Ultra-flexible OTFT can be bent to a 1mm radius, designed for foldable AMOLED displays

For years we’ve been hearing about flexible display technology and how it can change the way we use our mobile devices, allowing them to be folded, bent and curved to extreme angles.

Although super-flexible mobile or wearable devices are still a ways off, we are already starting to see semi-flexible and curved-screen mobile devices hit the market, including the LG G Flex and Samsung Galaxy Round. We have also seen many different kinds of tests and demos showing off all sorts of ever-evolving flexible and bendable technologies.

Adding to the growing list of companies or research firms that are exploring the technology, the UK-based Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) recently showed off its new backplane fabrication process that will allow organic thin film transistors (OTFT) arrays to be bent up to a radius of 1mm without showing any significant reduction in performance.

As the technology advances, the OTFT arrays could potentially be integrated into foldable, ultra-flexible AMOLED backplanes. This in turn could open the door to all sorts of new types of flexible and foldable devices.

Although the video above only shows the bending process a few times, the OTFT arrays were actually tested by bending them up to 10,000 times, where “minimal changes in the turn on voltage and on current were observed.” According to CPI, this tight bend radius is possible by optimizing the “multiple interfaces present in the device stack” to allow for good adhesion under strains experienced in the bending test.

While we wouldn’t count on fully folding mobile devices (like we’ve seen in concept videos before) showing up to the market any time soon, it’s technologies like this that will eventually make it all possible. For more details on the technology, and the process involved, be sure to hit up the source article.