National Taipei University of Technology flexible electronic packaging factory laboratory successfully developed ultra-high water-barrier film

 

National Taipei University of Technology flexible electronic packaging factory laboratory successfully developed ultra-high water-barrier film

 

 Vice Principal Thomas C.K. Yang

       According to different flexible electronic devices, the requirement of the water vapor permeability of the barrier film varies significantly for the packaging industry. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of a water barrier film is defined as the amount grams of moisture transmits a film per square meter per day (g/m2/day). For example, 10-2 (g/m2/day) means that only bottled water of 1L per day penetrates the barrier film with the area of ​​a football field (50 m X 100 m). 10-5 (g/m2/day) means that only one drop of water per day can pass through a barrier film with the size of a football field. Therefore, the lower water vapor permeability of the water barrier gas film, the stricter development of the water barrier film. Comparing to other industries or other electronic products, OLED has the most stringent requirements for the water barrier film. Only less than 10-5 g/m2/day, the barrier film for OLED can have market benefits. Most water barrier films currently available in Taiwan are 10- 2 ~ 10-3 (g/m2/day) by the test of the flexible electronic packaging team of National Taipei University of Technology. However, our team in NTUT has successfully developed water barrier films of WVTR of 10-5 (g/m2/day). The latest marketing statistics from IDTechEx in the United Kingdom predicted that the flexible transparent barrier film for electronic components the market would require more than 913 million US dollars by 2027. By 2029, the area needed for OLED will exceed 50 million square meters. The laboratory in NTUT expects that our products developed will be based on the Taiwan market and look internationally.
 
台北科大柔性電子封裝工廠型實驗室成功開發超高阻水氣膜產品

台北科大柔性電子封裝工廠型實驗室成功開發超高阻水氣膜產品

Figure 1. The development team and R&D technology milestone of the ultra-high water-barrier film commercialization process for flexible electronic commodities at National Taipei University of Technology.

The electronic packaging team is constituted by professors from the College  of Engineering. The main members include Dr. Thomas Chung-Kuang Yang, Dr. Sheng-Tung Huang, and Dr. Kun-Li Wang. From November 2014 to October 2019, the team has received a grant of 21 million from the Ministry of Science and Technology for five years to develop flexible ultra-high water barrier film for electronic devices. During this period, the process technology developed by the team evolving from the first-year Batch-to-Batch batch process to the third-year Tray-to-Tray mass production batch process. The water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) of the developed water barrier film has been improved from 10-2~10-3 g/m2/day in the first year to 10-5 g/m2/day in the third year. The transmission rate has increased from 71% to 91%. All the data show that the ultra-high water barrier film from the NTUT team has market advantages. The measured value of the water barrier (WVTR) of the available water barrier film in the Taiwan market was only about 10- 2 g/m2/day. In the fourth year, in addition to the development of the high barrier water vapor process, the mass-produced In-Line process was also tried. In the fifth year, the Roll-to-Roll wet process and the In-Line dry process also applied to manufacture the barrier films, which were ready for making commercial products. In 2018 and 2019, the research team not only successfully transferred the technology to the companies but also possessed four patents related to the water-barrier gas film. The patent numbers were I649197, I629180, I606934, and I602693.

