CN109300913B - Array substrate and display panel - Google Patents
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- CN109300913B CN109300913B CN201811130536.XA CN201811130536A CN109300913B CN 109300913 B CN109300913 B CN 109300913B CN 201811130536 A CN201811130536 A CN 201811130536A CN 109300913 B CN109300913 B CN 109300913B
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- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 148
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 106
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 claims description 224
- 239000011229 interlayer Substances 0.000 claims description 8
- 238000002161 passivation Methods 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000011368 organic material Substances 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000007769 metal material Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000010408 film Substances 0.000 description 43
- 238000005520 cutting process Methods 0.000 description 29
- 238000005452 bending Methods 0.000 description 11
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 description 7
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 4
- 239000012044 organic layer Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000004973 liquid crystal related substance Substances 0.000 description 3
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005336 cracking Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005538 encapsulation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 229910010272 inorganic material Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000011147 inorganic material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000010409 thin film Substances 0.000 description 2
- 208000037656 Respiratory Sounds Diseases 0.000 description 1
- 230000000295 complement effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000012769 display material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000014509 gene expression Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229910052755 nonmetal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000000059 patterning Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004886 process control Methods 0.000 description 1
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
- H01L27/00—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate
- H01L27/02—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers
- H01L27/12—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers the substrate being other than a semiconductor body, e.g. an insulating body
- H01L27/1214—Devices consisting of a plurality of semiconductor or other solid-state components formed in or on a common substrate including semiconductor components specially adapted for rectifying, oscillating, amplifying or switching and having potential barriers; including integrated passive circuit elements having potential barriers the substrate being other than a semiconductor body, e.g. an insulating body comprising a plurality of TFTs formed on a non-semiconducting substrate, e.g. driving circuits for AMLCDs
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- Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
- Electroluminescent Light Sources (AREA)
- Devices For Indicating Variable Information By Combining Individual Elements (AREA)
Abstract
The invention discloses an array substrate and a display panel. The array substrate is provided with a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area, the display area is used for arranging a plurality of sub-pixels, and the array substrate comprises: a substrate layer; an inorganic layer on one side of the substrate layer; and the metal covering layer is positioned in the non-display area and comprises a plurality of metal units, the metal units cover the edge of the inorganic layer, and the metal units are arranged at intervals in a first direction, and the first direction is parallel to the plane of the array substrate. The invention can reduce the extension of cracks generated on the inorganic layer at the edge of the display panel to the interior of the display panel.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of display, in particular to an array substrate and a display panel.
Background
At present, both liquid crystal display panels and organic light emitting display panels generally include an array substrate for arranging circuit structures such as pixel circuits, and in the array substrate, conductive film layers for forming circuit component structures in circuits and insulating layers arranged between adjacent conductive film layers are included. Among them, each insulating layer is usually made of an inorganic material, and a film layer formed of an inorganic material is very likely to have cracks at a cutting position of an edge during cutting of the display panel, and further, when the display panel is a foldable flexible display panel, cracks are also likely to occur at an edge position of the display panel during folding, and these cracks tend to affect reliability of a circuit when they extend from the cutting position to the inside of the display panel.
Therefore, how to better avoid the crack generated in the inorganic layer at the edge of the display panel from extending into the display panel becomes a technical problem to be solved in the field.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of the foregoing, the present invention provides an array substrate and a display panel to reduce cracks generated in an inorganic layer at an edge of the display panel from extending into the display panel.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an array substrate.
The array substrate is provided with a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area, the display area is used for arranging a plurality of sub-pixels, and the array substrate comprises: a substrate layer; an inorganic layer on one side of the substrate layer; and the metal covering layer is positioned in the non-display area and comprises a plurality of metal units, the metal units cover the edge of the inorganic layer, and the metal units are arranged at intervals in a first direction, and the first direction is parallel to the plane of the array substrate.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a display panel.
The display panel comprises any one array substrate provided by the invention.
