JP2018081833A - Electrode for organic electroluminescence lighting and organic electroluminescence lighting - Google Patents

Abstract

A main object of the present invention is to provide an electrode for organic EL lighting that is power-saving and can produce an organic EL lighting excellent in in-plane uniform light emission. The present invention has a transparent substrate and a metal wire electrode formed by combining metal wires arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate, and the metal wire electrode is connected to the transparent substrate. a lower surface that is in contact with the material, an upper surface that is arranged on the opposite side of the lower surface and is formed to face the lower surface and is narrower than the lower surface, and a side surface that connects the lower surface and the upper surface, The above object is achieved by providing an electrode for organic electroluminescence illumination, characterized in that an external corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface has a curved portion. [Selection drawing] Fig. 2

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrode for organic EL lighting that is capable of producing organic EL lighting that is power-saving and excellent in in-plane uniform light emission.

  An organic electroluminescence (hereinafter sometimes referred to as organic EL) element can emit light by sandwiching an organic layer such as a light emitting layer between a pair of electrodes and applying a voltage between the electrodes. Another major feature of organic EL elements is that they emit surface light, and are expected to be used for lighting applications (for example, Patent Document 1).

In organic EL illumination, a transparent or translucent transparent electrode is usually used for at least one of the electrodes. As the transparent electrode, one using an inorganic compound such as indium tin oxide (ITO) is generally known, but there is a problem that it is difficult to obtain organic EL illumination with high electric resistance and power saving.
On the other hand, as a transparent electrode, for example, applied to an electromagnetic wave shielding layer or a touch panel electrode used by being installed on the screen of an image display device, a fine mesh-like shape made of metal on one surface of a transparent substrate ( (Including lattice shape and honeycomb shape, which may be hereinafter referred to as “mesh”.) A device provided with a metal wire electrode is known (for example, Patent Document 2). The transparent electrode provided with the metal wire electrode is made to have transparency as a whole while having conductivity by making the metal wire electrode into a fine mesh. Moreover, since a metal material can be used as a constituent material of the metal wire electrode, it is easy to make the metal wire electrode have a low electric resistance.

JP2013-089524A JP 2006-179946 A

However, since the metal wire electrode described above is not a planar electrode, when it is used as a transparent electrode for organic EL illumination, organic EL illumination with excellent in-plane uniform light emission cannot be obtained.
Here, by using a transparent conductive film so as to cover the metal wire electrode, it can be considered to be used as a planar transparent electrode. In this case, by having the metal wire electrode, the resistance of the transparent electrode as a whole can be lowered, and it becomes easy to obtain power-saving organic EL illumination.
By the way, as a formation method of a metal wire electrode, for example, Patent Document 2 discloses a method of forming a metal mesh by etching (corrosion).
However, when the metal wire electrode formed by the method described in Patent Document 2 is used, disconnection occurs in the transparent conductive film formed so as to cover it, and the organic EL excellent in in-plane uniform light emission There was a problem that lighting could not be obtained.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its main object to provide an electrode for organic EL lighting that can produce organic EL lighting that is power-saving and excellent in in-plane uniform light emission. To do.

  In the metal wire electrode formed by the method described in Patent Document 2, the inventors of the present invention have a disconnection of the transparent conductive film at the top corner (protruding corner) of the metal wire electrode opposite to the transparent substrate. The present invention has been completed by obtaining knowledge that it is likely to occur.

  That is, the present invention has a transparent base material and a metal wire electrode formed by combining metal wires arranged on one surface of the transparent base material, and the metal wire electrode is attached to the transparent base material. A lower surface that is in contact with the lower surface, the upper surface is disposed opposite to the lower surface, is opposed to the lower surface, has a lower surface that is narrower than the lower surface, and a side surface that connects the lower surface and the upper surface, Provided is an electrode for organic electroluminescence illumination, characterized in that a curved portion is provided at a protruding corner portion formed by the side surface.

According to the present invention, by forming a transparent conductive film so as to cover a metal wire electrode, for example, it can be used as a planar transparent electrode having a transparent electrode layer formed on a transparent substrate, and a planar organic EL Lighting can be manufactured.
Moreover, by using the metal wire electrode of the said shape, the electrode for organic EL lighting of this invention is excellent in the disconnection prevention effect etc. of the transparent conductive film at the time of forming a transparent conductive film so that a metal wire electrode may be covered, for example It will be. Therefore, the organic EL illumination electrode of the present invention can produce organic EL illumination with excellent in-plane uniform light emission.
Furthermore, the said transparent electrode layer can be made into a thing with a low electrical resistance by having a metal wire electrode with a transparent conductive film. For this reason, the electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention can produce a power-saving organic EL lighting.

  In the present invention, the distance between the upper surface and the lower surface is preferably 10 μm or less. This is because the organic EL lighting electrode according to the present invention is, for example, capable of producing organic EL lighting having less in-plane uniform light emission and less disconnection of the transparent conductive film.

  In the present invention, the angle formed by the lower surface and the side surface is preferably an acute angle. This is because the organic EL lighting electrode according to the present invention is, for example, capable of producing organic EL lighting having less in-plane uniform light emission and less disconnection of the transparent conductive film.

  The present invention provides organic electroluminescence illumination comprising the above-mentioned electrode for organic electroluminescence illumination, a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode layer.

  According to the present invention, by using the above-mentioned organic electroluminescence illumination electrode, that is, by using the metal wire electrode having the above shape, the organic EL illumination of the present invention is excellent in in-plane uniform light emission. Become.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that it is possible to provide an electrode for organic EL lighting that is capable of producing organic EL lighting that is power saving and excellent in in-plane uniform light emission.

It is a perspective view of the electrode for organic EL lighting of this invention. It is the II-II sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is sectional drawing explaining the form of the metal wire of a metal wire electrode. It is sectional drawing explaining the form of the metal wire of a metal wire electrode. It is process drawing which shows an example of the formation method of the metal wire electrode in this invention. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows an example of the organic electroluminescent illumination of this invention. It is the schematic plan view and schematic sectional drawing which show the other example of the organic electroluminescent illumination of this invention.

The present invention relates to an electrode for organic EL lighting and an organic EL lighting that can be manufactured using the electrode.
Hereinafter, the electrode for organic EL lighting and the organic EL lighting of the present invention will be described.

A. Organic EL Lighting Electrode First, the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention will be described.
The electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention has a transparent substrate and a metal wire electrode formed by combining metal wires arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate, and the metal wire electrode is A lower surface that is a surface in contact with the transparent substrate; an upper surface that is disposed on the opposite side of the lower surface and that faces the lower surface; has a narrower width than the lower surface; and a side surface that connects the lower surface and the upper surface. The protruding corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface has a curved portion.

