Partners Plastic Logic and Novaled unveiled a flexible, plastic active-matrix organic light-emitting-diode (AMOLED) display at the Flextech Conference in Phoenix AZ. According to the companies, it represents the first time a functional all-plastic AMOLED display has been combined with an industrialized turnkey manufacturing process for the backplane electronics.
The flexible AMOLED required non-standard electrode materials, which was made possible with Novaled’s PINOLED technology. For its part, Plastic Logic provided its fully industrialized plastic, flexible organic thin-film transistor (OTFT) backplane.
With an entire supply chain in place, Plastic Logic says OTFT manufacturing has reached a tipping point in performance with leading organic semiconductor (OSC) materials suppliers, including Merck whose OSC material was used in the demonstration. Such materials now offer mobilities required to drive OLED displays. The company’s process is compatible with existing mainstream display manufacturing operations, underpinning a new technology licensing business model.
Thanks to the partnership, the companies say a series of technology demonstrators will be available in 2014 that can take advantage of the wearables market.