Present status of Roll-to-Roll fabrication for OLED lighting

Roll-to-Roll OLED device manufacturing on flexible substrates will have high potential for lower fabrication costs. Different kind of flexible substrates: plastic barrier films, metal foils or ultrathin glass films open a huge variety of OLED lighting applications. However, the challenge for the roll-to-roll OLED fabrication is the defect generation caused by web handling and proper pre-treatments for removing the residual water. Plastic barrier films, metal foil and ultrathin glass web have their own advantages and disadvantages for roll-to-roll processing. This paper will outline the present status and will discuss how the gap for a robust and stable roll-to-roll OLED manufacturing on different kind of substrates can be closed.