Nokia Produces Foldable OLED Display

Nokia used the Display Week 2014 event on 6-10 June to showcase its advances in making a foldable OLED screen.

Two and three folds
At the event in San Diego the manufacturer showed two versions of the screen, each with a bending radius of 2mm. The first was designed to fold in half, while the second could fold in on itself three times.

Both demonstrators were full-colour, 5.9-inch, 249ppi OLED displays - indicating that the Finnish producer is clearly looking to follow LG and Samsung in targeting the smartphone market.

Nokia is reported to have collaborated with the Tokyo-based Semiconductor Energy Laboratory (SEL) to advance the technology to this stage.

Limitations
There is still some work to do on perfecting the new bendable screens. The 2mm radius is not low enough to allow the folded over edges of the screen to touch each other. Secondly the screens stop working after being folded 100,000 times.

There are no details as to when Nokia will have a production model available for device manufacturers.

Production
The new displays are made by printing the OLED, transistor and other layers on to a glass substrate. The glass is then removed and replaced with a flexible plastic alternative.

Nokia was not the only company displaying an advance in flexible screens at Display Week 2014. Plastic Logic unveiled its latest prototype fully flexible OLED display, though this still only renders black and white images. 

Plastic Electronic Sensors to Give Quick Diagnosis of Bovine TB

The UK government's Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is funding a £1.1 million (€1.4 million) project to develop a disposable plastic electronic sensor for diagnosing bovine TB in a matter of minutes.

CPI coalition
Announced on 3 June, the three-year project will see the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) work with healthcare companies Sapient Sensors and CompanDX; and the government agency Public Health England (PHE).

Its aim is to develop a cheap disposable printed electronic biosensor to detect markers for bovine TB in the blood of cattle. At the centre of the new detector will be diagnostic sensor technology developed at Sapient. The main challenge for the CPI will be to transition this from its existing silicon format to a printed alternative. The project will include phases for both pilot and full-scale production.

Quick diagnosis
The Sapeint technology is being evolved because current tests for bovine TB rely on a skin test. This requires two separate visits from a veterinarian and laboratory testing. It takes up to a week to give an unambiguous result.

The CPI's director of printed electronics, Jon Helliwell, says: 'CPI and the consortium are looking to develop an innovative solution for the testing of Bovine TB, which is one of the UK's biggest rural challenges today. The development of a low-cost, disposable printed sensor will revolutionise current testing methods and is a huge step in dealing with the problems that the disease creates.'

In addition to the time and cost savings, the quicker on-site test package will also allow better decisions to be taken to protect public health and protect the farming industry from the further unnecessary spread of this economically damaging disease.

Economic benefit
The National Farmers Union (NFU) estimates that a typical bovine TB outbreak costs a farmer £34,000 (€42,500), with roughly £20,000 of this paid for by compensation from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Since 2004 bovine TB has cost UK taxpayers £500 million, led to slaughter of over 250,000 cattle and caused the government to embark on an unpopular cull of badgers, which have been identified as possible vectors for infection.

A wider trend?
Using cheap skin-mounted printed sensors to discretely gather information have already been identified as a means to radically cut the cost of human healthcare in the next decade. The technology would be readily adaptable to animals too, if an economic benefit could be identified, as it has been with the recent CPI led project.

In many countries, larger farm animals are already required to by marked with an RFID tag. In future, this could be augmented by sensors to monitor health, grazing habits, and other physiological factors like weight gain; to put an unprecedented level of data before the 21st century farmer. 

Enfucell Breaks Current Record With Soft Battery Plus

The latest version of Soft Battery is a significant step forward according to its manufacturer Enfucell.

Critically by optimising its internal design the Finnish company has raised the peak current output of the Soft Battery Plus model by 50% to 20mA.

Bluetooth power
A peak current of 20mA is significant as it would allow a battery to power a communications circuit like a Bluetooth low energy (BLE) module without the assistance of a separate capacitor.

Jouni Heinonen, a member of Enfucell's board of directors, says: 'You would normally need to use a capacitor on the label to fire the BLE. With Soft Battery Plus we believe you can fire the BLE without a capacitor or boosters so it is a unique achievement.'

'If you have to build a capacitor it raises the cost. With full integration and taking components out of a system you make it cheaper.'

Wearable disposable
Enfucell's primary batteries have a bending radius of 25mm, meaning they are conformable enough to be wrapped around a human finger.

Consequently the new battery will be suited to a range of applications which require the power to engage a communications circuit, but are also readily disposable. This will include biomonitors for hospital and home healthcare, smart labels for the retail and logistics segments, and cosmetic or therapeutic patches.

