Special grade of GE’s Lexan film will replace glass in the devices

GE Global Research has unveiled a new substrate technology for flexible organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), based on a special grade of its Lexan polycarbonate film. The film is coated with a special transparent ultra high barrier, designed to provide cost effective and lightweight flexible organic displays.

The advance is the result of a research programme, jointly funded by the US Display Consortium and GE. GE’s system, launched at the Flexible Displays and Microelectronics conference in Phoenix, Arizona this week, uses the high temperature resistance and clarity of Lexan to withstand the heat encountered in OLED production. “GE’s development of a flexible plastics replacement for the glass substrates used in OLEDs opens the door to exciting new applications such as, eventually, roll up displays,” said Hiro Ezawa, GE Plastics global industry manager for displays.

This year, GE plans to focus on optimising roll-top-roll barrier coating and evaluating the economic feasibility of of its coated plastics substrate system.