Flexible and Conformal Environmental Barrier Technology for Displays

The goal of this U.S. Army SBIR program is to develop a novel low cost, multi-layer thin film encapsulation system to enable the in-flex use of AMOLED displays. Universal Display Corporation (UDC) is developing advanced flexible OLED (FOLEDr) technology based on its proprietary high-efficiency phosphorescent OLED (PHOLEDT) and transparent OLED (TOLEDT) technologies. The development of a low stress plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) flexible multilayer encapsulant, deposited in a single deposition chamber using a single precursor gas, in combination with UDC FOLED technology, is the best solution to meet the Army's flexible barrier requirements. These technologies should enable long lived rugged displays that can withstand repetitive flexing for a variety of mobile display applications, including truly roll-out displays, having long lifetime and low power consumption. In Phase 1 we propose to demonstrate extended lifetime PHOLED pixels on glass substrates using a multilayer PECVD grown encapsulant. In a Phase 1 option, this encapsulation process will be applied to top emission pixels. For a subsequent Phase 2 program, we will model the mechanical properties to further optimize and reduce stress in the multilayer stack, demonstrate flexible and low power consumption AMOLED displays on metal substrates, and evaluate the encapsulant flexibility.