TORAY CREATES NEW MATERIAL FOR BENDABLE OEL DISPLAYS

Toray Industries Inc. (TSE:3402) has developed a material that could lead to the realization of paper-thin displays.

A key component of OEL (organic electroluminescent) displays, the new material is an organic semiconductor that contains sulfur mixed with carbon nanotubes. Using this new material, electrical performance matched that of silicon semiconductors while production costs were reduced by 90 per cent.

The company expects the material to be used in electronic paper and wireless smart tags as well. The organic semiconductor could lower the price of the tags to less than 1 yen apiece, compared with tens of yen for tags that use silicon semiconductor. Toray aims to begin supplying the material to display manufacturers in three years.

OEL displays are expected to be bendable in the future, but displays that have been commercialized at present are not malleable because they use a silicon-based substrate. Some bendable displays are at the research stage, but those have suffered from performance and cost problems.

Toray will present the results of its research Friday at a meeting of the Japan Society of Applied Physics in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture.

(Nikkei)