Presentation Abstract

The market for flexible displays is growing rapidly, and the technology to address the opportunity is diversifying. The performance and production processes for organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) have been optimized to meet this demand, leading to FlexEnable’s recent historic breakthrough: bringing OTFT to mass-market for the first time. The Ledger Stax crypto wallet by Ledger, featuring an OTFT ePaper display uniquely wrapped around a 180-degree bend, is a prime example of the design freedom afforded by this innovative technology.

FlexEnable has developed a fabrication process that allows complete liquid crystal (LC) cells and OTFTs to be manufactured on plastic films instead of glass, utilizing standard flat-panel display equipment. These flexible, ultra-thin and lightweight OTFTs open the door to new product form factors and enable multiple applications – from wrappable displays to pixelated dimmers for all day-wearable AR glasses.

This talk will describe the development path for OTFT and showcase the current state of art performance. I will detail how OTFT can be combined with various display technologies and how the unique manufacturing approach has also laid the groundwork for an exciting range of LC optics applications.

Mike Banach – VP of Technology, FlexEnable Technology Limited

Mike Banach is the VP of Technology at FlexEnable Technology Limited. He started his career as a researcher in flexible electronics at the Air Force Research Laboratories at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, OH. He joined FlexEnable in Cambridge, England 2003 and has played an instrumental role in developing and industrialising its proprietary flexible electronic technology based on organic field-effect transistors (OTFT). Mike has led the team behind breakthrough technology developments combining OTFT with electrophoretic (EPD), liquid crystal (LCD), and organic light emitting (OLED) displays as well as several sensor and liquid crystal optics applications. He also played an instrumental role in establishing OTFT mass production in both Europe and Asia. Mike holds a doctorate from the University of Cambridge and a BA from the University of Cincinnati.