Organic light emitting device having a protective barrier

1. A method of forming a protective barrier for an organic light emitting device, wherein the organic light emitting device is formed on a substrate and includes a plurality of layers of materials, the plurality of layers of materials including an organic light emitting layer, the method comprising:

forming a semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer and an inorganic layer over an underlying layer, wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer is formed via transport polymerization of a reactive intermediate species, and wherein the substrate has a temperature below a melting temperature of the reactive intermediate species during transport polymerization.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer is formed from at least one material selected from the group consisting of parylene, partially fluorinated parylene, and fully fluorinated parylene.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic layer is formed after the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer is a first semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a reflective layer and a second semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer on the inorganic layer.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the reflective layer is formed from a metal material.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the reflective layer is formed from at least one alternating layer of a lower refractive index dielectric material and a higher refractive index dielectric material.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising annealing the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer is annealed at 350 to 400° C. for a duration between approximately 2 and 30 minutes.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer is annealed via a UV Excimer laser or focused IR energy.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer is annealed under an atmosphere essentially tree of oxygen.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the substrate is at a temperature of between −30 and −50 degrees Celsius during transport polymerization.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the transport polymerization is conducted inside a chamber essentially free of oxygen and water vapor.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the transport polymerization is conducted inside a chamber under a vacuum of less than 1 millitorr.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic layer is formed from at least one material selected from the group consisting of SiO 2 , aluminum oxide, SiO x N y and Si x N y .

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer has a thickness from 1000 and 30,000 angstroms.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the inorganic layer has a thickness from 500 and 5000 angstroms.

18. A method of forming a protective barrier in an organic light emitting device; the organic light emitting device including a plurality of layers of materials formed on a substrate, the plurality of layers of materials including an organic light-emitting layer, the method comprising:

forming an inorganic layer and a parylene-based polymer layer over an underlying layer; and annealing the parylene-based polymer layer.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein annealing the parylene-based polymer layer includes annealing the parylene-based polymer layer with a UV Excimer laser.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the parylene-based polymer layer is annealed under an atmosphere essentially free of oxygen.

21. The method of claim 18 , further comprising forming a reflective layer between the organic light emitting layer and the parylene-based polymer layer before annealing the parylene-based polymer layer.

22. A method of protecting an organic light emitting device from environmental degradation, the organic light emitting device including a plurality of device layers formed on a substrate, the method comprising:

forming a protective barrier layer over the organic light emitting device under a reduced pressure environment, thereby encapsulating the organic light emitting device between a substrate and a protective barrier layer to form an encapsulated organic light emitting device, wherein the protective barrier layer includes a first semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer, an inorganic layer, and a second semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layer;

transferring the temporary encapsulated organic light emitting device out of the reduced pressure environment; and

sealing a protective structure over the protective barrier layer under atmospheric conditions.

23. The method of the claim 22 , wherein the substrate is made at least partially of glass.

24. The method of the claim 22 , wherein the substrate is made at least partially of a transparent plastic material, further comprising forming a protective barrier layer between the device layers and the substrate.

25. The method of the claim 22 , wherein the protective structure is hermetically sealed over the protective barrier.

26. The method of the claim 22 , wherein the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer layers are each formed from a material selected from the group consisting of parylene, partially fluorinated parylene and fully fluorinated parylene.

27. The method of the claim 22 , wherein the protective barrier layer includes multiple alternating layers of at least one semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer material and at least one inorganic material.

28. The method of the claim 27 , wherein the multiple alternating layers further comprise a reflective layer.

29. The method of claim 28 , further comprising annealing at least one of the layers of at least one semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer material to give the semi-crystalline parylene-based polymer material a crystallinity of at least 50%.

30. The method of the claim 22 , wherein sealing the protective structure over the protective barrier includes sealing a lid to the substrate with an adhesive, wherein the lid is transparent to visible light.

31. The method of the claim 30 , further comprising adding a desiccant between the protective barrier and the protective structure.

32. The method of claim 30 , wherein the lid is made at least partially of a glass material.

33. The method of claim 30 , wherein the lid is made at least partially of a plastic material.

34. The method of the claim 22 , wherein sealing the protective structure over the protective barrier includes sealing at least one of a metal lid and a ceramic lid to the substrate.

35. The method of the claim 22 , wherein sealing the protective structure over the protective barrier includes hermetically sealing the protective structure over the protective barrier with a hermetic sealer.

36. The method of claim 35 , wherein the hermetic sealer is at least one sealer selected from the group consisting of vitreous glass, metal alloys and reactive nano-foils.