Beneq Combines Display and Thin Film ALD lines

Finnish atomic layer deposition (ALD) equipment supplier Beneq has announced a reorganisation that will see its thin film equipment and Lumineq thin film electroluminescent (TFEL) display business units sharing the same facilities.

Both divisions will now work from a shared factory in Espoo, west of Helsinki. By locating the two lines together, Beneq believes that each will benefit from the cross-over expertise of the other. It will create the largest concentration of ALD equipment in the world.

Sampo Ahonen, Beneq's CEO, says: 'Today, we are the world's largest atomic layer deposition (ALD) stronghold with an offering that satisfies the most demanding of needs, be that research, industry or job coating.

For the future, we will continue to pioneer the future of ALD for use in research, product development and industrial production.'

NEG and Saint-Gobain to collaborate on IEL to make OLED lights brighter

Nippon Electric Glass (NEG) has announced a development accord with Saint-Gobain to make internal extraction layers (IELs) for use in OLED lighting.

An IEL acts to increase the amount of light emitted from any substrate it is fitted too. When used on an OLED lighting module this would increase the overall luminosity of the light. This could be an important innovation as despite the very low power consumption, a failure to develop OLED lights which are bright enough has inhibit their introduction.

NEG has already invested in OLED lighting materials with ultra-thin and high refractive index glasses - though neither is yet ready for commercial production. It has produced one demonstrator lighting module that is 100 µm thick.

Saint Gobain has also been putting R&D funding into OLED materials. It has filed numerous patents and in 2008 worked with Novaled to develop the Silverduct anode that is 10 times more efficient than indium tin oxide. It glasses are already being used by OLED light developers, including Osram. 

AUO Debuts in-cell Touch OLED as it Targets Wearables Market

Display manufacturer AU Optrontics (AUO) has demonstrated the world's first ultra-thin 1.6 inch (41mm) in-cell touch AMOLED panel.

In-cell breakthrough
The new flexible panel is only 0.5mm thick and it has been optimised to use as little energy as possible. AUO think this will make it an ideal component for incorporation into the growing market for wearable electronic devices.

The device was shown to delegates at the Society for Information Display's (SID) Display Week 2014 exhibition on 3-5 June in San Diego.

Flexible 5-inch screen
Taiwan-headquartered AUO also took the opportunity to introduce a new highly flexible AMOLED panel at the event. The 5-inch (127mm) panel is printed on a substrate and encapsulated, but is still only 0.2mm thick. These factors give it a very low bending radius - less than 10mm according to its manufacturer.

AUO believes it too may find a niche in wearable electronics. It could also attract interest from the smartphone market where flexible screens are being touted as one of the major advances for the next two years.

Inkjet showcase
In addition to showing its novel ultrathin wearable OLEDs, AUO also took the opportunity offered by Display Week 2014 to present a series of technical papers. This included a description of a method for inkjet printing a 65-inch (1.65m) full AMOLED television screen.

For more on the potential for AUO OLED displays in the wearable technology and smartphone markets read Plus Plastic Electronics'exclusive subscriber analysis content here.

PulseOn makes world’s smallest wrist-wearable heart monitor

The world's smallest wrist-worn heart monitor has been developed by PulseOn in collaboration with the Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM).

It is being targeted at the fitness market. Now available for pre-ordering the new monitor will be available in September 2014.

CSEM technology
To produce the new product, PulseOn - a company spun off from Nokia in 2012 - has leaned heavily on CSEM expertise in plastic monitoring circuits.

The vital sign monitoring technology pioneered by the Swiss non-profit group uses multi-parameter opto-inertial measurements from optical sensors and an accelerometer. For the PulseOn wrist device CSEM's engineers have refined the technique so as the quality of its output is equivalent to that from a chest-mounted electrocardiogram (ECG).

This is being twinned with an ultra-low power application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designed by CSEM.

This means the PulseOn monitor will only weigh 0.029kg and can be worn like any lightweight digital watch during cardio-intensive exercise.

Price and size
The device will sell for €199 in the EU, and more cheaply at $199 on the US market. The face of the PulseOn wrist-monitor is 28mm by 32mm; it has an OLED screen and is 11mm thick. The battery will keep the device running for 12 hours' worth of sporting activity or five days at a rest state. It then requires one hour to recharge.

User-friendly
The PulseOn device will be fitted with software to allow a user to get the most out of the data obtained from the CSEM sensors.

The Finnish design team state that by connecting the output to an Apple or Android smartphone it can deliver meaningful personalised feedback to the athlete. This will allow them to track progress in their cardiovascular performance over a training session and can advise on the optimal balance between training and recovery periods. 

