• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.27-32
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• 2020

This study proposes a pixel-patterning method for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on thermal transfer. An infrared lamp was introduced as a heat source, and glass type donor element, which absorbs infrared and generates heat and then transfers the organic layer to the substrate, was designed to selectively sublimate the organic material. A 200 nm-thick layer of molybdenum (Mo) was used as the lightto-heat conversion (LTHC) layer, and a 300 nm-thick layer of patterned silicon dioxide (SiO₂), featuring a low heat-transfer coefficient, was formed on top of the LTHC layer to selectively block heat transfer. To prevent the thermal oxidation and diffusion of the LTHC material, a 100 nm-thick layer of silicon nitride (SiN_x) was coated on the material. The fabricated donor glass exhibited appropriate temperature-increment property until 249 ℃, which is enough to evaporate the organic materials. The alpha-step thickness profiler and X-ray reflection (XRR) analysis revealed that the thickness of the transferred film decreased with increase in film density. In the patterning test, we achieved a 100 ㎛-long line and dot pattern with a high transfer accuracy and a mean deviation of ± 4.49 ㎛. By using the thermal-transfer process, we also fabricated a red phosphorescent device to confirm that the emissive layer was transferred well without the separation of the host and the dopant owing to a difference in their evaporation temperatures. Consequently, its efficiency suffered a minor decline owing to the oxidation of the material caused by the poor vacuum pressure of the process chamber; however, it exhibited an identical color property.