Such an electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an organic EL lighting electrode 10 of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is an enlarged view showing one metal line 2a in the cross-sectional view of FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the organic EL lighting electrode 10 of the present invention is a metal wire formed by combining a transparent substrate 1 and a metal wire 2 a arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate 1. The metal wire electrode 2 is disposed on the opposite side of the lower surface 13 that is in contact with the transparent substrate 1 and is opposed to the lower surface 13, and is formed to face the lower surface 13. 13 includes a top surface 14 narrower than 13 and a side surface 15 connecting the bottom surface 13 and the top surface 14, and has a curved portion 14 a at a protruding corner formed by the top surface 14 and the side surface 15. .
1 to 3 show an example in which the metal wire electrode 2 is formed by combining the metal wires 2a arranged in a lattice shape, and the lower surface 13 and the upper surface 14 facing each other are formed in parallel. An example is shown.
1 to 3, the organic EL lighting electrode 10 of the present invention has a transparent conductive film 3 formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode 2, and the transparent electrode is formed by the metal wire electrode 2 and the transparent conductive film 3. An example in which the layer 4 is formed is shown.

According to this invention, it can be set as the planar transparent electrode which has the transparent electrode layer formed on the transparent base material by forming a transparent conductive film so that a metal wire electrode may be covered, for example. For this reason, the organic EL illumination electrode of the present invention can produce, for example, a planar organic EL illumination.
Further, by using the metal wire electrode having the above shape, that is, the cross-sectional shape of the metal wire constituting the metal wire electrode is a forward taper shape having a predetermined taper angle (for example, θb in FIG. 3 described above), and The organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention is excellent in, for example, the effect of preventing disconnection of the transparent conductive film when the transparent conductive film is formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode because the protruding corner portion is a curved portion. It will be. Therefore, the organic EL illumination electrode of the present invention can produce organic EL illumination with excellent in-plane uniform light emission.
Further, the transparent electrode layer has a metal wire electrode together with the transparent conductive film, so that the electric resistance is low, and the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention can produce power-saving organic EL lighting. .
Furthermore, the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention is excellent in the effect of preventing residual bubbles when the transparent conductive film is formed by a coating method by using the metal wire electrode having the above shape.

Here, it is guessed as follows about the reason which can exhibit the disconnection prevention effect of a transparent conductive film by setting it as the said shape.
That is, when the transparent conductive film is formed using the sputter link method, in general, in the case of the sputtering method, the influence of the vertical component is dominant on the transparent substrate, so the cross-sectional shape of the metal wire is When the side surface has a sharp cross-sectional shape such as 90 ° and a reverse taper shape, it is difficult to form a stable sputtered film on the side surface of the metal wire.
In the case of the coating method, when the coating film is leveled, the coating liquid tends to flow down to the transparent substrate side in the case of a cross-sectional shape with a sharp metal wire cross-section and a reverse taper shape. As the film thickness decreases, the uniformity of the film becomes unstable.
On the other hand, the cross-sectional shape of the metal wire is a tapered shape whose width becomes narrower toward the upper surface. For example, even when a transparent conductive film is formed using a sputter link method, the side surface of the metal wire and A sputtered film can be formed at the protruding corner portion or the like. Further, even when the transparent conductive film is formed using a coating method, the coating liquid is easily held on the side surface of the metal wire during coating leveling, and the transparent conductive film is formed on the side surface and the corner portion of the metal wire electrode. And so on.
For this reason, when the transparent conductive film is formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode, the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention prevents the occurrence of the unformed portion of the transparent conductive film formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode. At the same time, it becomes easy to improve the film thickness uniformity.
Further, by providing the curved portion at the protruding corner portion, the metal wire can have a smaller taper angle on the side surface in appearance. As a result, it is possible to more easily improve the film thickness uniformity due to the tapered shape described above. For example, compared to the case where the protruding corner portion is an edge portion, the transparent conductive material is covered so as to cover the metal wire electrode. The film thickness uniformity of the transparent conductive film when the film is formed can be easily made excellent.
From the above, it is speculated that the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention can exhibit the effect of preventing the disconnection of the transparent conductive film by using the metal wire electrode having the above shape.

Moreover, when manufacturing organic EL illumination using the electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention, a transparent conductive film is formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode in the present invention, and a light emitting layer and necessary are further formed on the transparent conductive film. Accordingly, other layers such as a hole injecting and transporting layer (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a light emitting layer) and a counter electrode layer are laminated.
Here, the film thickness of the light emitting layer or the like may be formed as thin as several tens nm, for example. For this reason, when the protruding corner portion is an edge portion, a portion where the thickness of the light emitting layer or the like is locally thinned (hereinafter sometimes referred to as a local thin film portion) may be formed. When a voltage is applied between the transparent electrode layer made of the metal wire electrode and the transparent conductive film and the counter electrode layer in a state where the local thin film portion is formed in the light emitting layer, the local thin film portion such as the light emitting layer is transparent. There is a case where the electrode layer and the counter electrode layer cause a short circuit phenomenon and the light emitting layer does not emit light.
On the other hand, the electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention is a film for the same reason that a transparent conductive film excellent in film thickness uniformity can be formed because the shape of the metal wire electrode is the above-described shape. A light emitting layer or the like having excellent thickness uniformity can be formed. For this reason, the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention can produce organic EL lighting that can emit light stably.

Furthermore, when the forming method of the transparent conductive film is a method of applying and forming a coating liquid capable of forming a transparent conductive film, the metal is applied when the applied coating liquid spreads so as to cover the surface of the metal wire electrode. In the case where the cross-sectional shape of the line is a sharp cross-sectional shape such as 90 ° on the side surface and a reverse taper shape, a portion where air does not escape is generated and bubbles are formed.
On the other hand, the cross-sectional shape of the metal wire is a forward tapered shape, and further, the protruding corner portion is a curved portion, and the taper angle of the side surface is apparently smaller at the protruding corner portion. When the working liquid spreads so as to cover the surface of the metal wire electrode, air easily escapes. As a result, it is assumed that the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention can suppress the generation of bubbles due to the above shape.

