In-line process for making thin film electronic devices

1. An in-line process for making a thin film electronic device on a substrate, comprising the steps of: a) depositing a structurable layer onto a substrate; b) depositing a patternable material onto the structurable layer in a first pattern using an integrated processing head comprising a print head, a cure head and a scan head; and c) etching the structurable layer in areas uncovered by the patternable material; said steps being carried out without intermediate exposure of the substrate to ambient air.

2. The in-line process of claim 1 , wherein the structurable layer is an insulating layer, a metal layer, a TCO layer or a semiconducting layer.

3. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein the thin film electronic device is a thin film transistor.

4. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein step a) comprises a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition process.

5. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein step a) comprises sputtering of a material selected from the group consisting of metals and TCO.

6. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein step a) comprises evaporation of a material selected from the group consisting of metals and TCO.

7. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein step b) comprises depositing the patternable material onto the structurable layer in a first pattern and selectively treating the patternable material to produce a second pattern within the first pattern.

8. The in-line process according to claim 7 , wherein the step of depositing patternable material is followed by selectively curing the patternable material by irradiation using a mask.

9. The in-line process according to claim 7 , wherein the step of depositing patternable material is followed by selectively curing the patternable material by irradiation using direct imaging.

10. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein step b) comprises a scanning step to determine the location of existing structures on the substrate.

11. The in-line process of claim 1 , wherein the step of depositing patternable material is integrated with a step of selectively curing said patternable material.

12. The in-line process of claim 1 , wherein step b) comprises a scanning step to determine the correct deposition of the patternable material on the structurable layer.

13. The in-line process according to claim 1 , which is a continuous process.

14. The in-line process according to claim 13 , further comprising feedback loops based on in-line quality checks.

15. The in-line process according to claim 1 , further comprising subsequently removing substantially all the patternable material.

16. The in-line process of claim 1 , further comprising a process step selected from the group consisting of a washing step, a pre-bake step of the patternable material, a post-bake step of the patternable material, a step of annealing of the structured layer, and combinations thereof.

17. The in-line process according to claim 1 wherein patternable material is removed by laser ablation.

18. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein the patternable material is a negative photoresist and the process further comprises developing the photoresist material.

19. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein the patternable material is a positive photoresist and the process further comprises developing the photoresist material.

20. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein the patternable material is responsive to surface energy.

21. The in-line process according to claim 1 , wherein the patternable material is an ablatable lacquer.

22. An in-line process for the manufacture of a flat panel display, incorporating the in-line process of claim 1 .

23. The in-line process according to claim 1 comprising:

a) an in-line process for making thin film transistors on a substrate, said thin film transistors being arranged as pixels;

b) an in-line process for printing organic light emitting material in discrete areas associated with said pixels; and

c) an in-line process for providing a cathode to the organic light emitting material to form an OLED device, and for covering said OLED device with encapsulation layers.

24. The in-line process of claim 23 wherein organic light emitting materials emitting light of different colors are combined to form a pixel.

25. The in-line process of claim 23 wherein organic light emitting material emitting light of one color is combined with color filters to form a pixel.

26. The in-line process of claim 23 wherein organic light emitting material emitting light of one color is combined with phosphorescing material to form a pixel.

27. The in-line process of claim 26 wherein the phosphorescing material is applied by using a printing technique.

28. The in-line process according to claim 23 , wherein the organic light emitting material is deposited by using an evaporation technique.

29. The in-line process of claim 25 wherein the color filters are applied by using a printing technique.

30. The in-line process according to claim 23 , further comprising a cathode deposition step.