JP2018014200A - Method for manufacturing organic electronics device - Google Patents

Abstract

When an organic electronic device is divided from an element forming substrate, the element forming substrate is surely cut without damaging the inorganic sealing film such as peeling or cracking. By irradiating a laser beam from the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ with a converging point aligned inside the mother substrate 10 ′, at least one row along the planned cutting line 70 is formed inside the mother substrate 10 ′. The modified region 180 is formed in this order by the step of forming the modified region 180 and the step of cutting the element forming substrate 90 along the planned cutting line 70 and dividing it into a plurality of organic electronics devices 100. In this step, the focal point is set at a location 40 μm or more away from the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′, and at least one focal point is at least 40 μm from the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′. Align to less than half the distance. [Selection] Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an organic electronic device.

In recent years, organic electronics devices represented by organic electroluminescence elements and organic photoelectric conversion elements have been rapidly developed. For example, when an organic electroluminescence element (hereinafter referred to as “organic EL element”) is used as an exposure light source for an electrophotographic printer, a long exposure light source is formed by arranging light emitting elements in a line shape. be able to. Therefore, it can be made smaller than a laser scan unit that is an exposure light source of a conventional laser beam printer, and the size of the printer body can be expected to be reduced. In addition, the organic photoelectric conversion element is expected to have higher sensitivity than conventional inorganic silicon, reduce the size of the image pickup element, and reduce the size of digital still cameras, digital video cameras, mobile phone cameras, and the like.
However, while these organic electronic devices are excellent devices, it is known that their characteristics deteriorate due to moisture. For example, in the case of an organic EL element, it is covered with an etching glass cover, the periphery is pasted with a sealing agent, a moisture absorbent is attached inside, and moisture entering from the sealing surface is absorbed by the moisture absorbent, thereby improving the light emitting performance of the organic EL element. Secured. However, with this sealing structure, there is a problem that the size of the organic EL device becomes large, and the size of the mounted product cannot be reduced.
Therefore, a sealing structure has been proposed in which an organic electronic device is covered with a hard and dense film capable of blocking moisture. This sealing structure is suitable for realizing a space-saving product using an organic electronic device. Until now, in order to form a hard and dense film, there is a film forming method using the VHF plasma CVD method, which has been used as a method for forming a thin film sealing layer without damaging the lower organic compound layer. . The thin film sealing layer by this CVD method is composed of an inorganic material, and has a high moisture resistance as a single film, but it is hard and dense, so it is easily cracked against external impacts and becomes a defect due to cracking. The moisture-proof property may be impaired.
Also, in order to improve the productivity of organic electronics devices, it is necessary to integrate many organic electronics devices on a single substrate and reduce the tact time, so the process of dividing the substrate including the thin film sealing layer May be included. Defects such as cracks in the thin film sealing layer that occur at that time cause a reduction in the reliability of the element after division. In view of this, various studies have been conducted from the manufacturing method of the element to the configuration for the purpose of preventing defects.
Patent Document 1 proposes a method of forming a trench by etching in advance along a dicing line and then forming an insulating film such as SiN on the dicing line when an element on a GaAs substrate is cut at the peripheral edge. ing. In Patent Document 1, even if the element is divided by dicing and a crack is generated, it is possible to prevent stress from concentrating on the R portion in the groove and spreading the crack to the element.
In Patent Document 2, an organic EL element is sandwiched between two substrates using a photo-curing resin as an adhesive layer, the resin of the light-emitting element part is first photo-cured, and the cut part is split without being cured, A method has been proposed in which cracks are not generated in uncured cut portions.
In Patent Document 3, a modified region that is a starting point of cutting is formed by irradiating a laser beam with a focusing point inside a substrate on which a plurality of inorganic electronic elements are formed, and high-precision cutting is performed. Laser processing methods that enable this have been proposed.

JP 2001-44141 A JP 2001-126866 A International Publication No. 05/098915

However, the technique of Patent Document 1 is a method of stopping the progress of cracks generated in the inorganic moisture-proof layer by concentrating stress at the bending points in the inorganic moisture-proof layer. This method uses a cutting method such as dicing as an example, but can also be used for scribing. However, in order to provide a bending point in the inorganic moisture-proof layer, it is necessary to form a groove by etching in the substrate, which reduces productivity. It is also difficult to form a groove on a glass substrate or the like. In any case, processing on the cut surface using a separate process and making it a highly moisture-proof structure, or making it a structure that does not easily cause cracks in a separate process is a reliable and reliable process. There is also a possibility that a loss will occur in terms of sex.
Moreover, the technique of patent document 2 is utilizing the difference in resin hardness (before and after hardening), and prevents the crack at the time of a cutting | disconnection, The application range is limited when using curable resin, such as photocuring resin. .
Furthermore, the technique of Patent Document 3 irradiates a laser beam with a condensing point at a position of 5 μm to 15 μm from the element formation surface of the substrate, so that the application range is influenced by the heat generated by the laser beam irradiation. It is limited to the board | substrate with which the inorganic electronics element which is hard to receive was formed.
Therefore, the present invention addresses such a problem by forming an element without damaging the inorganic sealing film such as peeling or cracking when the organic electronic apparatus is divided from the element forming substrate on which a plurality of organic electronic apparatuses are formed. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing an organic electronic device capable of reliably cutting a substrate.

