Firms team to develop OLEDs on flexible substrates

German OLED provider Novaled AG has partnered with steel maker ArcelorMittal to develop top-emitting OLEDs on flexible substrates for signage and lighting at the steel group's research centre in Liege, Belgium.

The companies foresee numerous applications for bendable OLEDs that use ArcelorMittal's steel plates as substrates. Novaled and ArcelorMittal also tout that metallic substrates offer several advantages compared to standard glass-sheets.

In addition, the metallic substrates are said to be more robust and durable and commonly produced by roll-to-roll process. This production method can be adapted to a subsequent inline process for OLED-deposition enabling high through-put manufacturing with low tact time.

Novaled is contributing to the project both its technical experience in the development of stable OLED device architectures as well as its material know-how for doped transport layers.

"We are always looking for ways to innovate and develop new application fields that add value to our steel products. We consider OLEDs to be very promising," says Michel Beguin, general manager of ArcelorMittal's Industry Research Centre. "The Novaled technology gives us the advantage of an efficient top inverted structure well adapted to our metal substrate."

Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth, CTO of Novaled, said RGB OLEDs have already been processed directly on classical steel plates. "The striking results showed that the Novaled technology enables standard steel foil acting as reflective bottom electrode."

- John Walko
EE Times Europe