After the affirmation of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the team also obtained the premise value creation project “The commercialization of the roll-to-roll process” from the Ministry of Economic Affairs in 2018. Based on the achievement of the premise project, the value creation project “The packaged A+ flexible high water barrier film” was successfully granted by the Ministry of Economic Affairs during 2019-2021 with a total of 20 million NTD. It is expected that the roll-to-roll mass production process can be transferred to a company in 2021. Not only the process and materials are under control by the team, but the price is more internationally competitive! Since our laboratory already developed high-barrier water gas films, we were currently committed to optical defect detection. The correlation of the defect and water vapor transmission rate can speed up the understanding of the WVTR of a film (usually, it takes two days to measure WVTR). This team can achieve the prosperous results not only because of the diligent and conscientious students but also because of possessing the complete process, testing, and water barrier verification equipment. The thin film deposition laboratory has magnetron sputtering deposition, electron beam evaporation deposition, and the roll-to-roll deposition instruments for developing the innovative processes of water barrier films. The center of precision research and material analysis has a number of optical instruments, such as Fourier transform microscopic infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), micro Raman (Raman) spectroscopy, Ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis)spectroscopy, etc., and a variety of surface detection instruments, including X-ray electron spectroscopy (XPS), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), etc. can be used to characterize the water barrier films. The first TAF certified flexible high barrier film test center was successfully established in Taiwan. This center provids a multi-spec water vapor transmission rate measurement(WVTR), oxygen transmission rate measurement (OTR), and the environmental control box, which can be used in high-temperature and high-humidity environments to measure WVTR, for example, electric automobile packaging. In response to the needs of the wearable devices and flexible electronic packaging materials industry, this testing center provides service for the related fields such as OLED displays, OLED lighting, quantum dot LCD TVs, electronic tags, flexible photovoltaic cells, wearable devices, and flexible electronic products, etc. The center could enhance the R&D energy of flexible electronic barrier films, provide consultation and assistance for small and medium enterprise (SME) upgrade and added-value technology, create the pioneer R&D and service of flexible electronic products for the next generation in Taiwan, regardless of design, testing or water-barrier verification in the future. It can provide a common platform for Taiwan academics and SMEs to develop new generations of flexible electronic devices.
本電子封裝團隊由工程學院教授組成，主要成員包括楊重光博士，黃聲東博士和汪昆立博士，自2014年11月起至2019年10月，連續五年獲得科技部兩千一百萬元補助開發柔性電子商品用之超高阻水氣膜，期間本團隊所發展的製程技術由第一年的Batch-to-Batch批次製程，演進到第三年的 Tray-to-Tray量產批次製程，所開發的阻水氣膜之阻水氣值(WVTR)由第一年的10-2~10-3 g/m2/day，提升至第三年的10-5 g/m2/day，穿透率由71%提升至91%，各項數據顯示本實驗室的超高阻水阻氣膜具備市場優勢，一般市售的阻水氣膜之阻水氣值(WVTR)實測值僅約10-2 g/m2/day。第四年除了達到高阻水氣製程，也嘗試可量產的In-Line製程，第五年則進一步使用Roll-to-Roll卷對卷濕式製程加上In-Line乾式製程，已經達到接近商轉的準備。在2018及2019年，本研究團隊不僅連續成功技術移轉給廠商，並擁有四件阻水氣膜相關發明專利，專利號碼分別為I649197、I629180、I606934與I602693。 接續科技部對本計畫的肯定，本團隊也於2018年獲得經濟部價創計畫前期計畫開發卷對卷製程商品化，基於前期計畫的成功達標，本計劃順利獲得經濟部產學研價值創造2019-2021 “A+級柔性高阻水氣封裝膜計畫”，共獲得兩千萬元的補助。預期可於2021利用卷對卷量產製程商轉，不僅製程、材料完全掌握，價格更具有國際競爭力! 由於本實驗室已具備高阻水氣膜的製備能力，目前亦致力於光學檢測缺陷與阻水氣值間的關聯性以加速阻水氣值檢測(通常測量WVTR需要兩天的時間)。本實驗室有此成果，除了殷勤認真的學生外，亦歸功於本研究團隊擁有完備的製程、檢測與阻水氣驗證設備：鍍膜實驗室擁有磁控式濺鍍機、電子束蒸鍍機與卷對卷塗佈機等可供開發創新製程的阻水氣膜，精密研發與材料分析實驗室擁有多項光學儀器，如傅立葉轉換顯微紅外光譜儀(FTIR)、顯微拉曼(Raman)光譜儀、紫外-可見(UV-Vis)分子吸收光譜儀等，及多項表面檢測儀器，包括X射線電子光譜儀 (XPS)、場發射掃描電子顯微鏡(FESEM)、原子力顯微鏡(AFM)等可供驗證阻水氣膜的薄膜特性，並成功建立國內第一座TAF認證的柔性材料高阻水氣膜檢測中心，提供多規格水氣穿透率量測系統(WVTR)，氧氣穿透率量測系統(OTR)與環境控制箱，可配合高溫高濕環境量測水氣穿透率，譬如，車用電子封裝。此檢測中心因應廣大穿戴式裝置以及軟性電子封裝材料產業需求，概括OLED顯示器、OLED照明、量子點LCD電視、電子標籤、軟性光伏電池、穿戴式裝置及柔性電子產品等相關領域，可提升台灣學界柔性電子商品薄膜之研發能量，並提供中小企業產業升級以及技術加值的諮詢和協助，開創台灣走向下世代柔性電子產品之研發及服務，未來不論設計、檢測或阻水氣驗證本研究團隊皆可提供台灣學界以及中小企業開發新世代柔性電子商品的共通平台。

