Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Continuous evolution marks the electronics industry’s progress toward even thinner, lighter and more
flexible products. Although tremendous progress has been demonstrated, one fundamental obstacle that
remains is the sensitivity of these electronics to the moisture and oxygen in the environment. So the
search for an inexpensive, yet robust method to protect these devices continues. The current conventional
encapsulation solutions, e.g., using a metal can or glass can with desiccant, although somewhat effective,
add weight, thickness and cost. Therefore, a thin film barrier is viewed as the only viable solution to protect
these devices from damage caused by moisture and oxygen while maintaining a thin and flexible form
Thin film encapsulation is gaining considerable traction in various markets for a variety of applications,
such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, thin film batteries, and thin film photovoltaics.
Theoretically, a single layer of some ceramic materials, if made perfectly, would have a barrier quality as
good as a sheet of glass. But this has never been demonstrated to be practical for commercial use
because imperfections occur during deposition. Among the most commonly seen imperfections are defects
caused by surface topography and particles. The temperature limitations of organic and flexible electronics
also often limit the quality of barrier films that can be deposited. It is often the case that the device to be
protected is damaged by the high temperature required to deposit a good barrier. Some deposition
technologies known for depositing good quality film, such as atomic layer deposition (ALD), are often too
Example: Barix
Vitex’s Barix multilayer thin film barrier is comprised of alternating layers of organic and inorganic films
applied in vacuum. This coating is typically only a few microns thick and can be applied directly on the
The unique feature of this multilayer coating is how this organic layer is deposited. A liquid monomer
precursor is flash evaporated to vapor, which then flows into a vacuum chamber. This monomer vapor then
condenses and becomes liquid on the substrate surface. Because the monomer is deposited in liquid form,
it completely planarizes the surface topography and smoothes the surface. It is then polymerized by UV
and becomes a solid whose top surface is atomically smooth, creating an ideal surface on which to deposit
a barrier film.
Figure 1. Various structures: a) typical multilayer barrier coating structure; b) multilayer barrier covers
OLED cathode separator structure; c) multilayer barrier covers odd shape particle on device
An inorganic film, only a few tens of nanometers thick, is deposited on top of the polymer layer. Because
the polymer surface is so smooth, the inorganic film is grown with very few defects and is therefore an
almost perfect moisture barrier. These two processes are then repeated to achieve the desired level of
barrier performance. Figure 1 shows what this barrier structure looks like and how it can effectively
Both organic and inorganic layers are deposited at low temperatures, usually less than 90°C. Both
materials are highly transparent and their refractive indices are carefully matched to make the barrier film
suitable for applications such as OLED displays and photovoltaic modules to allow the maximum amount
Figure 2. Calcium test yield vs. number of organic/inorganic pairs after high temperature and high
humidity test
Figure 2 is a yield study performed by Vitex using the so-called calcium test method. Each test group
consists of 54 calcium test samples. The yield criteria were set based on stringent tests that thin film
barriers need to pass for OLED displays. Although the yield is not at an acceptable level, it was shown that
it is possible to protect the device with only one organic-inorganic pair. It was observed that the yield loss
was mainly caused by the early failures related to particles so large that one layer of the organic film with
thickness used in this study was not adequate to cover. As the number of pairs of organic and inorganic
layers increases, the yield also improves. With a three-pair process, we were able to achieve almost 100%
yield. This study is particularly important because it shows the pathway of increasing robustness and
reducing production costs. Because different applications may have different yield criteria and may require
different levels of protection, the multilayer approach provides the flexibility to adjust the barrier
accordingly.
Enabling ultra-thin and flexible OLED displays
OLED displays have the advantages of self-emitting light, fast response time, low power consumption and
wide viewing angle and are considered as the most promising next generation display to replace LCD.
In TIME magazine’s November 12, 2007 issue, LG. Philips’ flexible OLED display was selected as one of
the best innovations of 2007 in the computer category. This 4-in. QVGA (240 × RGB × 360) display was a
joint collaborative effort of LG. Philips, Universal Display Corp. (UDC), and Vitex Systems.
