The Researchers Find a Way to Make OLED Screens at Home

 The Researchers Find a Way to Make OLED Screens at Home

Researchers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities have managed to create the world’s first fully 3D printed OLED screen. This development will let you produce your own 3D-printed OLED screens at home.

If your TV screen gets damaged, you will no longer need to send it back to the manufacturer in the future. You will no longer need to depend on display panels made at large or send them to distant factories to get them repaired.

The newly discovered method combines two different ways of 3D printing to produce the six layers of materials used in OLED screens. The research team used extrusion printing to make the electrodes, encapsulation, insulation, and interconnects, while the active layers were spray-painted at room temperature.

Previous attempts at producing OLED screens through 3D printing either had issues with light uniformity or used techniques outside of 3D printing such as spin coating or thermal evaporation.

The prototype OLED screen was only 1.5-inches and had 64 pixels. Any practical screen would need to be much larger as 1080p screens require more than 2 million pixels. The researchers also wanted to make the display brighter and easier to produce in a domestic environment.

The university used a custom 3D printer that costs as much as a Tesla Model S, so it will be a while before the method is refined enough to be as cost-effective and practical enough for off-the-shelf printers.

Regardless, it is a step in the right direction as it opens a trove of possibilities for the future. It would enable DIY repairs and would also let you create your own gadgets with custom screens.

However, it will likely be a few years before the technology is perfected enough for practical use.