The technology of OLED lighting

Degradation of OLED by moisture

Organic materials constituting OLED device easily degrade by moisture, and this degradation causes non-light emitting area or current leaks.
Therefore, the encapsulation technology is important to prevent moisture from outside.

General encapsulation technology

Glass lid encapsulation is used as a general encapsulation technology for OLED device. However, since moisture can penetrate through the sealant between glass lid and substrate, a desiccant is generally used to absorb moisture inside OLED device.
Recently, a film encapsulation technology has been developed that uses a special bonding agent to paste a barrier film that prevents penetration of steam or gas.

Kaneka’s thin film encapsulation technology

Kaneka uses an inorganic thin-film as an encapsulation film.
Kaneka has achieved highly reliable encapsulation films by utilizing thin-film formation technology that we have cultivated on long -term research of solar cell.

* Includes the thicknesses of FPC and OCF that are not shown in this diagram.
FPC: Flexible printed circuit that is used for extracting electricity
OCF: Optical film for enhancing luminance

The features of the inorganic encapsulation film are introduced below.

Excellent gas barrier performance

Since the inorganic film itself provides high gas barrier performance and no bonding agent is necessary in the sealing junctions, moisture penetration through the sealant is out of consideration.

Easy to dissipate heat

Heat generation during light emission by OLED device causes deterioration of the light-emitting element. Heat easily dissipated from the sealing side, because thermal conductivity of inorganic sealing thin-film is higher than that of glass lid encapsulation including air. Heat dissipation from the sealing side suppresses the degradation of OLED device due to heat.

Thin and lightweight

Compared with the glass lid encapsulation, the inorganic thin film can make the OLED lighting panels thinner and lighter.