Novel Lower-Voltage OLEDs for Higher-Efficiency Lighting

72964S03-I Because 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 significantly greater power efficiency and color quality, with less environmental impact than traditional incandescent and fluorescent lights. Recent breakthroughs in highly-efficient phosphorescent organic light-emitting device (PHOLED) technology have fostered expectations that this technology may someday provide such a solution. Nonetheless, significant engineering challenges remain. One of these challenges is to develop lower-voltage structures based on PHOLED technology. This project will demonstrate and develop a novel lower-voltage light emitting structure through the development of more-highly-conductive electron and hole transport layers in a PHOLED structure. Phase I will demonstrate the feasibility of using conductivity doping in the electron and hole transport layers to achieve power efficiencies greater than 20 lm/W at a brightness of 800 cd/m2. The high conductivity will be achieved by selecting n- and p-type dopants, along with the appropriate organic buffer layers to reduce the operating voltages to less than 3V. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: An energy-efficient, long-lived, solid-state white organic light-emitting device (OLED) should find use in diffuse lighting applications in the commercial, residential, and industrial sectors. Based on novel features like its thin, lightweight form, this product also could be used in novel architectural, automotive, and wearable electronic applications.