Flexible mobile phone and TV screens are becoming more common, but their biggest boom could come thanks to researchers who have created an “inkjet printing” system for their manufacture.

Vladimir Bulovic, who runs MIT spinout Kateeva, said his printing system could help to bring OLED screens to the mass market.

Bulovic said that the printer will be able to reduce the cost of the organic material-based screens, as well as improving the rate that they can be produced at.

This includes the ability to produce screens that are flexible by using the same process. The company hopes it will be able to bring flexible OLED screens to the market by the end of the year.

“That combination of improving the speed, improving the yield, and improving the maintenance is what mass-production manufacturers want,” Bulovic said.

“Plus, the system is scalable, which is really important as the display industry shifts to larger substrate sizes.”

The system that has been developed is a large version of an inkjet printer.

Glass or plastic substrate sheets are placed onto a lengthy and wide platform, and are ‘printed’ onto.

In the same way as a printer works, the ‘cartridge’, in this case a nozzle, moves across the sheets and deposits OLED and other materials onto the sheet.

The screens that the company hope to mass produce will be able to be used in everything from mobile phones to large TVs.

Earlier in the year, Kateeva started working with Sumitomo, a key company which produces OLED materials, to help them create displays for televisions.

“OLED TVs have long captivated consumers but remain beyond reach for many due to high production costs. Inkjet printing can change that, given the right combination of materials and equipment,” said Kateeva’s Steven Van Slyke.

“Our collaboration with Sumitomo will speed high-performance inkjet-printed OLED devices to market by optimizing industry-leading materials and equipment to mass produce reliable, affordable OLED TVs.”

Featured image courtesy of LG, image one courtesy of Kateeva, and image two courtesy of meharris.