The test device was rolled with a radius as small as 200 micrometers without any damage and the scientists stated that that they tested "numerous crystalline devices" which did not reveal a degradation of their display performance after being bent.
Whilst there is hope that organic semiconductors could be used as an affordable way to produce bendable and wearable displays, it is still unknown as to whether they will hold up in an everyday environment and exposure to "rugged handling". Despite this, the researchers stated that they were able to verify the durability of solution-crystallized organic semiconductors under various types of strain such as sharp bending and repeated flexing, as well as compression and stretching.
In 2002 a startup called Universal Display showcased the first bendable screen that was viable for mainstream applications and we've been waiting for the breakthrough of flexible displays ever since. 2013 looks set to deliver on the promise of mass-produced flexible displays, like those seen at the annual CES tradeshow and market research firms such as UBI Research that 120 million flexible AMOLED displays could ship in 2015.
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