Fraunhofer and Philips to develop a new process for making OLEDs bigger and cheaper

The Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT in AAchen, Germany, are working together with Philips to develop a process for making OLED lighting panels distinctly bigger and cheaper.

Normally the conductor paths are applied by energy-intensive evaporation and structuring processes, while only a maximum of ten percent of the luminous area may be covered by conductor paths. “The large remainder including the chemical etchant has to be recycled in a complicated process,“ explains Christian Vedder. This is different in the new process from the researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology. Instead of depositing a lot of material by evaporation and removing most of it again, the scientists only apply precisely the amount of metal required. First of all they lay a mask foie on the surface of the ITO electrode. The mask has micrometer slits where later the conductive paths are supposed to be. On this mask the researchers deposit a thin film of metal made of aluminum, copper or silver – the metal the conductor path is supposed to be made of. Subsequently a laser passes over the conductor path pattern at a speed of several meters per second.

Fraunhofer and Philips to develop a new process for making OLEDs bigger and cheaper