The method for producing an organic electronics device of the present invention is a method for producing an organic electronics device having an inorganic sealing film covering a plurality of organic electronics elements on a substrate and covering the organic electronics elements,
An element forming substrate having a plurality of organic electronics elements having an organic compound layer disposed between a pair of electrodes on the surface of a mother substrate, covering the organic electronics elements, and having an inorganic sealing film straddling a line to be cut A process of preparing
A step of forming at least one row of modified regions along the planned cutting line inside the mother substrate by irradiating a laser beam from the back surface of the mother substrate with a condensing point inside the mother substrate. When,
Cutting the element forming substrate along the planned cutting line and dividing it into a plurality of organic electronics devices in this order,
In the step of forming the modified region, the light condensing point is aligned with a position separated by 40 μm or more from the surface of the mother substrate, and at least one light condensing point is formed by 40 μm or more from the surface of the mother substrate. It is characterized in that it is adjusted to a location separated by less than half of the thickness of the substrate.

  According to the present invention, when an organic electronics device is divided from an element forming substrate on which a plurality of organic electronics devices are formed, the organic compound layer is not damaged by crystallization, melting, etc., and an inorganic sealing film The element forming substrate can be reliably cut without causing any damage such as peeling or cracking and without causing excessive cracking in the mother substrate. For this reason, it is possible to provide a highly reliable organic electronic device that can prevent moisture and oxygen from entering and can be stored for a long period of time.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the organic light-emitting device manufactured by 1st Embodiment. It is a top view of the element formation substrate of a 1st embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the example of the arrangement pattern of the light emission pixel in 1st Embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view after forming a modified region on the element formation substrate of FIG. 2. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the image forming apparatus which has the organic light-emitting device of this invention. It is a figure which shows the element formation board | substrate of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the element formation board | substrate of 3rd Embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For parts not specifically shown or described in the present specification, well-known or publicly known techniques in the art can be applied.

<First Embodiment>
In the present embodiment, a glass substrate is used as a mother substrate, and an organic light emitting device that is an example of an organic electronics device is manufactured.

  1A and 1B are schematic views showing an organic light-emitting device manufactured according to the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a plan view, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of FIG. It is. FIG. 2 is a plan view of an element formation substrate on which a plurality of the organic light emitting devices 100 shown in FIG. 1 are formed. In the present embodiment, the element formation substrate 90 shown in FIG. 2 is cut along the planned cutting line 70 and divided into a plurality of organic light emitting devices 100.

[Configuration of organic light-emitting device]
As shown in FIG. 1A, the organic light emitting device 100 manufactured according to the present embodiment includes a plurality of light emitting pixels 12, a plurality of pixel circuits 14, a power supply line 16, and a scanning circuit 18 disposed on a substrate 10. , Data lines 20, wiring pads 22 and the like.

  The light emitting pixel 12 includes an organic EL element 60 (see FIG. 1B) which is an example of an organic electronics element. The plurality of light emitting pixels 12 are arranged in a line along the longitudinal direction 1 of the substrate 10 on the long substrate 10. The organic light emitting device of the present embodiment is a line light emitting device in which a plurality of light emitting pixels 12 are arranged in n rows × m columns (n ≦ 4 and 100 ≦ m), for example. In the case of an exposure light source of a laser beam printer that prints on A4 size paper, the full width in the longitudinal direction 1 where the light emitting pixels 12 are arranged is about 21.2 cm corresponding to the short side of A4.

  The pixel circuits 14 are arranged in a line on the substrate 10 so as to be adjacent to and parallel to the column of the light emitting pixels 12. The pixel circuits 14 are for controlling the drive current of the light emitting pixels 12, and one pixel circuit 14 is arranged for each light emitting pixel 12.

  The power supply line 16 and the scanning circuit 18 are disposed on the substrate 10 adjacent to the column of the pixel circuits 14. The data line 20 is arranged on the side opposite to the side where the column of the pixel circuits 14 is arranged in the column of the light emitting pixels 12. The pixel circuit 14, the power supply line 16, the scanning circuit 18, and the data line 20 constitute a drive circuit for driving the plurality of light emitting pixels 12. The pixel circuit 14 and the scanning circuit 18 are formed of, for example, a switching element such as a thin film transistor or a metal wiring such as aluminum or molybdenum. The power supply line 16 and the data line 20 are also formed of the same metal wiring.

  In the light emitting device in which the plurality of light emitting pixels 12 are arranged in a line like the organic light emitting device 100 according to the present embodiment, the driving circuits for driving the light emitting pixels 12 are arranged on the four sides around the pixel region. Have difficulty. Therefore, generally, as shown to Fig.1 (a), it arrange | positions at the two sides of the both sides which pinch | interpose the row | line | column of the light emission pixel 12. FIG. FIG. 1A shows an example of the arrangement of the pixel circuit 14, the power supply line 16, the scanning circuit 18, and the data line 20. The pixel circuit 14, the power supply line 16, the scanning circuit 18, and the data line 20 can be individually determined as to which side of the column of the light emitting pixels 12 is arranged and in which order.

  The wiring pads 22 are arranged on one side of the long substrate 10. However, the wiring pads 22 may be on both sides of the substrate 10. The power supply line 16, the scanning circuit 18, the data line 20, and the upper electrode 58 of the organic EL element 60 are connected to the wiring pad 22 and exposed to the surface of the substrate 10. The wiring pad 22 is connected to the flexible cable using an ACF (anisotropic conductive film) or the like.

  In such a light emitting device 100, light emission of each light emitting pixel 12 is controlled by a control signal appropriately input from a drive circuit corresponding to each light emitting pixel 12. An apparatus such as an electrophotographic printer can be constructed by, for example, exposing a photoconductor with this light.

  As shown in FIG. 1B, an undercoat layer 30 made of an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiOx) or silicon nitride (SiNx) is formed on the substrate 10. A thin film transistor 38 including a channel layer 32, a gate insulating film 34, and a gate electrode 36 is formed on the undercoat layer 30. The thin film transistor 38 is a switching element that constitutes a drive circuit such as the pixel circuit 14 or the scanning circuit 18.

