专利汇可以提供Methods, apparatus, and rollers for cross-web forming of optoelectronic devices专利检索,专利查询,专利分析的服务。并且Apparatus and methods for forming optoelectronic devices such as an array of light emitting diodes or photovoltaic cells in one embodiment a roll-to-roll process in which a uniquely configured roller having a raised spiral coating surface is aligned with a plurality of first electrodes disposed on an angle on a substrate for coating a plurality of spaced-apart angled coated strips of optoelectronic materials along the cross-web direction of the substrate.,下面是Methods, apparatus, and rollers for cross-web forming of optoelectronic devices专利的具体信息内容。
The invention claimed is:
This application is related to commonly owned, and co-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/017,140, entitled “Methods, Apparatus, and Rollers For Forming Optoelectronic Devices” by Poon et al., which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to optoelectronic devices. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to forming optoelectronic devices and patterned films for large area optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes and photovoltaic devices.
Organic electroluminescent devices (OLEDs) typically includes one or more light emitting layers disposed between two electrodes, e.g., a cathode and a light transmissive anode, formed on a light transmissive substrate. The light emitting layer emits light upon application of a voltage across the anode and cathode. Upon the application of a voltage from a voltage source, electrons are directly injected into the organic layer from the cathode, and holes are directly injected into the organic layer from the anode. The electrons and the holes travel through the organic layer until they recombine at a luminescent center. This recombination process results in the emission of a photon, i.e., light. Large area OLED devices typically combine many individual OLED devices on a single substrate or a combination of substrates with multiple individual OLED devices on each substrate. Applications for large area OLED devices include area lighting.
Electroluminescent layer patterning has been conventionally performed using stamping or laser ablation. In stamping, a pattern is imprinted upon the layer using mechanical force upon a patterned die or a stamping head, whereas in laser ablation, a patterned photomask covers the area to be patterned while the remaining area is selectively etched using a laser beam. Another approach includes inkjet printing.
A recent attempt for applying the patterned active electroluminescent layer is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0129977 by Poon et al., which includes a combination of a web coating using a roller having an elongated coating surface such as a micro gravure coating process and a solvent assisted wiping process for removing portions of the applied active electroluminescent web coated layer. U.S. Pat. No. 7,049,757 discloses an array of light devices connected in series.
Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices may be fabricated using similar materials and concepts as the OLED devices. Organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices typically include at least two layers of organic semiconducting materials disposed between two conductors or electrodes. At least one layer of organic semiconducting material is an electron acceptor, and at least one layer of organic material is an electron donor. An electron acceptor is a material that is capable of accepting electrons from another adjacent material due to a higher electron affinity of the electron acceptor. An electron donor is a material that is capable of accepting holes from an adjacent material due to a lower ionization potential of the electron donor. The absorption of photons in an organic photoconductive material results in the creation of bound electron-hole pairs, which must be dissociated before charge collection can take place. The separated electrons and holes travel through their respective acceptor (semiconducting material) to be collected at opposite electrodes.
There is a need for further deposition and patterning techniques in the fabrication of organic electronic devices.
The present invention, in a first aspect, is directed to a method for forming a plurality of optoelectronic devices. The method includes providing a substrate having a longitudinal web direction and a cross-web direction, and a plurality of first electrodes disposed on the substrate to define a plurality of longitudinally-extending columns of spaced-apart first electrodes along the longitudinal web direction and a plurality of rows of spaced-apart first electrodes disposed on an angle relative to the cross-web direction. A first roller is provided having a first raised spiral coating surface extending around the first roller, and the substrate and the plurality of spaced-apart columns of the first electrodes aligned and passed relative to the first roller to deposit from the first raised spiral coating surface a first plurality of angled spaced-apart coated strips of a first optoelectronic material onto the substrate and onto the plurality of rows of first electrodes. A second roller is provided having a second raised spiral coating surface extending around the second roller, and the substrate, the plurality of spaced-apart columns of first electrodes, and the first plurality of angled spaced-apart coated strips of the first optoelectronic material is aligned and passed relative to the second roller to deposit from the second raised spiral coating surface a second plurality of angled spaced-apart coated strips of a second optoelectronic material onto the first plurality of angled spaced-apart coated strips of the first optoelectronic material. Portions of the deposited angled spaced-apart coated strips of the first optoelectronic material and the second optoelectronic material is removed between adjacent longitudinally-extending columns of the first electrodes and to expose portions of the longitudinally-extending columns of first electrode while other portions of the plurality of columns of first electrodes remain coated with the first optoelectronic material and the second optical material. A plurality of spaced-apart second electrodes is provided electrically coupling uncoated portions of the first electrodes with the coated portions disposed on adjacent first electrodes to form a plurality of angled rows of optoelectronic devices connected in series on an angle along the cross-web direction.
