Researchers claim distortion-free, stretchable micro-LED meta-display technology

The Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials (KIMM) has successfully developed the first stretchable meta-display technology that can be stretched up to 25% without image distortion.

The Department of Nano-Mechanics at KIMM has been researching the field of micro-LED transfer technology since 2008.

Most stretchable materials in nature, such as rubber, demonstrate shrinkage in width when stretched lengthwise, thus resulting in image distortion. This was also the same in cases of the rubber-based stretchable displays.

The KIMM research team applied mechanical metamaterials with a negative Poisson's ratio to a circuit board. The Poisson's ratio refers to the ratio at which the width of material shrinks when it is stretched lengthwise. When a mechanical metamaterial with a Poisson's ratio of -1 is stretched lengthwise, it demonstrates the effect of stretching at the same ratio widthwise. Thus, a display using such materials is characterized by images that are not distorted.