Intrinsically stretchable organic light-emitting diodes

Abstract

Soft and conformable optoelectronic devices for wearable and implantable electronics require mechanical stretchability. However, very few researches have been done for intrinsically stretchable light-emitting diodes. Here, we present an intrinsically stretchable organic light-emitting diode, whose constituent materials are all highly stretchable. The resulting intrinsically stretchable organic light-emitting diode can emit light when exposed to strains as large as 80%. The turn-on voltage is as low as 8 V, and the maximum luminance, which is a summation of the luminance values from both the anode and cathode sides, is 4400 cd m−2. It can also survive repeated stretching cycles up to 200 times, and small stretching to 50% is shown to substantially enhance its light-emitting efficiency.