Ultra-Thin Quantum-Dot LEDs Can Fold Like Paper — and to Prove It, Here's a QLED Paper Airplane
Created using a pulsed laser, these QLEDs can be folded and unfolded along etched lines into a variety of wonderful shapes.
A team of researchers at Seoul National University have developed a quantum-dot LED that can be folded like paper — and to prove it, folded the device into everything from a tiny glowing paper airplane to butterflies and pyramids.
"We were able to build a 3D foldable QLED that can be freely folded just like a paper artwork." explains Kim Dae-Hyeong, the vice-director of the Center for Nanoparticle Research at the University. By fabricating the passively driven, 3D foldable QLED arrays composed of 64 individual pixels, we have shown the possibility of developing displays with greater complexity in the future."
"Through the technology reported in this research, paper-like QLEDs that can be folded into various complex structures have been successfully fabricated," adds Hyeon Taeghwan, the Center's director, of the work. "Who knows when the day will come when electronic paper with a display unit can replace real paper?"
The quantum-dot LEDs (QLEDs) created by the team back in 2015 measure just 3 micrometers in thickness — around a thirtieth the width of a human hair. In the new work, these QLEDs are modified so that they can be folded like origami — with the researchers showing off everything from butterflies to a, sadly grounded, "paper" airplane.
The devices were made using a novel fabrication process where epoxy film deposited on the QLED surface is partially etched without damage to the underlying QLED device, using a carbon dioxide pulsed laser. By etching out deformation lines, the material is thinned — and can be folded to a sharp edge which shows no visible curve.
The team is hopeful that the devices, which have been tested to 500 repeated folds, could one day power foldable smartphones and other portable display systems — though have not yet indicated a route to commercialisation.
The work has been published under closed-access terms in the journal Nature Electronics.
