Flexible screens ready to roll

In the future, powering up your laptop may require you unroll it first. Engineers at the University of Toronto have constructed flexible technology that could lay the groundwork for future generations of bendable television, computer and mobile phone screens.

Zheng-Hong Lu, a professor in U of T's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, working with post-doctoral fellow Sijin Han and engineering science student Brian Fung, developed FOLEDs made on a variety of lightweight, flexible materials ranging from transparent plastic films to reflective metal foils that can bend or roll into any shape.

Foled technology could be manufactured using a low-cost, high efficiency mass production method, Lu says. The team, which is already commercialising some related technology, hopes a marketable device could be created within two to three years.