  On the undercoat layer 30 on which the thin film transistor 38 is formed, an interlayer insulating film 40 made of an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride is formed. On the interlayer insulating film 40, the source / drain electrode 42 electrically connected to the channel layer 32 and the gate electrode 36 of the thin film transistor 38 through the connection hole formed in the interlayer insulating film 40, the power line 16, and the data A metal wiring 44 constituting the line 20 is formed.

  An interlayer insulating film 46 made of an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride is formed on the interlayer insulating film 40 on which the source / drain electrodes 42 and the metal wirings 44 are formed. A lower electrode 48 electrically connected to the source / drain electrode 42 of the thin film transistor 38 is formed on the interlayer insulating film 46 through a connection hole formed in the interlayer insulating film 46.

  A pixel isolation film 50 made of an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide or silicon nitride is formed on the interlayer insulating film 46 on which the lower electrode 48 is formed. The pixel separation film 50 is for defining a light emitting region of the organic EL element 60 that is a light emitting device, and an opening 52 is provided in a predetermined light emitting region on the lower electrode 48. The pixel separation film 50 is preferably made of an inorganic material.

  The lower electrode 48, the organic compound layer 54, and the upper electrode 58 are sequentially stacked in this order from the substrate side (substrate 10 side). In FIG. 1B, the light emitting pixel 12 corresponds to a light emitting region of the organic EL element 60, that is, a portion of the opening 52 provided in the pixel separation film 50.

  On the pixel isolation film 50, an organic compound layer 54 including a light emitting layer is formed in contact with the lower electrode 48 in the opening 52 and extending from the opening 52 onto the pixel isolation film 50. As shown in FIG. 1A, the organic compound layer 54 is preferably formed in a long shape in common to all the light emitting pixels 12 arranged in a line.

  The organic compound layer 54 is a layer including at least a light emitting layer, and is preferably composed of several functionally separated layers. For example, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron block layer, a hole block layer, an electron transport layer, an electron injection layer, and the like may be included as layers other than the light emitting layer. The lower electrode 48, the organic compound layer 54, and the upper electrode 58 constitute an organic EL element 60. An upper electrode 58 is formed on the organic compound layer 54. In the present invention, the organic compound layer 54 is preferably covered with the upper electrode 58. Here, the coating means that the organic compound layer 54 is covered with the upper electrode 58 on the layer and the end of the layer. Similarly, covering a layer of a certain layer and an end portion of the layer by an upper layer is called covering. Since the material used for the electrode is generally high in density and has sealing performance, the organic compound layer 54 is simply sealed by the upper electrode 58. For this reason, durability against water intrusion from the outside becomes strong, and the reliability of the organic light emitting device can be improved. The total film thickness of the organic compound layer 54 varies depending on the optical interference design, but is about 50 to 300 nm.

  In the present embodiment, either the lower electrode 48 or the upper electrode 58 is a transparent electrode or a semitransparent electrode, and the counter electrode is a reflective electrode. As a material of the transparent electrode, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, or the like can be used. The semi-transparent electrode can be obtained by forming a thin metal film such as aluminum or silver to have an appropriate film thickness of transparency and reflectivity. The reflective electrode is preferably an electrode having high reflectivity in the visible region, such as aluminum or silver. The electrode may be other than those described above, or a mixed film (alloy) or a laminated film thereof. The thickness of the upper electrode 58 may be determined in consideration of transmittance, reflectance, volume resistance, etc., and the thickness is, for example, 20 to 300 nm.

An inorganic sealing film 64 made of an inorganic material is formed on the upper electrode 58, and the upper electrode 58 is covered with the inorganic sealing film 64. Here, “covering” means that the layer of the upper electrode 58 and the end of the layer are covered with the inorganic sealing film 64. By forming the inorganic sealing film 64, the organic EL element 60 can be shielded from an external atmosphere such as moisture and oxygen. The inorganic sealing film 64 is preferably silicon nitride, silicon nitride oxide, or silicon oxide formed by sputtering or CVD (chemical vapor deposition). In addition, aluminum oxide, silicon nitride, and the like formed by an ALD method (atomic layer deposition method) capable of forming a dense film are also preferable. The inorganic sealing film 64 is preferably a single film of any of the above materials or a laminated film in which these are laminated. Further, regarding the sealing performance of the inorganic sealing film 64, for example, the water permeability is preferably about 10 ⁻⁶ g / m ² · day, but the present invention depends on the material type selected for realizing the sealing performance. Is not limited. The wiring pad 22 is once covered with the inorganic sealing film 64, but is connected to the outside after being exposed by a separate process. The thickness of the inorganic sealing film 64 is not particularly limited, but is preferably 100 nm or more from the viewpoint of sealing performance.