Furthermore, since the metal wire electrode has a curved portion at the protruding corner portion, the organic EL lighting manufactured using the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention is compared with the case where the protruding corner portion is an edge portion. Thus, there are few problems due to current concentration at the protruding corners of the metal wire electrode.
More specifically, when the protruding corner portion is edge-shaped, current is concentrated on the edge portion of the metal wire electrode of the electrode for organic EL lighting when the organic EL lighting is turned on. As a result, the luminance of the lit organic EL illumination increases at the edge portion, the luminance of the portion corresponding to the flat portion on the upper surface of the metal wire electrode and the flat portion of the transparent conductive film decreases, and is characteristic of organic EL lighting with uneven luminance. The problem occurs.
On the other hand, the metal wire electrode in the present invention has a curved portion at the protruding corner portion, so that when a voltage is applied between the transparent electrode layer and the counter electrode layer, the current to the protruding corner portion of the metal wire electrode is reduced. Concentration can be prevented, and it is possible to eliminate the above-described problems inherent in organic EL lighting, such as uneven luminance of organic EL lighting.

The electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention has a transparent substrate and a metal wire electrode.
Hereinafter, each structure of the electrode for organic EL illumination of this invention is demonstrated in detail.

1. Metal wire electrode The metal wire electrode is formed by combining metal wires arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate.
The metal wire electrode includes a lower surface that is in contact with the transparent substrate, an upper surface that is disposed opposite to the lower surface and is opposed to the lower surface, and has a narrower width than the lower surface, and the lower surface; A side surface connecting the upper surface, and a protruding portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface has a curved portion.

(1) Metal wire electrode A metal wire electrode is formed by combining metal wires.
Here, the planar view shape of the metal wire electrode by combining the metal wires, that is, the pattern of the metal wires can be, for example, a mesh shape.
As such a mesh-like pattern, it can be a lattice-like form in which metal lines as exemplified in FIGS. 1 and 2 described above are regularly combined in a lattice vertically and horizontally.
In addition, the mesh pattern does not have to be regularly (periodically) latticed vertically and horizontally, and has a polygonal shape such as a triangle, a quadrilateral, a pentagon, or a hexagon, such as a honeycomb structure. Other regular lattice forms in which unit lattices are two-dimensionally (repetitively) arranged, or irregular (non-periodic) lattice forms in which the unit lattice is not limited to a predetermined form may be used.
In addition, as said irregular grid | lattice-like pattern, many opening area | regions have the distance between adjacent mother points, as disclosed by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2012-178556, Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2013-238029, etc., for example. An array arranged so as to coincide with each Voronoi region in a Voronoi diagram generated from random two-dimensionally distributed generating points distributed within the upper limit value and the lower limit value can be used. In such an irregular lattice, the metal lines constituting the metal line electrode coincide with or substantially coincide with each boundary of the Voronoi region in the Voronoi diagram formed from the specific generating point. Each branch point of the lattice constituting the metal wire electrode coincides with or substantially coincides with the Voronoi point in the Voronoi diagram.

  The metal constituting the metal wire electrode is not particularly limited. For example, a metal such as gold, silver, platinum, copper, tin, aluminum, nickel, chromium, titanium, tungsten, ruthenium, molybdenum, or the like of these metals Examples thereof include alloys such as APC (silver-palladium-copper) and brass containing one or more kinds.

The layer structure of the metal wire constituting the metal wire electrode may be a single layer structure. For example, a plurality of layers such as a three-layer structure in which a molybdenum layer, an aluminum layer, and a molybdenum layer are stacked in this order are stacked. It may be a laminated structure.
Here, when the layer structure of the metal wire is a laminated structure, the constituent materials of the respective layers may be the same, for example, different materials such as an aluminum layer and a molybdenum layer.

Further, the cross-sectional shape of the metal wire constituting the metal wire electrode, that is, the shape of the cross-section (hereinafter also referred to as the main cut surface) cut along the plane perpendicular to the extending direction (longitudinal direction) of the metal wire is transparent base. A lower surface that is a surface in contact with the material, an upper surface that is disposed opposite to the lower surface and is opposed to the lower surface, has a lower surface that is narrower than the lower surface, and a side surface that connects the lower surface and the upper surface, and A protruding corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface has a curved portion.
Here, in the present invention, the lower surface, the upper surface, and the side surface take into consideration the curved portion 14a of the projected corner portion and the curved portion 13a of the corner portion which will be described next, as shown by the broken lines in FIG. In the embodiment, the width (Wu) of the upper surface 14 is formed shorter than the width (Wb) of the lower surface 13, and the angle (taper angle) θb between the side surface 15 and the lower surface 13 is an acute angle, that is, 90 °. It is comprised so that it may become smaller.
That is, the metal wire electrode is formed of a metal wire having a forward taper shape with a taper angle θb in cross-section and a curved corner portion at the protruding corner portion.
Note that the protruding corner portion does not include only a corner where the upper surface and the side surface intersect, but is formed by the upper surface and the side surface in a cross-sectional shape of the metal wire, and protrudes outward from the metal wire. The peripheral part of the formed corner part is also included.

The width (Wu) of the upper surface can be, for example, in the range of 0.5 μm to 200 μm, preferably in the range of 5 μm to 100 μm, and in particular, in the range of 20 μm to 50 μm. preferable.
The width (Wb) of the lower surface can be in the range of 0.5 μm to 200 μm, preferably in the range of 5 μm to 100 μm, and more preferably in the range of 20 μm to 50 μm. . This is because when the widths Wu and Wb are within the above-described range, the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention can be used as a planar electrode having excellent transparency.
The taper angle (θb) is appropriately set according to the specifications such as the width and thickness required for the metal wire, but is smaller than 90 ° and can obtain the effect of preventing the disconnection of the transparent conductive film. For example, it can be set to 80 ° or less, preferably 45 ° or less, and more preferably 30 ° or less. This is because the organic EL illumination electrode of the present invention can be used as a planar electrode having excellent transparency when the angle θb is within the above-described range. Moreover, it is because a metal wire electrode becomes the thing excellent in the disconnection prevention effect of a transparent conductive film, etc.
In addition, about the minimum of the said taper angle ((theta) b), although it is so preferable that it is low from viewpoints, such as a disconnection prevention effect of a transparent conductive film, it can be 10 degrees or more, for example.