本電子封裝團隊由工程學院教授組成，主要成員包括楊重光博士，黃聲東博士和汪昆立博士，自2014年11月起至2019年10月，連續五年獲得科技部兩千一百萬元補助開發柔性電子商品用之超高阻水氣膜，期間本團隊所發展的製程技術由第一年的Batch-to-Batch批次製程，演進到第三年的 Tray-to-Tray量產批次製程，所開發的阻水氣膜之阻水氣值(WVTR)由第一年的10-2~10-3 g/m2/day，提升至第三年的10-5 g/m2/day，穿透率由71%提升至91%，各項數據顯示本實驗室的超高阻水阻氣膜具備市場優勢，一般市售的阻水氣膜之阻水氣值(WVTR)實測值僅約10-2 g/m2/day。第四年除了達到高阻水氣製程，也嘗試可量產的In-Line製程，第五年則進一步使用Roll-to-Roll卷對卷濕式製程加上In-Line乾式製程，已經達到接近商轉的準備。在2018及2019年，本研究團隊不僅連續成功技術移轉給廠商，並擁有四件阻水氣膜相關發明專利，專利號碼分別為I649197、I629180、I606934與I602693。 接續科技部對本計畫的肯定，本團隊也於2018年獲得經濟部價創計畫前期計畫開發卷對卷製程商品化，基於前期計畫的成功達標，本計劃順利獲得經濟部產學研價值創造2019-2021 “A+級柔性高阻水氣封裝膜計畫”，共獲得兩千萬元的補助。預期可於2021利用卷對卷量產製程商轉，不僅製程、材料完全掌握，價格更具有國際競爭力! 由於本實驗室已具備高阻水氣膜的製備能力，目前亦致力於光學檢測缺陷與阻水氣值間的關聯性以加速阻水氣值檢測(通常測量WVTR需要兩天的時間)。本實驗室有此成果，除了殷勤認真的學生外，亦歸功於本研究團隊擁有完備的製程、檢測與阻水氣驗證設備：鍍膜實驗室擁有磁控式濺鍍機、電子束蒸鍍機與卷對卷塗佈機等可供開發創新製程的阻水氣膜，精密研發與材料分析實驗室擁有多項光學儀器，如傅立葉轉換顯微紅外光譜儀(FTIR)、顯微拉曼(Raman)光譜儀、紫外-可見(UV-Vis)分子吸收光譜儀等，及多項表面檢測儀器，包括X射線電子光譜儀 (XPS)、場發射掃描電子顯微鏡(FESEM)、原子力顯微鏡(AFM)等可供驗證阻水氣膜的薄膜特性，並成功建立國內第一座TAF認證的柔性材料高阻水氣膜檢測中心，提供多規格水氣穿透率量測系統(WVTR)，氧氣穿透率量測系統(OTR)與環境控制箱，可配合高溫高濕環境量測水氣穿透率，譬如，車用電子封裝。此檢測中心因應廣大穿戴式裝置以及軟性電子封裝材料產業需求，概括OLED顯示器、OLED照明、量子點LCD電視、電子標籤、軟性光伏電池、穿戴式裝置及柔性電子產品等相關領域，可提升台灣學界柔性電子商品薄膜之研發能量，並提供中小企業產業升級以及技術加值的諮詢和協助，開創台灣走向下世代柔性電子產品之研發及服務，未來不論設計、檢測或阻水氣驗證本研究團隊皆可提供台灣學界以及中小企業開發新世代柔性電子商品的共通平台。

Figure 2. Relevant technologies, equipment and laboratories established by the ultra-high water-blocking gas film team of flexible electronic commodities at Taipei University of Technology.