Corning reveals flexible, paper-thin Willow Glass for LCD and OLED screens

Corning Willow Glass
Corning's Willow Glass is bound for smartphones

Corning today revealed their latest innovation in screen technology, an ultra-thin, flexible material known as Willow Glass.

Willow Glass is about as thick as standard white copy paper and is capable of bending like plastic, but reportedly retains the toughness that Corning (the maker of the iPhone's Gorilla Glass) is known for.

The paper-thin substrate will enable manufacturers to produce thinner, lighter, more ergonomic devices, as well as displays that can be wrapped around devices or even, say, wrists.

In other words, screens no longer have to be flat.

(Don't) stop the presses

Corning claims that Willow Glass's high heat resistance will eventually be produced en masse using a high temperature roll-to-roll process similar to how newspapers are printed.

Because of temperature limitations, it's never before been possible to produce screens this way, and the process has the potential to speed up production and lower costs.

And the presses will never have to stop, meaning there will be no shortage of Willow Glass even when demand ramps up.

Touch me, touch me

Corning said in a press release that "Willow Glass is formulated to perform exceptionally well for electronic components such as touch sensors."

Indeed, Willow Glass is being launched first and foremost as "an advanced display substrate" for smartphones and similar devices, although Corning is also looking into applications in lighting and flexible solar cells.

The company is currently sending samples of Willow Glass to technology developers, so it will be interesting to see where the thin glass pops up first.

Via Engadget

Michael Rougeau

Michael Rougeau is a former freelance news writer for TechRadar. Studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, and Northeastern University, Michael has bylines at Kotaku, 1UP, G4, Complex Magazine, Digital Trends, GamesRadar, GameSpot, IFC, Animal New York, @Gamer, Inside the Magic, Comic Book Resources, Zap2It, TabTimes, GameZone, Cheat Code Central, Gameshark, Gameranx, The Industry, Debonair Mag, Kombo, and others.


Micheal also spent time as the Games Editor for Playboy.com, and was the managing editor at GameSpot before becoming an Animal Care Manager for Wags and Walks.