a plurality of positions on a supporting substrate serving as a glass substrate 2. The organic EL elements are sequentially formed by the method, and the organic EL elements are covered with individually prepared sealing caps 6, and then the support substrate 2 is cut by a scribe method to separate the individual organic EL panels 1. I'm trying to get.

That is, since it is necessary to dispose the sealing cap 6 on each of the organic EL elements so that the formation region 10 of the electrode group 9 is exposed outside the sealing cap 6, the productivity is low and There is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the EL panel 1 is increased. In addition, when individual sealing caps 6 are obtained, multi-cutting using a large glass substrate is generally performed. Therefore, in the manufacturing process of the sealing cap 6, a chamfering step after the cutting step and a cleaning There is a problem that a process is required and the manufacturing process becomes complicated.

Accordingly, the present invention focuses on the above-mentioned problems and simplifies the manufacturing process to increase the productivity and improve the organic E
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an organic EL panel that can reduce the manufacturing cost of an L element.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided an organic EL device comprising a light-transmitting support substrate and an organic layer including at least a light-emitting layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes.
An organic EL element forming step of forming elements at a plurality of locations, and a sealing substrate having first and second concave portions corresponding to the number of the organic EL elements are prepared, and the organic EL element, the first concave portion, And the sealing substrate is disposed on the support substrate such that the lead portion electrically connected to the electrode and the second concave portion face each other, and the support substrate and the sealing substrate An organic EL element sealing step of bonding the first and second substrates, a first cutting step of cutting predetermined portions of the support substrate and the sealing substrate to obtain individual organic EL panels, and a portion corresponding to the second recess. Second cutting and exposing the drawer portion
And a cutting step.

Further, the sealing substrate is made of a glass material, and the first and second concave portions are formed by any one of a sandblasting method, a cutting and an etching method.

Further, the first and second cutting steps are cutting steps by a scribe method.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same or corresponding parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 1, an organic EL panel 1 includes a glass substrate 2, a transparent electrode 3, an insulating layer 8, an organic layer 4, a back electrode 5, and a sealing cap 6.

The glass substrate 2 is a rectangular flat plate member.

The transparent electrode 3 is made of a conductive material such as ITO on the glass substrate 2 and has a display segment portion 11 in the shape of a star, a lead portion 12 drawn out from each segment, and a lead portion. And an electrode portion (lead portion) 13 provided at the terminal end of the reference numeral 12. The electrode portions 13 are intensively arranged on one side of the glass substrate 2.

The insulating layer 8 is made of an insulating material such as polyimide and has a window portion 14 corresponding to the display segment portion 11,
Notch 15 corresponding to an electrode portion of back electrode 5 described later
In order to clearly display the outline of the light emitting region, a window 14 is formed so as to slightly overlap with the periphery of the display segment 11 of the transparent electrode 3. It is provided so as to cover the lead portion 12 to ensure insulation.

The organic layer 4 may have at least a light emitting layer. In the embodiment of the present invention, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer and an electron transport layer are sequentially formed. It becomes. The organic layer 4 is provided at a position where the window 14 is formed in the insulating layer 8 with a predetermined size.

The back electrode 5 is made of a non-light-transmitting conductive material such as aluminum, and is provided on the organic layer 4. The back electrode 5 is electrically connected to a lead portion 16 provided on one side of the glass substrate 2 on which the respective electrode portions 13 of the transparent electrode 3 are formed. Note that an electrode portion (lead portion) 17 is provided at the end of the lead portion 16, and the lead portion 16 and the electrode portion 17 are formed of the same material as the transparent electrode 3.

The sealing cap 6 is composed of an organic EL element 18 comprising a transparent electrode 3, an insulating layer 8, an organic layer 4, and a back electrode 5.
Of the transparent electrode 3 and the electrode part 17 of the back electrode 5 are slightly smaller than the glass substrate 2 so that the electrode part 13 of the transparent electrode 3 and the electrode part 17 of the back electrode 5 are exposed. The sealing cap 6 is hermetically disposed on the glass substrate 2 with an ultraviolet-curable adhesive 7.

An organic EL panel 1 is constituted by the above components.

Next, a method of manufacturing the organic EL panel 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the insulating layer 8 is omitted and not shown.

First, an organic EL element 18 including a transparent electrode 3, an insulating layer 8, an organic layer 4, and a back electrode 5 is formed at a plurality of locations on a support substrate 19 serving as the glass substrate 2 by means such as vapor deposition or sputtering. "Organic EL element forming step, FIG. 2 (a)".

Then, the first concave portion 20 corresponding to the size of the organic EL element 18 and serving as the storage space S and a method equivalent to the first concave portion 20 are formed by one of the sandblasting method, the cutting and the etching method. Then, a sealing substrate 22 having a second concave portion 21 corresponding to the size of the formation region 10 of each of the electrode portions 13 and 17 of the transparent electrode 3 and the back electrode 5 is prepared (FIG. 2A).

Next, the supporting substrate 19 in the sealing substrate 22
The adhesive 7 is applied to the contact surface 23 of the sealing substrate 22, and the sealing substrate 22 is supported so that the first recess 20 corresponds to the organic EL element 18 and the second recess 21 corresponds to the formation region 10. Substrate 1
The multi-substrate 24 having a plurality of the organic EL panels 1 is obtained by bonding and fixing on the organic EL element 9.
FIG. 2 (b).

Next, the surface of the sealing substrate 22 corresponding to the width W of the bottom surface 25 of the second concave portion 21 and the surfaces of the supporting substrate 19 and the sealing substrate 22 corresponding to the partitioned area of the organic EL panel 1 Then, the cutting groove 26 is formed by a scriber (FIG. 2B).

