Supported, in part, by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, researchers at Universal Display recently developed a novel OLED lighting prototype that emits white light, with good energy efficiency, and becomes transparent when turned off.
With a power efficiency of 45 lumens/watt demonstrated to date, and the possibility of achieving up to 150 lm/W with additional development in the future, white phosphorescent OLED lighting has the potential to lead to significant energy savings and additional environmental or ‘green’ benefits.
Additionally, the very thin and transparent form factor of this new lighting concept offers numerous design advantages that may enable a variety of novel uses as compared to existing incandescent and fluorescent lighting products.
“Energy efficient technologies and ‘green’ solutions for every day use have gained prominence as fiscal concerns have joined with environmental ones,” said Rosenblatt. “This transparent white OLED lighting panel combines our energy-efficient PHOLED phosphorescent and TOLED (transparent OLED) technologies into a very exciting lighting concept with a thin and light form-factor." Describing the many new prospective applications, Rosenblatt said, "One can imagine that these panels may someday replace standard office windows to provide lighting when day-lighting is insufficient.”
Enabled by the company’s high-efficiency PHOLED technology, which offers up to a 4:1 power advantage over existing fluorescent OLED technology, white OLEDs are seen by the DOE as a leading candidate for next-generation lighting.
Universal Display is currently engaged in contract research with the DOE to work in a number of key performance areas for OLED lighting. Under this specific program, lead by Brian D’Andrade, the company demonstrated an efficient white OLED with the added feature of being transparent when turned off.