The present invention, in a second aspect, is directed to a method for forming a plurality of optoelectronic devices. The method includes providing a substrate having a longitudinal web direction and a cross-web direction, and a plurality of first electrodes disposed on the substrate to define a plurality of longitudinally-extending columns of spaced-apart first electrodes and a plurality of rows of spaced-apart first electrodes disposed on an angle relative to the cross-web direction. The substrate and the plurality of spaced-apart columns of first electrodes aligned and passed relative to a first roller means for depositing a first plurality of spaced-apart angled coated strips of a first optoelectronic material onto the substrate and onto the plurality of rows of first electrodes. The substrate, the plurality of spaced-apart columns of first electrodes, and the first plurality of angled coated strips of the first optoelectronic material aligned and passed relative to a second roller means for depositing a second plurality of angled coated strips of a second optoelectronic material onto the first plurality of angled spaced apart coated strips of the first optoelectronic material. Portions of the deposited angled coated strips of the first optoelectronic material and the second optoelectronic material between adjacent longitudinally-extending columns of the first electrodes are removed to expose portions of the longitudinally-extending columns of first electrode while other portions of the plurality of columns of first electrodes remain coated with the first optoelectronic material and the second optical material. A plurality of spaced-apart second electrodes is provided electrically coupling uncoated portions of the first electrodes with the coated portions disposed on adjacent first electrodes to form a plurality of angled rows of optoelectronic devices connected in series along the cross-web direction.
The present invention, in a third aspect, is directed to an apparatus for use in forming a plurality of optoelectronic devices. The apparatus includes a first roller means having a first raised spiral coating surface extending around the first roller for receiving a first optoelectronic material and depositing a plurality of longitudinally-extending angled strips of the first optoelectronic material, and first means for containing the first optoelectronic material and for receiving the raised spiral coating surface of the first roller means so that the raised spiral coating surface of the first roller is positionable in the first optoelectronic material.
The present invention, in a fourth aspect, is directed to a roller for use in forming a plurality of optoelectronic devices. The roller includes an elongated member means having a raised spiral coating surface extending around the roller for receiving a first optoelectronic material and depositing a plurality of longitudinally-extending angled strips of the first optoelectronic material.
The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Aspects of the invention, however, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of various embodiments and the accompanying drawings in which:
As described in greater detail below, aspects of the present invention are generally directed to methods, apparatus, and rollers for forming optoelectronic devices such as an array of light emitting diodes or photovoltaic cells using a roll-to-roll process in which a uniquely configured roller having a spiral coating surface is aligned with a plurality of first electrodes disposed on a substrate for coating a plurality of spaced-apart strips of an optoelectronic material along the cross-web direction of the substrate.
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During fabrication, as initially shown in
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With reference again to
Once the optoelectronic material has dried, for example in a drying chamber or the application of heat, apparatus 200 may be employed to coat a second optoelectronic material. For example, the contents of reservoir 210 may be replaced with a second optoelectronic material. Roller 100 having the raised spiral coating surface 150 may be dipped into the second optoelectronic material in the reservoir. The substrate, the plurality of spaced-apart longitudinally-extending columns of first electrodes, and the first plurality of spaced-apart angled coated strips of the first optoelectronic material is aligned and passed relative to roller 100 to deposit from the raised spiral coating surface, as shown in
As shown in
Thereafter, as shown in
Further, for forming a plurality of electroluminescent devices such as organic light emitting diodes, a plurality of second rollers (not shown), each having a having a raised spiral coating surface which are offset from each other allows depositing a second plurality of longitudinally-extending coated strips comprising different second electroluminescent materials from a plurality of separate reservoirs (not shown) onto the first plurality of longitudinally-extending coated strips. The different second electroluminescent materials may result in the plurality of electroluminescent devices operable to emit different colors of light. For example, different electroluminescent materials may be employed to produce an array of light emitting diodes having stripes of light emitting diodes of red, green, and blue. Desirably, a diffuser may be disposed adjacent to the array so that the red, green, and blue emitted colors are combined and are generally emitted as white light from the diffuser. From the present description, it will be appreciated that other approaches using aspects of the apparatus and methods of the present invention may be employed to produce emissions of generally white light.