In addition, the angle (taper angle) θb formed by the side surface with the lower surface is obtained by any one of the following (1) to (3).
(1) When the line forming the side surface of the main cut surface has a portion that can be regarded as a straight line with a constant inclination near the center in the thickness direction, the angle formed by the extension line of the straight line portion and the lower surface Let θb.
(2) When the line forming the side surface of the main cutting surface does not have a portion that can be regarded as a straight line near the center in the thickness direction, and the line forming the side surface has a portion that can be regarded as an inflection point, The angle between the tangent line at the inflection point and the lower surface is θb.
(3) If the line forming the side surface of the main cut surface has no portion that can be regarded as a straight line near the center in the thickness direction, and there is no portion that can be regarded as an inflection point on the side surface, the side surface is formed. A virtual straight line having an average inclination angle obtained by averaging the inclination angles of the respective portions of the line is obtained by a least square method between the contact point between the lower surface and the upper surface of the line, and the straight line and the lower surface are formed. The angle is θb.
In the present invention, in any of the above (1) to (3), in the vicinity of the lower surface with respect to any straight line of the extension of the straight line portion near the center, the extension line of the inflection point, or the average inclination angle virtual straight line. A curved portion of the corner portion is formed from a portion in which the side surface (line forming) protrudes outward from the metal line with respect to the straight line.

In the protruding corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface, a curved portion whose side surface angle gradually decreases from the lower surface side to the upper surface is provided.
Here, the side surface angle refers to the angle formed by the extension line of the straight line and the bottom surface when an arbitrary point on the side surface of the main cut surface is on a straight line portion with a constant inclination and which can be regarded as a straight line. When an arbitrary point on the side surface of the main cut surface is on a curve, it means an angle formed by an extension line of a tangent at the point on the curve and the lower surface.
As the curved portion, the shape of the main cut surface does not necessarily have to be a shape that can be approximated by an arc. For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4 (a), and (b) described above, the side angle is A curved portion formed by an arc-like curve continuously decreasing from the lower surface side to the upper surface, as illustrated in FIGS. 4C to 4F, the side surface angle is stepwise from the lower surface side to the upper surface. In the case of having a multi-step tapered shape formed by a combination of decreasing straight lines, a tapered portion formed by a forward tapered portion on the second and subsequent steps from the lower surface side can be obtained.
Moreover, about the formation location of the thickness direction of the said bending part, as illustrated in FIG.3, FIG4 (a), (e) already demonstrated, between the upper surface side from the center of a thickness direction to an upper surface, for example, it illustrates. As illustrated in FIGS. 4C and 4D, it may be from the center in the thickness direction to the upper surface, and as illustrated in FIGS. 4B and 4F, It may be between the lower surface side and the upper surface from the center in the thickness direction. FIG. 4B shows an example in which the formation location is between the lower surface and the upper surface.
That is, the lower surface side end in the thickness direction of the curved portion is between the lower surface and the upper surface as shown in FIGS. 3, 4 (a), (c), (d), (e), and (f). Alternatively, it may be the lower surface as shown in FIG.

When the curved portion is a curved portion, the curvature radius Ru of the curved portion at the protruding corner portion is the effect of preventing disconnection when forming the transparent conductive film, the conductivity required for the metal wire, and the ease of manufacturing the metal wire manufacturing You may decide in consideration of sex.
The size of the radius of curvature Ru can be 0.1 μm or more, preferably 0.5 μm or more, and particularly preferably 1.0 μm or more. This is because, when the curvature radius Ru is within the above range, the metal wire electrode is excellent in the effect of preventing the disconnection of the transparent conductive film.
The upper limit of the radius of curvature Ru is not particularly limited and may be determined in consideration of the effect of preventing disconnection when a transparent conductive film is formed, the conductivity required for a metal wire, the ease of manufacturing a metal wire, Usually, it can be about 10 μm or less.

When the bending portion is a tapered portion, the number of steps of the bending portion may be one or more. That is, when the tapered portion is formed as the curved portion, the side surface may be a multi-step tapered shape having two or more steps.
In addition, the length of the straight line of the forward tapered portion of each stage constituting the tapered portion can be 0.1 μm or more, and is preferably in the range of 0.2 μm to 10 μm. This is because, when the length of the straight line at each step is within the above range, the effect of preventing disconnection when the transparent conductive film is formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode becomes excellent.
Moreover, since it is so preferable that there are many steps | paragraphs of the curved part in this invention, it is not specifically limited, For example, it can be in the range of 1 step | paragraph-10 steps | paragraphs.
4C and 4E, the bending portion is a one-step taper portion, FIG. 4D is a two-step bending portion, and FIG. 4F is a bending portion. An example in which the portion is a three-stage tapered portion is shown.
In addition, the length of the straight line of the forward tapered portion of each step can be specifically the length in plan view indicated by d in FIGS. 4 (c) and 4 (d).

  Moreover, it is not essential, but it is preferable to provide a curved part in the corner part formed by a transparent base material and a side surface. The curved portion does not necessarily have a shape in which the main cutting surface shape can be approximated by an arc, and can have a different main cutting surface shape depending on manufacturing and processing conditions. When the shape of the main cut surface can be approximated by a circular arc, the radius of curvature Rb of the corner portion can be, for example, 0.1 μm or more, preferably 1 μm or more. The upper limit of the radius of curvature Rb is not particularly limited, and may be determined in consideration of the effect of preventing disconnection when a transparent conductive film is formed, the conductivity required for a metal wire, the ease of manufacturing a metal wire, Usually, it is about 50 μm or less.

The thickness of the metal wire can be appropriately set according to desired conductivity, workability, and the like, and can be, for example, 10 μm or less and within a range of 0.01 μm to 10.0 μm. In particular, it is preferably in the range of 0.05 μm to 2.0 μm, and particularly preferably in the range of 0.1 μm to 1.0 μm. This is because, when the thickness is within the above-described range, the organic EL illumination of the present invention has, for example, less disconnection of the transparent conductive film and excellent in-plane uniform light emission.
The thickness is specifically the distance H between the lower surface 13 and the upper surface 14 in FIG.

In order to suppress reflection of sunlight, illumination light, and the like on the surface of the metal wire electrode, the metal wire electrode includes, among the lower surface, the upper surface, and the side surface, which are the outer surfaces of the metal wire constituting the metal wire electrode. A dark color layer (not shown) having a dark appearance with low visible light reflectance may be formed on any one, two, or three surfaces. The color tone of the dark color layer may be an achromatic color such as black or dark gray, or a low chromatic color such as brown, amber, rosin, dark green, or dark purple.
The material of these dark layers can be selected from known materials such as copper oxide (II) [CuO], copper nitride (Cu3N), copper-cobalt alloy.
The thickness of the dark color layer is not particularly limited as long as it is within a range in which a desired antireflection effect is exhibited, but can usually be about 0.01 μm to 2 μm.