Next, in the multi-substrate 24, a cutting groove 26 located outside the second recess 21 and an organic EL
A “first cutting step, FIG. 2C”, in which the formation positions of the cutting grooves 26 corresponding to the divided areas of the panel 1 are cut, and the multi-substrate 24 is divided into individual organic EL panels 1

The organic EL panel 1 divided by the above-described cutting step has a configuration in which the bottom surface 25 is cantilevered at the location where the second concave portion 21 is formed. Cutting groove 26 located inside
2 at the second cutting step, FIG.
(D). "

Accordingly, by removing the bottom surface 25, the organic EL panel 1 in which the formation regions 10 of the electrode portions 13 and 17 are exposed is obtained.
(E). "

In the method of manufacturing the organic EL panel 1, an organic EL element 18 including a transparent electrode 3, an insulating layer 8, an organic layer 4, and a back electrode 5 is formed at a plurality of locations on a translucent support substrate 19. Organic EL element forming step and organic EL element 1
A translucent sealing substrate 22 having a number of first and second concave portions 20 and 21 corresponding to 8 is prepared, and the organic EL element 18 and the first concave portion 20 face each other. The sealing substrate 22 is placed on the support substrate 19 so that the electrode portions 13 and 17 serving as the lead-out portions of the back electrode 5 and the second concave portion 21 face each other.
And an organic EL element sealing step of bonding the support substrate 19 and the sealing substrate 22 to each other, and a first cutting step of cutting the support substrate 19 and the sealing substrate 22 to obtain individual organic EL panels 1 And a second cutting step of cutting a portion corresponding to the second concave portion 21 to expose each of the electrode portions 13 and 17, and a conventional method in which individual sealing caps are arranged in accordance with the organic EL element. The organic EL panel 1 in which the electrode portions 13 and 17 are exposed to the outside can be obtained by a simple manufacturing method such as cutting the portion corresponding to the second concave portion 21 as compared with the manufacturing method described in (1). Further, since the individual organic EL panels 1 can be obtained only by the step of cutting from the multi-substrate 24, it is possible to improve the productivity and reduce the manufacturing cost.

Further, in the method of manufacturing the organic EL panel 1 according to the present invention, a chamfering step and a cleaning step after the cutting step which occur when the sealing cap 6 is formed as in the conventional manufacturing step are not required. In addition, since the chamfering and cleaning steps in the cut portion of the organic EL panel 1 can be performed collectively after the second cutting step, it is possible to improve work efficiency.

The sealing substrate 22 is made of a glass material, and the first and second concave portions 20 and 21 are formed by a sand blast method.
By forming either by cutting or etching method,
It is excellent in mass production, and the sealing cap 6 can be obtained at low cost.

In the first and second cutting steps, a cutting step by a scribe method is adopted, so that individual organic EL panels 1 can be obtained without using expensive equipment, and the manufacturing cost is reduced. Can be further reduced.

In the embodiment of the present invention, a display in the form of a sun character is taken as an example. However, for example, a method of manufacturing an organic EL panel in which one organic EL element simply emits light is also effective. Thus, the present invention is not limited to the above-described display mode.

[0032]

According to the present invention, there is provided an organic EL element forming step of forming an organic EL element in which at least an organic layer including a light emitting layer is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes on a light-transmitting support substrate, at a plurality of locations; A sealing substrate having first and second concave portions corresponding to the number of the organic EL elements is prepared, and the organic EL element and the first concave section are opposed to each other and are electrically connected to the electrodes. An organic EL element sealing step of arranging the sealing substrate on the support substrate such that the portion faces the second concave portion, and bonding the support substrate and the sealing substrate; A first cutting step of cutting a predetermined portion of the substrate and the sealing substrate to obtain an individual organic EL panel, and a second cutting step of cutting a portion corresponding to the second recess and exposing the lead portion; With excellent productivity and manufacturing cost To provide a method of manufacturing an organic EL panel capable of reducing.

Further, the sealing substrate is made of a glass material, and the first and second concave portions are formed by any one of a sandblasting method, a cutting and an etching method, and is excellent in mass production and inexpensive. It becomes possible to obtain a sealing cap.

Further, since the first and second cutting steps are cutting steps by a scribe method, individual organic EL panels can be obtained with inexpensive equipment, and the manufacturing cost can be further reduced. And

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an organic EL panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method for manufacturing the organic EL panel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a main part of a conventional organic EL panel.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a conventional organic EL panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Organic EL panel 2 Glass substrate 3 Transparent electrode 4 Organic layer 5 Back electrode 7 Adhesive 13, 17 Electrode part (lead-out part) 18 Organic EL element 19 Support substrate 20 First concave part 21 Second concave part 22 Sealing substrate 25 Bottom 26 Cutting groove

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An organic EL device comprising a light-transmitting support substrate and an organic layer including at least a light-emitting layer sandwiched between a pair of electrodes.
An organic EL element forming step of forming an L element at a plurality of locations;
A sealing substrate having first and second concave portions corresponding to the number of the organic EL elements is prepared, and the organic EL element and the first concave section are opposed to each other and are electrically connected to the electrodes. An organic EL element sealing step of arranging the sealing substrate on the support substrate such that the portion faces the second concave portion, and bonding the support substrate and the sealing substrate; A first cutting step of cutting a predetermined portion of the substrate and the sealing substrate to obtain an individual organic EL panel, and a second cutting step of cutting a portion corresponding to the second recess and exposing the lead portion; A method for manufacturing an organic EL panel, comprising: 2. The sealing substrate is made of a glass material,
2. The method for manufacturing an organic EL panel according to claim 1, wherein the first and second concave portions are formed by any one of a sandblasting method, a cutting and an etching method. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first and second cutting steps are cutting steps by a scribe method.