As will be appreciated from the present description, the angle of the coated strips of the first and second optoelectronic materials may be varied by adjusting the speed of the substrate and/or rotating speed of the roller.
Referring now to
In the various embodiments of the present invention, the flexible substrate may comprise any suitable material, such as polyethylene terepthalate (PET), polycarbonate (e.g., LEXAN), polymer material (e.g., MYLAR), polyester, or metal foil, for example. In some embodiments, the substrate comprises any material having a high melting point, thereby allowing for high processing temperatures (e.g., >200 degrees C.). Further, the substrate may be advantageously transparent and has a high rate of transmission of visible light (e.g., >85% transmission). Further, the substrate may advantageously comprise a material having a high impact strength, flame retardancy and thermoformability, for example.
The substrate may have a thickness in the range of approximately 1-125 mils. As can be appreciated, a material having a thickness of less than 10 mils (0.010 inch) may generally be referred to as a “film” while a material having a thickness of greater than 10 (0.010 inch) mils may generally be referred to as a “sheet.” It should be understood that the substrate may comprise a film or a sheet. Accordingly, the use of either term herein is not meant to limit the thickness of the respective material, but rather, is provided for simplicity.
As previously described, the plurality of optoelectronic devices may be organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), each of which may include a first electrode, active polymer optoelectronic layers, and a second electrode. The first electrode may be configured to form the anode of the OLED and may comprise a transparent conductive oxide (TCO), such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO), for example. The transparent ITO may be disposed on the flexible transparent substrate using roll-to-roll processing techniques. For instance, the first electrode may be disposed by sputtering techniques to achieve a thickness in the range of approximately 50-250 nanometers, for example. The first electrode preferably has a light transmission ratio of at least 0.8. The second electrode is configured to form the cathode and may comprise an aluminum film with a cathode activator NaF, for instance. Alternatively, the second electrode may comprise calcium, magnesium or silver, for example. As with the first electrode, the second electrode may be disposed using sputtering techniques to achieve a thickness in the range of 50-250 nanometers, for example. For bottom-emitting OLED devices, the second electrode is advantageously reflective to reflect impinging light toward the front of the device where it can be coupled to the ambient environment. As will be appreciated, when a voltage potential is produced across the first electrode and the second electrode, light is emitted from the active polymer layers. Alternatively, both electrodes may be transparent, to enable a transparent light-emitting device, or the bottom electrode may be reflective, and the top electrode transparent, in the case of a top-emitting OLED.
As previously described, a number of active polymer layers may be disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode. As can be appreciated, for an OLED device, the active polymer layers may comprise several layers of organic light-emitting polymers, such as a polyphenylene vinylene or a polyfluorene, typically from a xylene solution. The number of layers and the type of organic polymers disposed will vary depending on the application, as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art. In one exemplary embodiment of an OLED device, one active polymer layer may comprise a light emitting polymer (LEP) such as polyfluorene, and the other active polymer layer may comprise a hole transport layer such as poly(3,4)-ethylendioxythiophene/polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT/PSS). As will be appreciated, other light emitting polymers and hole transport or electron transport layers may be employed. Further, additional active polymer layers may be employed in the OLED device.
If the optoelectronic device is, for example, an organic photovoltaic (OPV) device, the types of organic materials used for the active polymer layers may be different from those described above with reference to the OLED devices. An organic PV device comprises one or more layers that enhance the transport of charges to the electrodes. For example, in an OPV device, the active polymer layers may include an electron donor material and an electron acceptor material. The electron donor layer may comprise metal-free phthalocyanine; phthalocyanine pigments containing copper, zinc, nickel, platinum, magnesium, lead, iron, aluminum, indium, titanium, scandium, yttrium, cerium, praseodymium, lanthanum, neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium; quinacridone pigment; indigo and thioindigo pigments; merocyanine compounds; cyanine compounds; squarylium compounds; hydrazone; pyrazoline; triphenylmethane; triphenylamine; conjugated electroconductive polymers, such as polypyrrole, polyaniline, polythiophene, polyphenylene, poly(phenylene vinylene), poly(thienylene vinylene), poly(isothianaphthalene); and poly(silane), for instance. Further, the electron donor material may also include a hole transport material, such as triaryldiamine, tetraphenyldiamine, aromatic tertiary amines, hydrazone derivatives, carbazole derivatives, triazole derivatives, imidazole derivatives, oxadiazole derivatives having an amino group, and polythiophene, for instance.
