• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.397-402
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• 2010

In this paper, we studied WVTR(water vapor transmission rate) properties of $Si_3N_4$ thin film that was deposited using TCP-CVD (transformer coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition) method for the possibility of OLED(organic light emitting diode) encapsulation. Considering the conventional OLED processing temperature limit of below $80^{\circ}C$, the $Si_3N_4$ thin films were deposited at room temperature. The $Si_3N_4$ thin films were prepared with the process conditions: $SiH_4$ and $N_2$, as reactive gases; working pressure below 15 mTorr; RF power for TCP below 500 W. Through MOCON test for WVTR, we analyzed water vapor permeation per day. We obtained that WVTR property below 6~0.05 gm/$m^2$/day at process conditions. The best preparation condition for $Si_3N_4$ thin film to get the best WVTR property of 0.05 gm/$m^2$/day were $SiH_4:N_2$ gas flow rate of 10:200 sccm, working pressure of 10 mTorr, working distance of 70 mm, TCP power of 500 W and film thickness of 200 nm. respectively. The proposed results indicates that the $Si_3N_4$ thin film could replace metal or glass as encapsulation for flexible OLED.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.08a
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• pp.236-236
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• 2011

Silicon oxynitride (SiON) was deposited for gas barrier film on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) using octamethylycyclodisiloxane (Si4O4C8H24, OMCTS) precursor by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at low temperature. The ion flux and substrate temperature were measured by oscilloscope and thermometer. The chemical bonding structure and barrier property of films were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), respectively. The deposition rate of films increases with RF bias and nitrogen dilution due to increase of dissociated precursor and nitrogen ion incident to the substrate. In addition, we confirmed that the increase of nitrogen dilution and RF bias reduced WVTR of films. Because, on the basis of FT-IR analysis, the increase of the nitrogen gas flow rate and RF bias caused the increase of the C=N stretching vibration resulting in the decrease of macro and nano defects.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2012.02a
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• pp.163-163
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• 2012

차세대 모바일용 전자디스플레이로 각광받고 있는 FOLED (flexible organic light emitting display)의 연구에서 display의 신뢰성과 수명은 매우 중요한 연구 테마이다. OLED의 수명단축에 영향을 미치는 요소는 수분에 의한 열화가 가장 치명적이다. Barrier layer를 통한 수분의 주요 침투경로는 pin-hole과 void 등과 같은 defect에 의한 것으로 보인다. 수분의 침투 경로를 제어하는 OLED용 barrier layer의 요구조건은 WVTR (water vapor transmission rate)이 $10^{-6}g/m^2{\cdot}day$ 이하로 낮아야 한다. Barrier layer가 가져야 할 핵심적인 조건은 유연성을 가지면서 동시에 WVTR 값이 매우 낮아야 하는데, 아직까지 이를 만족하는 barrier layer의 개발은 아직 덜된 실정이다. 본 연구에서는 PET (polyethylene terephthalate) 기판에 sputtering법으로 barrier layer를 제조하였다. 증착에 이용한 타겟은 두가지 종류인 Al과 $Al_2O_3$를 사용하였으며, 다층박막으로 제조하였다. 제조된 barrier layer의 수분침투 특성은 WVTR의 측정으로, 유연성의 평가는 in-situ fatigue test를 수행하여 측정하였다. 종합적인 특성 평가를 위하여 SEM과 AFM (atomic force microscope) 관찰도 하였다.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.283-284
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• 2008

Electrical and optical characteristics of indium tin oxide (ITO) and indium zinc oxide (IZO) films without and with $(SiO_2)_3(ZnO)_7$ at.% (SZO) film deposited on poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) and poly(ethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates as a gas barrier layer for flexible display were studied. The ITO and IZO films with SZO gas barrier layer showed the improved properties which were both the high transmittance of average 80% in the visible light range and the decreased sheet resistance as compared to those of ITO and IZO films without SZO layer. Particularly, the PEN substrate with only SZO gas barrier layer had a low water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of $\sim10^{-3}g/m^2$/day. Thus, we suggest that the SZO film with protection ability against the water vapor permeation can be applied to gas barrier layer for flexible display.

