Flexible top-emitting OLEDs for lighting: Bending limits

Schwamb P, Reusch T, Brabec C (2013)


Publication Language: English

Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Conference contribution, Conference Contribution

Publication year: 2013

Book Volume: 8829

Article Number: 88291E

Event location: San Diego, CA US

DOI: 10.1117/12.2025011

Abstract

Flexible OLED light sources have great appeal due to new design options, being unbreakable and their low weight. Top-emitting OLED device architectures offer the broadest choice of substrate materials including metals which are robust, impermeable to humidity, and good thermal conductors making them promising candidates for flexible OLED device substrates. In this study, we investigate the bending limits of flexible top-emitting OLED lighting devices with transparent metal electrode and thin film encapsulation on a variety of both metal and plastic foils. The samples were subjected to concave and convex bending and inspected by different testing methods for the onset of breakdown for example visible defects and encapsulation failures. The critical failure modes were identified as rupture of the transparent thin metal top electrode and encapsulation for convex bending and buckling of the transparent metal top electrode for concave bending. We investigated influences from substrate material and thickness and top coating thickness. The substrate thickness is found to dominate bending limits as expected by neutral layer modeling. Coating shows strong improvements for all substrates. Bending radii <15mm are achieved for both convex and concave testing without damage to devices including their encapsulation. © 2013 SPIE.

Authors with CRIS profile

Involved external institutions

How to cite

APA:

Schwamb, P., Reusch, T., & Brabec, C. (2013). Flexible top-emitting OLEDs for lighting: Bending limits. In Proceedings of the Organic Light Emitting Materials and Devices XVII. San Diego, CA, US.

MLA:

Schwamb, Philipp, Thilo Reusch, and Christoph Brabec. "Flexible top-emitting OLEDs for lighting: Bending limits." Proceedings of the Organic Light Emitting Materials and Devices XVII, San Diego, CA 2013.

BibTeX: Download