(2) Method for forming metal wire electrode As a method for forming the metal wire electrode, a metal wire having a forward tapered shape and a curved corner portion on a transparent substrate is used. Any method can be used as long as it can form metal wire electrodes arranged in a pattern.
As such a forming method, for example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, a metal thin film forming step of forming a metal thin film 31 on one surface of the transparent substrate 1 using a metal capable of forming a metal wire electrode; (FIG. 5A), a low adhesion resist layer forming step (FIGS. 5B to 5E) for forming a resist layer 32b having a low adhesion to the metal thin film 31 from the transparent substrate 1 side in a pattern. An etching process (FIGS. 5E to 5F) for etching the metal thin film 31 exposed from the resist layer 32b, and a resist layer removing process (FIG. 5F) for removing the resist layer 32b after the etching process. To (g)).
By having the low adhesion resist layer forming step, a resist layer having low adhesion between the resist layer and the metal thin film is formed. As a result, in the etching process, the etchant easily enters between the resist layer and the metal thin film, and the etching is more likely to proceed on the resist layer side than on the transparent substrate side of the metal thin film.
For this reason, the above-described forming method can easily form a metal wire having a forward tapered shape in cross section and a curved portion at a protruding corner portion in a desired pattern.

(A) Metal thin film formation process The said metal thin film formation process is a process of forming a metal thin film on the one surface of a transparent base material using the metal which can form a metal wire electrode.
As a method for forming the metal thin film in this step, a known method such as a sputtering method, a vapor deposition method, a plating method, or a laminate method for attaching a metal thin film using an adhesive can be used.

In this step, an adhesion improving layer that improves the adhesion between the transparent substrate and the metal thin film is disposed, that is, this step forms an adhesion improving layer on one surface of the transparent substrate. Then, a step of forming a metal thin film on the surface of the adhesion improving layer opposite to the transparent substrate may be used. By improving the adhesion between the metal thin film and the transparent substrate using the adhesion improving layer, the metal thin film can be stably etched without peeling off from the transparent substrate in the above etching process. For example, the taper of the metal wire This is because it becomes easy to make the angle θb low. Moreover, it is because the low adhesion resist layer formation process performed after this process becomes easy.
Examples of the constituent material of the adhesion improving layer include indium zinc oxide (IZO) when the metal constituting the metal thin film is copper or the like.
Moreover, as a formation method of an adhesive improvement layer, the method similar to the formation method of a metal thin film can be used, for example.

(B) Low adhesion resist layer formation process The said low adhesion resist layer formation process is a process of forming the resist layer with low adhesiveness with a metal thin film in a pattern form from the transparent base material side.
As the resist layer used in this step, either a negative type or a positive type can be used.
When the resist layer is a positive type, as a method for forming a resist layer having a lower adhesion to the metal thin film than the transparent substrate side in a pattern, for example, as shown in FIG. A resist layer 32 of a mold is formed (FIG. 5B), and then a portion of the resist layer 32 other than the portion where the metal line is formed is exposed (FIG. 5C) and then developed (FIG. 5). 5 (d)) A patterning step and a low adhesion step of performing a low adhesion process by a post-exposure process on the patterned resist layer 32a after the patterning process to form a patterned resist layer 32b with reduced adhesion (FIGS. 5D to 5E).

As a method of forming the positive resist layer in the patterning step, for example, a method of forming a positive resist resin using a coating method or the like can be used.
Examples of the coating method include a method of coating with a coating machine such as a roll coater, a gravure roll coater, a bar coater, a curtain flow coater, a knife edge coater, and a comma coater.
As the positive resist resin, known ones can be used, and examples thereof include photosensitive resist SC500 manufactured by Rohm & Haas Electronic Materials Co., Ltd.

As a resist layer exposure method in the patterning step, a general exposure method can be used. For example, as shown in FIG. 5C described above, an ultraviolet irradiation device made of mercury soot is used to form the metal wire electrode. A method can be used in which exposure is performed with exposure light L1 transmitted through a photomask M having a light-transmitting portion corresponding to a pattern.
In addition, the pattern of the metal line electrode may be exposed by scanning a radiation beam such as an electron beam or a laser beam without using a mask.
By this exposure, a readily soluble portion in which the positive photosensitive resist resin constituting the resist layer is photoreacted and an unexposed portion are formed.

As a developing method in the patterning step, for example, development is performed by spray development performed by spraying a developing solution to remove the easily soluble portion, and as shown in FIG. The method of obtaining 32a can be used.
As a developing method, other methods such as immersion can be used in addition to the spraying of the developer.

The method of the additional exposure process in the low adhesion step may be any method that can expose the patterned resist layer. For example, as illustrated in FIG. A method of irradiating the exposure light L2 on the entire surface of the metal thin film 31 and the patterned resist layer 32a using an ultraviolet irradiation device or the like without using the above can be mentioned.
About the exposure amount of the additional exposure process in this process, it adjusts suitably according to angle (theta) b which is a taper angle requested | required of a metal wire, the curvature radius Ru of a curved part, etc. FIG.
For example, a method of increasing the amount of exposure can be employed when forming a taper having a small angle θb and a large curvature radius Ru of the curved portion.

  In the low adhesion resist layer forming step, when the resist layer is a negative type, as a method of forming a resist layer having a lower adhesion to the metal thin film than the transparent substrate side in a pattern, for example, at the time of resist layer formation A method of reducing the adhesion strength of the resulting resist layer to the metal thin film by lowering the post-baking temperature and shortening the time can be used.

(C) Etching process The said etching process is a process of etching with respect to the metal thin film exposed from a resist layer.
As an etchant used for the etching process in this step, a known etchant can be used. For example, when the metal constituting the metal thin film is copper, silver, or an alloy thereof, one containing nitric acid or hydrochloric acid and further added with other etching aids as necessary can be used.
The content of nitric acid or hydrochloric acid contained in the etching solution is appropriately adjusted according to the angle θb that is a taper angle required for the metal wire, the curvature radius Ru of the curved portion, and the like. The content can be set, for example, within a range of 0.05% by mass to 50% by mass, within a range of 0.1% by mass to 15% by mass, particularly 0.5% by mass to 10% by mass. It is preferable to be within the range. If the concentration of nitric acid or hydrochloric acid is too low, the side etching amount on the upper surface side cannot be obtained. Conversely, if the concentration of nitric acid or hydrochloric acid is too high, the corrosion rate in the thickness direction increases, and the angle θb may not become an acute angle. It is.

(D) Resist Layer Removal Step As a resist layer removal method in the resist layer removal step, a known removal method can be used.