US Academics Use Piezoelectric Strip to Power Pacemaker

A US research team has demonstrated a printed piezoelectric circuit which can be fitted inside a living body.

A prototype of the piezoelectric strip was used to power a cardiac pacemaker that has been successfully implanted into anesthetised sheep and cows according to research published in January 2014.

PZT
The device was designed by academics at the University of Illinois and University of Arizona. It contains a strip of the piezoelectric material lead zirconate titanate (PZT) encased in biocompatible polyimide.

The strip generates power as the test animal's heart muscles contract and relax.

When attached to an optimal point on the right ventricle, the prototype was able to generate 0.18µW/cm². It will be possible to increase the output in future models by stacking multiple layers of the 500nm PZT ribbons on top of each other. This will easily put it in the range of modern human cardiac pacemakers which can operate on a little as 0.3 µW.

The next step for the piezoelectric device will be to test its charging performance in an animal subject over time and whether there will ultimately be an immune system response.

Saving lives
In-body charging would remove the need to replace the batteries of an implanted medical device. For a standard pacemaker this currently needs to be done every six to ten years. Money is not the only saving, it is estimated that 3% of deaths for pacemaker users occur during surgery to replace batteries.

A discrete charging solution, like the PZT strip, could be a key component for a range of plastic electronic circuits designed to be implanted in humans for monitoring and therapeutic functions.

If it could be combined with another recent demonstration, which will allow printed electronics on shape-memory polymer to be implanted and resist rejection in soft body tissues, a raft of new medical applications will be possible.

Acuity OLEDs Seek to Ease Sleep in Hospitals

OLED lighting distributor Acuity Brands is planning to market its OLED lighting panels towards a range of medical applications, focussing on their unique characteristics.

Based in Atlanta, Acuity sells a range of luminaires mounting OLED lamps manufactured by OLEDWorks in its OLED Marker Light series. The amber colour lights sold by Acuity emit light at wavelengths around 590 nm. Importantly they lack 450-490 nm wavelengths. These form the blue light which is known to impact human circadian rhythms (body clock) - making the Acutiy lights a good fit for hospital wards at night time.

The easy conformity of OLED lights means that Acuity sees potential in lighting other areas of healthcare facilities too. The general manager of the company's OLED business group, Peter Shannin says: 'These products clearly demonstrate the potential of OLED lighting for critical care areas, and how OLED luminaires can be applied in corporate, hospitality, healthcare and residential lighting interior applications.

'The OLED Marker Light series provides an integrated solution with distinctive design statements that demonstrate the value of OLED, including a minimalist form factor, glare-free light and design freedom achievable only through OLED lighting.'

ARM to Open Dedicated Wearable R&D Hub in Taiwan

ARM has announced it will set up a new R&D site specifically focussed on designing integrated circuits (ICs) for wearable technologies.

The CPU Design Center will be located at the Hsinchi Science Park in Taiwan and have a start-up staff of around 50. It will be in operation before the close of 2014's as ARM first research hub in Asia.

ARM is clearly trying to achieve the same level of ubiquity in wearable electronics and the Internet of Things (IoT) as it does in modern mobile telephony, where 90% of handsets are fitted with its integrated circuits.

ARM CEO Simon Segars says: 'The new design centre will have a particular focus on the development of ARM Cortex-M processors which are the market-leading design choice for IoT products. Establishing a new, world-class CPU design team in Taiwan will allow us to work even more closely with key regional partners seeking to accelerate this market.' 

CSEM Brasil Commits to Milestone Large OPV Roll-to-Roll Facility

A new organic photovoltaic (OPV) panel fabrication facility will open in Belo Horizonte, Brazil in June 2014.

The owner CSEM Brasil state it will be the largest such site in the Americas - and one of the largest in the world. It believes it constitutes a new phase in the deployment of OPV.

Low-cost production
The Belo Horizonte factory is fitted with equipment to permit OPV production at low temperature using a roll-to-roll printing technique. The roll-to-roll machinery was sourced from German equipment manufacturer Kroenert.

Tarik Vardag, general manager of Kroenert, says: 'Kroenert is proud to have been selected by CSEM Brasil to supply a roll-roll system with features that are truly new to the industry. We had the technical competence to rise to the challenge and will now complete in June the largest printed electronics line that we have ever built.'

Brazil
Already one of the world largest renewable energy consumers, Brazil's will provide a ready outlet for the high volume of OPV panels produced by CSEM. The country has a diffuse population, an underdeveloped power grid and a rising demand for electricity. This combined with a climate offering good sunshine year round, and government financial support makes OPV an attractive option.