Compared with the prior art, the array substrate and the display panel provided by the invention at least realize the following beneficial effects:
the edge of the inorganic layer in the array substrate is covered with the metal units at intervals, so that on one hand, due to the good ductility of metal, cracks can be prevented from being generated on the edge of the inorganic layer, and particularly when the array substrate is applied to a foldable flexible display panel, the cracks can be generated when the array substrate is bent; meanwhile, the metal units of the metal covering layer are arranged at intervals instead of being arranged in a whole layer, so that the metal units are not easy to peel off from the inorganic layer due to bending stress, and the metal units can well play a role in protecting the edge of the inorganic layer.
Other features of the present invention and advantages thereof will become apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Drawings
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Fig. 1 is a top view of an array substrate provided in the prior art;
fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a film structure of a frame region of an array substrate according to the prior art;
fig. 3 is a top view of an array substrate according to the present invention;
fig. 4 to fig. 6 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of an array substrate according to the present invention;
fig. 7 and 8 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention;
fig. 9 is a schematic view of a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate according to the present invention;
fig. 10 to 12 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention;
FIG. 13 is a top view of another array substrate provided in the present invention;
fig. 14 to 16 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention;
fig. 17 is a schematic view of a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate according to the present invention;
fig. 18 to fig. 21 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate according to the present invention;
FIG. 22 is a top view of another array substrate provided in the present invention;
fig. 23 is a schematic view of a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate according to the present invention;
fig. 24 and 25 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention;
fig. 26 is a schematic view of a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate according to the present invention;
fig. 27 is a schematic view of a film structure of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Detailed Description
Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that: the relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present invention unless specifically stated otherwise.
The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.
Techniques, methods, and apparatus known to those of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail but are intended to be part of the specification where appropriate.
In all examples shown and discussed herein, any particular value should be construed as merely illustrative, and not limiting. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments may have different values.
It should be noted that: like reference numbers and letters refer to like items in the following figures, and thus, once an item is defined in one figure, further discussion thereof is not required in subsequent figures.
In order to better reduce the generation of cracks on the inorganic layer at the edge of the display panel and avoid the cracks from extending into the display panel after the generation of the cracks, the inventors have conducted the following research on the array substrate in the prior art:
a display panel is proposed in the prior art, fig. 1 is a top view of an array substrate provided in the prior art, fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a film structure of a frame region of an array substrate provided in the prior art, wherein fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line C ' -C ' in fig. 1, as shown in fig. 1, the array substrate in the prior art has a display area AA ' and a non-display area BA ' surrounding the display area AA ', the display area AA ' is an area for setting display pixels, and in the display area AA ', the array substrate is provided with a pixel circuit for controlling the display pixels; a circuit area CA 'is provided in the non-display area BA' at a position close to the display area AA ', and a circuit structure including a scan driving circuit and the like is provided in the circuit area CA'. As shown in fig. 2, the array substrate includes a substrate 10 'and a plurality of conductive film layers 20' disposed on one side of the substrate 10', a plurality of insulating layers 30' are disposed between adjacent conductive film layers 20', the plurality of conductive film layers 20' are used to form a circuit structure in a display area AA 'and a circuit area CA', and in an area on a side of the circuit area CA 'away from the display area AA', the circuit structure is not disposed, that is, the conductive film layers 20 'are not disposed, and thus, the insulating layers 30' are stacked at the position.
In order to avoid the cracks generated in the cutting process on the part of the stacked insulating layer 30', the cut line is directed toward the circuit area CA ' in the prior art, and the stacked insulating layer 30' is partially cut away, so that the insulating layer 30' is not disposed at the position of the cut line, and the crack of the stacked insulating layer 30' is not generated in the cutting process. However, when the array substrate with this structure is applied to a flexible and foldable display panel, cracks still occur at the edge of the stacked insulating layer 30' during repeated bending of the display panel, and in order to reduce the cracks, the prior art proposes to cover the metal layer 40' at the edge of the stacked insulating layer 30', because the ductility of the metal is good, so that the cracks can be prevented from occurring during bending.
