Flexible OLED displays
11/17/2008
OLED is a new display technology. Using light-emitting organic materials, beautiful and efficient displays can be created. OLEDs are very thin, and in fact can be put on flexible materials (plastic or metal foil). So it's possible to make bendable, flexible displays. These displays are still in prototype phase, but we're seeing advancements all the time, and in a few years it's possible that we'll see commercial applications of those flexible screens. 
Flexible OLEDs researchThere are several companies working towards commercializing flexible OLEDs. Universal display are working towards flexible OLEDs with LG and L-3, in a project financed by the US department of defense. 
Samsung are also working towards flexible OLEDs, hoping to release their first flexible products in 2010. They recently demonstrated a thin OLED (0.05mm) that is flexible. In fact it was so thin, it flaps in the wind. In 2009, Samsung demonstrated larger (6.5") flexible OLEDs: 
Sony, one of the leading companies in OLED technology, has shown a 'curved' version of their OLED TV. Latest stories about Flexible OLED displays:Nanometer Graphene can be used to make better and cheaper large-area OLEDs03/09/2010Researchers at Stanford University have successfully developed a brand new concept of OLEDs with a few nanometer of graphene as transparent conductor. This paved the way for inexpensive mass production of OLEDs on large-area low-cost flexible plastic substrate, which could be rolled up like wallpaper and virtually applied to anywhere you want. The researchers say that Graphene has the potential to be transparent, high-performance, highly conductive and cheaper by several orders of magnitude than current ITO based solutions. Interestingly just a few weeks ago we reported that Graphene can be used to make organic lighting devices, too.  Graphene OLED
Traditionally, indium tin oxide (ITO) is used in OLEDs, but indium is rare, expensive and difficult to recycle. Scientists have been actively searching for an alternative candidate. The next generation of optoelectronic devices requires transparent conductive electrodes to be lightweight, flexible, cheap, environmental attractive, and compatible with large-scale manufacturing methods. Graphene (a single layer of graphite) is becoming a very promising candidate due to its unique electrical and optical properties. Very recently, Junbo Wu et al., researchers at Stanford University, successfully demonstrated the application of graphene in OLEDs for the first time. Bundesdruckerei shows ePassport with Samsung's flexible AMOLED03/08/2010Remember Samsung's flexible OLED for ID cards or passports? Bundesdruckerei is showing their e-passport that uses that AMOLED display at CeBIT. It still says "future product", but it seems to get getting closer to production every time we see it. 
The display is a flexible 2" QVGA (240x320), 260K color OLED with a 10,000:1 contrast ratio. It is very low on power, and actually uses the RF power from the contactless reader - there's no battery at all here. 
ModisTech to commercialize cheap flexible OLEDs for indirect lighting in 201002/19/2010Korea's Modistech is working on flexible OLED Lighting for indirect applications for quite some time, and are now planning to commercialize the technology in 2010. They will produce 150x150mm flexible OLED panels. Back in 2009, Modistech said they plan to do so in 2011, so apparently they are ahead of schedule. 
Modistech's slogan for the displays is 'paper-like, fabric-like and film-like'. They say that they will change the paradigm of lighting from 'to install' to 'to attach'. They want to use OLEDs as indirect lighting which does not require high luminance, and is suitable for the flexible OLEDs. It can be used in furniture, kitchenware, airplanes and especially automobiles (make up light, glove box light, foot light and trunk light). Modistech say that their technology minimizes the number of substrate processes and is using roll-to-roll deposition and self-developed encapsulation material. They claim that they reduce the manufacturing cost by up to 90%!. Via FocusOn PETEC and the Flexible Display Center to collaborate on printed flexible displays02/09/2010
The FDC is also working with UDC on flexible OLEDs. Earlier in 2009, they have already demonstrated a 4.1" monochrome QVGA PHOLED display. PETEC was opened in March 2009. One of the companies that are building a production line is PolyPhotonix, who are working on OLED lighting. A Japanese consortium says they can make flexible LCDs02/03/2010A Japanese consortium of 13 companies (including Sharp and Hitachi) claims that they found a way to make LCDs using plastic film instead of a glass substrate. This means that those displays can be very thin and flexible. They do admit however that this is a very complicated process. They have shown a 3.5" bendable color LCD that just 0.49mm thick and weights 7 grams. They hope to make a better display by 2012, and use this technology to mass produce thin, curved LCD displays. 
The companies say that the new manufacturing process is simpler than the one used in current LCDs, and also the new displays will consumer 70% less energy! More information over at CrunchGear. |
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