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Content archived on 2024-05-27

Flexible Polymer Light Emitting Displays

Objective

The FLEXled project aims at demonstrating reliable flexible displays for nomadic consumer electronics applications, based on a flexible emissive technology: polymer light emitting diodes (PLED). Passive matrix displays (up to 4 inch 320x240 pixel RGB colour) on flexible substrates will be made. FLEXled will consider all aspects crucial for a successful demonstration of the flexible display concept, including: new substrate materials; process and encapsulation for flexible colour PLED; mechanical testing and modelling; lifetime performance; and finally interconnection with driving integrated circuits. The bending radius while display functioning will be at least 4 cm (comparable to a coffee cup). Lifetime (>10000 hrs) and screen performance will match market requirements. FLEXled will pave the road for new manufacturing approaches (reel-to-reel) and new applications (e.g. e-paper, smart cards, wearable displays).

Objectives:
The ultimate goal of the FLEXled project is to demonstrate reliable flexibledisplays (RGB colour passive matrix) for consumer electronics applications, based on polymer light emitting diodes (PLED). The displays will be enabled by: new flexible substrate materials: transparent, hermetic to water/oxygen, with excellent transparent conductors. Processing of PLED on flexible substrates, including hermetic encapsulation, yielding reliable displays (long lifetime). Testing of the displays (performance, lifetime); measuring, modelling and understanding substrate materials properties (e.g. permeation, mechanics) and their limits. Integration of the flexible matrix displays demonstrators with driver integrated circuits.

Work description:
This project will demonstrate flexible displays based on polymer light emitting diodes (PLED) ensuring good front of screen performance. New flexible substrates will be obtained, using new high temperature (300°C) polymer films, inorganic diffusion barriers, glass micro sheets and new conducting transparent oxides (TCO). Full colour PLED displays will be made by ink jet printing luminescent polymers on structured flexible substrates. New options for encapsulating the displays (e.g. via multi-layer hybrid layer coatings) will be explored and implemented in the display process to ensure sufficient lifetime of the displays. Cutting techniques ensuring the separation of flexible displays, non-square form factors and effective interconnects will be researched. Testing and modelling of devices and materials will play an important role, providing the feedback necessary to optimise substrates and display making. Basic understanding of the functionality of flexible displays and materials in view of future production techniques (reel-to-reel) will be obtained developing new mechanical tests and models for the brittle functional layers (e.g. TCOs, diffusion barriers) as well as new permeation measurement techniques. Integration of the results of the different parts of the project will result in flexible PLED displays provided with driver ICs, according to specifications based on market analysis. The end of the FLEXled project will result in flexible PLED display demonstrators, new substrates and processing options as well as characterisation methods and models.

Milestones:
The end results of the FLEXled project will be demonstrators of RGB colour flexible matrix displays. The target applications are display modules for handheld electronic consumer devices about 4 inch diagonal, 320x240 pixel RGBcolour (PDA resolutions). The bending radius while display functioning, will be at least 4 cm comparable to a coffee cup. Lifetime (>10000 hrs) and screen performance will match market requirements.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.

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Call for proposal

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Coordinator

PHILIPS ELECTRONICS NEDERLAND B.V.
EU contribution
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Address
BOSCHDIJK 525
5621 JG EINDHOVEN
Netherlands

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Total cost
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Participants (7)

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