However, the inventor has found that, after the metal layer 40 'is provided, cracks still occur in the edge position of the stacked insulating layer 30' during the use of the display panel, and further studies by the inventor have found that, in the display panel with the cracks, Peeling (Peeling) phenomenon occurs in most of the insulating layers 30 'to which the metal layer 40' is attached, so that the function of protecting the edges of the metal layer 40 'is not very effective, and further, studies by the inventor on the Peeling phenomenon have found that, because the metal layer 40' is designed to be a whole surface, the edges of the stacked insulating layers 30 'are continuously covered, and during the bending of the display panel, the stress generated by the structure of the whole metal layer 40' causes the Peeling phenomenon to occur in the insulating layers 30 'to which the metal layer 40' is attached.
Based on the research results, the invention provides an array substrate and a display panel, wherein the edge of an inorganic layer of the array substrate is covered with a plurality of metal units which are arranged at intervals, so that cracks can be prevented from being generated during bending, and meanwhile, the stripping phenomenon can not occur in the using process.
Embodiments of the array substrate and the display panel provided by the present invention will be described in detail below.
Fig. 3 is a top view of an array substrate provided by the present invention, and fig. 4 to fig. 6 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of an array substrate provided by the present invention, wherein fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line C-C in fig. 3, fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line D-D in fig. 3, and fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line E-E in fig. 3. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 3, the array substrate has a display area AA and a non-display area BA surrounding the display area AA. The display area AA is used for arranging a plurality of sub-pixels sp, for the organic light-emitting display panel, a pixel defining layer is arranged on the array substrate, an opening area o is arranged on the pixel defining layer corresponding to the display area AA, and organic light-emitting materials are evaporated in the opening area o, so that a plurality of sub-pixels sp are formed in the display area AA; for the liquid crystal display panel, a color film substrate is arranged opposite to the array substrate, a liquid crystal display material is arranged between the array substrate and the color film substrate, a black matrix is arranged on one side of the color film substrate, an opening area o is arranged on the black matrix in the corresponding display area AA, and light generated by the backlight source can be emitted from the position of each opening area o, so that a plurality of sub-pixels sp are formed in the display area AA. In the non-display area BA, a plurality of metal units 31 are disposed, and the metal units 31 are disposed at intervals in a first direction a, where the first direction a is parallel to a plane of the array substrate.
As shown in fig. 4 to 6, the array substrate includes a metal covering layer 30 forming the plurality of metal units 31, further includes a substrate layer 10, and a plurality of conductive film layers 40 on one side of the substrate layer 10 and an inorganic layer 20 located between adjacent conductive film layers, wherein edge positions of all or part of the area-level layers in the array substrate are covered by the metal units 31, and positions between adjacent metal units 31 expose the inorganic layer 20 in the first direction a, specifically, the edge positions where the metal units 31 cover the inorganic layer 20 are shown in fig. 4, and the edge positions where the metal covering layer 30 exposes the inorganic layer 20 are shown in fig. 5.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the metal units are covered at intervals on the edge of the inorganic layer in the array substrate, on one hand, due to good ductility of metal, cracks can be prevented from being generated on the edge of the inorganic layer, and especially when the array substrate is applied to a foldable flexible display panel, the cracks can be generated when the array substrate is bent; simultaneously, each metal unit interval of metal covering layer sets up, rather than whole layer setting, can make the interval between the metal for buckling and provide the route, be difficult to lead to metal and inorganic layer to peel off owing to the stress of buckling, even a metal unit appears and the circumstances of inorganic layer separation in addition, also can not make the circumstances of rete separation extend to other metal units, can make the metal unit to the better performance of the protect function at inorganic layer edge.
