Technical / Research

Holst Center researchers use sALD to create IGZO OLED display backplanes on PEN foils

Researchers from the Holst Center has applied spatial atomic layer deposition (sALD) to create both the semiconductor and dielectric layer in a thin-film transistor (TFT) Oxide-TFT (IGZO) display backplane - for the first time ever.

Holst sALD QVGA OLED prototype photo

The researchers created a 200 PPI QVGA OLED display prototype on a thin PEN foil. This shows how TFTs can be produced in a low temperature process (below 200 degrees Celsius) using sALD on a cheap transparent plastic foil. The TFTs achieved a mobility of 8 cm²/V2 with channel lengths down to 1 um.

The Fraunhofer suggests using bidirectional OLEDs to create smart antibacterial surfaces

The Fraunhofer first demonstrated its bi-directional OLED microdisplays in 2009 - these display use photodetectors embedded between the OLED pixels to enable unique applications such as eye-tracking and more.

Fraunhofer BiClean OLED bidirectional display project photo

The Fraunhofer now suggests a new use for such displays. The BiClean project looked into the possibility of embedding bi-directional OLED microdisplays in solar panels or pipes, to detect contamination in early stages. The display project light at different colors, and the photodetectors can sense the surface status in real time - and so it is possible to know whether it is necessary to clean the surface.

Researchers from RUDN University developed OLED emitter compounds based on silver and copper doping

Researchers from RUDN University in Russia have synthesized new OLED emitter compounds. These compounds seem to be phosphorescent emitters, based on copper and silver atoms.

Copper and Silver OLED emitter compounds (RUDN University)

The researchers say that the compound platform they created can lead to efficient and cost-effective OLED emitters, and also offer a special molecular geometry that can enable freedom-of-design for developers.

Researchers develop a method to 3D Print transparent OLED displays

Researchers from Korea's Yonsei University has developed a 3D printing technique that can be used to deposit transparent OLED displays on any shape. The new technique 3D prints both the support structure and the 3D screen electronics.

OLED 3D printing stack scheme (Yonsei University)

The method is based in Digital Light Processing (DLP) system that prints the transparent plastic frames, and then uses an electrohydrodynamic jet (e-jet) printer to create the OLED layers as seen in the image above.

Early-stage startup Noctiluca to commercialize new TADF OLED compounds

A new company has recently been launched in Poland, to commercialize a new family of TADF OLED compounds. Noctiluca, which takes its name from a bio-luminescent marine creature, was established a few months ago with aims to be the world's first company to produce a commercial-ready blue TADF emitter.

Noctiluca Synthex materials photo

Noctiluca's story begins with an innovative organic DSSC solar cell platform that was developed at Synthex, an organic chemistry development platform company based in Toruń, Poland. A few years ago the researchers turned their attention to light emitting materials (which are quite similar to the light harvesting materials used in solar panels) and intensive research culminated in a promising family of new TADF compounds - which was then spun-off as Noctiluca,

Researchers from MPI-P propose a new way to design efficient OLED materials without unipolar charge transport

Researchers from the Max-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) have built upon new understanding on organic electronic material defects to suggest ways to design higher efficiency OLED materials.

Charges in organic semiconductors, trapped by oxygen and water molecules (MPI-P)

The researchers explain that they have discovered that clusters of water inside organic semiconductors can function as hole traps, and oxygen clusters can capture electrons in hole-dominated organic semiconductors. Even a small number of such water and oxygen defects can cause highly unipolar charge transport and harm the efficiency of the materials.

LG: our latest OLED TVs are much more entertaining than an LCD TV from 6 years ago

LG Electronics performed an interesting test comparing an OLED TV to an LCD LED TV to analyse the physical and emotional responses of viewers. The test was done on identical twins in the UK (Henry and William Wade), which viewed a Game of Thrones episode on LG's OLEDE9 TV and an 2013 LG LCD LED TV.

LG used Realeye's AI platform to analyse the facial expressions, head movements and body language of the twins, in addition to their hear rate. LG says that the test revealed that its OLED TV held 25% more attention than its 2013 TV, and that happiness was three times higher. The LG OLED TV provided a 15% more intense experience from a positive emotional standpoint.

Researchers use perovskites to create efficient and cost-effective thick OLED devices

Researchers from Japan's Kyushu University developed new OLED devices made by integrating OLED emitters with thick layers of hybrid perovskite materials. The researchers say that such a device structure to enable lower-cost production and better viewing angles in OLED displays.

A test organic light-emitting diode (OLED) incorporating thick layers of hybrid perovskite emits green light image

OLED devices usually use a very thin layer of organic materials, as these are poor conductors, which makes production more difficult and also leads to cavity effects which distorts the emission color. The thick perovskite-OLED hybrid layer (which is around 2,000 nm thick) are more easily processed compared to thin film layers while still being highly conductive.

Researchers use reactive ion etching to create nanostructures that boost the efficiency of white OLED devices

Researchers from TU Dresden developed a new method to extract trapped photos from OLED devices. The idea is to generate controllable nanostructures with directional randomness and dimensional order. This method is said to significantly boost the efficiency of white OLED devices. The researchers report that it is possible to achieve an external quantum efficiency of up to 76.3%.

Reactive ion etching for the generation of quasi-periodic nanostructures (TU Dresden)

To produce the nanostructures, the researchers use reactive ion etching, a facile, scalable and lithography-free method. In addition to these advantages, the method enables to specifically control the topography of the nanostructures by adjusting the process parameters.

Researchers develop a single-layer, efficient TADF OLED device

Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPI-P) have developed an efficient OLED device that is comprised of a single organic material layer - replacing the normal stack of 5-7 layers in modern OLED devices.

Single-layer TADF OLED device (MPI)

The researchers managed to create this OLED device by using a TADF material (CzDBA, diboron based TADF) and by using a newly developed charge injection strategy. The OLED device features a low operating voltage (2.9V at 10,000 cd/m^₂, an EQE of 19% (at 500 cd/m²) and a lifetime of 1,880 hours at 50% (for 1,000 cd/m²). The color of the device is greenish-yellow.