JP2002198170A - Organic EL panel - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide an organic EL panel which can provide a structure in which a moisture absorbing member is provided without causing a dark spot or a short circuit between electrodes even in a severe environment. SOLUTION: An organic EL element (laminate) 9 in which an organic layer 5 having at least a light emitting layer is sandwiched between a transparent electrode (first electrode) 3 and a back electrode (second electrode) 6 is a glass substrate (support substrate) 2. Disposed above, the organic EL panel 9 is airtightly covered by a sealing member 7 via an adhesive 10, and the adsorbent 8 a is placed in an airtight space 11 formed by the sealing member 7 and the glass substrate 2. With respect to the organic EL panel 1 disposed, a moisture absorbing member 8 having a powdery adsorbent 8a and having a viscosity such that the adsorbent 8a does not flow is disposed in the hermetic space 11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of disposing a laminate comprising at least an organic layer having a light emitting layer sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode on a light-transmitting support substrate, and The present invention relates to an organic EL (electroluminescence) panel that accommodates the laminate by disposing a sealing member in the panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an organic EL panel, a glass substrate (translucent supporting substrate) made of a glass material is formed on an ITO substrate.
(Indium tin oxide) or the like, a transparent electrode (first electrode) serving as an anode, an organic layer including a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer and an electron transport layer, and an aluminum (Al) or the like serving as a cathode. A non-translucent back electrode (second electrode) is sequentially laminated to form an organic EL element as a laminate, and a concave sealing member made of a glass material covering the laminate is placed on the glass substrate. It is known that an airtight seal is provided via an ultraviolet curable adhesive, and a moisture absorbing member is provided in an airtight space obtained by the glass substrate and the sealing member.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-35868 discloses a structure of disposing the moisture absorbing member in the hermetic container of the organic EL panel, which is composed of an inert liquid containing an adsorbent. The airtight space accommodating the organic EL element is filled with a member.

[0004]

Such an organic EL panel has a structure in which the organic EL element is covered by the liquid adsorbing member containing the adsorbent, and the adsorbing member includes the adsorbent. Are settled and aggregated in the hermetic space with the passage of time. Organic EL in such a state
When the panel is used as a display device for a vehicle, such as a speedometer or an engine tachometer, the surrounding environment in which the organic EL panel is used is very severe, and for example, a place where the organic EL panel is provided. The ambient temperature in the low temperature state, when the internal pressure in the hermetic space is reduced, the glass substrate and the sealing member shrink by atmospheric pressure, the adsorbent settled and aggregated by this shrinkage action,
A so-called dark spot, which is sandwiched between the sealing member and the back electrode of the organic EL element and does not partially emit light from the light emitting portion of the organic EL element by damaging the back electrode. Or a short circuit may occur between the electrodes in some cases.

[0005] As a method of making it difficult to receive the shrinking action, it is possible to cope by injecting the moisture absorbing member so as not to fill the airtight space. 1000 to 15
On the back electrode having a very thin film thickness of 00 °, the back electrode is polished by the adsorbent because it flows along with the vibration transmitted from the vehicle. Has a problem that a short circuit occurs.

Accordingly, the present invention focuses on the above-mentioned problems, and does not cause dark spots or short-circuits between electrodes even under a severe environment such as that provided as display means of a vehicle display device. An object of the present invention is to provide an organic EL panel capable of obtaining an arrangement structure of members.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a laminate in which at least an organic layer having a light-emitting layer is sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode, on a light-transmitting support substrate. An organic EL panel disposed and hermetically covering the laminate with a sealing member, comprising an adsorbent made of powder,
A moisture absorbing member having a viscosity such that the adsorbent does not flow is disposed in an airtight space formed by the support substrate and the sealing member.

[0008] The moisture absorbing member is configured to contain the adsorbent in an inert liquid.

Further, the moisture absorbing member is constituted by containing the adsorbent in an inert gel member.

The adsorbing member is obtained by disposing the adsorbing material on a double-sided sealing member made of an inert base material.

Further, the suction member is provided on a surface of the sealing member facing the laminate.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, an organic EL panel 1 is shown.
Are a glass substrate (supporting substrate) 2, a transparent electrode (first electrode) 3, an insulating layer 4, an organic layer 5, a back electrode (second electrode) 6, a sealing member 7, and an adsorbing member 8. It is mainly composed of

The glass substrate 2 is a light-transmitting support substrate having a rectangular shape.