• 한국정보디스플레이학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2006.08a
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• pp.1779-1783
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• 2006

The hybrid thin-film (HTF) passivation layer composed of the UV curable acrylate layer and MS-31 (MgO:SiO2=3:1wt%) layer was adopted in organic light emitting diode (OLED) to protect organic light emitting materials from penetrations of oxygen and water vapors. The moisture resistance of the deposited HTF layer was measured by the water vapor transmission rate (WVTR). The results showed that the HTF layer possessed a very low WVTR value of lower than $0.007g/m^2$ per day at $37.8^{\circ}C$ and 100% RH. Therefore, the HTF on the OLED was found to be very effective in protect what from the penetrations of oxygen and moisture.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.574-581
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• 2012

The relatively short lifetime is a major obstruction for the commercial applications of OLED. One of the reason for the short lifetime is that the organic materials are interacted with water or oxygen in the atmosphere. Protection of water or oxygen from diffusing into the organic material layers are necessary to increase the lifetime of OLED. Although encapsulation of OLED with glass or metal cans has been established, passivation methods of OLED by organic/inorganic thin films are still being developed. In this paper we have developed in-situ passivation system and thin film passivation method using PECVD by which deposition can be performed at room temperature. We have analyzed the characteristics of the passivated OLED device also. The WVTR (Water Vapor Transmission Rate) for the inorganic thin film mono-layer can be reached down to $1{\times}10^{-2}g/m^2{\cdot}day$ and improved lifetime can be obtained. Thin film passivation methods are expected to be applied to flexible display.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.189-192
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• 2004

To improvement life-time of the organic light emitting diodes(OLEDs). We investigate the inorganic composite film based on MgO and $SiO_2$ to protect from the moisture and oxygen. The inorganic composite films are added the base materials to the co-operate materials using the mixed process and it is deposited on plastic substrate by e-beam evaporator. In order to analyze as kinds of inorganic materials, Water Vapor method of Transmission Rate (WVTR) and Oxygen Transmission Rate (OTR) are measured by Permatran equipment(MOCON Corp.). For comparison. an MgD- and $SiO_2$-based composite film has lower values of WVTR and OTR than inorganic composite/compound films of ones. The results obtained here shows that this film is suitable for passivation layer to extend the life-time of OLEDs.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.71-74
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• 2006

In this paper, we investigated the characterization of silicon oxide(SiOx) thin film on Ethylene Terephthalate(PET) substrates by e-beam deposition for transparent barrier application. The temperature of chamber increases from $30^{\circ}C$ to $110^{\circ}C$, the roughness increase while the Water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) decreases. Under these conditions, the WVTR for PET can be reduced from a level of $0.57 g/m^2/day$ (bare subtrate) to $0.05 g/m^2/day$ after application of a 200-nm-thick $SiO_2$ coating at 110 C. A more efficient way to improve permeation of PET was carried out by using a double side coating of a 5-${\mu}m$-thick parylene film. It was found that the WVTR can be reduced to a level of $-0.2 g/m^2/day$. The double side parylene coating on PET could contribute to the lower stress of oxide film, which greatly improves the WVTR data. These results indicates that the $SiO_2$ /Parylene/PET barrier coatings have high potential for flexible organic light-emitting diode(OLED) applications.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2017

Encapsulation of organic based devices is essential issue due to easy deterioration of organic material by water vapor. Thin layer of encapsulation film is required to preserve transparency yet protecting materials in it. Atomic layer deposition(ALD) is a promising solution because of its low temperature deposition and quality of the deposited film. $Al_2O_3$ or $Al_2O_3/TiO_2/Al_2O_3$ multilayer film has shown excellent environmental protection characteristics despite of thin thicknesses of the films. $Al_2O_3/TiO_2/Al_2O_3$ multilayer and 1.5 dyad layer of $Al_2O_3/polymer/Al_2O_3$ deposited by ALD was measured to have water vapor transmittance rate(WVTR) well below the detection limit($5.0{\times}10^{-5}g/m^2day$) of MOCON Aquatran 2 equipment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.198.1-198.1
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• 2016

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays have promising potential to replace liquid crystal displays (LCDs) due to their advantages of low power consumption, fast response time, broad viewing angle and flexibility. Organic light emitting materials are vulnerable to moisture and oxygen, so inorganic thin films are required for barrier substrates and encapsulations.[1-2]. In this work, the silicon-based inorganic thin films are deposited on plastic substrates by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at low temperature. It is necessary to deposit thin film at low temperature. Because the heat gives damage to flexible plastic substrates. As one of the transparent diffusion barrier materials, silicon oxides have been investigated. $SiO_x$ have less toxic, so it is one of the more widely examined materials as a diffusion barrier in addition to the dielectric materials in solid-state electronics [3-4]. The $SiO_x$ thin films are deposited by a PECVD process in low temperature below $100^{\circ}C$. Water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) was determined by a calcium resistance test, and the rate less than $10.^{-2}g/m^2{\cdot}day$ was achieved. And then, flexibility of the film was also evaluated.