LG. Philips first built the amorphous silicon thin film transistors (TFTs) on stainless steel foil; UDC then
deposited the OLED with its FOLED and PHOLED technologies; and then the display was encapsulated
by Vitex with its Barix encapsulation. The resulting display has total thickness of 0.15mm and is flexible.
Figure 3. a) Samsung SDI’s 4-in. bendable AMOLED display; b)schematic cross- section view of the
Additionally, Samsung SDI demonstrated a bendable 4-in. WQVGA (480 × RGB × 272) AM OLED display
with low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) TFTs by using a glass substrate. The glass is etched back to
50µm thick after the completion of OLED construction and thin film encapsulation. This etching step is
used to reduce the thickness and achieve the desired bendability of 10cm radius or less. The display,
including encapsulation, was <55µm thick, while the total display thickness became 0.25mm after
laminating a 200µm thick polarizer to the front. Figure 3 is a picture of this Samsung SDI bendable display
flexible displays. However, because of the relatively high temperatures involved in depositing TFTs, the
multilayer thin film encapsulation was the common choice and was proven essential in order to achieve the
As displays and electronics become thinner and more flexible, so does the requirement for power supplies
to have a similar form factor. Therefore, thin film and flexible batteries have become indispensable. A
lithium phosphorus oxynitride (LiPON) thin film battery is considered a prime candidate for flexible
electronics because it has the advantages of ultra thinness, high energy density, fast charging, and high
temperature stability.
However, the use of lithium as the anode material makes the battery sensitive to moisture so it needs to be
protected by a hermetic seal. Just like glass encapsulation used in the OLED displays, a mechanical
encapsulation using metal or glass lid greatly diminishes the inherent merits of a thin film device. Thin film
encapsulation is therefore necessary in order to fully exploit a thin film battery’s advantages.
However, using a thin film barrier to encapsulate LiPON batteries is more challenging than encapsulating
OLED displays because the device surface topography is typically greater and the surface is rougher. The
thin film encapsulation structure needs to be adjusted in order to be effective. Figure 4a is a lithium test
sample with thin film encapsulation after 24 hrs in the damp heat test at 85°C/85% relative humidity (RH).
The sample was encapsulated with the typical barrier structure used to protect OLED devices that has
Figure 4. a) Lithium test sample coated with non-optimized barrier structure after 24 hrs in
85°C/85%RH; b) similar test sample coated with optimized barrier structure after 200 hrs in 85°C/85%RH.
The barrier was not able to adequately protect the lithium because much of the lithium (metallic color
portion) reacted with moisture and disappeared in a short period of time, although the identical barrier
structure was proven to be effective for over 1000 hrs in the same test conditions for OLED devices. After
adjusting the barrier structure to overcome the rough surface and extreme topography, Fig. 4bshows a
similar lithium test sample after 200 hrs in the same damp heat test condition. Significant improvement
was made simply by adjusting the barrier structure. The same coating structure was then used on real
Thin film photovoltaics, such as copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS), have the potential of low
manufacturing cost and a flexible form factor. These types of thin film solar cells are gaining considerable
attention that is exacerbated by the shortage of silicon material. Many companies are attempting to make
CIGS solar cells on stainless steel foil in a roll-to-roll format in order to make the cell flexible while
Although the solar cells are made on flexible metal foil, they are usually protected by rigid glass cover at
the end of the process in order to meet the lifetime and moisture resistance requirements because some of
the materials used in the cells are sensitive to moisture. Such a solution, although effective, not only
diminishes the flexibility, but also adds weight and cost to the module.
Some companies try protecting the cells with plastic film instead of rigid glass to maintain the flexibility, but
can only maintain short lifetimes because of the poor moisture barrier property of the plastic film. Figure
5a shows a flexible CIGS solar cell protected with Vitex’s Flexible Glass (polyethylene naphthalate (PEN)
coated with the Barix barrier) on top. The cell was tested in a damp heat test at 85°C and 85%RH for over
1000 hrs.
