Fraunhofer COMEDD Presents OLED Lighting on Flexible Glass

Organic llght emitting diodes (OLED) on flexible substrates offer unique scopes for luminaire designs. Additionally, they can be quasi-transparent when switched off. Next to their appearance, another aspect is of importance: the substrate they are processed on – like e.g. very thin flexible glass, metal- and plastic foils.

In the last years the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Organics, Materials and Electronic Devices COMEDD – well established as the center of the European OLED research – has developed OLED devices on sheet batch type processing and on roll-to-roll process on flexible glass. The OLED device integration on flexible glass offers the opportunity to make a big step in approaching required device lifetimes.

Dr. Stefan Mogck, head of department Roll-to-Roll Organic Technology at Fraunhofer COMEDD, said, “We have achieved great results in the processing of OLED on thin glass and at the same time we gathered a lot of new know-how about the handling of these kind of substrates.”

The close collaboration with Fraunhofer FEP strengthens the organic device integration on flexible substrates. The roll-to-roll manufacturing on flexible glass needs a lot of experience in web handling and equipment modification. Together with Von Ardenne GmbH for the development of process equipment and Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd., who provided flexible glass rolls “G-Leaf,” Fraunhofer COMEDD is working on the improvement of process integration and the development of devices.