The electron acceptor material in an OPV device may include perylene tetracarboxidiimide, perylene tetracarboxidiimidazole, anthtraquinone acridone pigment, polycyclic quinone, naphthalene tetracarboxidiimidazole, CN- and CF3-substituted poly(phenylene vinylene), and Buckminsterfullerene, for instance. Further, the electron acceptor material may also include an electron transport material, such as metal organic complexes of 8-hydroxyquinoline; stilbene derivatives; anthracene derivatives; perylene derivatives; metal thioxinoid compounds; oxadiazole derivatives and metal chelates; pyridine derivatives; pyrimidine derivatives; quinoline derivatives; quinoxaline derivatives; diphenylquinone derivatives; nitro-substituted fluorine derivatives; and triazines, for example.
As noted above in connection with the forming of the array of optoelectronic devices, the coated layers of the optoelectronic material are removed between adjacent rows of the optoelectronic devices. In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, a solvent assisted wiping (SAW) technique may be implemented to pattern the columns of coated layers of the optoelectronic materials. As will be appreciated, SAW techniques facilitate the removal of material over a selected area by solvating a portion of the material, such as a portion of the columns of coated layers of the optoelectronic materials by at least one of water, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, acetone, toluene, xylene, or combinations thereof. The surface of the solvated portion of the layers is then wiped by a wiping head to remove a portion of one or both of the layers, thereby patterning the layers. It will be appreciated that in certain embodiments of the present invention, one of the active polymer layers is disposed and patterned before the other active polymer layer is disposed and patterned. Alternatively, the active polymer layers may be disposed and subsequently patterned simultaneously. In one embodiment of the invention, the solvating species are selected for removing a single layer with each wiping action without damaging underlying layers. In this exemplary embodiment, one active polymer layer may be disposed and then patterned. Next, the other layer may be disposed and then patterned. The solvent used to pattern each layer will be different depending on the material of the layer being patterned. For example, an OLEP layer in a two-layer structure can be patterned using xylene as a solvent without damaging a PEDOT layer underneath.
In another embodiment, the solvating species are selected to facilitate removal of multiple active polymer layers with each wiping. That is, both active polymer layers may be disposed and then both active polymer layers may be patterned simultaneously. In typical instances, one active polymer layer comprises a conductive polymer coating, such as PEDOT, which is very polar and dissolves only in hydrogen-bonding solvents like water. The active polymer layer may comprise an LEP material that is non-polar, which dissolves only in non-polar solvents such as toluene or xylene. In order to remove multiple polymer coatings having extremely divergent solubility characteristics in a single wipe, suitable solvents for each polymer are dispersed in a third solvent to produce a homogeneous solution. The third, or dispersing, solvent is selected from a number of solvents, such as, but not limited to, alcohols (such as isopropanol, ethanol, methanol, and the like), ketones (such as acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and the like), acetates, ethers, methylene chloride, or any solvent having intermediate solubility parameters. In this embodiment, two active polymer layers can also be removed in one step with a solvent system containing water and xylene. In this particular embodiment, isopropanol is used to facilitate mixing of water and xylene to yield a homogeneous solution.
The wiping head may generally comprise at least one of a sponge, elastomer, thermoplastic, thermoset, fiber mat, porous material, polyurethane rubber, synthetic rubber, natural rubber, silicones, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), textured materials, and combinations thereof. Further, the wiping head may have any desirable profile to achieve the desired patterning of the underlying layer.
Embodiments of the rollers of the present invention may be solid and formed from an integral, monolithic, or one-piece construction. Further, from the present description, the optoelectronic materials may be polymers, as well as small molecules, dendrimers, etc.
Thus, while various embodiments of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
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