(E) Others The method for forming the metal wire electrode is a metal in which a cross-sectional shape is a forward taper shape and a metal wire having a curved portion at a corner is arranged in a desired pattern on a transparent substrate. Any method can be used as long as it can form a line electrode. In addition to the above-described method, for example, a metal wire is deposited by a dry etching process using plasma or the like, or by repeatedly performing a plating process to deposit a metal thin film. A method of forming an electrode can also be used.

2. Transparent base material The transparent base material in this invention is a plate-shaped member used as a support body of a metal wire electrode, and the material and thickness which have the intensity | strength and waist (elasticity or rigidity) for functioning as a board | substrate. It is comprised.

  Examples of the constituent material of the transparent substrate include transparent inorganic materials such as glass (soda-lime glass, non-alkali glass, etc.), quartz, PLZT (lead lanthanum zirconate titanate), and resins (polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene). Polyester resins such as naphthalate, polyolefin resins such as polyethylene, polypropylene, and cyclic polyolefin, acrylic resins such as methyl (meth) acrylate, methyl (meth) allyllate-butyl (meth) acrylate, polyurethane Resin, polyethersulfone resin, polycarbonate resin, polysulfone resin, polyether resin, polyether ketone resin, (meth) actonitrile resin, cycloolefin resin, polyamide resin, epoxy resin, And foot Can be used the system those made from resin) or the like of the solid transparent organic matter of.

The thickness of the transparent substrate is not particularly limited, but is usually within a range of 100 μm to 5000 μm when the constituent material is a transparent inorganic substance, and within a range of 20 μm to 250 μm when the constituent material is a transparent organic substance. be able to.
The transparency of the transparent substrate may be such that a desired transparency can be obtained as a transparent electrode, but the visible light transmittance is usually 70% or more, preferably 80% or more.
In addition, the visible light transmittance can use the total light transmittance measured by JISK7361-1 (the test method of the total light transmittance of a plastic-transparent material).

As for the said transparent base material, the functional layer may be formed in the surface as needed.
Examples of the functional layer include an index matching layer such as a high refractive index layer, a low refractive index layer, or a laminate thereof, and a hard coat layer. About these index matching layers and hard coat layers, those generally formed on the surface of a transparent substrate can be used, for example, optical adjustment layers and hard coat layers described in JP-A-2015-191634 and the like. It can be similar to the content.
The functional layer may have a barrier layer that suppresses moisture permeation.

3. Other Configurations The organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention has a transparent substrate and a metal wire electrode, but may have other configurations as necessary.
As such another configuration, for example, a transparent conductive film laminated so as to cover the surface of the metal wire electrode opposite to the side in contact with the transparent base material can be mentioned.
By having a transparent conductive film formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode, for example, the organic EL lighting electrode of the present invention can be used as a planar electrode having a transparent electrode layer formed on a transparent substrate. Because it becomes. Moreover, it is because the effect of this invention that it is excellent in the disconnection prevention effect of a transparent conductive film, is excellent in in-plane uniform light emission property, and can manufacture a power-saving organic EL illumination can be exhibited effectively.

Such a transparent conductive film is composed of a transparent conductive material having transparency.
The transparent conductive film is formed so as to be electrically connected to the metal wire electrode.
Here, being electrically connected to the metal wire electrode is not limited to an embodiment in which the transparent conductive film is formed so as to be in direct contact with the metal wire electrode, and the transparent conductive film is interposed via another conductive layer. In general, the transparent conductive film is formed so as to be in direct contact with the metal wire electrode.

As the transparent conductive material used for the transparent conductive film, a general transparent conductive material used as a transparent electrode layer in organic EL lighting or the like can be used, and examples thereof include metal oxides and conductive resin materials.
Examples of the metal oxide include tin-doped indium oxide (ITO), antimony-doped tin oxide (ATO), phosphorus-doped tin oxide (PTO), fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO), and indium zinc oxide (IZO). .
Examples of the conductive resin material include those containing a polyacetylene resin, a polythiophene resin, a polyaniline resin, a polyvinyl carbazole resin, and the like as described in JP2013-122015A.

  The transparent conductive film may be formed so that the surface opposite to the side in contact with the metal wire electrode is flat, but is usually formed with unevenness according to the unevenness of the metal wire electrode. Is.

As a method for forming the transparent conductive film, a known method can be used. For example, when the transparent conductive material is a metal oxide, a sputtering method or the like can be used.
In addition, when the transparent conductive material is a conductive resin material, the above forming method applies a coating liquid in which the conductive resin material is dispersed or dissolved in a solvent to form a coating film, and then the coating film The method of drying and hardening | curing as needed can be mentioned.

The thickness of the transparent conductive film may be any thickness as long as a desired conductive transparent conductive film can be formed, and may vary depending on the type of material used, the forming method, and the like.
When the transparent conductive material is a metal oxide and the transparent conductive film is formed by a sputtering method or the like, the thickness can be set in the range of 15 nm to 500 nm, for example. Further, when the transparent conductive material is a conductive resin material and the transparent conductive film is formed by a coating method, for example, it can be in the range of 0.01 μm to 300 μm, and in particular, 0.03 μm to It is preferable to be in the range of 100 μm.

4). Electrode for organic EL lighting The electrode for organic EL lighting of the present invention can be used as an electrode for various organic EL lightings. Among them, it is used as an electrode for organic EL lighting that requires power saving and in-plane uniform light emission. It is preferred that

B. Organic EL Lighting Next, the organic EL lighting of the present invention will be described.
The organic EL lighting of the present invention has the above-mentioned organic EL lighting electrode, a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode layer, and is disposed on one surface of the transparent substrate and the transparent substrate, for example. A transparent electrode layer, a light emitting layer disposed on the surface of the transparent electrode layer opposite to the side in contact with the transparent substrate, and a surface of the light emitting layer on the side opposite to the side in contact with the transparent electrode layer The transparent electrode layer is a metal wire electrode formed by combining metal wires arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate, and the transparent substrate of the metal wire electrode. A transparent conductive film laminated so as to cover a surface opposite to the side in contact with the surface, and the metal wire electrode is disposed on the side opposite to the lower surface, the lower surface being a surface in contact with the transparent substrate An upper surface formed opposite to the lower surface and narrower than the lower surface; and the lower surface and the upper surface Comprising a side, connecting, the external corner portions and the upper surface and the side surface is formed and has a curved portion.