  Several arrangement patterns of the light emitting pixels 12 can be considered. For example, a line-shaped light emitting device arranged in one row × 2506 columns is conceivable. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an array pattern of light emitting pixels. As shown in FIG. 3A, when the size a × b of the light emitting pixel is 42.3 μm × 42.3 μm and the pitch c is 84.6 μm, the exposure width is 212 mm (84.6 μm × 2506 light emitting pixel). Become. At this time, the length of the long glass substrate 1 in the longitudinal direction 1 is 219 mm, and the length in the lateral direction 2 is 4.7 mm. The length of the long substrate 2 in the short direction 2 is preferably 10 mm or less because a larger number can be obtained from one mother substrate. More specifically, it is preferably 1 mm or more and 10 mm or less.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, a line-shaped light emitting device in which light emitting pixels are arranged in 2 rows × 2506 columns may be used. When the size a × b of the light emitting pixel is 42.3 μm × 42.3 μm, the pitch c in the longitudinal direction 1 is 84.6 μm, and the pitch d in the short direction 2 is 67.7 μm, the exposure width is 212 mm (84.84 mm). 6 μm × 2506 light emitting pixels).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the positions in the row direction (longitudinal direction 1) may be shifted every other row and zigzag arranged in a zigzag pattern. In this case, the light emitting pixels can be arranged at a higher density in the row direction (longitudinal direction 1) than in the arrangement as shown in FIG. When the size a × b of the light emitting pixel is 42.3 μm × 25.4 μm, the pitch c in the longitudinal direction 1 is 84.6 μm, and the pitch d in the lateral direction 2 is 50.8 μm, the exposure width is 212 mm (42. 3 μm × 5012 light emitting pixels).

[Method for Manufacturing Organic Light-Emitting Device]
Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the organic light emitting device of this embodiment will be described.

≪Process for preparing element formation substrate≫
In this embodiment, first, an element formation substrate 90 shown in FIG. 2 is prepared. 2 includes a plurality of organic EL elements 60 each having an organic compound layer 54 disposed between a pair of electrodes (a lower electrode 48 and an upper electrode 58) on the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′. . In the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 2, the organic compound layer 54 is formed in common with the plurality of organic EL elements 60, and the upper electrode 58 covers the organic compound layer 54. Further, the element forming substrate 90 of FIG. 2 has an inorganic sealing film 64 on the entire surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ so as to cover the organic EL element 60 and cross over the planned cutting line 70. That is, a plurality of organic light emitting devices 100 formed by cutting along the planned cutting line 70 are arranged on the surface of the element forming substrate 90 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the planned cutting line 70 is a straight virtual line surrounding a region to be the organic light emitting device 100, but the planned cutting line 70 is not limited to this, and may be a curved line or the mother substrate 10. It may be a line that is actually drawn on.

  The element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 2 may be prepared by purchasing. 2 is formed by forming a plurality of organic EL elements 60 on the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′, covering the organic EL elements 60, and forming the inorganic sealing film 64 across the cutting scheduled line 70. A formation substrate 90 may be prepared.

≪Process for forming modified region≫
4 is a schematic cross-sectional view after the modified region is formed on the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 2, FIG. 4 (a) is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line BB ′ of FIG. 2, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line CC ′ of FIG. 2. In FIG. 4, the undercoat layer 30, the interlayer insulating films 40 and 46, and the pixel isolation film 50 are collectively represented as a base layer 80.

  In the present embodiment, a laser beam is irradiated from the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ with the focusing point inside the mother substrate 10 ′ of the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 2, and scanning is performed along the scheduled cutting line 70. The modified region 180 is formed by multiphoton absorption. Specifically, internal absorption (processing) type laser dicing, for example, stealth dicing (registered trademark) technology (Hamamatsu Photonics Co., Ltd.) or the like can be applied.

  In the present embodiment, scanning along the scheduled cutting line 70 is performed five times on the scheduled cutting line 70, and the depth of the position where the condensing point is adjusted each time (distance from the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′) ) Was changed to form five rows of modified regions 180. At that time, the modified regions 180 were formed one by one in the order in which the positions where the condensing points are aligned are deeper (in the order farther from the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′). As a result, the modified region 180 does not exist between the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ and the condensing point, and there is no occurrence of scattering, absorption, or the like of laser light by the modified region 180 that has already been formed. The modified region 180 can be formed with high accuracy. The adjacent modified regions 180 may be formed so as to be continuous in the thickness direction of the mother substrate 10 ′ or may be formed so as to be separated from each other. Further, the reforming points 190 constituting the reforming region 180 may be formed so as to be continuous or separated in the in-plane direction of the mother substrate 10 ′.

  The position of the condensing point is adjusted to a location that is 40 μm or more away from the surface of the mother substrate 10 '. As a result, when the element forming substrate 90 is cut, cracks starting from the modified region 180 reach the inorganic sealing film 64 with high precision along the planned cutting line 70, and the inorganic sealing film 64 is damaged by peeling or cracking. It is possible to cut the element formation substrate 90 without causing the above. Further, the modified region 180 mainly spreads toward the laser beam irradiation side starting from the condensing point, so that the organic compound layer 54 is not damaged such as crystallization and melting.

  In addition, at least one condensing point is set to a location 40 μm or more away from the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ and less than half the thickness of the mother substrate 10 ′. As a result, when the element forming substrate 90 is cut, a crack starting from the modified region 180 is generated in the mother substrate 10 ′ with high accuracy along the planned cutting line 70, and an extra crack is generated in the mother substrate 10 ′. The element forming substrate 90 can be cut without the need.

  Therefore, the organic light emitting device 100 manufactured according to the present embodiment is a device that is prevented from entering moisture and oxygen and has high reliability even in long-term storage. In particular, in the case of a long device such as the organic light emitting device 100 of the present embodiment, the length in the longitudinal direction 1 of the substrate 10 is determined by, for example, an exposure width necessary as an exposure light source, and thus the number of the substrates is increased. For this purpose, it is necessary to narrow the width of the substrate 10 in the short direction 2. In addition, there is a need to narrow the frame because of the demand for downsizing the device. For this reason, the distance between the organic EL element 60 and the planned cutting line 70 is shortened, which is more easily affected by laser light irradiation, and a more reliable sealing state is required. Therefore, the present invention is particularly effective for manufacturing such a device.

