Communications of the ACM
Stretchable Oleds For Displays, Lighting
A purple-gloved researcher demonstrates how a stretchable OLED display can be bent, stretched, and deformed while working undamaged.
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researchers have demonstrated a transparent, elastic organic light-emitting diode (OLED) prototype. The researchers say future stretchable and bendable OLEDs could redefine the user experience with a new class of smartphones, smart electronic clothing, and wallpaper-like lighting panels.
"Being stretchable and highly flexible means that OLED lighting panels and displays could be like wallpaper--very thin, lightweight, and collapsible into a small volume when not in use," says UCLA professor Qibing Pei.
To prove the concept, the researchers fabricated two small stretchable OLEDs, one a lighting panel and the other a passive 5-by-5 pixel display. Both devices were demonstrated to be bendable, foldable, and stretchable. In order to achieve a stretchable, bendable OLED, the researchers reengineered all the materials in an OLED stack.
"First was the development of a transparent compliant conductor comprising a percolation network of silver nanowires in the surface layer of an elastomer film," Pei says. "The second key development is an OLED architecture that we call light-emitting electrochemical cell."
In the future, the researchers want to develop encapsulation methods that protect the organic materials from deterioration in the presence of air.
From EE Times
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