OSRAM ORBEOS Components User Manual

www.osram.com/oled

APRIL

Application guide.

ORBEOS

®

2011

CONTENTS

2

CONTENTS

1. OLED integration 4

1.1. General handling instructions 4

1.2. Contact ledges and their polarity 5

1.3. Interconnection 6

1.4. Contacting of OLED tiles
via conductive glue 6

1.5. Contacting of OLED tiles
via elastomeric connectors 7

1.6. Contacting via Flex-PCB 8

2. Binning 10

2.1. Color binning 10

2.2. Luminance binning 12

3. Driving 13

4. Reliability 13

4.1. Maximum ratings 13

4.2. Degradation 14

4.2.1. Absolute value of initial luminance 14

4.2.2. Ambient temperature 14

4.3. Lifetime 14

4.4. Robustness 15

4.4.1. Mechanical pressure,

shock and vibration 15

4.4.2. ESD sensitivity 15

4.4.3. Low air pressure 15

4.4.4. Shelf life 15

4.4.5. Photo degradation (UV resistance) 15

Appendix 16

3

OLED INTEGRATION

1. OLED integration

1.1. General handling instructions

Remember when handling OLED devices: First and fore-

most, OLEDs are made of glass and glass is fragile.

• Avoid mechanical stress such as shock and pressure on the

glass during handling, especially at the center of the active
area and the back of the device (to avoid glass cracking,

delamination and damage of the internal structure).

• For tiled OLED designs without a frame to protect the edges

and corners of the tile, exercise caution in order to avoid glass

chipping and breakage.

• Finger cots and/or gloves are recommended when handling

OLEDs to avoid corrosion of contacting material.

• In case of a fl ex connector or any other type of connector, do

not pull, press, or peel off the connector from glass contact

area, as this will cause module malfunctions.

• Do not submerge the module into any kind of solvent or

any other chemicals such as (but not limited to) acids,

bases or salts.

• Wipe off water drops. Contact with water over a long period

of time may cause damage to the scattering fi lm on the active

side of the OLED, and an active OLED tile with water conden-

sation on its surface will result in corrosion of metal traces.

• Handle the OLED’s surface (glass or fi lm) with care. Avoid

hard or sharp objects coming into contact with the tile sur-

face. Do not rub hard on the OLED surface.

• Avoid touching exposed contact pads with bare fi ngers, as

this will leave moisture on metal traces and cause corrosion.

• In case of OLED breakage, please avoid direct contact and

handle like broken glass: Use protective gloves to avoid injury.

Use a dust pan and hand brush to dispose of the splinters.

• Keep chips and materials out of reach of children.

• The light-emitting side of the OLED device can be cleaned

by softly wiping the surface with a moist cleaning cloth.

Small amounts of glass cleaner may be used.

4

1.2. Contact ledges and their polarity

OLED devices without Flex-PCB (for Flex-PCB, please see

below) are electrically connected via the metallized areas

at the contact ledges (see fi g. 1). Usually, symbols at the

metallization indicate the polarity of the contacts. For round

ORBEOS

contacts can be identifi ed when looking at the emissive side

of the device: Cathode contacts exhibit a comb structure at

the edge of the active area (see fi g. 2). Often, devices have

more than two contact ledges, i.e. there might be more than

one contact ledge for each polarity (see device in fi g. 2).

®

(CDW-031, CMW-031) devices, the cathode

OLED INTEGRATION

The rectangular ORBEOS

ledges, two cathode pads and one anode pad (see fi g. 2c).

All contact ledges must be electrically connected in order to

ensure optimum current supply from all sides necessary for

best brightness homogeneity over the active area. Other

confi gurations will usually lead to a signifi cant reduction of

brightness homogeneity.

®

RMW-046 exhibits three contact

Fig. 1. Rear side of an OLED device. The device is electrically connected at the contact
ledges. Symbols usually indicate the polarity of the contacts.

+

–

–

–

ab c

+

+ +

–

Fig. 2. a) Polarity of a round ORBEOS® CDW-031, CMW-031. b) The cathode contacts exhibit a comb structure. c) The rectangular ORBEOS® RMW-046 has three contact ledges.

5

OLED INTEGRATION

1.3. Interconnection

On the following pages, several techniques for interconnec-

ting OLEDs are described. To interconnect OLED devices,

their contact surfaces have to be free of dust and grease.

If necessary, use isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to carefully wipe the

contact ledges clean.

1.4. Contacting of OLED tiles via conductive glue

The conductive epoxy used in this application example can

be obtained through R+S Components (conductive epoxy

CW2400, Stock No.: 496-265).

Mix equal amounts of part A and part B thoroughly for at least

2 minutes. The mixed components have to be applied within

a short period. The pot life is only 10 minutes at 24 °C. After-

wards, apply the epoxy to the contact surface and attach

In general, the interconnection should be applied without heat

introduction into the active area of the device. Furthermore,

avoid mechanical stress. Exercise caution in order to avoid

glass chipping and breakage when applying the interconnec-

tion at the substrate edges.

the wire. For better adhesion, fan out the strands of the wire

slightly before attaching it. The wire should have a cross-

sectional area of 0.25 – 0.5 mm². The curing time of the epoxy

is 4 hours at room temperature (24 °C). However, to achieve

maximum conductivity and adhesion, you may expose the ep-

oxy to a temperature of 66 °C – 80 °C for 10 minutes and sub-

sequently allow it to cool. Please note that the heat should be

applied to the contact ledges only.

Fig. 3. Rear side of an OLED device. Two wires are attached to the contact ledges with
conductive epoxy.

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