≪Step to divide into multiple organic electronics devices≫
By applying an artificial force to the element formation substrate 90 in which the modified region 180 is formed, cracks are likely to occur starting from the modified region 180. Therefore, the element formation substrate 90 can be cut with a relatively small force. it can. Therefore, the element forming substrate 90 can be cut along the planned cutting line 70 with high accuracy without causing unnecessary cracking such as peeling or cracking in the base layer 80 and the inorganic sealing film 64, and for a long time. Even in storage, the organic light emitting device 100 is divided into a plurality of highly reliable organic light emitting devices 100.

  As a method of applying artificial force, for example, a method of applying a bending stress or a shearing stress along the planned cutting line 70 of the element forming substrate 90, or a method of generating a thermal stress by giving a temperature difference to the element forming substrate 90 Etc. Specifically, for example, a method of expanding an expandable film such as an expanded tape by attaching it to the back surface of the mother substrate 10 'can be used. When the mother substrate 10 ′ is thin, it may be naturally cracked in the thickness direction of the element formation substrate 90 starting from the modified region 180, and as a result, the element formation substrate 90 may be cut.

[Applications of organic light-emitting devices]
The organic light emitting device of the present invention can be used as a constituent member of an exposure device for exposing a photoreceptor. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of an image forming apparatus having the organic light emitting device of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 200 in FIG. 5 includes a photoreceptor 101, an exposure light source 102, a developing device 104, a charging unit 105, a transfer device 106, a transport roller 107, and a fixing device 109. In the image forming apparatus 200, light 103 is irradiated from the exposure light source 102 toward the photoconductor 101, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the surface of the photoconductor 101. The exposure light source 102 is an organic light emitting device according to the present invention. The developing device 104 has toner or the like. The charging unit 105 is provided to charge the photoconductor 101. The transfer device 106 is provided to transfer the developed image to a recording medium 108 such as paper. The recording medium 108 is conveyed to the transfer machine 106 by the conveyance roller 107. The fixing device 109 is provided to fix the image formed on the recording medium 108.

Second Embodiment
In this embodiment, a wafer is used as a mother substrate, and an organic light-emitting device that is an example of an organic electronics device is manufactured.

  6A and 6B are diagrams showing the element formation substrate of the present embodiment, in which FIG. 6A is a plan view, and FIG. 6B is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line D-D ′ of FIG. In the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 6, a plurality of organic EL elements each having an organic compound layer 351 disposed between a pair of electrodes (a lower electrode 350 and an upper electrode 352) are disposed on the surface of the mother substrate 310. Furthermore, the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 6 has an inorganic sealing film 353 so as to cover the organic EL element and straddle the planned cutting line 70. That is, a plurality of organic light emitting devices 300 formed by cutting along the planned cutting line 70 are arranged on the surface of the element forming substrate 90 of FIG.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6B, an undercoat layer 330 made of an inorganic insulating material such as silicon oxide (SiOx) or silicon nitride (SiNx) is formed on a mother substrate 310 made of silicon or the like. Is formed. On the undercoat layer 330, layers (source and drain electrode layers) 331 constituting a thin film transistor (TFT), insulating layers 346 and 347, and a planarizing layer 348 are stacked in this order. Note that the layers from the undercoat layer 330 to the planarization layer 348 are not necessarily required. This is because the present invention can be applied not only to an active matrix light emitting device having thin film transistors for driving individual organic EL elements but also to a passive matrix light emitting device that emits light at the intersection of stripe electrodes. In the latter case, the substrate does not have a thin film transistor, and the lower electrode 350 may be formed on the substrate 310 in some cases. The layer 331 constituting the TFT is the same layer as the source and drain electrodes in this embodiment, but may be a different layer. For example, it may be the same layer as the gate electrode layer.

  Then, a lower electrode 350 of a unit pixel is formed on the planarization layer 348, and the periphery of each pixel is covered with an element isolation film 339 made of polyimide. The lower electrode 350 is preferably made of a reflective material such as Al, and may be a combination of Al and transparent electrodes IZO and ITO. Any material can be used as long as it functions as a reflective electrode in a single layer or a stacked layer. In the pixel opening, as the organic compound layer 351, a hole transport layer, an organic light emitting layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer are sequentially formed. An upper electrode 352 is formed on the upper portion. The upper electrode 352 may be a combination of transparent electrodes IZO and ITO, or an Ag thin film semi-transparent electrode. Any material can be used as long as it functions as a transparent or semi-transparent electrode in a single layer or a laminate. The lower electrode 350, the organic compound layer 351, and the upper electrode 352 form an organic EL element. Further, an inorganic sealing film 353 made of an inorganic material is formed so as to completely cover the upper electrode 352, the element isolation film 339, and the planarization layer 348, excluding the extraction electrode. Details of the material, performance, thickness, and the like of the inorganic sealing film 353 are as described in the first embodiment. A color filter 360 is provided on the upper portion including the inorganic sealing film 353.

  In the present embodiment, the element forming substrate 90 shown in FIG. 6A is cut along the planned cutting line 70 and divided into a plurality of organic light emitting devices 300 by the same method as in the first embodiment.

  The organic light emitting device manufactured in the present embodiment can be used for a display or an electronic viewfinder of an imaging device such as a digital camera or a digital video camera having an imaging element such as a CMOS sensor. In addition, it can be used for a display of an image forming apparatus and a display of a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone or a smartphone.

<Third Embodiment>
In this embodiment, an organic photoelectric conversion device, which is an example of an organic electronics device, is manufactured using a wafer as a mother substrate.

