• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.159-166
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• 2015

Slot-die coating is well known technique to guarantee a uniformly coated layer and is compatible with roll-to-roll process. In actual roll-to-roll slot-die coating process, the lateral difference of coated layer thickness is observed. An experimental study was performed to improve the coating quality. Coating speed and coating gap were selected as the experimental factors. A full factorial, statistical method was conducted to optimize the process conditions. Based on the results of repeated experiment, the lowest deviation of lateral thickness (700 nm, <10%) was achieved at 10 m/min coating speed and $300{\mu}m$ coating gap. This result has significance because such optimized process guideline can be utilized with all process improvement in various coating applications.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.32-37
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• 2023

For the potential applications in large-area OLED lightings, hydrogen fuel cells, and secondary batteries, we have performed an intermittent coating of high-viscosity polydimethylsiloxane using roll-to-roll slot die coater. During intermittent coating, dead zones inevitably appear where the thickness of PDMS patch films becomes non-uniform, especially at the leading/trailing edge. To reduce it, we have coated the PDMS patches by varying the process parameters such as the installation angle of the slot die head, coating speed, and patch interval. It is observed that the PDMS solution flows down and thus the thickness profile is non-uniform for horizonal intermittent coating, whereas the PDMS solution remaining on the head lip causes an increase in the PDMS thickness at the leading/trailing edges for vertical intermittent coating when the coating velocity is low. As the coating speed increases, however, the dead zone is shown to be reduced. It is addressed that the overall dead zone (the dead zone at the leading edge + the dead zone at the trailing edge) is smaller with horizontal intermittent coating than with vertical intermittent coating.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.61-65
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• 2015

We have fabricated poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) : poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT : PSS) thin films using a slotdie coater for the applications of OLED lightings. It is demonstrated that the properties of slot-die coated PEDOT : PSS films are comparable with those of spin-coated ones. Namely, the average and peak-to-peak roughness of the slot-die coated 50-nm-thick PEDOT : PSS film are measured to be as low as 0.247 nm and 1.3 nm, respectively. Moreover, we have obtained excellent thickness uniformity (~1.91%). With the slot-die coated PEDOT : PSS films, we have fabricated green phosphorescent OLED devices. For comparison, we have also fabricated OLED devices with spin-coated PEDOT : PSS films. Both show almost no discrepancy in device performance. The power efficiency (25.4 lm/W) and emission uniformity (77%) of OLEDs with slot-die coated PEDOT : PSS films are shown to be slightly lower than those (27.3 lm/W, 80%) of OLEDs with spin-coated PEDOT : PSS films at the luminance of 1,000nit, increasing the feasibility of using a slot-die coating process for the fabrication of large-area OLED lighting sources at a competitive price.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.491-495
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• 2014

We developed a compact high-precision slot-die coating machine for thin-film deposition on a flexible substrate. For smooth and precise coating, air-bearing and linear motor system were employed to minimize velocity ripple. The gap control mechanism is specially designed to have repeatability of gap between nozzle and substrate under 1 ${\mu}m$. Due to extremely precise gap control, the machine can coat thin-films down to 50 nm with $200mm{\times}100mm$ size. A thin film of Ag nano-particle ink is coated for demonstration.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.70-76
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• 2021

A cylindrical microlens (CML) has been widely used as an optical element for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), light diffusers, image sensors, 3D imaging, etc. To fabricate high-performance optoelectronic devices, the CML with high aspect ratio is demanded. In this work, we report on facile solution-based processes (i.e., slot-die and needle coatings) to fabricate the CML using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). It is found that compared with needle coating, slot-die coating provides the CML with lower aspect ratio due to the wide spread of solution along the hydrophilic head lip. Although needle coating provides the CML with high aspect ratio, it requires a high precision needle array module. To demonstrate that the aspect ratio of CML can be enhanced using slot-die coating, we have varied the molecular weight of PMMA. We can achieve the CML with higher aspect ratio using PMMA with lower molecular weight at a fixed viscosity because of the higher concentration of PMMA solute in the solution. We have also shown that the aspect ratio of CML can be further boosted by coating it repeatedly. With this scheme, we have fabricated the CML with the width of 252 ㎛ and the thickness of 5.95 ㎛ (aspect ratio=0.024). To visualize its light diffusion property, we have irradiated a laser beam to the CML and observed that the laser beam spreads widely in the vertical direction of the CML.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.30-35
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• 2020

A microlens has been fabricated by various methods such as a thermal reflow, hot embossing, diamond milling, etc. However, these methods require a relatively complex process to control the microlens shape. In this work, we report on a simple and cost-effective method to fabricate a cylindrical microlens (CML), which can diffuse light widely. We have employed a slot-die head with the dual plate (a meniscus guide with a protruded μ-tip and a shim with a slit channel) for coating of a narrow stripe using poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA). We have shown that the higher the coating gap, the lower the maximum coating speed, which causes an increase in the stripe width and thickness. The coated PMMA stripe has the concave shape. To make it in the shape of a convex microlens, we have applied the thermal reflow method. When the stripe thickness is small, however, its effect is negligible. To increase the stripe thickness, we have increased the number of repeated coating. With this scheme, we have fabricated the CML with the width of 223 ㎛ and the thickness of 7.3 ㎛. Finally, we have demonstrated experimentally that the CML can diffuse light widely, a feature demanded for light extraction efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and suppression of moiré patterns in displays.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.69-74
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• 2019

The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of the microtip length in a slot-die head on coating of a fine poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) stripe. To this end, we have employed a meniscus guide with a 150-㎛-wide microtip and performed roll-to-roll slot-die coatings by varying its length between 500 ㎛ and 50 ㎛. When the microtip length is 150 ㎛ or shorter, we have observed three unexpected phenomena; 1) though the solution spreads much wider than the microtip width, yet the coated stripe width is almost the same as the microtip width, 2) the stripe width decreases, but the stripe thickness is rather increased with increasing coating speed at a fixed flow rate, 3) we obtain stripes much narrower than the microtip width at high coating speeds. It is due to the fact that 1) the meniscus is not well controlled by a short microtip, 2) the main stream of solution from the outlet is very close to the substrate and thus the distributed solution along the head lip merges with the main stream, and 3) the solution is not spread over the entire microtip end at high coating speeds, causing a tiny wobble in the meniscus. Using the 150-㎛-wide and 250-㎛-long microtip, we have fabricated 153-㎛-wide and 94-nm-thick PEDOT:PSS stripe at the maximum coating speed of 13 mm/s. To demonstrate its applicability in solution-processable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), we have also fabricated an OLED device with the fine PEDOT:PSS stripe and obtained strong light emission from it.

• The monthly packaging world
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• s.351
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• pp.60-70
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• 2022

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.39-44
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• 2022

Using a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulation tool, we have offered a design guideline of a slot-die head having a simple T-shaped cavity through an analysis of the fluid dynamics in terms of cavity pressure and outlet velocity, which affect the uniformity of coated thin films. We have visualized the fluid flow with a transparent slot-die head where poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is injected. We have shown that the fluid dynamics inside the slot-die head depends sensitively on the cavity depth, cavity length, land length, and channel gap (i.e., shim thickness). Of those, the channel gap is the most critical parameter that determines the uniformity of the pressure and velocity distributions. A pressure drop inside the cavity is shown to be reduced with decreasing shim thickness. To quantify it, we have also calculated the coefficient of variation (CV). In accordance with Hagen-Poiseuille's laws and electron-hydraulic analogy, the CV value is decreased with increasing cavity depth, cavity length, and land length.

• The monthly packaging world
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• s.233
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• pp.136-143
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• 2012