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EP-3712951-B1 - DISPLAY APPARATUS AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURING THE SAME

EP3712951B1EP 3712951 B1EP3712951 B1EP 3712951B1EP-3712951-B1

Inventors

  • LEE, SEHO

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20200317

Claims (13)

  1. A display apparatus (10) comprising: a substrate (100); a pixel electrode (210) and a opposite electrode (230) facing each other, on the substrate (100); a pixel circuit (PC) comprising a thin-film transistor (TFT), the pixel circuit (PC) electrically connected to the pixel electrode (210) at the thin-film transistor (TFT); a contact electrode (210a) electrically connected to the opposite electrode (230) and through which an electrical signal is transmitted to the opposite electrode (230), the contact electrode (210a) and the pixel electrode (210) spaced apart from each other along the substrate (100); an auxiliary electrode (160a) electrically connected to the contact electrode (210a) and through which the electrical signal is transmitted to the contact electrode (210a), the auxiliary electrode (160a) and the thin-film transistor (TFT) spaced apart from each other along the substrate (100); an intermediate layer (220) with which light is emitted, the intermediate layer (220) comprising: an emission layer (223) corresponding to the pixel electrode (210), and a first functional layer (221) corresponding to the pixel electrode (210) and the contact electrode (210a), the intermediate layer (220) defining an opening portion (220H) at which the contact electrode (210a) is exposed to outside the intermediate layer (220); characterized in that the display apparatus (10) comprising: a multi-insulating layer (MIL) between the thin-film transistor (TFT) and the pixel electrode (210) and between the auxiliary electrode (160a) and the contact electrode (210a), the multi-insulating layer (MIL) defining a contact opening (CT) at which the auxiliary electrode (160a) is electrically connected to the contact electrode (210a), the contact opening (CT) corresponding to the opening portion (220H) of the intermediate layer (220); wherein the opening portion (220H) of the intermediate layer (220) comprises a first opening (220a) and a second opening (220b) spaced apart from each other along the substrate (100), the first opening (220a) being closer to the pixel electrode (210) than the second opening (220b), and the opposite electrode (230) is electrically connected to the contact electrode (210a) at the first opening (220a) and at the second opening (220b), the multi-insulating layer (MIL) comprises an inorganic insulating layer (165) and an organic insulating layer (170) which is further from the substrate (100) than the inorganic insulating layer (165), and in an area corresponding to the first opening (220a), the organic insulating layer (170) defines an open portion (OP) at which a portion of the organic insulating layer (170) is omitted and a portion of a top surface of the inorganic insulating layer (165) is exposed and at which the opposite electrode (230) is electrically connected to the contact electrode (210a), the top surface of the inorganic insulating layer (165) being the surface furthest away from the substrate (100).
  2. The display apparatus (10) of claim 1, wherein in the area corresponding to the first opening (220a), the inorganic insulating layer (165) is between the contact electrode (210a) and the auxiliary electrode (160a).
  3. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 or 2, wherein in an area corresponding to the second opening (220b), the organic insulating layer (170) defines a first contact hole (170h2) at which the opposite electrode (230) is electrically connected to the contact electrode (210a), and the inorganic insulating layer (165) defines a second contact hole (165h) corresponding to the first contact hole (170h2) and at which the contact electrode (210a) is electrically connected to the auxiliary electrode (160a).
  4. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the intermediate layer (220) further comprises a second functional layer (222) facing the first functional layer (221) with the emission layer (223) therebetween, a first hole is defined in the first functional layer (221), and a second hole is defined in the second functional layer (222), and the first opening (220a) of the intermediate layer (220) is defined by the first hole and the second hole aligned with each other.
  5. The display apparatus (10) of claim 4, wherein a third hole is defined in the first functional layer (221), and a fourth hole is defined in the second functional layer (222), and the second opening (220b) of the intermediate layer (220) is defined by the third hole and the fourth hole aligned with each other.
  6. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the intermediate layer (220) further comprises one or more of a hole transport layer, a hole injection layer, an electron injection layer and an electron transport layer.
  7. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the auxiliary electrode (160a) comprises copper and titanium.
  8. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a portion of the first functional layer (221) which is defined at the first opening (220a) of the intermediate layer (220) is a denatured portion of the first functional layer (221).
  9. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the thin-film transistor (TFT) of the pixel circuit (PC) comprises a semiconductor layer, a gate electrode corresponding to the semiconductor layer, and a connection electrode electrically connected to the semiconductor layer, and the auxiliary electrode (160a) and the connection electrode are respective portions of a same material layer on the substrate (100).
  10. The display apparatus (10) of claim 9, wherein the inorganic insulating layer (165) directly contacts the connection electrode of the thin-film transistor (TFT) to cover the thin-film transistor (TFT).
  11. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the contact electrode (210a) and the pixel electrode (210) are respective portions of a same material layer on the substrate (100).
  12. The display apparatus (10) of at least one of claims 1 to 11, wherein in an area corresponding to the opening portion (220H) of the intermediate layer (220), the organic insulating layer (170) defines the open portion (OP, 170h1) and a first contact opening (170h2) at which the opposite electrode (230) is electrically connected to the contact electrode (210a).
  13. The display apparatus (10) of claim 12, wherein in the area corresponding to the second opening (220b) of the intermediate layer (220), the inorganic insulating layer (165) defines a second contact opening (165h) corresponding to the first contact opening (170h2) of the organic insulating layer (170) and at which the contact electrode (210a) is further electrically connected to the auxiliary electrode (160a).