  7A and 7B are diagrams showing the element formation substrate of the present embodiment, in which FIG. 7A is a plan view and FIG. 7B is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line E-E ′ of FIG. In the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 7, a plurality of organic photoelectric conversion elements 518 having photoelectric conversion layers (organic compound layers) 520 disposed between a pair of electrodes 519 and 521 are disposed on the surface of the mother substrate 499. Furthermore, the element formation substrate 90 of FIG. 7 has an inorganic sealing film 514 so as to cover the organic photoelectric conversion element 518 and to cross the planned cutting line 70. That is, a plurality of organic photoelectric conversion devices 500 formed by cutting along the planned cutting line 70 are arranged on the surface of the element forming substrate 90 of FIG.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 7B, a photoelectric conversion element 518 is provided in a light receiving region 501 of a mother substrate 499 made of silicon or the like. The photoelectric conversion element 518 includes an electrode 519, a photoelectric conversion layer (organic compound layer) 520, and an electrode 521. The electrode 519 is also called a lower electrode, and is made of a conductor mainly composed of aluminum or copper. The electrode 521 is also referred to as an upper electrode, and is preferably made of a transparent conductive material. For example, the electrode 521 is made of a conductor mainly composed of ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) or polyimide. The electrode 521 is electrically connected to a peripheral circuit formed in the peripheral circuit region 502 through the electrode 526. The photoelectric conversion layer 520 is made of a material capable of photoelectric conversion made of an organic material, for example. Examples of the photoelectric conversion layer 520 include organic complex dyes such as metal complex dyes and cyanine dyes. Other organic materials include derivatives such as acridine, coumarin, triphenylmethane, fullerene, aluminum quinoline, polyparaphenylene vinylene, polyfluorene, polyvinyl carbazole, polythiol, polypyrrole, and polythiophene. A plurality of transistors 516 are arranged on the mother substrate 499 in the light receiving region 501. A plurality of transistors 517 are arranged on the mother substrate 499 in the peripheral circuit region 502. The plurality of transistors 517 constitute a processing circuit.

  A wiring structure 503 is provided on the surface 502 of the mother substrate 499. The wiring structure 503 has at least one wiring layer. Here, the wiring structure 503 includes insulating films 504 to 506 provided continuously in the light receiving region 501 and the peripheral circuit region 502, and insulating films provided in the peripheral circuit region 502 and not provided in the light receiving region 501. 507, 508. Further, the wiring structure 503 includes wiring layers 509 and 510 provided in both the light receiving region 501 and the peripheral circuit region 502, and a wiring layer 511 provided in the peripheral circuit region 502 and not provided in the light receiving region 501. 512, 513. Each of the wiring layers 509 to 513 is located at a different height from each other and has at least one wiring pattern. The wiring layer 512 functions as, for example, a light shielding film that reduces light that can enter the mother substrate 499 in the peripheral circuit region 502 in at least a part of the peripheral circuit region 502. The wiring layer 513 serves as a terminal (pad portion) for connection with the outside. The inorganic sealing film 514 has an opening 515 that covers the wiring layer 513 from above the photoelectric conversion element 518 in the light receiving region 501 and exposes a part of the upper surface of the wiring layer 513. Details of the material, performance, thickness, and the like of the inorganic sealing film 514 are as described in the first embodiment. A color filter layer 522 and a microlens layer 523 are provided on the inorganic sealing film 514 in the light receiving region 501. The color filter layer 522 includes a plurality of color filters, and the microlens layer 523 includes a plurality of microlenses.

  In the present embodiment, the element forming substrate 90 shown in FIG. 7A is cut along the planned cutting line 70 and divided into a plurality of photoelectric conversion devices 500 by the same method as in the first embodiment.

  The organic photoelectric conversion device manufactured in this embodiment is used for an image sensor of a digital camera or a digital video camera, an image sensor of an in-vehicle camera, an image sensor of a surveillance camera, or an image sensor of a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone or a smartphone. can do.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail by way of examples.

<Examples 1-4 and Comparative Examples 1-3>
In the organic light emitting device manufactured in this embodiment, the process from the base process to the formation of the pixel isolation film is included in the present invention as long as it is performed by a general manufacturing method in a semiconductor process. Since the layer structure varies depending on the drive circuit, this embodiment is described as an example. The substrate may be silicon or the like in addition to glass. Although the light emitting layer is a red light emitting layer, it may be a different color or two or more (multiple colors). Further, the arrangement of the light emitting pixels, the substrate size, and the like are not particularly limited. In addition, the length in the longitudinal direction of the organic compound layer or the upper electrode layer may be a length that matches the substrate size.

  A large number of organic light emitting devices 100 shown in FIG. 1 were taken from the element formation substrate 90 shown in FIG. A second-generation mother glass substrate (460 mm × 365 mm, thickness 0.5 mm) was used as the mother substrate 10 ′. The organic light emitting device 100 has a long shape (219 mm × 4.7 mm). As shown in FIG. 2, the organic light emitting device 100 is packed in 69 rows × 2 columns at the center of the mother substrate 10 ′ as shown in FIG. I took it.

1. Step of Preparing Element Forming Substrate 90 [Steps until Pixel Separation Film 50 is Formed on Mother Substrate 10 ′]
First, an undercoat layer 30 made of an inorganic insulating material of silicon nitride was formed on the mother substrate 10 ′ by a CVD method. Next, a thin film transistor 38 having a channel layer 32, a gate insulating film 34, and a gate electrode 36 was formed on the undercoat layer 30 in the same manner as a known thin film transistor manufacturing method. Next, an interlayer insulating film 40 made of an inorganic insulating material of silicon oxide was formed by CVD on the undercoat layer 30 on which the thin film transistor 38 was formed. Next, a connection hole opened on the electrode of the thin film transistor 38 is formed in the interlayer insulating film 40 by photolithography and dry etching, and then the source / drain electrode 42 and the metal wiring connected to the thin film transistor 38 through the connection hole 44 etc. were formed. Next, an interlayer insulating film 46 made of an inorganic insulating material of silicon oxide was formed by CVD on the interlayer insulating film 40 on which the source / drain electrodes 42 and the metal wirings 44 were formed. Next, a connection hole opened on the source / drain electrode 42 was formed in the interlayer insulating film 46 by photolithography and dry etching. Thereafter, indium tin oxide (ITO) was formed as the lower electrode 48 connected to the source / drain electrode 42 through the connection hole.

