Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Monday August 13 2018, @11:00PM   Printer-friendly
from the forgetting-desktops dept.

Currently, OLED technology faces the hurdle that full-color displays can only be realized by using color filters or shadow masks, which limit OLED efficiency and resolution. Researchers are working intensely on new approaches to fabricate microdisplays characterized by high resolution while at the same time offering high efficiency and long operating life time.

The patterning of the organic layers of OLEDs is one of the greatest challenges, since conventional methods such as photolithography cannot be utilized with organic semiconductor materials. The use of electron beam technology for microstructuring was successfully demonstrated at the Fraunhofer FEP two years ago. Using its patented process, FEP was able to modify the emission of an OLED through the existing encapsulation layer to create any feature imaginable and even produce high-resolution grayscale images.

Further development of the electron beam process has now achieved full-color OLED without using color filters or shadow masks. To create red, green, and blue pixels, an organic layer of the OLED itself is ablated by a thermal electron beam process. This patterning causes a change to the thickness of the layer stack, which makes the emission of different colors possible.

This is the first major step towards the development of full-color displays without the use of restrictive color filters in the process. Elisabeth Bodenstein, developer in the Fraunhofer FEP project team, explains the advantages: “With our electron-beam process it is possible to thermally structure even these sensitive organic materials without damaging the underlying layer.”

The results were obtained by simulating and initially estimating the HTL (hole transport layer) thicknesses that are produced by the electron beam. The researchers actually achieved the decoupling of red, green, and blue emissions from the white OLED. Following proof of concept at Fraunhofer FEP, these colors were demonstrated on the first test substrates, exhibiting comparable OLED performance.


Original Submission

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Tuesday August 14 2018, @07:55AM

    by takyon (881) <reversethis-{gro ... s} {ta} {noykat}> on Tuesday August 14 2018, @07:55AM (#721271) Journal

    Following proof of concept at Fraunhofer FEP, these colors were demonstrated on the first test substrates, exhibiting comparable OLED performance.

    What kind of performance? Color gamut? Efficiency and resolution?

    In this way, the prospective incorporation the displays in data glasses for special applications such as in industrial manufacturing and medicine should be opened up with the new process.

    Wordn't

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(1)