ASU at center of flexible electronics

Arizona State University's Flexible Display Center has become one of the "go-to" global leaders in the intriguing field of flexible electronics research and development.

The New York Times blog “BITS” (Business, Innovation Technology & Society) recently went to the center's director, Nicholas Colaneri, to get an assessment of the outlook for advances in flexible display technology making their way into the consumer market.

The center's researchers – largely faculty members of ASU's Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering – are working on the science and engineering behind emerging technologies that promise display screens for computers, televisions, cell phones and e-readers that could literally be rolled up for easy transport.

With support from the U.S. Army and through industry partnerships, the Flexible Display Center is delving into a wide array of R&D involving advances in transistors, circuitry and other facets of electronics necessary to make flexible displays and devices durable, reliable and affordable.

Colaneri tells “BITS” that more progress is needed, but television screens you can roll up and take on a camping trip might be on the market in the next 10 years.