Encapsulation Technology
Electronic devices need to operate under many different environmental conditions: depending on their final application, they need to withstand extreme temperatures, varying humidity levels, mechanical stresses and presence of aggressive chemicals. In general, electronic devices need to be encapsulated in order to be protected from mechanical damages, thermal stresses, dust and solid particles, detrimental gases and/or liquids. Moisture and oxygen are considered two of the most detrimental gases, directly affecting the expected lifetime of the electronic devices. As far as moisture is concerned, technical and scientific literature indicate different Water Vapor Transmission Rates (WVTR), ranging from 10-2/10-3 g/m2/day for the LCD’s and the inorganic solar cells, to the 10-4 g/m2/day of the e-paper and, finally, to the very demanding Organic Electronics devices, such as the OLED’s and the organic solar cells, with 10-6 g/m2/day.
Protection from moisture is fundamental for many electronic devices, because the direct interaction of water with the active materials can lead to degradation phenomena and fast decay of the device performances: specific barrier sealants and getters for moisture are typically employed. A number of accelerated tests (damp heat tests) are used to qualify the effectiveness of the encapsulation technology, to slow down the extrinsic degradation of the device. Usually, damp heat tests can last 500/1000 hours and the deterioration of a set of selected operational parameters is monitored. The analysis of such parameters deterioration versus time can give an estimation of the device lifetime in everyday environmental conditions.
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