87‐1: A Study on the Optimal Design of ESD Protection Circuit in OLED Panel Using Electromagnetic Simulation

Abstract

In the display industry, in line with the high performance and miniaturization of products, the fine patterning and the increase in integration in the backplane process are becoming very important. It is the Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) issue that is increased importance in such a display panel development environment. Careful ESD management is very important because various types of electrostatic issues arising from the panel production process are directly connected to the decline in product quality and productivity. In this paper, we introduce the case of ESD defects in the ESD diode protection circuit of display panels being developed. The ESD failure caused by plasma ions and external surges during fabrication process was identified, and the charge and current path were verified through static and transient simulation to determine how it affects the actual display OLED panel. In addition, the design of ESD diode protection circuits optimized for ESD to robust layout was proposed. As a result, it was possible to reduce electric‐field, an insulating breakdown factor, by more than 80%.