Researchers Successfully Develop First Fully 3D-Printed, Flexible OLED Display

OLED screens have been around for quite awhile, but never as flexible or affordable as they are now. The new technology could be a boon to the gaming industry in particular because OLEDs offer superior color and contrast levels.

The “oled display” is a new technology that has been developed by researchers. The OLED displays are flexible and can be 3D-printed.

Researchers-Successfully-Develop-First-Fully-3D-Printed-Flexible-OLED-Display University of Minnesota’s McAlpine Group

Researchers at the University of Minnesota have worked out how to create a unique 3D printer that can build a fully functional OLED display, one that is also bendable.

The breakthrough might result in not just cheaper production costs for future OLED displays, but also the opportunity for display aficionados to 3D print flexible OLED panels in the comfort of their own homes, according to a university study published on Friday. Previous efforts at 3D printing OLED displays had failed, resulting in issues such as poor light-emitting layer homogeneity, but the researchers were able to succeed this time by combining different printing processes.

“In this new work,” the institution noted, “the University of Minnesota research team used two distinct types of printing to produce the six device layers, resulting in a completely 3D-printed, flexible organic light-emitting diode display.”

“All of the electrodes, interconnects, insulation, and encapsulation were extrusion printed, while the active layers were spray printed at room temperature using the same 3D printer.” The display prototype contained 64 pixels on each side and measured roughly 1.5 inches on each side. Every pixel functioned and emitted light.”

“Over 2,000 bending cycles, the device demonstrated very steady emission, indicating that completely 3D printed OLEDs may be employed for crucial applications in soft electronics and wearable devices,” said Ruitao Su, the study’s lead author and a mechanical engineering Ph.D. graduate.

The complete study report (“3D printed flexible organic light-emitting diode displays”) can be found in Science Advances, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

University of Minnesota as a source