OLED wallpaper is coming closer, new cheap production methods

OLED as cheap as newsprint

03 September 2009

Forget about video ads in printed magazines, in the future newsagents' shelves and newspaper stands may be filled with complete video publications. Researchers from the Riken Center in Japan claim to have developed a technique that can manufacture OLED as cheaply as printing a newspaper. The development was announced by Japanese research organisation, Riken Research.

Magazines as we know them could become a thing of the past as flexible, cheap display technology continues to gather momentum

The researchers acknowledge that the electrospray-deposition technique they are using isn’t new but claim their revolutionary ‘dual solvent’ technique improves the method to produce polymer films to a point where they can compete with other fabrication techniques.

In an article titled ‘Smoothing the way to superior screens’, the method is described as "a double-solvent concept" that makes "electrospray-deposited films smoother than before, thereby enabling superior devices to built".

Yutaka Yamagata, of the Riken Centre for Intellectual Property Strategies, was quoted as saying: "We have discovered a range of conditions using a two-solvent method that can make extremely smooth thin films using electoscopy deposition. Using this technology these devices could be manufactured as inexpensively as printing newspapers."

And some more OLED...........Smoothing the way to superior OLED displays

With kind regards to nanowork I found this article

(Nanowerk News) Electrospray-deposited polymer films can be used to make organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with better characteristics than those made from spin-coated films, according to Yutaka Yamagata of the RIKEN Center for Intellectual Property Strategies, Wako, and colleagues. These researchers have used a novel dual-solvent concept to make the electrospray-deposited films smoother than before, thereby enabling the superior devices to be built ("Thin-Film Fabrication Method for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Using Electrospray Deposition").

Organic light-emitting diodes are now entering the market place as screens for mobile phones and televisions (Fig. 1), and mass-production techniques are needed to simplify the manufacturing process and reduce costs and wastage.

Previous attempts to use the electrospray-deposition technique for OLED fabrication have failed to produce polymer films that compete with other fabrication techniques. Yamagata and colleagues decided to use a combination of two solvents to improve this technique, which uses a thin glass capillary with the polymer solution stored inside and a conductive wire inserted in it. When a high voltage is applied between this conductive wire and the OLED electrodes on the substrate, the solution sprays out of the capillary end as atomized droplets that are attracted to the substrate by electrostatic force. This means there is little solution wastage as the spray is highly directed.

They found that the first solvent evaporated rapidly after the atomization of the solution, leaving a small amount of the second solvent, which has a higher boiling point, in the droplets. When the polymer concentrations were finely tuned, the carefully chosen second solvent enabled the not-quite-dry atomized droplets to form a smooth, continuous film of high quality over the OLED electrode. Because the films dry quickly on the surface, it should be easy to fabricate multilayer devices without mixing of materials between layers.

From a series of comparative experiments, the researchers found that devices fabricated from electrospray-deposited films turned on at lower voltages and could support higher current densities than ones made from spin-coated films. At low voltages, the electrospray deposition also enabled higher pixel intensity.

“We have discovered a range of conditions using a two-solvent method that can make extremely smooth thin films using electrospray deposition,” says Yamagata. “Using this technology these devices could be manufactured as inexpensively as printing newspapers.”

Yamagata also notes that: “The advantage of using electrospray deposition is that we can fabricate both smooth films and nanostructured film using the same technology.” In the future he believes that this advantage “will also be useful in controlling the structure of organic semiconductor junctions for organic solar cells.”

Source: RIKEN

Liquid OLED for curved, longlife displays and many creative solutions

I wrote a post earlier on flexible OLED but that was more limted than the newest version. read the press release below

19 August 2009

Researchers at a Japanese University have developed a groundbreaking OLED technology that is claimed will significantly ease the creation of curved displays and drastically improve their lifespan. Denghui Xu and Chihaya Adachi, from the Center for Future Chemistry at Kyushu University in Fukuoka have created “liquid-OLED”, according to information and news website, OLED-info.com

Source: OLED-info.com

The re

Bericht publiceren

volutionary design has a liquid centre and can be easily curved. SlashGear reported that Xu and Adachi had injected a mixture of electrically-conductive liquid and photoluminescent solid rubrene between an anode and cathode. That was then sandwiched in glass to produce lighting in the same way that an OLED with a solid luminescent layer does.

Another advantage, according to the Japanese scientists, is that by utilising a recirculating system the fluid OLED layer could be refreshed, thereby extending the lifespan of the display.

The scientists will, however, have to overcome a problem with the light output of the liquid-OLEDs. Apparently, although the light output is visible to the naked eye, it does not currently match that of traditional OLED display products.