In one embodiment, with reference to fig. 3, in the first direction a, the width W1 of the metal unit 31 is less than N times the sp width W2 of the sub-pixel, where N is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 5. Wherein, the sub-pixel spb is a sub-pixel in the display panel, and the sub-pixels spa, spb and spc are sequentially arranged in the first direction a, wherein, in this embodiment, the width of the pixel spb refers to: in the first direction a, a midpoint between an edge of the opening region of the sub-pixel spa on the side close to the sub-pixel spb and an edge of the opening region of the sub-pixel spb on the side close to the sub-pixel spa is defined as a first symmetry axis M1, a midpoint between an edge of the opening region of the sub-pixel spc on the side close to the sub-pixel spb and an edge of the opening region of the sub-pixel spb on the side close to the sub-pixel spc is defined as a second symmetry axis M2, and a distance between the first symmetry axis M1 and the second symmetry axis M2 is a width of the pixel spb.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the width of the metal unit is set to be 1 to 5 sub-pixels, so that the difficulty of process control is increased due to the fact that the metal unit is too small, and the peeling phenomenon at the position of a single metal unit due to the fact that the metal unit is too large is avoided.
Fig. 7 and 8 are schematic diagrams illustrating film structures of a frame region of another array substrate according to another embodiment of the present invention, and referring to fig. 3, 7 and 8, in an embodiment, the thickness of the inorganic layer 20 at the position covered by the metal covering layer 30, i.e., the metal unit 31, is a first thickness h1, the thickness of the inorganic layer 20 between adjacent metal units 31 in the first direction a, i.e., the inorganic layer 20 exposed by the metal covering layer 30, is a second thickness h2, and the first thickness h1 is smaller than the second thickness h 2.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the inorganic layer at the covering position of the metal unit can be at least subjected to grooving, so that the inorganic layer at the covering position of the metal unit is thinned, the part covered by the metal unit is thinner than the uncovered part between the metal units, when the display panel is bent, the bending stress is concentrated at the thinner position of the inorganic layer, so that the thicker position of the inorganic layer which is not covered by the metal unit is not easy to generate cracks, and the thinner position of the inorganic layer is not easy to generate cracks due to the protection of the metal unit, and further, the cracks are not generated at all positions of the edge of the inorganic layer in the whole protection. In other words, since the thin portion of the inorganic layer easily absorbs stress, the thick portion of the inorganic layer can be protected from cracking, and the thin portion of the inorganic layer is covered by the metal unit, so that the stress at the thin portion of the inorganic layer can be absorbed by the metal layer, and the entire inorganic layer can be protected. The inventor finds that, when the film layer is bent, the thin region is firstly broken, and further finds that the stress is relatively concentrated because the thin region absorbs the stress, and the difference between the top surface of the inorganic layer (i.e. the surface far away from the substrate layer) and the substrate layer at the thin position of the inorganic layer is small, so that the film layer required to be covered by the metal unit at the thin position of the inorganic layer is small, and the film layer is not easy to separate. Therefore, in this embodiment, by combining the position thinning of the inorganic layer and the arrangement of the metal unit at the corresponding position, the problem that the whole metal layer is prone to peeling off in design can be avoided, so that the protection effect of the metal unit can be effectively exerted, and meanwhile, the position where the metal unit is not arranged can be protected, so that the problem that the edge of the inorganic layer is prone to cracking is integrally solved.
Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a film structure of a frame region of an array substrate according to still another embodiment of the present invention, in which an edge of the inorganic layer 20 exposed by the metal cover layer 30 is as shown in fig. 8, and, in conjunction with fig. 3 and 9, the edge of the inorganic layer 20 has a step-like structure T, and the metal unit 31 covers the step-like structure T, wherein a bottom surface of the step-like structure T has a thickness h1, which is the minimum thickness covered by the metal unit 31, and is smaller than a thickness h2 of the inorganic layer 20 exposed by the metal cover layer 30. When the step-like structure T is formed, the step-like structure T may be formed by extending the edge of each inorganic layer 20 of the array substrate to different positions of the frame area BA, and by the difference of edge positions between layers; it is also possible to extend the edges of all the inorganic layers 20 in the array substrate to the same position in the frame area BA, and then perform etching to a certain depth, for example, patterning through a halftone mask, and forming by the thickness difference between the inorganic layer 20 at the etching position and the inorganic layer 20 at the non-etching position.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the step structure is arranged, the thinner thickness is formed at the position close to the edge of the inorganic layer, and the position is covered by the metal unit, so that the position of the edge of the inorganic layer is protected from generating cracks on the whole, further, after the step structure is arranged, not only is stress concentrated easily due to the thinner thickness at the step position, but also stress is concentrated at the included angle position of the adjacent step surfaces of the step structure, so that a non-step area can be protected by the capability of absorbing stress of the step structure, the probability of cracks at the part, which is not covered by the metal unit, of the edge of the inorganic layer is further reduced, and the whole step structure is covered by the metal unit, so that the step structure part is effectively protected, the probability of cracks at the edge of the inorganic layer is further reduced, in addition, through the arrangement of the step, the contact area between the inorganic layer and the metal unit can be increased, so that the separation of the film layer is avoided.