Description

BACKGROUND 1. Field The invention relates to a display apparatus. More particularly, one or more embodiments relate to a display apparatus which is relatively easily manufactured and having relatively high stability in brightness. 2. Description of the Related Art Organic light-emitting display apparatuses have a relatively larger viewing angle, better contrast characteristics and a faster response speed than other display apparatuses, and thus, have drawn the attention as a next-generation display apparatus. Organic light-emitting display apparatuses include pixels each including an organic light-emitting diode. An organic light-emitting diode includes a pixel electrode, an opposite electrode facing the pixel electrode, and an intermediate layer including an emission layer between the pixel electrode and the opposite electrode. In these organic light-emitting display apparatuses, pixel electrodes have island shapes obtained by patterning a material layer to respectively correspond to individual units of pixels, but an opposite electrode has a single body corresponding to a plurality of pixels. Reference is made to the following documents: US 2016/126304 A1; EP 3 333 924 A1; US 2010/244664 A1; US 2015/144922 A1. SUMMARY With an increase in a planar area of an organic light-emitting display apparatus, a conventional organic light-emitting display apparatus is unable to display a high-quality image due to a voltage drop of an opposite electrode provided as a single body. The present invention provides a display apparatus according to the independent claim. The dependent claims describe preferred embodiments. In order to address several drawbacks including the aforementioned drawback, one or more embodiments include a display apparatus that is relatively easily manufactured and has high stability in brightness, and a method of manufacturing the display apparatus. However, the one or more embodiments are only examples, and the scope of the invention is not limited. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims. Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the presented embodiments. According to the invention, a display apparatus includes a pixel electrode and a opposite electrode facing each other, on a substrate; a pixel circuit including a thin-film transistor, the pixel circuit electrically connected to the pixel electrode at the thin-film transistor; a contact electrode connected to the opposite electrode and through which an electrical signal is transmitted to the opposite electrode, the contact electrode and the pixel electrode spaced apart from each other along the substrate; an auxiliary electrode connected to the contact electrode and through which the electrical signal is transmitted to the contact electrode, the auxiliary electrode and the thin-film transistor spaced apart from each other along the substrate; an intermediate layer with which light is emitted, the intermediate layer including: an emission layer corresponding to the pixel electrode, and a first functional layer corresponding to the pixel electrode and the contact electrode, the intermediate layer defining an opening portion at which the contact electrode is exposed to outside the intermediate layer; and a multi-insulating layer between the thin-film transistor and the pixel electrode and between the auxiliary electrode and the contact electrode, the multi-insulating layer defining a contact opening at which the auxiliary electrode is connected to the contact electrode, the contact opening corresponding to the opening portion of the intermediate layer. The opening portion of the intermediate layer comprises a first opening and a second opening spaced apart from each other along the substrate, the first opening being closer to the pixel electrode than the second opening, and the opposite electrode is electrically connected to the contact electrode at the first opening and at the second opening, the multi-insulating layer comprises an inorganic insulating layer and an organic insulating layer which is further from the substrate than the inorganic insulating layer, and in an area corresponding to the first opening, the organic insulating layer defines an open portion at which a portion of the organic insulating layer is omitted and a portion of a top surface of the inorganic insulating layer is exposed and the opposite electrode is electrically connected to the contact electrode, the top surface of the inorganic insulating layer being the surface furthest away from the substrate. According to one or more embodiments, in the area corresponding to the first opening, the inorganic insulating layer may be between the contact electrode and the auxiliary electrode to insulate the contact electrode from the auxiliary electrode. According to one or more embodiments, in an area corresponding to the second opening, t