10.3: Predicting the Lifetime of Flexible Permeation Barrier Layers for OLED Displays

Abstract

Water diffusion through a single-layer barrier is measured with Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry, electrical capacitance, and mechanical film stress. The time taken for one monolayer of water molecules permeate into the OLED is defined as the lifetime. Extrapolated to T = 38°C and 90% relative humidity, a 3μ μm thick barrier is predicted to seal for 13 years.

Pronounced effects of oxygen growth pressure on structure and properties of ZnO and AZO films laser deposited on Zeonor polymer

“…A common and key requirement for work on flexible plastics is the availability of deposition methods optimised for high-quality oxide layers at RT or low temperature (~ 100 ˚C). However, a significant drawback in flexible optoelectronics is due to gas, notably oxygen, and water vapor diffusion which can have deleterious effects and significantly shorten the active layers' quality lifetime and, thus, device overall reliability [34,35]. Ceramic layers are recommended as gas barrier layers [36] and thin film ZnO on polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) was recently used in a hybrid-OLED device with the dual purpose of acting simultaneously as an electron-injection and gas-barrier layer, as mentioned earlier [17].…”