In an embodiment, fig. 10 to 12 are schematic film layer structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention, where fig. 10 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line C-C in fig. 3, fig. 11 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line D-D in fig. 3, and fig. 12 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line E-E in fig. 3, and in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 3 and fig. 11 to 12, the array substrate includes a thin film transistor G, and further includes a buffer layer 20a, a gate insulating layer 20b, an interlayer insulating layer 20C, a passivation layer 20D, and a planarization layer 20E sequentially stacked along a third direction C, where the inorganic layer 20 is the buffer layer 20a, and the third direction C is perpendicular to the first direction a and the second direction b, respectively.
Alternatively, it can be understood that the edge of the buffer layer is extended to a position closer to the edge of the substrate than other inorganic layers in the array layer, i.e. the perpendicular projection of the buffer layer on the substrate layer covers other film layers in the array layer. Because display panel can cut its edge in the manufacture process, the edge can produce great stress during the cutting, produce crackle or rete separation easily, can reduce the thickness of other retes that are close to the cutting edge through this embodiment, reduce stress, and the buffer layer is in contact with the substrate layer, rete separation when can effectively avoiding the rete cutting, simultaneously, through inorganic layer and metal unit's in this embodiment setting, can the most effective above-mentioned cutting problem of improvement.
Fig. 13 is a top view of another array substrate provided by the present invention, and fig. 14 to 16 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of the yet another array substrate provided by the present invention, wherein fig. 14 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line C-C in fig. 13, fig. 15 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line D-D in fig. 13, and fig. 16 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line E-E in fig. 13. In an embodiment, as shown in fig. 13 to 16, the inorganic layer 20 includes a first portion 21 and a second portion 22 alternately arranged in the first direction a, and a thickness h1 of the first portion 21 is smaller than a thickness h2 of the second portion 22, where it should be noted that the inorganic layer 20 may have a one-layer structure or a multi-layer structure. In forming the first portion 21, a film layer having a uniform thickness in the inorganic layer 20 may be formed, and then the film layer having the uniform thickness may be subjected to grooving at intervals, so that the hollowed-out portion forms the first portion 21 and a portion between the grooves forms the second portion 22. The first portion 21 and the second portion 22 extend along a second direction b and form an edge of the inorganic layer 20 at an end portion, the metal unit 31 covers the end portion of the first portion 21, and the metal unit 31 exposes the end portion of the second portion 22, wherein the first direction a intersects the second direction b, and the first direction a and the second direction b are parallel to a plane of the array substrate.
With the array substrate provided in this embodiment, the inorganic layer is configured as a structure in which the first portions having a relatively small thickness and the second portions having a relatively large thickness are alternately arranged, so that the first portions having a relatively small thickness are formed at positions close to the edges of the inorganic layer, and the positions are covered by the metal units, thereby protecting the edges of the inorganic layer from cracks at all positions as a whole.