Figure 5. a) Flexible CIGS solar cell after 1000 hrs of damp heat test at 85°C/85%RH; b) open circuit
Due to the test and equipment limitations, it was not possible to measure the cell efficiency, so only open
circuit voltage (Voc) was measured. Figure 5b shows the cell’s open circuit voltage over time after being
stored in a damp heat test chamber. The Voc started to drop in <200 hrs in the damp heat test if the CIGS
solar cell is not protected. The Voc further dropped to almost zero, which means the cell is almost dead,
A flexible glass and a bare PEN were laminated on top of the CIGS solar cell by using commercially
available ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) film to compare the effectiveness of these films. It was observed on the
sample laminated with bare PEN that Voc drop started later compared to the sample without any protection,
but the cell still failed after 700 hrs. Therefore, the protection from bare PEN film is far from adequate
because the IEC 61646 Terrestrial Photovoltaic Modules Design Qualification and Type Approval requires
less than 5% efficiency drop after 1000 hrs in such test condition. In comparison, the sample protected
with Flexible Glass held its Voc for over 1000 hrs without any change.
Barrier stability under UV and sunlight
Although the barrier has been proven effective under high temperature and high humidity test, more
stringent tests are required because solar cells used for rooftops or solar farms need to be extremely
reliable. The solar panels have to survive 30 years of harsh environments, such as UV exposure and
extreme temperature.
UV damage to the organic material is an obvious concern so the organic material used in the Barix
encapsulation was tested in various UV and sunlight irradiation to verify stability. A 0.5µm thick film of this
organic material was deposited on 2-in. square glass substrates with the standard process.
Transmission spectra were measured by using a broadband spectrophotometry from n&k Technology.
Samples A and B were then both exposed to UVB fluorescent lamps in an arrangement that complies with
IEC 61646 for three weeks. The dosages were calculated to be equivalent to 15kWh/m2 in wavelengths
between 280 and 385nm and 5kWh/m2 in wavelengths between 280 and 320nm. Sample A was then
removed for transmission measurement while sample B was removed to be exposed to 100X solar
irradiation (100kW/m2) by a sunlight spectrum simulator for two weeks for an equivalent dose of
The table shows the average transmission from 350nm to 1000nm for all the samples before and after the
tests. It can be seen that the transmission changes after such high dose UV and sunlight exposure are
minimal. Barrier integrity under similar exposure will be studied in the near future.
A lamination process is often used to attach the barrier film to the device to be protected, such as a solar
cell. This lamination process typically applies higher temperatures, such as 130°C to 150°C to melt EVA or
thermal plastic in order to bond the films. Therefore, to demonstrate the applicability of our technology for
these markets we have to make sure that our barrier film is not damaged by the high process
temperatures. The calcium test is again used to verify the barrier performance in this study. We have
verified that the barrier performance is maintained after being tested at 140°C for over 500 hrs.
Conclusion
The multilayer barrier developed has been proven effective in protecting various organic and flexible
electronic devices including OLED, thin film batteries, and solar cells. Accelerated aging tests at high
temperature and high humidity for thousands of hours have been performed and the positive results
demonstrated. Film properties under severe UV exposure and high temperature were studied. Yield data
Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank H.K. Chung, PhD, and D.W. Han, PhD, at Samsung SDI for their continuing
support for the development of thin film encapsulation. The author would also like to thank LG. Philips,
UDC, and other unidentified collaboration partners for supplying the solar cells, thin film batteries, and test
Chyi-Shan Suen received his MS in material science and engineering and MBA from U. of California,
Berkeley and is the director of sales and marketing at Vitex Systems Inc., 2184 Bering Drive, San Jose,
Xi Chu received his PhD in material science and engineering from Northwest U. of California and is the