CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2019-0033686 filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Mar. 25, 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

(a) Technical Field

This disclosure relates to a display device and a manufacturing method thereof.

(b) Description of the Related Art

A display device such as an organic light emitting diode display includes a display panel. The display panel may be manufactured by forming pixels and circuit elements for driving the pixels on a substrate.

The display panel may include a display area on which images are displayed, and a non-display area in which a driving circuit, a signal line, and the like are disposed. The display area may form a screen of the display panel. The non-display area may be located at an edge of the display panel. A pad portion in which pads for inputting/outputting signals are disposed may be formed in the non-display area of the display panel, and a flexible circuit film may be bonded to the pad portion.

A demand for electronic devices (e.g., smart phones, tablet personal computers, laptops, televisions, monitors, etc.) with a large screen-to-body ratio is increasing. The size of the non-display area of the display panel can prevent the screen-to body ratio of the electronic device from increasing. Accordingly, the non-display area is being reduced in size. However, to reduce the non-display area, elements disposed in the non-display area may be compactly designed or omitted, thereby reducing reliability of the display device.

A high-resolution display device is also in demand. To produce a high resolution display device, the number of signals transmitted to the display panel increase, and the number of pads increase. To increase the number of pads in a limited pad area, a pad pitch is reduced; however, this may have constraints such as tolerance limit and bonding reliability. In addition, since more wires end up being disposed in the display area and/or the non-display area, wire resistance increases, thereby leading to a decrease in display quality and increase in power consumption.

SUMMARY

A manufacturing method of a display device according to one or more embodiments includes: stacking a release layer over a first substrate; forming a conductor pattern over the release layer, forming a sacrificial layer over the conductor pattern, forming a second substrate including a polymer layer over the sacrificial layer, forming an electronic element including a conductor over the second substrate, forming a pattern corresponding to the conductor pattern in the sacrificial layer, transferring the conductor pattern from the release layer to a surface of the second substrate, and removing the first substrate, the release layer, and the sacrificial layer.

The release layer may be a dynamic release layer.

The pattern in the sacrificial layer may be an engraved pattern, and the forming of the pattern in the sacrificial layer may include irradiating the conductor pattern with a laser to remove a portion of the sacrificial layer overlapping the conductor pattern.

The removing of the portion of the sacrificial layer overlapping the conductor pattern may include vaporizing the portion of the sacrificial layer overlapping the conductor pattern.

The transferring of the conductor pattern to the surface of the second substrate may include irradiating the conductor pattern with a laser to melt the conductor pattern, and interfusing the melted conductor pattern into the pattern in the sacrificial layer.

The manufacturing method of the display device may further include forming an overcoat layer covering the conductor pattern after forming the conductor pattern and before forming the sacrificial layer.

The manufacturing method of the display device may further include electrically connecting the conductor pattern and the conductor.

The removing of the first substrate, the release layer, and the sacrificial layer may include removing the sacrificial layer after simultaneously separating the first substrate and the release layer from the sacrificial layer.

The electronic element may further include a transistor and a light emitting element.

The conductor may include a power supply line or a data line.

The conductor pattern may include a pad, a power supply line, or a data line.

The sacrificial layer may include a porous polymer.

The pattern in the sacrificial layer may be a porous pattern, and the forming of the pattern in the sacrificial layer may include irradiating the conductor pattern with a laser to increase porosity of a portion of the sacrificial layer corresponding to the conductor pattern.

The transferring the conductor pattern from the release layer to the surface of the second substrate may include interfusing the conductor pattern to the pattern in the sacrificial layer.

The surface of the second substrate to which the conductor pattern is transferred may be a rear surface of the second substrate.

A display device according to one or more embodiments includes: a substrate; an electronic element disposed over the substrate and including a conductor; a conductor pattern located below the substrate; and a connector that penetrates through the substrate and electrically connects the conductor and the conductor pattern, wherein the conductor pattern may include a pad, a power supply line, or a data line.

The conductor pattern may be disposed over a rear surface of the substrate.

The substrate may be a polymer layer having a thickness of less than 100 micrometers.

The conductor pattern may include a conductive material and a polymer.

The conductor pattern may include a porous polymer and a conductive material filled in the porous polymer.

The electronic element may include a circuit element and a light emitting element, the circuit element may include the conductor, and the conductor may include a power supply line or a data line.

The substrate may include a display area over which an image is displayed and a non-display area adjacent to the display area, and the conductor pattern may include a portion overlapping the display area.

A method of manufacturing a display device according to one or more embodiments includes: stacking a release layer over a first substrate; forming a conductor pattern over the release layer; forming a sacrificial layer over the conductor pattern; forming a second substrate over the sacrificial layer; forming a conductor over the second substrate; irradiating a laser to the conductor pattern to remove a portion of the sacrificial layer overlapping the conductor pattern and transfer the conductor pattern to the second substrate in a space formed in the sacrificial layer; and removing the first substrate, the release layer and the sacrificial layer.

The sacrificial layer may include a porous polymer.

The laser may be irradiated from a first surface of the first substrate to the conductor pattern which is disposed at a second surface of the first substrate opposite the first surface.

