The Advanced Display Research Center (ADRC) was created in 2001 by Professor Jin Jang
and it subsequently led to the establishment of the Department of Information Display
at Kyung Hee University.
The center is set up to cooperate with Korean companies in display
related industries for the development of new materials and devices
in TFT-LCD, OLED and FED applications. Performance within
the center has so far been outstanding. They developed the world’s
first flexible AMOLED. Consecutively, the center also developed the thinnest
flexible AMOLED in 2008.
Being the only research center worldwide that is located at a university with such state of the art clean-room facilities; ADRC is capable of making a wide range of devices, including carbon nanotubes (CNTs), TFTs, solar cells, and sensor devices with organic, oxide, and thin-film silicon semiconductors – providing unlimited resources and opportunities for its students.
"When you study at ADRC, the sky is the limit!" said Mallory Mativenga, a Ph.D candidate in the department of Information Display and researcher of ADRC. He continued to say, "In addition to sophisticated methods such as sputtering and chemical vapor deposition, the manufacture of oxide and organic semiconductors also includes easy and cheap methods such as solution processing, spin-coating and printing - which are compatible with flexible electronics. Owing to fabrication process optimization, ADRC devices are known for their high performance, high stability and reproducibility, all of which are key properties in understanding intrinsic properties of these semiconductor-based devices."
One major obstacle in the development of high performance flexible AMOLED displays is the restriction of high temperature processes; high temperatures canruin flexible substrates such as plastics. In light of this, ADRC recently developed a fabrication technique, which allows the realization of transparent electronics onplastic substrates through high-temperature processes. This technique involves two steps: 1) the electronics are first fabricated at high temperatures onpolyimide (PI)/glass carrier substrates; and then 2) detached from the glass and, if necessary, ttached to another flexible carrier substrate such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for support.
"ADRC is one of the best display research centers in the world," said Christophe Avis, a Ph.D candidate in the department of Information Display and researcher of ADRC. The French student has studied at the center for five years and recently completed his thesis defense focusing on electronic portions of AMOLED; namely Thin Film Transistors (TFTs). "In partial fulfillment of my graduate studies at Télécom Physique Strasbourg in France, I had the opportunity to take an internship studying OLED for six months at ADRC in 2006. After completing the internship, I was so impressed that I decided to continue my Ph.D in Korea." "Studying in the center under Professor Jang was the best opportunity to study AMOLED technology and the related fabrication techniques and processes.
ADRC and its director Jang Jin is one of the best and globally renowned leaders in the display field." The center is also focused on future display technologies. "Conventional TFT uses silicon dioxide as an insulator, but we are trying various types of insulators to reduce power consumption using high-K materials" He added that, "I believe that everyday life in the future will be replaced with flexible tablets. Displays will be something you don’t have to put in your bag or pockets, but will offer the convenience of a wristwatch."