The transparent electrode 3 is formed by depositing a conductive material such as ITO on the glass substrate 2 by means such as vapor deposition or sputtering.
a, a lead portion 3b drawn out from each segment, and an electrode portion 3c provided at the end of the lead portion 3b. Note that the electrode portions 3c are intensively arranged on one side of the glass substrate 2.

The insulating layer 4 is made of, for example, a polyimide-based insulating material, and is formed by, for example, a photolithography method. The insulating layer 4 has a window 4a corresponding to the display segment 3a and a cutout 4b corresponding to an electrode portion of the back electrode 6 described later. 3, a window 4a is formed so as to slightly overlap with the peripheral edge of the display segment 3a,
In addition, in order to secure insulation between the transparent electrode 3 and the back electrode 6, it is provided so as to cover the lead portion 3b.

The organic layer 5 may have at least a light emitting layer. In the embodiment of the present invention, the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, the light emitting layer and the electron transport layer are formed by a vapor deposition method or a sputtering method. And the like. The organic layer 5 is formed by a window 4 a in the insulating layer 4.
Are arranged with a predetermined size so as to correspond to the formation places of the.

The back electrode 6 is formed of a metallic conductive material such as aluminum (Al), aluminum lithium (Al: Li), magnesium silver (Mg: Ag) by means such as vapor deposition or sputtering. And disposed on the organic layer 6. The back electrode 6 is provided with a lead portion 6 a provided on one side of the glass substrate 2 so as to be adjacent to each electrode portion 3 c of the transparent electrode 3.
Is electrically connected to An electrode portion 6b is provided at the end of the lead portion 6a, and the lead portion 6a and the electrode portion 6 are provided.
b is formed of the same material as the transparent electrode 3.

As described above, the organic EL element 9 is obtained by sequentially laminating the transparent electrode 3, the insulating layer 4, the organic layer 5, and the back electrode 6 on the glass substrate 2 to form a laminate.

The sealing member 7 is formed by forming a concave portion 7a on a flat plate member made of, for example, a glass material. The sealing member 7 includes a support portion 7 formed so as to surround the concave portion 7a.
The sealing member 7 and the glass substrate 2 constitute an airtight space 11 for accommodating the organic EL element 9 by arranging the sealing member 7 on the glass substrate 2 via an ultraviolet-curable epoxy resin adhesive 10, for example. I do. The sealing member 7 is slightly smaller than the glass substrate 2 so that the electrode portion 3c of the transparent electrode 3 and the electrode portion 6b of the back electrode 6 are exposed to the outside.

The moisture absorbing member 8 is disposed in a film shape on the surface of the sealing member 7 facing the organic EL element 9, that is, on the bottom surface of the concave portion 7a of the sealing member 7. The adsorbing member 8 has an adsorbent 8a of 10 μm or less that physically or chemically adsorbs water, such as activated alumina, molecular sieves, potassium oxide and barium oxide, and has such a viscosity that the adsorbent 8a does not flow. It is a cream or gel member.

The moisture-absorbing member 8 is formed by sealing the sealing member 7 to the glass substrate 2.
Is disposed on the bottom surface of the concave portion 7a of the sealing member 7 with a predetermined thickness so that the moisture absorbing member 8 and the adsorbent 8a contained in the moisture absorbing member 8 do not contact the organic EL element 9. Is done.

The hygroscopic member 8 is formed by mixing a predetermined amount of an adsorbent 8a into an inert liquid made of, for example, a fluorinated oil, or a predetermined amount of adsorbent is absorbed on an inert gel member, for example, a fluorinated gel. It is obtained by mixing agent 8a.

When the moisture absorbing member 8 is formed into a cream shape by using the fluorine-based oil, the fluorine-based oil and the adsorbent 8a are mixed at a mixing ratio of 80:20 wt%, so that the adsorbent 8a is formed. The creamy adsorption member 8 that does not flow is obtained.

An organic EL panel 1 is constituted by the above components. In the organic EL panel 1, an organic EL element 9, which is a laminate in which an organic layer 5 having at least a light emitting layer is sandwiched between a transparent electrode 3 and a back electrode 6, is disposed on the glass substrate 1. The organic EL panel 1 airtightly covered with the sealing member 7 is provided with an adsorbent 8a made of powder, and has a viscosity of 8 to prevent the adsorbent 8a from flowing.
With the organic EL element 9 of the sealing member 7 in the hermetic space 11.
(Bottom of concave portion 7a formed in sealing member 7)
It is arranged in.