Such organic EL illumination of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of the organic EL lighting 20 of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 6, the organic EL lighting 20 is formed on the transparent substrate 1, the transparent electrode layer 4 disposed on one surface of the transparent substrate 1, and the transparent substrate 1 of the transparent electrode layer 4. A light emitting layer 5 disposed on a surface opposite to the side in contact with the light emitting layer 5, and a counter electrode layer 6 disposed on a surface opposite to the side of the light emitting layer 5 in contact with the transparent electrode layer 4, The transparent electrode layer 4 includes a metal wire electrode 2 formed by combining metal wires 2a arranged on one surface of the transparent base material 1, and a side of the metal wire electrode 2 in contact with the transparent base material 1 A transparent conductive film 3 laminated so as to cover the opposite surface, and the metal wire electrode 2 is a surface in contact with the transparent substrate 1 as shown in FIG. The lower surface 13 is disposed on the opposite side of the lower surface 13 and is formed so as to face the lower surface 13. The upper surface is narrower than the lower surface 13. 14, and includes a side surface 15, connecting the said lower surface 13 and the upper surface 14, the external corner portion and the top surface 14 and the side surface 15 is formed and has a curved portion 14a.
In FIG. 6, the metal wire 2a is arranged so as to overlap with a part of the light emitting layer in plan view.

According to the present invention, by using the metal wire electrode having the above-described shape, the organic EL illumination of the present invention can prevent disconnection of the transparent conductive film when the transparent conductive film is formed so as to cover the metal wire electrode, for example. Etc. Therefore, the organic EL illumination of the present invention has excellent in-plane uniform light emission.
Moreover, the said transparent electrode layer becomes a thing with low electrical resistance by having a metal wire electrode with a transparent conductive film, and the organic electroluminescent illumination of this invention becomes a power-saving thing.

The organic EL lighting of the present invention includes an organic EL lighting electrode, a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode layer. For example, the organic EL lighting includes a transparent substrate, a transparent electrode layer, a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode layer. be able to.
Hereinafter, each structure of the organic EL illumination of the present invention will be described in detail.
In addition, about a transparent base material, since it can be the same as that of the content as described in the term of the above-mentioned "A. Electrode for organic EL illumination", description here is abbreviate | omitted.
The transparent electrode layer has a metal wire electrode and a transparent conductive film laminated so as to cover the metal wire electrode. Such a metal wire electrode and a transparent conductive film can be the same as the contents described in the above-mentioned section “A. Electrode for organic EL lighting”, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

1. Light emitting layer The said light emitting layer is arrange | positioned on the surface on the opposite side to the side which touches the said transparent base material of the said transparent electrode layer.

About such a light emitting layer, it can set suitably according to the luminescent color of the organic EL illumination of this invention, and is used for general organic EL illumination, such as patent 5320755, Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2013-89524, etc. The same as the light emitting layer to be obtained.
For example, when the emission color is white, the emission layer is formed by stacking a plurality of types of emission layers with different emission colors such as red, green, and blue as illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. As shown in FIGS. 7C and 7D, a plurality of types of light emitting layers having different emission colors are arranged on the same plane.
In addition, as the light emitting layer, a material containing a mixture of a plurality of types of light emitting materials and showing white light emission, a material containing a compound showing white light emission as a light emitting material, and the like can be used.
7A and 7B are a schematic plan view and a cross-sectional view taken along line AA showing another example of the organic EL illumination of the present invention, and the light emitting layer 5 is red, green, blue 3 It shows an example in which light emitting layers (5B, 5G, and 5R) having different luminescent colors are laminated. 7C and 7D are a schematic plan view and a BB line sectional view showing another example of the organic EL illumination of the present invention, and the light emitting layer 5 has three colors of red, green, and blue. The light emitting layer (5R, 5G, and 5B) of a luminescent color is shown in the example arranged on the same plane.
7A and 7B show an example in which blue, green, and red light emitting layers (5B, 5G, and 5R) are laminated in this order from the transparent electrode layer 4 side. 7C and 7D, the light emitting layers of the respective colors are arranged so as to extend in a direction obliquely intersecting with the Y-axis direction. For example, the blue light emitting layer 5B is Y The green light-emitting layer 5G and the red light-emitting layer 5R are arranged so as to extend obliquely with respect to the axial direction, and the green light-emitting layer 5G and the red light-emitting layer 5R also extend in a direction obliquely intersected with the Y-axis direction. The example arrange | positioned is shown.
In FIGS. 7A and 7C, the description of the counter electrode layer 6 is omitted for ease of explanation.

2. Counter electrode layer The counter electrode layer is disposed on the surface of the light emitting layer opposite to the side in contact with the transparent electrode layer.

  The counter electrode layer may have a light transmitting property or a light shielding property. Since the organic EL illumination of the present invention can be a bottom emission type in which light is extracted from the transparent substrate side, the counter electrode layer may have a light shielding property.

The counter electrode layer may be either an anode or a cathode.
In the present invention, the transparent electrode layer has a transparent conductive film formed using a transparent conductive material. Such a transparent conductive material generally has a high work function. The transparent electrode layer can easily function as an anode. From such a viewpoint, the counter electrode layer is usually used as a cathode.
As a conductive material used for the anode and the cathode, for example, materials described in Japanese Patent No. 5320755, JP 2013-89524 A, and the like can be used.
More specifically, examples of the conductive material used for the cathode include magnesium alloys such as MgAg, aluminum alloys such as AlLi, alloys of alkali metals such as Li and Ca, and alkaline earth metals. .

The method of forming the counter electrode layer can be the same as the method of forming a general electrode layer. For example, the method described in the section “3. Other configuration” of “A. Electrode for organic EL lighting” above. A method similar to the method for forming the transparent conductive film can be used.
In addition, as a method for forming the counter electrode layer in a pattern, an evaporation method using a metal mask described in JP 2013-89524 A, a photolithography method, or the like can be used.

3. Other Configurations The organic EL lighting in the present invention has a transparent substrate, a transparent electrode layer, a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode layer, but may have other configurations as necessary.
As said other structure, what is generally used for organic electroluminescent illumination can be mentioned, for example, the positive hole injection layer formed between a light emitting layer and an anode, a positive hole transport layer, an electron injection layer, Examples thereof include an electron transport layer. As such a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron injection layer, an electron transport layer, and the like, those generally used for organic EL lighting can be used. For example, Japanese Patent No. 5320755, This can be the same as that described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-89524.

4). Organic EL illumination The organic EL illumination of the present invention is usually a bottom emission type in which light is extracted from the transparent electrode layer side, but may be a top emission type in which light is extracted from the counter electrode layer side.

