Transparent, Highly-Efficient, White OLEDs for Lighting Applications

75825-General lighting is responsible for more than 20% of the energy consumption in the U.S. New broadband white-lighting sources are sought that offer significant gains in power efficiency and color quality while having less environmental impact than traditional incandescent and fluorescent lights. Recent breakthroughs in highly-efficient phosphorescent organic light-emitting device (PHOLED) technology have created an enthusiasm that this technology may someday provide such a solution. However, significant engineering challenges remain. For example, OLED extraction efficiency needs improvement in order to meet the demanding power efficiency targets of general lighting. This project will develop an optimized white transparent PHOLED (T-PHOLED), which will achieve higher optical extraction efficiency for general illumination purposes. Phase I will fabricate a white T-PHOLED light source on a glass substrate, approximately 1 cm2 in size, which will be optically coupled to an external reflector. An optical extraction improvement of more than 20%, compared to a conventional bottom-emitting OLED, will be demonstrated. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The light source should find use in diffuse lighting applications in commercial, residential, and industrial sectors. Because the product can be thin, lightweight, and transparent, it also should find use in architectural, automotive, and wearable electronic applications.