In the present embodiment, the inorganic layer is formed by alternately disposing the recessed region (i.e. the region where the first portion 21 is located) and the non-recessed region (i.e. the region where the second portion 22 is located) so that the inorganic layer forms alternately disposed thin regions and thick regions at the edge, which is advantageous for disposing the metal unit according to the above-mentioned embodiments, and is advantageous for providing the bending path for the display panel. Also, the spacing arrangement of the bonding metal units may play a complementary role, for example. The metal unit spacing positions are non-groove areas, bending paths can be provided through the metal layer spacing, and the groove areas are arranged at the non-metal spacing positions and can provide the bending paths through the grooves.
In one embodiment, with continued reference to fig. 13, a plurality of sub-pixels sp are formed in a sub-pixel row px extending in the second direction b, the sub-pixels sp include an opening region o and a non-opening region o surrounding the opening region o, and the first portion 21 is located in the non-opening region o between the opening regions o of two adjacent sub-pixel rows px.
With the array substrate provided by this embodiment, when the first portion is formed by a grooving process, the first portion is disposed in the non-opening region of the sub-pixel, thereby avoiding an influence on the opening region.
Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention, wherein fig. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line F-F in fig. 13, and in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 13 and 17, a position corresponding to the first portion 21 in the display area AA is filled with an organic material 50.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the position of the thinner first part in the corresponding display area is filled with the organic material, so that the thickness difference of the first part smaller than the second part is supplemented by the organic material, and the two parts reach the same thickness to form a plane, therefore, in the display area, the metal wiring arranged on the surface of the inorganic layer far away from the substrate layer can be wired on the plane, and the influence on the reliability of the metal wiring caused by the arrangement of the inorganic layer with uneven thickness is reduced.
Fig. 18 to 21 are schematic diagrams of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention, where fig. 18 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line C-C in fig. 13, fig. 19 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line D-D in fig. 13, fig. 20 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line E-E in fig. 13, and fig. 21 is another cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line F-F in fig. 13, and in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 13 and 18 to 21, the array substrate includes a thin film transistor G, and further includes a buffer layer 20a, a gate insulating layer 20b, an interlayer insulating layer 20C, a passivation layer 20D, and a planarization layer 20E sequentially stacked along a third direction C, where the inorganic layer 20 includes one or a combination of the buffer layer 20a, the gate insulating layer 20b, the interlayer insulating layer 20C, the passivation layer 20D, and the planarization layer 20E, wherein the third direction c is perpendicular to the first direction a and the second direction b, respectively.
In a specific embodiment, with reference to fig. 13 and 18 to 20, the inorganic layer 20 is a buffer layer 20a, and the first portion 21 and the second portion 22 are formed on the buffer layer 20a, that is, a first groove is formed in a position of the buffer layer 20a corresponding to the first portion 21, and the organic material 50 is filled in the first groove in the display area AA.
In the array substrate provided in this embodiment, the buffer layer is closer to the substrate than the gate insulating layer, the interlayer insulating layer, the passivation layer, and the planarization layer, and by providing the groove on the buffer layer, one side of the buffer layer away from the substrate can be avoided in the process of forming the groove, that is, the buffer layer and the gate insulating layer, the gate insulating layer and the interlayer insulating layer, the interlayer insulating layer and the passivation layer, and the influence of signal routing between the passivation layer and the planarization layer.
Fig. 22 is a top view of still another array substrate provided by the present invention, and in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 22, the array substrate includes a foldable area FA, a folding axis F of the foldable area FA extends in a second direction b, the second direction b intersects with the first direction a, optionally, the second direction b is perpendicular to the first direction a, and the second direction b is parallel to a plane of the array substrate, and the metal covering layer 30 is at least located at the foldable area FA.
In this embodiment, for an array substrate including a foldable region, metal units are provided at intervals in a direction intersecting with the extending direction of the folding axis at least in the foldable region, and it is possible to reduce the occurrence of cracks at the edge of the inorganic layer due to repeated bending at the position of the foldable region.
