Intrinsically stretchable OLEDs with a designed morphology-sustainable layer and stretchable metal cathode

The development of wearable devices has increased the need for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that are soft, stretchable, and can integrate seamlessly with the human body. Traditional intrinsically stretchable OLEDs (is-OLED) often suffer from reduced performance due to orthogonal solvent problem and lamination fabrication process, which can cause defects and delamination. To overcome these challenges, we developed a sequentially coated is-OLED and confirmed the maintenance of the designed morphologies of each layer and a highly stretchable metallic is-cathode. Our is-OLEDs achieved a maximum total luminance of 3151 cd m^-2 and a total current efficiency of 5.4 cd A^-1. It also demonstrated superior durability, with the ability to stretch up to 70% and maintain 80% luminance after 300 cycles at 40% strain. This advancement suggests a promising future for durable and efficient soft electronic devices.

Je-Heon Oh, Kun-Hoo Jeon, Jin-Woo Park