Scaling up production will lower the unit price. CSEM will initially focus on supplying panels into the construction and automotive industries through pre-existing partnership accords. Tiago Alves, CSEM Brasil's CEO, says: 'We envision further opportunities rising in the window film and indoor applications, as well as in new and intelligent urban furniture concepts [like bus stops and street lights.'

International dimension
Moving forward CSEM Brasil will also look to supply OPV into other global markets as the benefits of flexible, light weight transparent organic solar panels become evident. CSEM Brasil will seek to exploit the access new economies in production will give it in exploiting these in cooperation with a series of partner organisations.

Bjorn Hofman, senior vice president of Merck's advanced technologies group says: 'Merck, is very happy to see the progress CSEM Brasil is making to bring OPV products to the market. We see the progress and success of CSEM as a big step forward not only in Brazil, but also for the whole industry.'

CSEM Brasil is a subsidiary of the non-profit Swiss Centre for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM).

Printed Circuit that Operates in Human Soft Tissues Developed

A printed electronic circuit which can conform and operate - even in the human body's soft tissues - has been made by researchers.

A demonstration circuit was successfully implanted into a laboratory rat by the staff from the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Tokyo.

Shaping to body form
The team printed organic thin film transistors on to a smart plastic shape-memory polymer (SMP). When the SMP is introduced to the human body it can wrap around sensitive body structures and will not cause damage, irritate or be expelled by a body's immune system.

Jonathon Reeder, a University of Texas researcher explains: 'During production, you can predetermine the shape of the SMP strip, depending on the shape of the tissue you are going to implant it into. With this work, we are demonstrating the first electronic device that softens and adapts to the morphology of soft tissue after exposure to physiological conditions.'

Enhancing implants
By developing the SMP circuits in conjunction with printed electronic biosensors a new range of implantable medical devices. These could be used in soft tissue areas, like the brain for the first time. A flexible printed monitoring circuit could also improve upon active implants currently used in various disciplines - including cardiology - and help amputees control prosthetic limbs.

Ultimately a wider roll out of in-body monitors would limit the need for expensive medical procedures like, CAT scans, bloods tests and invasive surgery. This would reduce the cost to healthcare providers and the number of patient deaths during surgery.

Plastic Logic unveils latest fully flexible all plastic AMOLED display

Plastic Logic has showcased the latest version of its all-plastic AMOLED screen panel demonstrator at the Society for Information Display's (SID) Display Week 2014 event on 1-6 June in San Diego.

The new screen's flexible organic thin film transistors (OTFTs) were developed by the company at its base in Cambridge, UK. The new model is an evolution of a similar prototype that was unveiled in February 2014. It was shown wrapped around a human wrist - emphasising how its all-plastic construction enables flexibility making it suited for wearable electronics as well as smartphones.

A video describing the new prototype and its potential to disrupt wearable electronics markets may be viewed below. 

The updated screen is now able to display 30 frames per second. It has increased brightness, but is still only black and white - through the number of grey levels has been raised to 256.

Plastic Logic is developing the new screen in cooperation with partners drawn from the display industry. The first demonstrator was constructed in cooperation with OLED materials producer Novaled. Plastic Logic is now seeking further partners to help advance the screen for mainstream production.

Indro Mukerjee, CEO of Plastic Logic, says: 'The speed with which the second demonstrator display followed the first is a testament to the depth of the IP and know-how in manufacturing processes, materials sets and architectures that Plastic Logic has built up over the past 13 years. Colour is our next target.'

BMW Commits to Developing OLED Vehicle Lights by 2017

BMW has released details of plans for a much wider roll out of OLED lighting modules in its vehicles. This will culminate in 3 years' time with OLED interior, brake and indicator lights on the road.

Details of the announcement were given at a BMW Light Day press briefing held in early April 2014.

Three-year programme
The development of the OLED lights on the rear of its cars and motorcycles will take until at least mid-2017 according to the German manufacturer. This represents a reinforcement the company has previous made to the technology, including developing a dashboard mounted OLED display screen in 2012.

BMW has been sourcing the necessary OLED expertise from LG. Sample rear lights employing LG OLEDs were shown at theLight+Building 2014 event in Frankfurt, Germany. OLED lights for car interiors LG has made in cooperation with Volkswagen were also demonstrated at the event on 1-2 April.

Technical advantages
In making a commitment to OLED rear lights, BMW has been quick to highlight some of the advantages they can offer.

Firstly their low power draw is attractive especially as the luxury car maker looks to expand its range of electric-powered road vehicles. The low weight of OLED modules will also bring energy savings in a car industry where promoting fuel efficiency by cutting weight from designs is an ongoing priority - especially for European producers.

