Toward Novel Flexible Display - Top-Emitting OLEDs on Al-Laminated PET Substrates

We developed a flexible organic LED (OLED) using a top-emitting OLED (TOLED) architecture. The concept of our flexible OLED design is based on integration of a TOLED structure on an aluminum-laminated polyethylene terephthalate (Al-PET) substrate. Microcavity TOLEDs were formed for color tuning and efficiency enhancement. For a flexible TOLED with a 110-nm-thick poly (p-phenylenevinylene) light-emitting layer, it exhibited a luminous efficiency of 4.6 cd/A at 10 V. The performance of a TOLED made on a plastic substrate is analyzed and compared with that of the identical device on a rigid glass substrate. It is demonstrated that the flexible TOLED on Al-PET foil can be bent to a substantial degree without breaking.