  Next, a pixel isolation film 50 made of a silicon nitride inorganic insulating material was formed to a thickness of 200 nm on the interlayer insulating film 46 on which the lower electrode 48 was formed by a CVD method.

[Processing for Pixel Separation Film 50]
Next, the pixel isolation film 50 was patterned by photolithography and dry etching to form an opening 52 that demarcates the light emitting region into a 40 μm square. At this time, in each organic light emitting device 100, the light emitting pixels 12 with n = 1 and m = 500 were arranged in a line, and the total number of light emitting pixels was 500 pixels. Thereafter, before the organic compound layer 54 was formed, the substrate was baked at about 250 ° C. to dehydrate the substrate.

[Step of forming organic compound layer 54]
Next, the organic compound layer 54 is formed on the lower electrode 48 exposed in the opening 52 of the pixel separation film 50 by using a vacuum vapor deposition method so that the vapor deposition mask is brought into close contact therewith, and the organic compound layer is formed in a predetermined film formation region. 54 was formed. At that time, as the organic compound layer 54, a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, an electron block layer, a light emitting layer, a hole block layer, an electron transport layer, and an electron injection layer were formed in this order. The material used for each layer used the well-known material marketed. The emission color of the light emitting layer was red according to the photosensitive wavelength of the photosensitive material.

[Step of Forming Upper Electrode 58]
An upper electrode 58 was formed so as to cover the organic compound layer 54. Aluminum was used for the upper electrode, and an upper electrode 58 having a film thickness of 200 μm was formed in a predetermined film formation region by a vacuum evaporation method using an evaporation mask. In this step, the organic compound layer 54 was covered with the upper electrode 58.

[Step of forming inorganic sealing film 64]
Next, an inorganic sealing film 64 made of silicon nitride having a thickness of 2 μm was formed on the entire surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ by a CVD method. In this step, the upper electrode 58 was covered with the inorganic sealing film 64.

2. A process of forming a modified region and a process of dividing into a plurality of organic light-emitting devices A UV curable transparent dicing tape (manufactured by Lintec) is attached to the back surface of the element forming substrate 90, and a slightly adhesive sheet (manufactured by Nitto Denko) is attached to the surface. Was pasted and set on the stage of the dicing machine. The laser beam was irradiated from the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ with the focusing point inside the mother substrate 10 ′ under the following conditions, and scanned along the planned cutting line 70. Thus, a plurality of modified regions 180 modified by multiphoton absorption were formed in the mother substrate 10 ′ along the planned cutting line 70. The modified regions 180 were formed in a row in order of increasing distance from the back surface of the mother substrate 10 ′.
Light source: semiconductor laser excitation Nd: YAG laser wavelength: 1064 nm
Pulse width: 30ns
Output: 1 mJ / pulse or less Laser moving speed: 300 mm / sec Laser beam focusing point position: As shown in Table 1

  Thereafter, the fine adhesive sheet attached to the surface of the element forming substrate 90 was peeled off and irradiated with UV light, and then the element forming substrate 90 was cut with a tape expanding separator and divided into a plurality of organic light emitting devices 100.

[Reliability evaluation]
In order to confirm long-term storage reliability, a storage test for 500 hours was performed in a constant temperature layer having a temperature of 85 ° C. and a humidity of 85%, and then the organic light emitting device was driven to evaluate the light emission state.

  In Example 1 to Example 3, a good light emission state was maintained over all pixels. In Comparative Examples 1 and 2, since the deepest condensing point is not separated by 40 μm or more from the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′, damage to the inorganic sealing film 64 due to damage at the time of cutting around the edge along the planned cutting line 70 Became a defect, and water and oxygen penetrated from there, resulting in a light emission failure.

  In Example 4, when expanding, the mother substrate 10 ′ was not cracked and the organic light emitting device 100 was obtained, and a good light emission state was maintained over all pixels. On the other hand, in Comparative Example 3, the deepest condensing point is separated from the surface of the mother substrate 10 ′ by more than half (250 μm) of the thickness of the mother substrate 10 ′. It became.

  From the above evaluation results, it can be seen that an organic light-emitting device with high long-term reliability was obtained by forming the modified region under the conditions of the present invention.

<Examples 5-7 and Comparative Examples 4-6>
An element forming substrate 90 shown in FIG. 6 was prepared. The mother substrate 310 is a double-side polished product (thickness 0.725 mm) of a silicon wafer.

The modified region 180 was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the element forming substrate 90 was set on the stage of the dicing apparatus in the same manner as in Example 1 and the following conditions were changed.
Output: 0.2 mJ / pulse or less Focus position of laser beam: As shown in Table 2

  Thereafter, the element formation substrate 90 was cut in the same manner as in Example 1, and divided into a plurality of organic light emitting devices 300.

[Reliability evaluation]
The long-term storage reliability was evaluated in the same manner as in Example 1.

  In Examples 5 and 6, a good light emission state was maintained over all the pixels. In Comparative Examples 4 and 5, since the deepest condensing point is not separated from the surface of the mother substrate 310 by 40 μm or more, the inorganic sealing film 353 is damaged due to damage at the time of cutting around the end along the planned cutting line 70. It became a defect, and water and oxygen entered from there, resulting in a light emission failure.

