Liquid-OLED Displays Could Allow Non-Standard Shapes & Longer Lifespans

Alright, as images go this one isn't the most eye-catching we admit, but the technology it's explaining is far more exciting.  Researchers in Japan have developed what they're calling a Liquid-OLED, and just like the gooey fruit-flavored chocolates your mother loves it has a liquid center rather than the traditional solid-state one you'd find in traditional OLEDs.  The benefit, they claim, is that Liquid-OLED displays could be more easily curved, and even refilled should the organic layer degrade over time.

The displays are the brainchild of researchers at The Center for Future Chemistry at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan, who found that injecting a mixture of electrically-conductive liquid and photoluminescent solid rubrene between an anode and cathode, then sandwiching that in glass, produced lighting in the same way that an OLED with a solid luminescent layer does.  The difference is, however, that the glass can be produced in different shapes, without requiring a tricky-to-manufacturer matching solid OLED layer.

Alternatively, the scientists have suggested a recirculating system whereby the fluid OLED layer could be refreshed and the lifespan of the display extended.  The biggest hurdle right now is refining the light output: the Liquid-OLEDs do put out enough light to be visible to the naked eye, but it's far less than a traditional OLED display produces.

[via OLED-Info]