We have developed an air-gap-embedded flexible film to minimize the screen-door effect (SDE) in virtual reality (VR) displays. Using oxygen plasma, we created wavelength-scale micropatterns on a polyethylene terephthalate substrate, which induces an effective haze. However, these micropatterns are prone to damage from minor scratches. To address this, we coated the patterns with poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS). By adjusting the ratio of the base and curing agents in PDMS, we controlled the air-gap size at the micropattern valleys. Increasing the base agent ratio to 40 resulted in a significant haze increase from 0.9% to 88.6%, while maintaining high total transmittance (89.8% to 91.7%). Numerical simulations confirmed that the air-gaps induced the haze. The hazy film dramatically reduced the SDE in VR displays: from 30.27% to 4.83% for red, from 21.82% to 2.58% for green, and from 26.02% to 3.38% for blue, with air-gap sizes increasing to 406 ± 91 nm. The film showed no defects after 10,000 bending cycles with a 3 mm radius. -Scientific Journal cover design by scapiens

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2020/nr/c9nr10615d#!divAbstract