  In Example 7, when expanding, the mother substrate 310 was not cracked and the organic light emitting device 300 was obtained, and a good light emitting state was maintained over all pixels. On the other hand, in Comparative Example 6, since the deepest condensing point is separated from the surface of the mother substrate 310 by more than half the thickness of the mother substrate 310 (362.5 μm), the mother substrate 310 is cracked and defective. became.

  From the above evaluation results, it can be seen that an organic light-emitting device with high long-term reliability was obtained by forming the modified region under the conditions of the present invention.

<Examples 8 to 10 and Comparative Examples 7 to 9>
An element forming substrate 90 shown in FIG. 7 was prepared. The mother substrate 499 is a double-side polished product (thickness 0.825 mm) of a silicon wafer.

The modified region 180 was formed in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the element forming substrate 90 was set on the stage of the dicing apparatus in the same manner as in Example 1 and the following conditions were changed.
Output: 0.3 mJ / pulse or less Focus position of laser beam: As shown in Table 3

  Thereafter, the element formation substrate 90 was cut in the same manner as in Example 1 and divided into a plurality of organic photoelectric conversion devices 500.

[Reliability evaluation]
In order to confirm long-term storage reliability, a storage test was conducted for 500 hours in a constant temperature layer having a temperature of 85 ° C. and a humidity of 85%, and then the dark current of the organic photoelectric conversion device was evaluated.

  In Examples 8 and 9, the dark current almost the same as that in the initial stage was maintained. In Comparative Examples 7 and 8, the dark current of the organic photoelectric conversion device increased by one digit or more. In Comparative Examples 7 and 8, the deepest condensing point is not separated from the surface of the mother substrate 499 by 40 μm or more, and the inorganic sealing film 514 is caused by damage at the time of cutting that occurs in the vicinity of the end along the planned cutting line 70. Possible damage.

  In Example 10, when expanding, the mother substrate 499 was not cracked and the organic photoelectric conversion device 500 was obtained, and the dark current almost the same as that in the initial stage was maintained. On the other hand, in Comparative Example 9, since the deepest condensing point is separated from the surface of the mother substrate 499 by more than half the thickness of the mother substrate 499 (412.5 μm), the mother substrate 499 is cracked and defective. became.

  From the above evaluation results, it can be seen that an organic photoelectric conversion device with high long-term reliability was obtained by forming the modified region under the conditions of the present invention.

10: substrate, 10 ′: mother substrate, 12: light emitting pixel, 48: lower electrode, 50: pixel separation film, 52: opening, 54: organic compound layer, 58: upper electrode, 60: organic EL element, 64: Inorganic sealing film, 70: line to be cut, 80: base layer, 90: element forming substrate, 100: organic light emitting device, 180: modified region

Claims (15)

A method for producing an organic electronics device having a plurality of organic electronics elements on a substrate and having an inorganic sealing film covering the organic electronics elements,
An element forming substrate having a plurality of organic electronics elements having an organic compound layer disposed between a pair of electrodes on the surface of a mother substrate, covering the organic electronics elements, and having an inorganic sealing film straddling a line to be cut A process of preparing
A step of forming at least one row of modified regions along the planned cutting line inside the mother substrate by irradiating a laser beam from the back surface of the mother substrate with a condensing point inside the mother substrate. When,
Cutting the element forming substrate along the planned cutting line and dividing it into a plurality of organic electronics devices in this order,
In the step of forming the modified region, the light condensing point is aligned with a position separated by 40 μm or more from the surface of the mother substrate, and at least one light condensing point is formed by 40 μm or more from the surface of the mother substrate. A method for manufacturing an organic electronic device, characterized in that it is adjusted to a location separated by less than half of the thickness of the substrate.   2. The method of manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the modified region is formed in a plurality of rows for one cutting scheduled line.   3. The method of manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the modified regions are formed one by one in order of distance from the back surface of the mother substrate.   4. The method of manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a wavelength of the laser light is a wavelength that transmits the mother substrate. 5.   5. The method of manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the laser beam is scanned along the scheduled cutting line. 6.   The method for producing an organic electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the modified region is formed by multiphoton absorption. The step of preparing the element formation substrate includes:
Forming a plurality of the organic electronics elements on the surface of the mother substrate;
Covering the organic electronics element and forming the inorganic sealing film across the line to be cut; and
These are provided in this order, The manufacturing method of the organic electronics apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 6 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The method for manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the element formation substrate has the inorganic sealing film on the entire surface of the mother substrate.   The method of manufacturing an organic electronics device according to claim 1, wherein the element formation substrate includes the organic compound layer formed in common to the plurality of organic electronics elements.   The method for manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the element formation substrate has an electrode that covers the organic compound layer.   The inorganic sealing film is any one of silicon nitride, silicon nitride oxide, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide formed by an atomic layer deposition method, or a laminated film in which these are laminated. Item 11. A method for manufacturing an organic electronic device according to any one of Items 1 to 10.   The method of manufacturing an organic electronics device according to claim 1, wherein the organic electronics element is an organic electroluminescence element.   The organic electronic device is a linear light emitting device in which a plurality of light emitting pixels are arranged in n rows × m columns (n ≦ 4 and 100 ≦ m), and the light emitting pixels have organic electroluminescence elements. A method for producing an organic electronic device according to claim 12.   14. The method of manufacturing an organic electronic device according to claim 13, wherein the light emitting pixels are arranged in a staggered pattern with the positions in the row direction being shifted every other row.   The method of manufacturing an organic electronics device according to any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the organic electronics device is an organic photoelectric conversion element.

Images