OLED barrier film demonstrated by US firm

Sara Ver-Bruggen - 20 Apr 2011

OLED materials and technology firm Universal Display (UDC) has developed a barrier film for OLED displays and other thin-film devices.

Developed in collaboration with research partner Princeton University, UDC's hybrid, organic-inorganic, single-layer technology has been demonstrated as an encapsulant for flexible and rigid OLED devices. The barrier layer protects sensitive layers in the device stack from moisture and oxygen ingress.

Demonstration of the encapsulation technology has been supported, in part, by several US government research grants. UDC has also been working with the US Army Research Laboratory and the Flexible Display Centre (FDC) at Arizona State University to demonstrate the technology with flexible display prototypes. The devices comprise UDC's phosphorescent and other OLED technologies, and the FDC's flexible backplanes.

Barrier films are critical to ensuring the commercial potential of organic electronic devices. By protecting the sensitive layers of electrically conductive materials, barrier films can prolong the lifetime, and enhance the durability of OLED displays and other thin-film devices.

Investment

R&D and investment into barrier film technologies is intensifying. Germany-headquartered Delo Industrial Adhesives, which supplies industries including organic and microelectronics, is investing revenues earned from 40% sales increases into a pilot plant and another laboratory. This will enable the company to synthesise new materials for future growth markets, such as OLEDs and other organic electronic devices.

Delo also has a strategic partnership with Merck to bring OLED sealant materials to market.

This month German adhesives supplier Henkel joined the flexible electronics network of the Netherlands-based Holst Centre. The partnership allows Henkel to more closely align development of its moisture barrier and other thin-film technologies on actual devices, not just isolated material samples.

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