Stretchable like skin with sound? ... UNIST Develops Emissive Layer Transfer Technology

A technology for producing high-resolution displays that stretch like skin and are soft has been developed. With inherent elasticity, it simultaneously emits sound and light, making it promising for next-generation displays in wearable devices, mobile devices, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

Professor Moon-ki Choi's team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UNIST developed a "high-resolution patterning technology for stretchable light-emitting layers through surface control of stamps." The stretchable light-emitting devices made using this technology possess elasticity while emitting both light and sound.

Professor Moon-ki Choi said, "Although demand for next-generation displays is increasing, conventional light-emitting devices were difficult to apply patterning processes to, so we developed a 'light-emitting layer transfer technology through surface energy control.'"

Patterning is the process of fabricating desired circuits or shapes on a substrate. The technology developed by the research team transfers the patterned light-emitting layer onto electrodes to obtain the pattern.

This process is carried out on a viscoelastic stamp that can be peeled off and reapplied like tape. The film adheres stably, allowing small-sized patterns to be obtained without distortion.

Through this, patterns with a minimum line width of 150 micrometers (㎛) were achieved, and various colors (blue, green, white) could be processed through repeated procedures.

The fabricated devices exhibited excellent brightness and sound characteristics, and demonstrated stability by maintaining over 95% of their original shape even after more than 5,000 deformation tests.

Stretchable synesthetic device fabricated using light-emitting layer transfer technology.

The research team produced a "visual and auditory dual encryption device" using the developed technology.

The visually encrypted image code is designed to be unlocked when power is supplied by a specific user. Additionally, auditory encryption using sound, an analog signal that is difficult to hack, was introduced, enabling the application of a dual firewall system.

Professor Moon-ki Choi explained, "Through this research, we developed a high-resolution display that simultaneously emits sound and light," adding, "We confirmed the potential for application as a next-generation display performing new functions such as wearable speakers, dual encryption devices, and multi QR implementation."

This research was published on August 14 in the world-renowned scientific journal Advanced Functional Materials. The study was supported by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Research Foundation of Korea under the Excellent Early-Career Researcher Program.

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