Merck and FlexEnable have developed a plastic LCD (liquid crystal display) which is completely free of glass. Instead, it features organic transistors on a plastic sheet. The mechanical flexibility of organic materials makes them suitable for lightweight and foldable products. This offers potential for thinner, lighter, and cheaper displays than conventional glass-based LCDs.

The prototype uses FlexEnable’s organic thin-film transistor technology (OTFT) array as well as liquid crystal and organic semiconductor materials from Merck. The project was co-funded by the seventh Framework Program of the European Union.

• Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany
• FlexEnable Limited, Cambridge, UK