Meyer Burger to Showcase Thin Film Encapsulation Technology at LOPEC

Meyer Burger will exhibit its Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) and Barrier Film technologies at LOPEC. The technology is key in the production of flexible and sensitive electronic devices. It replaces glass encapsulation in OLED lighting and display panels offering equivalent moisture and oxygen barrier functionality at reduced device thickness and weight in combination with improved flexibility and robustness. The technology also enables other flexible display products, thin film batteries and protects printed electronics and perovskite solar modules.
 
One of the Meyer Burger systems on display at LOPEC is the CONx TFE. This system provides excellent water and oxygen barrier properties without compromising the optical transparency of the encapsulation layer. The fully automated system features Meyer Burger’s proprietary remote plasma PECVD for inorganic coating and its PiXDRO inkjet printing technology for the deposition of accurately positioned and homogeneous organic layers.
 
“Because particle contamination is an important concern in barrier fabrication, we have put a lot of effort in developing a process flow without shadow masks, as well as engineering a clean and inert environment and particle free handling of the substrates,” said Edward Clerkx, business unit manager Thin Film Systems. “Our remote microwave plasma technology offers the right set of characteristics for barrier layers. Low temperature (below 100°C), low ion bombardment, excellent layer homogeneity and conformity combined with high throughput make it the method of choice for encapsulation of OLEDs, and other flexible electronics applications like thin film batteries, thin film PV and printed electronics.
 
“Meyer Burger’s longstanding experience in inkjet printing didn’t only enable us to deliver high quality inkjet layers, printed in a fully inert nitrogen environment, it also permitted us to take full responsibility over the total encapsulation process,” Clerkx observed. “This played an important role in the decision of our customers to select our CONx solution.”
 
The CONx TFE cluster system comprises a JETx inkjet printer containing a high accuracy, granite base, printing stage, multi head configuration and inline UV curing. The cluster handles Gen 2.5 substrates, encapsulating thousands of OLED devices per hour and is equipped with automatic docking of inert substrate containers for seamless integration in the overall OLED production flow.