Roll-to-roll - Page 8

The Holst Centre has released a new proprietary roll-to-roll (R2R) sintering platform for fast and low-temperature curing of printed conductive structures. The center is progressing towards a complete tool set for R2R manufacturing and can be used for plastic electronics such as flexible OLEDs, organic PV solar cells and more. Holst' line now includes printing, coating, drying and lamination stages in addition to the new sintering unit. A vacuum deposition stage is currently in development.

Screen printed structures on foil photo

High web speeds and low temperatures are key elements for R2R manufacturing of plastic electronics. The sintering platform uses a new photonic sintering process, developed by Holst Centre, which heats only the printed target material rather than the whole carrier substrate. The tool can sinter printed conductive structures in less than a second, which is already enabling a fast throughput speed of over 5 meters/minute. It also works at significantly lower temperatures than traditional sintering techniques, preventing distortion of the carrier substrates and reducing energy costs.

Korea's Modistech is working on flexible OLED Lighting for indirect applications for quite some time, and are now planning to commercialize the technology in 2010. They will produce 150x150mm flexible OLED panels. Back in 2009, Modistech said they plan to do so in 2011, so apparently they are ahead of schedule.

Modistech's slogan for the displays is 'paper-like, fabric-like and film-like'. They say that they will change the paradigm of lighting from 'to install' to 'to attach'. They want to use OLEDs as indirect lighting which does not require high luminance, and is suitable for the flexible OLEDs. It can be used in furniture, kitchenware, airplanes and especially automobiles (make up light, glove box light, foot light and trunk light).

Modistech say that their technology minimizes the number of substrate processes and is using roll-to-roll deposition and self-developed encapsulation material. They claim that they reduce the manufacturing cost by up to 90%!.

Researchers from Sweden and the US have produced a new transparent lighting component that is made from Graphene. They say it is cheap to make and fully recyclable, and might be an alternative to OLED Lighting. The new device is called an Organic Light-emitting Electrochemical Cell, or LEC. The Graphene is used for an electrode. LECs can be made using a roll-to-roll process, because all of its parts can be made from liquid solutions.

There's very little info on that new device (such as what is the actual light-emitting material, what's the efficiency of it, etc.).

We already know that GE plans to start printing OLED Lighting panels in 2010. Now Anil Duggal, GE's OLED lighting printing group leader, says that they know that those pilot panels will be very expensive. He hopes that by 2015, it'll be possible to print OLED panels that will be both cheap and efficient.

GE has recently received $4 million from the DOE to upgrade their pre-pilot roll-to-roll manufacturing lines (the whole project will require $8 million).

Earlier today we reported that  The University of Rochester received a $1.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop host materials for white phosphorescent OLEDs. This funding is part of the DOE's Recovery Act Rewards, and now we have found the complete list, which contains several OLED Lighting projects:

• Cambrios got $1.2 million (out of $1.8 for the total project) for "Solution-Processable Transparent Conductive Hole Injection Electrode OLED SSL". This project seeks to develop a cost-effective replacement for indium tin oxide for use as an electrode in OLED lighting devices. Indium is both rare and very expensive. 
• The University of Rocherser got $1.2 million (out of $1.3 million) for "Development and Utilization of Host Materials for White Phosphorescent OLEDs". This project seeks to produce white OLEDs with > 100 lm/W efficiency after light extraction enhancement and > 10,000 hour operating time, by making a new class of emissive materials.
• PPG Industries got $1.6 million (out of $2.1 million) for "Low-Cost Integrated Substrate for OLED Lighting". PPG Industries plans to develop a new low-cost integrated substrate product that is suitable for OLED lighting manufacture and is compatible with PPG’s existing flat-glass and transparent-glass coating technologies and high-volume glass manufacturing methods.
• GE Global Research got $4 million (out of $8 million) for "Roll-to-Roll Solution-Processable Small-Molecule OLEDs". This project seeks to upgrade GE’s prepilot OLED roll-to-roll manufacturing line through improved high-performance phosphorescent small-molecule OLED materials, advanced OLED device architectures, plastic ultra-high barrier films, and an advanced encapsulation scheme.
• UDC got $4 million (out of $8.3 million) for "Creation of a U.S. Phosphorescent OLED Lighting Panel Manufacturing Facility". This project seeks to design and set up two pilot phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) manufacturing lines. The team will implement UDC's PHOLED technology and provide prototype lighting panels to U.S. luminaire manufacturers to incorporate into products, to facilitate testing of design, and to gauge customer acceptance.

Interestingly, two of these project (the GE and UDC ones) involves actual OLED Lighting panels pilot production lines - which could lead to actual OLED products being commercially available.

The Fraunhofer IPMS announced plans to set up roll-to-roll OLED equipment for 30cm-wide metal foil substrate in December. The new equipment will allow films to be formed continuously. The institute does not have any encapsulation equipment yet.

Konica Minolta lays out its OLED Lighting plan:

• Launch OLED lighting equipment by March 2011
• Build a large-scale OLED lighting plant by march 2014
• Get over 100 billion yen (about $1 billion) in sales by 2017/18

The company will spend around 3.5 billion yen ($38 million) to build an initial production line by the end of 2010, in order to launch products by March 2011. The line will use roll-to-roll production method. The mass-production line planned for 2014 will require at least 10 billion yen ($110 million) to build.

Konica Minolta is working towards OLEDs together with GE and UDC.

GE is working since 2003 on roll-to-roll OLED printing (of flexible and transparent OLED lighting panels). Dr Yan from GE says that in 2007, they had fairly high defects, around 65% yield. Today GE says that their yield is between 90%-95%.

One of the biggest issues GE is tackling is the flexible barrier layer to protect the OLED devices. GE has developed an "Ultra High Barrier" (UHB) by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The performance that has been achieved is low 10-5g/m2/day, with good transparency and adhesion.

Dr Yan says that roll-to-roll organic printing is real, and OLED lighting is getting closer. OLEDs are still around 15 times more expansive than conventional lighting, but the price will drop in time, and OLEDs will get cheaper than LEDs because of roll-to-roll printing and potentially cheaper materials.

IDTechEx believes that it will take between 5 to 10 years for OLEDs to become cost effective. But even before that OLEDs can be used in high-value products and niches.

Advantech has got a 15M$ investment to build a pilot line for their roll-to-roll OLED fabrication technology. Advantech will use the line to produce OLED TV backplanes, and Electronic Shelf Labels backplanes. They say their new technology will enable fabrication at "exceptionally low cost". Advantech already produced 4" monochrome AMOLED panels (shown below).

Advantech was founded by Dr. T. Peter Brody, inventor of the Active-Matrix, and they hope to revolutionize the OLED market. The current investment round comes from the Pan family (12M$) and from Shanghai Ventures (2.1M$). The Pan family has already invested 12M$ in previous rounds. 

EEtimes says that GE will start volume production of flexible OLED light panels in 2010. GE will print the OLEDs on polymer substrate, and use their ultra-high barrier coating. GE says that they managed to lower production cost by using roll-to-roll printing, and inexpensive substrates (the polymer ones).

GE are also thinking about possible new designs, and have released this video a month ago, which includes several flexible OLED light designs by art students, including wearable OLEDs for emergency safety gear, illuminated stairs, walls and signs in stores and a nice "wall peel" OLED lamp.