US research group creates scalable printing process for OLEDs

Dan Rogers - 11 Oct 2011

US researchers led by OLED expert Stephen Forrest, vice president for research at the University of Michigan's materials science and engineering department, have developed a printing process for depositing OLED materials.

The Organic Vapour Jet Deposition process could simplify the manufacturing of OLEDs for displays and lighting, which could also reduce costs.

Forrest presented the research at the Plastic Electronics 2011 event taking place today in Dresden, Germany.

The scalable process could pattern a 60-inch OLED television display in 25 seconds, according to Forrest.

The quality of the patterned display is also better than needed for current applications, he adds.

Resolution

Forrest remarked in his presentation: 'The ultra-high resolution is far more than is needed. It can do 1-1.5µ patterning for a display, even micro display requirements.'

The research team is speaking to a number of companies and working on commercialising the device, Forrest explained.

Organic Vapour Jet Deposition print heads consist of a nozzle plate that receives the red, green and blue materials through gas flow vents. The 200µ x 20µ nozzle array then deposits the materials on a substrate, which can be passed in front of it in a roll-to-roll process.

Forrest says of its scalability: 'Arrays of 3,000 nozzles would be feasible.

'We know the basic fluid dynamics and we know how far it can go. It's more a matter of moving the substrate quickly.'

Forrest's presentation was part of the opening plenary session at the Plastic Electronics 2011 show, which runs from 11-13 October 2011.

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