Flexible substrate, method of manufacturing the same, and display apparatus employing the same

1. A flexible substrate comprising:

a polymer substrate;

a first barrier region, wherein at least a portion of the first barrier region is formed on a neutral plane of the polymer substrate;

a top region formed above the first barrier region; and

a bottom region formed below the first barrier region,

wherein the first barrier region comprises a first inorganic material disposed in at least a portion of a free volume of the polymer substrate, and

wherein a density of the first inorganic material in the first barrier region is greater than a density of the first inorganic material in the top or bottom regions.

2. The flexible substrate of claim 1 , wherein the density of the first inorganic material in the first barrier region gradually decreases from a center thickness of the first barrier region toward upper and lower surfaces of the polymer substrate.

3. The flexible substrate of claim 1 , wherein the first, inorganic material comprises at least one of silicon nitride, aluminum nitride, zirconium nitride, titanium nitride, hafnium nitride, tantalum nitride, silicon oxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, tin oxide, serium oxide, or silicon oxynitride (SiON).

4. The flexible stubstrate of claim. 1 , wherein the first inorganic material of the first barrier region tills from about 0.1% to about 50% of a free volume of the first barrier region, and wherein an average thickness of the first barrier region is equal to or less than from about 5% to about 50% of a thickness of the, polymer substrate.

5. The flexible substrate of claim 1 , wherein a position of a basic core of the first barrier region does not coincide with a position of the neutral plane.

6. The flexible substrate of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the polymer substrate is from about 10 μm to about 100 μm, and wherein an average thickness of the first barrier region is from about 50 nm to about 50 μm.

7. The flexible substrate of claim 1 , further comprising a second barrier region in at least one of the top and bottom regions,

wherein the second barrier region comprises a second inorganic material disposed in at least a portion of the free volume of the polymer substrate, and wherein a volume of the second barrier region is less than the volume of the first barrier region.

8. The flexible substrate of claim 7 , wherein the second inorganic material is the same as the first inorganic material.

9. The flexible substrate of claim 1 , wherein a hardness of the first barrier region is greater than a hardness of the top and bottom regions.

10. A display apparatus comprising:

a flexible substrate including a display area and a non-display area;

a display device in the display area and a thin film transistor connected to the display device; and

an encapsulation layer configured to encapsulate the display area,

wherein the flexible substrate comprises:

a polymer substrate;

a first barrier region, wherein at least a portion of the first barrier region is formed on a neutral plane of the polymer substrate;

a top region formed above the first barrier region; and

a bottom region formed below the first barrier region,

wherein the first barrier region comprises a first inorganic material disposed in at least a portion of a free volume of the polymer substrate, and

wherein a density of the first inorganic material in the first barrier region is greater than a density of the first inorganic material in the top or bottom regions.

11. The display apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the non-display area of the flexible substrate comprises a bending area bent around a bending axis, the display apparatus further comprising:

a fan-out wire, wherein at breast a portion of the fan-out area is in the bending area; and

an organic material layer, wherein at least a portion of the organic material layer is between the fan-out wire and the flexible substrate in the bending area.

12. The display apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising an inorganic insulating layer on the flexible substrate, the inorganic insulating layer having an opening corresponding to the bending area,

wherein the organic material layer fills at least a portion of the opening.

13. The display apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the display device is an organic light-emitting diode comprising a pixel electrode, a counter electrode facing the pixel electrode, and an intermediate layer including an organic light-emitting layer between the pixel electrode ante the counter electrode.

14. The display apparatus of claim 10 , wherein a density of the first inorganic material, in the first harrier region gradually decreases from a center thickness of the first barrier region toward upper and lower ends of the flexible substrate.

15. The display apparatus of claim 10 , wherein a thickness of the top region is different from a thickness of the bottom region.

16. The display apparatus of claim 10 , further comprising a second barrier region in at least one of the top and bottom regions,

wherein the second barrier region comprises a second inorganic material disposed in at least a portion of the free volume of the polymer substrate, and wherein a volume of the second barrier region is less than a volume of the first barrier region.

17. A polymer substrate, comprising:

a bottom region;

a top region; and

a first barrier region formed between the bottom region and the top region, wherein the first barrier region comprises a first inorganic material disposed in at least a portion of a free volume of the polymer substrate,

wherein a density of the first barrier region is greater than densities of the bottom region and the top region, and

wherein densities of bottom region, the first barrier region and the top region gradually decreases from the first barrier region toward a lower surface of the bottom region and an upper surface of the top region.

18. The polymer substrate of claim 17 , further comprising a second barrier region in at least one of the top and bottom regions.