The easy conformability of OLEDs is also piquing the interest of car designers. A thin (0.8mm - 1.5mm) OLED lighting strip stretched across any of the aerodynamically optimised surfaces would produce a number of exciting new options. Some of these have already been demonstrated by Audi working with its lighting partner Philips.

The uniformity of light output from an OLED panel is also advantageous as it will reduce the need for reflectors which are necessary with other lighting techniques. Ultimately automotive OLED lights printed on transparent plastics could also be fitted to the windows of cars too.

Barriers to market
The three year interval in deploying OLEDs on vehicle is down to two factors. BMW can already work with flat OLED panels but need to do more development work with its technical partners to develop the fully conformable module that will unlock its full potential.

The second challenge is that OLEDs are currently not bright enough to pass requirements to be used in safety-critical vehicle lighting. As a consequence BMW are planning to gradually introduce OLEDs by combining them with LEDs and its forthcoming laser headlights. This will give a composite design solution with the various technologies compensating for each other's shortcomings.

OLEDs will be used on their own for free-form interior lighting in cars.

In April 2014, a Land Rover Discovery Vision concept car was unveiled in New York. This made extensive use of OLED technology for a touchscreen dashboard, windows which displayed information and even a 'transparent' bonnet effect. 

UV-detecting Smart Label Made by Acreo

A prototype smart label incorporating a novel printed electronic sensor for detecting the level of exposure to UV light has been produced by Acreo.

The Swedish developer will demonstrate the device at LOPEC in Munich on 27-28 May andBiosensors 2014 in Melbourne on 27-30 May.

UV detector
The new UV light sensor is printed as part of a customisable plastic smart label package being developed by Acreo. The ink used is sensitive to UV light and generates a current proportionate to the amount of UV wavelength light that strikes it. This measurement is then supplied as an output on a basic flexible display on the label along with details of the total UV exposure since the label was fitted.

Water purification
A deal to develop the UV detecting label has already been signed between Acreo and a company specialising in water purification. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a chemical-free method for killing bacteria in water for drinking or use in swimming pools.

Assuring a sample has received the appropriate dose of the shorter wavelength UV-C rays to destroy bacteria is an important element of any such system.

Healthcare and packaging
Other uses for the label will concentrate on ensuring people have not received too much UV light - a phenomena which can cause skin cancer and cataract damage. A skin-mounted version of the sensor label could be used on the beach or in a solarium (sun-bed). Acreo are actively pursuing partners to break into the health monitoring markets.

UV light can also degrade printed materials, plastics, chemicals and inks overtime. A monitoring label aimed at the packaging segment could thus be engaged to ensure a product arrives at its final destination in a suitable condition.

Platform
The smart label package which mounts the UV detector can be reconfigured to carry and display the read out of other sensors too. These can monitor the surface presence of glucose or bacteria and require printing with a different ink.

The hybrid device platform includes a silicon chip as well as the printed battery, sensor and display. It was developed as a collaborative project between Acreo and the local Linköping University.

Heraeus and Toagosei Sign Accord to Move Clevios Touchscreen ITO Replacement to Market

German materials firm Heraeus has announced a strategic partnership with Toagosei to increase the market penetration of its Clevios invisible patterning technique for transparent conductive PEDOT:PSS.

Under the agreement Toagosei will be granted a licence to sell the Clevios technology.

Alternative to ITO, Clevios Etch can be used to lay down conductive polymers to form touch panels and sensors. Hereaus has used the equipment to create thin layers of its conductive polymers with a resistance of less than 100 ohms per square meter.

The most immediate application for Clevios now is as a replacement to indium tin oxide (ITO) in backplanes for consumer screen technology. ITO for touchscreens is laid down using industrial sputtering techniques; these are more expensive than the inkjet printing, spin coating and slit coating mechanisms available with Clevios.

Indium is also an expensive metal with a limited global supply and ITO is inflexible so substituting away from it will allow increased flexibility for plastic screens, as well as cutting costs.

Partners
By forming an alliance with Toagosei, Heraeus will gain access to its expertise in deploying advanced materials and manufacturing techniques into product applications. This will include the experience the Japanese firm has gained evolving its own patterning production technique for transparent conductive materials - Clearimaju. Clevios and Clearimaju will now be sold together by Toagosei.

Stephan Kirchmeyer, the manager of Heraeus's displays and semiconductors division, says: 'The partnership with Toagosei is an enabling technology, generating exciting new business opportunities and options for the touch display industry. With this patterning technology, displays can be more economic, of higher optical quality and even can be curved or flexible.'