Samsung Mobile Display show 6.5 inch Flexible AMOLED Display

Samsung Mobile Display (SMD) show a new 6.5 inch flexible AMOLED Prototype. SMD show this newest flexible AMOLED at the SID 2009 in San Antonio. Samsung Mobile Display say that this prototype is more flexible than any previous model before.

Also SMD says that the new processes do not require low-temperatures to produce the display and productions costs are now lower than other competitive products. The new process is simpler and improves efficiencies necessary for mass production.

SMD sees many application for that flexible AMOLED (newspaper,epaper, e-passport, military maps, newspaper and many more. The reponse time is more than 1000 times faster as a LCD Panel.

New this year at SID 2009 will be seven sessions dedicated exclusively to various aspects of flexible display technology and developments that will create a host of new business and revenue opportunities across not only consumer-electronics markets, but also military and industrial applications. Papers from the Flexible Display Center, Kent Displays, Polymer Vision, Prime View, Universal Display Corp., Samsung, Sharp and Sony along with several key universities like the University of Illinois will highlight work underway at every level of the flexible display food chain.

Interior architects start brainstorming on how to use this

Japanese researchers developed rubber-like OLED
05/11/2009

University of Tokyo researchers developed a new kind of OLED display, that can actually stretch and deform - like rubber.They showed one displays that is shaped like a face, and showing changing expressions, and another screen that is spherical and shows weather data. The OLEDs were produced by spraying a layer of carbon nanotubes with a fluoro-rubber compound to produce a stretchy, conductive material.

The current prototypes are 100 sq centimeters, and have 256 monochrome pixels. They can be folded at least a thousand times, with no decline in quality. They are working towards better resolution and color displays.

"In the future, displays that once had to be flat can be made spherical, or even moving," says Takao Someya, professor of electronic engineering at the University of Tokyo. "A human-shaped display could be used to show medical diagnosis data, and there are various other applications."

Kyocera Unveils Kinetic Flexible OLED Cell Phone

Charting the future of cell phone technology, Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone that is capable of folding up like a wallet. Designed by industrial designer Susan McKinney, the EOS phone consists of a soft, semi-rigid polymer skin surrounding a flexible low-energy OLED display. Shape memory allows the phone’s keys to pop up when in use and blend in with the surface during downtimeThe Kyocera EOS can be used in its folded-up shape for simple phone calls, unfolds to reveal a wide screen, and we were excited to hear that the it derives its energy from human interaction. The more you use the phone, the more kinetic energy is turned into an electric charge through an array of tiny piezoelectric generators. In other words, you’ll never have to worry about leaving the house with a semi-charged cell phone again.

The EOS is still in the early design stage, but Kyocera teams in San Diego and Bangalore hope to integrate concepts from the device into cell phone lineups in the near future. Maybe future

the portable projection screen will be the projector as well:)

It's sad we have to wait for about 10 years but this would be great. The projection screen will become the projector as well so no more ugly devices in the design interior. Just roll up the TV:) Besides of this there are plenty other great applications you can think about when being able to use flexible OLED. I wish they would sell it on rolls just like wall paper. This is the article as published on InAVate

Technology breakthrough paves way for flexible OLED

Highly flexible displays are just round the corner, following a breakthrough in the use of carbon-based graphene. A group of South Korean researchers, headed by Byung Hee Hong, developed a way to “spray” graphene, a material derived from carbon nanotubes, on thin pieces of nickel that are dissolved before attaching the film to a PET polymer.

Graphene structure. Image courtesy of Wikipedia

The graphene is tipped for use in OLED screens, adding momentum to the technology that originally took off in 2007 when it started to be selected for screens in popular gadgets, such as mobile phones and MP3 players.

Although graphene, a material that is one atom thick and maintains electrical conductivity, was orginally produced in 2004 it was extremely cumbersome to make in bulk. However, Byung Lee Hong‘s team claim, in a paper published in prominent scientific journal, Nature, their new technique can produce strong, flexible, conductive sheets, suitable for mass-production.

And whilst scientists are busy working on ways to commercially produce flexible displays, a quick look at Las Vegas‘ CES show demonstrates that major industry players are also ploughing money into flexible OLED technologies. Sony showed off concepts that included a video bracelet and a one screen laptop, with touch screen keyboard. Not to be outdone Samsung unveiled a PDA that opened up into one large screen for watching video.

Finally, the US Army is backing flexible display technology, funding research at Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center. The military want to create small, portable, flexible screens that can provide its soldiers with situational information on a battlefield.

Although projections suggest we won’t see this kind of technology commercially developed, on a large scale, for perhaps another 10 years the research and funding dedicated to the technology indicates people are serious about bringing flexible displays to market.