Fig. 23 is a schematic view of a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention, wherein fig. 23 is a cross-sectional view taken along the cutting line C-C in fig. 22. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 22 and 23, the array substrate further includes: and a plurality of retaining walls 60, each retaining wall 60 being arranged in the second direction b, extending in the first direction a, located on the same side of the substrate layer 10 as the inorganic layer 20, and located on a side of an edge of the inorganic layer 20 away from the display area AA. Alternatively, the retaining wall 60 may be prepared in the same layer as the inorganic layer 20, and then the retaining wall 60 is formed by etching.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the retaining wall is arranged between the edge of the inorganic layer and the edge of the array substrate, namely the cutting line, so that the extension of the crack generated in the cutting process to the direction of the display area can be prevented.
It is understood that the retaining wall is located on one side of the inorganic layer in this embodiment, however, in other embodiments of the present application, the retaining wall may be annular surrounding the inorganic layer, i.e., the vertical projection of the retaining wall on the substrate layer surrounds the area where the inorganic layer is located.
In an embodiment, referring to fig. 23, the metal unit 31 extends along the second direction b to a side away from the display area AA and covers the retaining wall 60.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the metal unit covers the retaining wall, so that cracks at the retaining wall can be further reduced.
Fig. 24 and 25 are schematic views of film structures of a frame region of another array substrate provided by the present invention, in which fig. 24 is a cross-sectional view taken along a position of a folding axis F in fig. 22, and fig. 25 is a cross-sectional view taken along a cutting line G-G in fig. 22. In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 22, 24 and 25, the retaining wall 60 is provided with a second recess, and the folding axis F overlaps with the second recess.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the grooves are formed in the retaining wall at the position of the folding shaft, so that cracks at the retaining wall can be further reduced.
In one embodiment, please continue to refer to fig. 22, 24 and 25, the second recess is filled with a metal material 70. Wherein, optionally, the metal material 70 is the same as the material forming the metal unit 31, and further optionally, the metal material 70 filled in the second groove is made by the same process as the metal unit 31.
By adopting the array substrate provided by the embodiment, the metal material is arranged in the groove of the retaining wall, so that cracks at the retaining wall can be further reduced.
Fig. 26 is a schematic diagram of a film structure of a frame region of another array substrate according to the present invention, in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 26, the array substrate further includes an organic layer 80, wherein the organic layer 80 covers an edge of the inorganic layer 20a and the metal unit 31, and further, when the array substrate is provided with a retaining wall 60, the organic layer 80 also covers the retaining wall.
With the array substrate provided by this embodiment, by covering the organic layer at the edge of the inorganic layer and the position of the metal unit, cracks generated by cutting and cracks generated at the edge of the inorganic layer during folding can be further prevented from extending to the display area.
The above embodiments of the array substrate provided by the embodiments of the present invention also provide a display panel, where the display panel includes any one of the array substrates provided by the present invention, and has the technical features and corresponding technical effects, which are not described herein again.
Fig. 27 is a schematic view of a film structure of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, and optionally, in an embodiment, as shown in fig. 27, the display panel includes an array substrate 01, where the array substrate is any one of the array substrates according to the present invention. Optionally, the display panel further includes a pixel defining layer 02 disposed on the array substrate 01, an organic light emitting device 03 disposed in the opening of the pixel defining layer 02, and an encapsulation layer 04 for encapsulation.
According to the embodiment, the array substrate and the display panel provided by the invention at least realize the following beneficial effects:
the edge of the inorganic layer in the array substrate is covered with the metal units at intervals, so that on one hand, due to the good ductility of metal, cracks can be prevented from being generated on the edge of the inorganic layer, and particularly when the array substrate is applied to a foldable flexible display panel, the cracks can be generated when the array substrate is bent; meanwhile, the metal units of the metal covering layer are arranged at intervals instead of being arranged in a whole layer, so that the metal units are not easy to peel off from the inorganic layer due to bending stress, and the metal units can well play a role in protecting the edge of the inorganic layer.
Although some specific embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail by way of examples, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the above embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims.
