Partnership develops a truly flexible AMOLED display

At the Flextech Conference in Phoenix, AZ, USA, the companies have demonstrated a truly flexible, plastic, fully organic AMOLED display. This will be the first of a series of technology demonstrations during 2014. Combining a functional all-plastic AMOLED display with an industrialised turnkey manufacturing process for the backplane electronics for the first time, the demonstration marks the beginning of a new chapter for display makers searching for a path to ultra-flexible, ultra-thin, lightweight AMOLEDs. Using a low temperature process offers superior uniformity and yield and therefore provides a route to low cost solutions for volume manufacturing.

Both companies have brought critical technology to the demonstration: Novaled’s PINOLED technology enables the use of non-standard electrode materials needed for the flexible AMOLED development; while Plastic Logic’s fully industrialised plastic, flexible Organic Thin Film Transistor backplane and know-how enabled the world’s first fully organic, flexible display. These truly flexible AMOLEDs, with their increased usable screen areas, will power the next generation of products for the wearables market.

Indro Mukerjee, CEO, Plastic Logic, comments: "Flexible electronics is a reality, already proven through the development and manufacture of plastic, bendable displays and sensors. For the first time a fully organic, plastic, flexible AMOLED demonstration has been achieved with a real industrial fabrication process. This marks the start of a revolution in wearable products, the next frontier in consumer electronics - 2014 will be the year that wearable technology starts to go mainstream.”

“Novaled has been developing its leadership in the doping of OLED devices. When applied to the OTFT Novaled technologies and materials will play a driving role in fully organic displays as well as in opening the fields of new organic devices,” comments Gildas Sorin, CEO, Novaled.