Therefore, the organic EL panel 1 has the viscosity absorbing member 8 on the bottom surface of the concave portion 7a of the sealing member 7 in which the adsorbent 8a made of powder does not flow. Since the adsorbent 8a stops on the bottom surface of the electrode 7a, the adsorbent 7a does not settle and cohere on the back electrode 6 constituting the organic EL element 9 unlike the related art, and a dark spot or a short circuit between the electrodes occurs. Can be suppressed.

The hygroscopic member 8 having a viscosity such that the adsorbent 8a does not flow can be formed by mixing a predetermined amount of the adsorbent 8a in an inert liquid made of a fluorine-based oil, or by using an inert gel-like member. For example, it is obtained by mixing a predetermined amount of adsorbent 8a with a fluorine-based gel, and seals the moisture absorbing member 8 which can be obtained by these simple structures so as not to contact the organic EL element 9. It is only necessary to dispose it on the stop member 7, and it is possible to eliminate the troublesome manufacturing process of controlling the injection amount of the liquid moisture absorbing member in the hermetic space 11 as in the related art. Can be improved.

Further, the moisture absorbing member 8 is replaced with the organic EL of the sealing member 7.
By arranging it in the concave portion 7a facing the panel 9,
The supply amount of the moisture absorbing member 8 can be easily controlled.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the same or corresponding parts as those in the above-described embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The organic EL panel 12 shown here is different from the above-described embodiment in that a predetermined amount of the adsorbent 8a described in the above-described embodiment is sprayed on a double-sided tape member 13a made of an inert base material. Thus, the moisture absorbing member 13 is obtained.

As the double-sided tape member 13a described above, for example, model HJ-3160W manufactured by Nitto Denko Corporation is used.

The organic EL panel 12 has the same effect as the organic EL panel 1 in the above-described embodiment.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the sealing member 7
Is made of a glass material, but in the present invention, a metal sealing member may be used.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the sealing member 7 in which the concave portion 7a and the supporting portion 7b are integrally formed is used. An organic EL panel in which a sealing member is formed by the spacers may be used.

Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, the moisture absorbing members 8 and 13 are provided on the surface of the sealing member 7 facing the organic EL element 9. , Closed space 1 not in contact with organic EL element 9
The number is only required to be within 1, and is not limited to the arrangement position shown in the above-described embodiment.

[0036]

According to the present invention, a laminate in which at least an organic layer having a light emitting layer is sandwiched between a first electrode and a second electrode is disposed on a light-transmitting support substrate, and the laminate is sealed with a sealing member. An organic EL panel that is hermetically covered with an air-permeable member is provided with an adsorbent made of powder, and a moisture-absorbing member having a viscosity such that the adsorbent does not flow is disposed in an air-tight space formed by the support substrate and the sealing member. Since the adsorbent does not settle and coagulate on the laminate as in the related art, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of dark spots and short circuits between electrodes.

[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 sectional view of a main part of the organic EL panel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a main part of an organic EL panel according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,12 organic EL panel 2 glass substrate (supporting member) 3 transparent electrode (first electrode) 5 organic layer 6 back electrode (second electrode) 7 sealing member 7a recess 8,13 hygroscopic member 8a adsorbent

Claims (5)

[Claims] An organic layer having at least a light emitting layer is a first layer.
An organic EL panel in which a laminate sandwiched between an electrode and a second electrode is disposed on a light-transmitting support substrate, and the laminate is hermetically covered with a sealing member. An organic EL panel, comprising: a moisture absorbing member having a viscosity such that the adsorbent does not flow, is disposed in an airtight space formed by the support substrate and the sealing member. 2. The organic EL panel according to claim 1, wherein the moisture absorbing member is configured to contain the adsorbent in an inert liquid. 3. The organic EL panel according to claim 1, wherein the moisture absorbing member is configured by containing the adsorbent in an inert gel member. 4. The organic EL panel according to claim 1, wherein the adsorbing member is formed by disposing the adsorbing material on a double-sided sealing member made of an inert base material. 5. The device according to claim 1, wherein the suction member is provided on a surface of the sealing member facing the laminate.
The organic EL panel according to any one of claims 1 to 4.