Stretchable OLEDs based on a hidden active area for high fill factor and resolution compensation

Abstract Stretchable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have emerged as promising optoelectronic devices with exceptional degree of freedom in form factors. However, stretching OLEDs often results in a reduction in the geometrical fill factor (FF), that is the ratio of an active area to the total area, thereby limiting their potential for a broad range of applications. To overcome these challenges, we propose a three-dimensional (3D) architecture adopting a hidden active area that serves a dual role as both an emitting area and an interconnector. For this purpose, an ultrathin OLED is first attached to a 3D rigid island array structure through quadaxial stretching for precise, deformation-free alignment. A portion of the ultrathin OLED is concealed by letting it ‘fold in’ between the adjacent islands in the initial, non-stretched condition and gradually surfaces to the top upon stretching. This design enables the proposed stretchable OLEDs to exhibit a relatively high FF not only in the initial state but also after substantial deformation corresponding to a 30% biaxial system strain. Moreover, passive-matrix OLED displays that utilize this architecture are shown to be configurable for compensation of post-stretch resolution loss, demonstrating the efficacy of the proposed approach in realizing the full potential of stretchable OLEDs.