High Stability White SOLEDs

Today, Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology is the leading emerging technology for flat panel displays (FPDs), with recent product introductions in cell phones. Many of the features that are desirable for FPDs are also making OLED technology of great interest to the solid-state lighting community. For example, OLEDs are bright and colorful emitters with excellent power efficiency at low voltages. An OLED is potentially an inexpensive diffuse source that may compete most directly with conventional incandescent light sources. However, improvements in the overall efficiency of these devices will be required before they become commercially viable products and attain expected goals in terms of cost ($3 per 1000 lumens) and performance (150 lumens per watt). This project will utilize novel stacked OLED architectures to enable highly efficient stable, organic, solid-state lighting sources to replace short-lifetime 12 lm/W incandescent sources. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: In 2001, lighting was estimated to consume 8.2 quads, or about 22% of the total electricity generated in the U.S. New high-efficiency, solid-state light sources, such as OLEDs, are needed to help reduce the ever increasing demand for energy. The proposed technology offers the potential to make OLEDs cost effective in general lighting applications and hence reduce overall energy consumption in the U.S.