Organic Display

With the imaging appliance revolution underway, the need for more advanced handheld devices that will combine the attributes of a computer, PDA, and cell phone is increasing and the flat-panel mobile display industry is searching for a display technology that will revolutionize the industry. The need for new lightweight, low-power, wide viewing angled displays has pushed the industry to revisit the current flat-panel digital display technology used for mobile applications. Struggling to meet the needs of demanding applications such as e-books, smart networked household appliances, identity management cards, and display-centric handheld mobile imaging devices, the flat panel industry is now looking at new and revolutionary form of displays known as Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED).

OLEDs offer higher efficiency and lower weight than many other types of displays, and are present in myriad forms that lend themselves to various applications. Many exciting virtual imaging applications will become a reality as new advanced OLED - on - silicon micro displays enter the market place over the next few years.

The field of semi conducting polymers has its root in the 1977 discovery of the semi conducting properties of polyacetylene. This breakthrough earned Alan Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, and Hideki Shirakawa the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 'the discovery and development of conductive polymers'. The physical and chemical understanding of these novel materials has led to new device applications as active and passive electronic and optoelectronic devices ranging from diodes and transistors to polymer LEDs, photodiodes, lasers, and solar cells. Much interest in plastic devices derives from the opportunities to use clever control of polymer structure combined with relatively economical polymer synthesis and processing techniques to obtain simultaneous control over electronic, optical, chemical, and mechanical features.