The first organic EL displays to be produced in volume

TDK exhibited flexible organic EL displays, and is moving towards the volume production of this technology within a year. A number of other companies have announced the development of flexible organic EL displays, but none so far have successfully commercialized the technology on the market so this could mean that TDK will be the first to succeed.

Use of a special resin to achieve high flexibility

Organic EL displays can be either active, meaning that the driver circuitry is fabricated as part of the base material, or passive, in which it is separate. Organic EL displays that have been developed up until now have been for the most part, active types, and these devices employed glass or metal sheets to form the transistors. But to achieve a more flexible surface, the thickness of the glass and metal sheets has been dramatically reduced. What's more, TDK uses a special resin to ensure that its organic EL displays provide optimum flexibility. Other EL displays have also employed resin but as these were of the active type, it was necessary for the organic transistors to be formed onto the resin, making it impractical for feasible production at present. TDK's has developed a passive type that does not incorporate drive circuitry, so it offers a significant advantage in that there is no need to use organic transistors.

Expected to reduce wear and tear on mobile phones

TDK has been producing organic EL display devices, which have been used for mobile phones and other mobile devices. However, users who apply too much force on mobile devices can damage the display but TDK hopes that its new flexible organic EL displays will help to dramatically reduce this kind of wear and tear on mobile devices.

Booth number: 6E31