A Stretchable Display That Stretches Like Rubber Is Coming Out

Korea Research Foundation "Professor Park Ji-woo's Yonsei University Team Develops Fully Stretchable OLED"
Applicable to Smartphones and Wearable Devices with Changing Size and Shape

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] A 'stretchable display' in which all components stretch like rubber has been developed. It is attracting attention as it can be applied to smartphones that change size or shape, wearable devices that fit closely to the skin like clothing, and three-dimensional tactile displays.

The National Research Foundation of Korea announced on the 12th that Professor Ji-woo Park's team at Yonsei University developed an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) that stretches like rubber by making all components from stretchable materials. When a stretchable display capable of stretching in all directions and freely changing shape becomes possible, it can be used in smartphones with screens that change size or shape, wearable devices that fit more closely to the skin, and more realistic three-dimensional tactile displays.

Previously, attempts to create stretchable OLEDs involved placing rigid OLEDs like islands on a stretchable substrate and connecting them with flexible wires, which resisted the stretching force on the wires. However, the combination of rigid OLEDs and flexible wires inevitably required lowering the density of the devices to withstand high tensile stress. Therefore, there were limitations in applying this to displays that require a high number of pixels, and the manufacturing process was also very complicated.

The research team focused on materials rather than structure. They implemented all materials constituting the OLED (substrate, anode, hole transport layer, emission layer, electron transport layer, and cathode) using stretchable materials. As a result, they were able to realize an OLED that stretches like rubber. It was confirmed that it stably emitted light even under 80% tensile stress. In particular, the three primary colors constituting the display?red, green, and blue?were all implemented with a certain level of efficiency under 60 to 80% tensile stress. The stretchable OLED device also operated stably when deformed with a sharp pen tip with a low radius of curvature (below 100 μm).

The National Research Foundation explained, "There have been previous studies attempting to replace OLED components with stretchable materials, but they were limited to the substrate and anode materials, resulting in low stability," adding, "By implementing all components with stretchable materials for the first time, stability was improved." The research results were published online on the 24th of last month in the international academic journal Science Advances.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.