The US DoE announced it selected nine new SSL projects which will receive $10.5 million in funding (including the cost-share contribution, the a total of $13.7). Four of these one- to two-years projects are OLED projects (the rest are related to LEDs).
OLEDWorks' project is titled "High-Performance OLED Panel and Luminaire". The company will develop low-cost OLED electrode structure and panel light extraction technologies. Using a system approach to determine the best component combination, OLEDWorks hopes to develop and integrate the cost effective manufacturing technologies necessary to achieve the DoE's performance and cost targets, demonstrated on a large scale. This project will cost $2 million, the DoE funded 50% ($1 million).
Pixelligent will develop a novel internal light extraction design as part of the "Advanced Light Extraction Structure for OLED Lighting" project. The company's design aims to improve the light extraction efficiency of OLED lighting devices to 70% without negatively impacting the device voltage, efficacy, or angular color dependence.
Princeton University (ITO-free White OLEDs on Flexible Substrates with Enhanced Light Outcoupling) will integrate multiple outcouping enhancement aspects in a single OLED structure. The University suggests a holistic approach that treats the system as a whole rather than multiple approaches spliced together - and this hopefully will provide a greater enhancement (over 60%, which is 3 times greater than a conventional glass/ITO structure) than the sum of the aspects.
The University of California (The Approach to Low-Cost High-Efficiency OLED Lighting) will develop an integrated plastic substrate, which will replace the complete structure of glass, ITO anode and internal and external light extraction structures used in current OLED lighting devices. This plastic substrate will enable cheaper manufacturing, and improved energy efficiency. The effort will focus on the synthesis and iteration of the integrated substrate to match the sheet resistance and surface smoothness of high-grade ITO/glass, but with a 200% enhancement of light extraction.