Claims (15)
1. An array substrate, wherein the array substrate has a display area and a non-display area surrounding the display area, the display area is used for arranging a plurality of sub-pixels, and the array substrate comprises:
a substrate layer;
an inorganic layer on one side of the substrate layer;
the metal covering layer is positioned in the non-display area and comprises a plurality of metal units, the metal units cover the edge of the inorganic layer, and the metal units are arranged at intervals in a first direction, and the first direction is parallel to the plane of the array substrate;
the thickness of the inorganic layer at the position covered by the metal units is a first thickness, the thickness of the inorganic layer between the adjacent metal units in the first direction is a second thickness, and the first thickness is smaller than the second thickness.
2. The array substrate of claim 1,
the edge of the inorganic layer has a step-like structure, and the metal unit covers the step-like structure.
3. The array substrate of claim 1,
the inorganic layer includes first portions and second portions alternately arranged in the first direction, the first portions having a thickness smaller than that of the second portions;
in a second direction, the first portion and the second portion extend and form an edge of the inorganic layer at an end portion, the metal unit covers the end portion of the first portion, and the metal unit exposes the end portion of the second portion;
the first direction intersects with the second direction, and the second direction is parallel to the plane of the array substrate.
4. The array substrate of claim 3,
the plurality of sub-pixels form a sub-pixel row extending in the second direction, the sub-pixels including an open area and a non-open area surrounding the open area;
the first portion is located in a non-opening area between the opening areas of adjacent two of the sub-pixel rows.
5. The array substrate of claim 3,
in the display area, a position corresponding to the first portion is filled with an organic material.
6. The array substrate of claim 5,
the inorganic layer includes a combination of one or more of a buffer layer, a gate insulating layer, an interlayer insulating layer, a passivation layer, and a planarization layer sequentially stacked along a third direction, wherein the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction, respectively.
7. The array substrate of claim 6,
and a first groove is arranged at the position of the buffer layer corresponding to the first part, and the organic material is filled in the first groove in the display area.
8. The array substrate of claim 1,
in the first direction, the width of the metal unit is smaller than N times of the width of the sub-pixel, wherein N is greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 5.
9. The array substrate of claim 1,
the array substrate comprises a foldable area, a folding axis of the foldable area extends in a second direction, the second direction is crossed with the first direction and is parallel to the plane of the array substrate, and the metal covering layer is at least located in the foldable area.
10. The array substrate of claim 9, further comprising:
and the retaining walls are arranged in the second direction, extend in the first direction, are positioned at the same side of the substrate layer as the inorganic layer, and are positioned at one side of the edge of the inorganic layer away from the display area.
11. The array substrate of claim 10,
the metal unit extends and covers the retaining wall towards one side far away from the display area along the second direction.
12. The array substrate of claim 10,
the retaining wall is provided with a second groove, and the folding shaft is overlapped with the second groove.
13. The array substrate of claim 12,
and a metal material is filled in the second groove.
14. The array substrate of claim 1,
the array substrate comprises a buffer layer, a gate insulating layer, an interlayer insulating layer, a passivation layer and a planarization layer which are sequentially stacked along a third direction, wherein the third direction is perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction respectively, and the inorganic layer is the buffer layer.
15. A display panel comprising the array substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 14.
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| CN110531895B (en) * | 2019-08-29 | 2023-04-21 | 上海中航光电子有限公司 | Touch panel and display device |
| CN111029484B (en) | 2019-12-20 | 2022-07-01 | 上海天马微电子有限公司 | Display panel and display device |
| CN111261643B (en) * | 2020-02-10 | 2022-12-06 | 武汉华星光电半导体显示技术有限公司 | Flexible display panel and preparation method |
| CN113594384B (en) * | 2021-06-30 | 2024-04-12 | 武汉天马微电子有限公司 | Display panel, cutting panel and display device |
| CN116230719A (en) * | 2021-12-02 | 2023-06-06 | 京东方科技集团股份有限公司 | Display substrate and display device |
| CN114300488B (en) * | 2021-12-30 | 2024-08-09 | 厦门天马微电子有限公司 | Display panel, manufacturing method thereof and display device |
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