Flexible white LEDs made from existing tech

A highly-flexible yellow-tinged white-light LED created at National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan combines off-the-shelf parts with novel design patterns. The LEDs produce a uniform sheet of light and could soon find use in curved and flexible TVs and wearable displays. The device was made from 81 readily-available blue LED chips mounted onto a copper foil, which itself covered a polyimide substrate (a flexible yet rugged material). Atop all this the researchers added a layer of yellow phosphor film coated in polydimethylsiloxane, known as PDMS for short, which is a silicone-based substance known for its stability (inert, non-flammable, and non-toxic), transparency, and flexibility.