As a manufacturing method of the organic EL lighting of the present invention, any method can be used as long as the transparent substrate, the transparent electrode layer, the light emitting layer, and the counter electrode layer can be accurately formed in this order.
As said manufacturing method, the transparent conductive film which covers the metal wire electrode formed by the metal wire electrode formation process which prepares a transparent base material, and forms a metal wire electrode in one surface of a transparent base material, and a metal wire electrode formation process A transparent electrode layer forming step of forming an electrode for organic EL lighting, and a light emitting layer forming step of forming the light emitting layer on the transparent electrode layer of the electrode for organic EL lighting after the transparent electrode layer forming step And a counter electrode layer forming step of forming a counter electrode layer after the light emitting layer forming step.

The organic EL lighting of the present invention can be used for various lighting applications.
For example, the organic EL lighting can be used as a lighting fixture used in a space such as a living environment, a backlight of a display device, and the like.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above-described embodiment is an exemplification, and the present invention has substantially the same configuration as the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention, and any device that exhibits the same function and effect is the present invention. It is included in the technical scope of the invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to examples and comparative examples.

[Example 1]
(Production of metal wire electrode)
An organic EL lighting electrode having a transparent substrate and a metal wire electrode was formed by the following procedure.
(1) A 0.7 mm thick glass substrate was prepared as a transparent substrate.
(2) A vapor deposited film having a thickness of 100 nm was formed on a glass substrate using a silver palladium copper compound (APC alloy) to obtain a metal thin film.
(3) A resist layer was formed using a photosensitive resist SC500 manufactured by Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials Co., Ltd. so as to cover the entire surface of the metal thin film.
(4) Irradiate only the region of the resist layer where the metal wire electrode is not formed with an irradiation amount of 500 mJ / cm ² , and then spray spray with alkali as a developer to develop and remove the exposed portion, thereby forming a pattern. The resist layer was obtained. The obtained patterned resist layer was in the form of a lattice as shown in FIG. 1 described above, the width was 50 μm, and the pitch in the X and Y directions was 1000 μm.
(5) A pre-exposure process for irradiating the front surface of the patterned resist layer with ultraviolet rays at an irradiation amount of 1500 mJ / cm ² was performed.
(6) Using an etching solution having a nitric acid content of 5.0 mass%, the metal thin film exposed from the patterned resist layer is etched to form a metal wire electrode, and an organic EL lighting electrode is formed. Obtained.
In the organic EL lighting electrode obtained by this procedure, the width of the upper surface, the width of the lower surface, and the taper angle of the metal wire electrode were 39 μm, 40 μm, and 20 °, respectively.
Further, it was confirmed that a curved portion having a curvature radius of 1.0 μm was formed as a curved portion at the protruding corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface.
The pitch refers to the distance between the centers of resist layers adjacent to each other in the main cutting plane direction.

(Preparation of transparent conductive film)
The obtained metal wire electrode of the organic EL lighting electrode was subjected to a surface treatment with a UV-ozone irradiation device and a coating pretreatment by alkali cleaning, and then a polymer transparent conductive film (conductive) having a thickness of 50 nm by spin coating. A transparent conductive film formed using a resin material was formed on a glass substrate and a metal wire electrode.
Thus, the planar transparent electrode layer with which the metal wire electrode was covered with the polymer transparent conductive film was obtained.

(Preparation of light emitting layer and counter electrode layer)
A hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, and a light emitting layer were sequentially formed on the obtained planar transparent electrode layer. The hole injection layer was formed by applying and drying a hole injection layer coating liquid containing a hole injection material and a solvent on the planar transparent electrode layer by spin coating. The hole transport layer was formed by applying a coating liquid for a hole transport layer containing a polymer hole transport material and a solvent on the hole injection layer by spin coating and drying. The light emitting layer was formed by applying and drying a light emitting layer coating solution containing a light emitting material and a solvent on the hole transport layer by spin coating. The layer thicknesses of the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, and the light emitting layer were 50 nm, 20 nm, and 85 nm, respectively.
Next, an electron injection layer and a counter electrode layer (cathode) were sequentially formed. The electron injection layer was formed by depositing 3 nm of NaF on the light emitting layer by vapor deposition. The cathode was formed by depositing Al with a thickness of 200 nm on the electron injection layer by vapor deposition.
The organic EL element thus obtained was sealed using a sealing substrate to obtain organic EL illumination.

[Comparative Example 1]
An organic EL illumination was produced in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the additional exposure process (5) was not performed.
In the obtained organic EL illumination electrode, the width of the upper surface, the width of the lower surface, and the taper angle of the metal wire electrode were 40 μm, 40 μm, and approximately 90 °, respectively.
Further, an edge portion was formed by the upper surface and the side surface at the protruding corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface, and the curved portion could not be confirmed.

[Evaluation]
Regarding the organic EL illumination obtained in Example 1 and Comparative Example 1, light emission was confirmed with a two-dimensional luminance meter.
The organic EL illumination of Example 1 showed uniform light emission without light emission unevenness.
On the other hand, in the organic EL illumination of Comparative Example 1, light emission unevenness was confirmed, and a part with low luminance was confirmed partially. Moreover, when a transparent electrode layer was confirmed about the location where this brightness | luminance was partially low, it was confirmed that the location where the metal wire electrode surface is not covered with the transparent conductive film exists. Moreover, it has confirmed that the location which is not covered with the transparent conductive film is mainly the protrusion corner part and side surface of a metal wire electrode.
Moreover, in Example 1, the malfunction of the brightness nonuniformity estimated to originate in an electric current concentrating on the protruding corner part of a metal wire electrode was not observed.
On the other hand, in Comparative Example 1, a defect in luminance unevenness was observed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transparent base material 2a ... Metal wire 2 ... Metal wire electrode 3 ... Transparent electrically conductive film 4 ... Transparent electrode layer 5 ... Light emitting layer 6 ... Counter electrode layer 10 ... Electrode for organic EL illumination 20 ... Organic EL illumination

Claims (4)

A transparent substrate;
A metal wire electrode formed by combining metal wires arranged on one surface of the transparent substrate;
Have
The metal wire electrode is a lower surface that is a surface in contact with the transparent substrate, an upper surface that is disposed opposite to the lower surface and is opposed to the lower surface, and has a narrower width than the lower surface, and the lower surface and the upper surface With the side,
An electrode for organic electroluminescence illumination, comprising a curved portion at a protruding corner portion formed by the upper surface and the side surface.   The electrode for organic electroluminescence illumination according to claim 1, wherein a distance between the upper surface and the lower surface is 10 µm or less.   The electrode for organic electroluminescence illumination according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an angle formed by the lower surface and the side surface is an acute angle.   The organic electroluminescent illumination which has the electrode for organic electroluminescent illumination of any one of Claim 1- Claim 3, a light emitting layer, and a counter electrode layer.