05.05.16
The Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beam and Plasma Technology FEP will be presenting flexible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) at AIMCAL 2016 in Dresden, Germany, from May 30-June 2, 2016. These OLEDs have been fabricated on ultra-thin glass and encapsulated with a ultra-thin glass foil in the same process.
OLEDs have already found acceptance as a light source in first luminaires on the market on rigid glass. However, far larger shares of the market could be acquired if flexible large-area OLEDs could be manufactured cost-effectively with consistent quality in sectors requiring specialized curved design, such as architectural lighting and automotive, for example. The organic layers of the OLED are sensitive to oxygen and moisture and needs to be well protected. Flexible ultra-thin glass meets the stringent requirements of a hermetic barrier, free of defects and pinhole freedom for large OLED emissive surfaces.
Fraunhofer FEP has had success not only in applying OLEDs to flexible ultra-thin glass, but also in encapsulating the devices using an additional thin glass layer in a single roll-to-roll manufacturing step. A high-performance adhesive was applied over the entire surface of the encapsulating glass in advance in collaboration with tesa SE. This adhesive glass film is subsequently laminated to the OLED-coated ultra-thin glass. Fraunhofer FEP will be presenting this type of OLED at AIMCAL 2016, in this case based on G-Leaf ultra-thin glass by Nippon Electric Glass Co Ltd. (NEG). A 10 cm × 25 cm emissive surfaces will be on display.
OLEDs have already found acceptance as a light source in first luminaires on the market on rigid glass. However, far larger shares of the market could be acquired if flexible large-area OLEDs could be manufactured cost-effectively with consistent quality in sectors requiring specialized curved design, such as architectural lighting and automotive, for example. The organic layers of the OLED are sensitive to oxygen and moisture and needs to be well protected. Flexible ultra-thin glass meets the stringent requirements of a hermetic barrier, free of defects and pinhole freedom for large OLED emissive surfaces.
Fraunhofer FEP has had success not only in applying OLEDs to flexible ultra-thin glass, but also in encapsulating the devices using an additional thin glass layer in a single roll-to-roll manufacturing step. A high-performance adhesive was applied over the entire surface of the encapsulating glass in advance in collaboration with tesa SE. This adhesive glass film is subsequently laminated to the OLED-coated ultra-thin glass. Fraunhofer FEP will be presenting this type of OLED at AIMCAL 2016, in this case based on G-Leaf ultra-thin glass by Nippon Electric Glass Co Ltd. (NEG). A 10 cm × 25 cm emissive surfaces will be on display.