In a groundbreaking new study, researchers at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 3D printed a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display using a custom printer, the Antarctic Bear learned on January 11, 2021. The research results have been published in the journal SCIENCE ADVANCES. This is expected to significantly reduce the cost of OLED displays.
OLED display technology uses layers of organic materials to convert electricity into light. OLEDs can be made flexible for use in large devices such as TV screens and monitors, as well as in handheld electronics such as smartphones. OLED displays have gained widespread popularity due to their light weight, power saving, thinness and flexibility, wide viewing angles and high contrast ratios.
However, OLED displays tend to be expensive because they often need to be produced in large, expensive, and ultra-clean facilities. To that end, researchers at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities plan to invent a cheaper way to make OLED displays.
"OLED displays are typically produced in large, expensive, ultra-clean manufacturing plants," said Michael McAlpine, the Kuhrmeyer Family Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota and senior author of the study. "We wanted to see if we could do it on our desktop 3D printers. Basically condensing all of that and printing out an OLED display, the printer is custom made and costs about the same as a Tesla Model S."
Therefore, the researchers tried to use 3D printing to produce OLED displays, customized a 3D printer for this purpose, and tried two different printing modes, and finally successfully printed a 1.5-inch side with 64 × 64 pixels. OLED display, and every pixel works fine. The discovery could in the future lead to the production of low-cost OLED displays that anyone can produce at home using a 3D printer, rather than being produced by technicians in expensive microfabrication factories.
A fully 3D-printed prototype of a flexible organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display is about 1.5 inches on each side and has 64 pixels. Every pixel works and displays light. The 3D-printed display is also flexible, which could make it useful in a variety of applications, such as foldable smartphone displays. Source: McAlpine Group, University of Minnesota
In addition, the researchers also performed 2,000 bending tests on the OLED display, and the display still works normally, which means that it is expected to be used in flexible OLED displays in wearable devices.
The next step, the researchers said, is to print a larger OLED display that will also be further improved in resolution and brightness.
It is understood that OLED, also known as organic electric laser display and organic light-emitting semiconductor, belongs to a current-type organic light-emitting device. It is a phenomenon of luminescence caused by the injection and recombination of carriers.
