Technical / Research - Page 123

Leadis Technology enhanced its OLED porfolio with production-volume shipments of a new OLED display driver IC, the LDS518 aimed for MP3 and mobile phone applications.

The LDS518 is a high-performance, highly-integrated device featuring 16K- bit of display RAM (128 x 64 x 2 bit), an on-chip oscillator and flexible frame frequency adjustment without the need for external components. The LDS518 has a maximum resolution of 128 x 64 and allows programmable display features such as divided area display with flashing function per divided area and two screen saver modes, which are critical for extending OLED display lifetime, extending mobile device battery life, and reducing the need for additional software development to support these functions.

In addition to its development of OLED displays, Epson has researched the characteristics of OLED as an electronic device. Specifically, Epson has succeeded in creating a print head that uses OLED as a light source (OLED print head), opening the way for utilization of OLED as a new printing technology for printers.

At present, electro-photographic printing technologies for copiers and printers use either laser or LED light sources. Epson merged the many years of expertise it had accumulated in printing and display technology, and partnered with Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. to jointly develop a super bright OLED that can be used in printing. Printing tests using a prototype of an OLED-based print head have produced printouts quality comparable to or better than those produced by conventional laser printers.

CDT welcomes the announcement by Sumation - its joint venture partner with Sumitomo Chemical - of rapid progress in the development of long lifetime, high efficiency light emitting polymers for full color, video capable PLED displays.

Following a previous announcement in December, CDT now reports the achievement of blue fluorescent devices (CIEx=0.14, y=0.21) with 12,500 hours lifetime(1) from an initial luminance of 400 cd/m², and an efficiency of 9cd/A.

This new phenomenon, called electrophosphorescence, allows OLEDs to be used in high-efficiency, full-color displays. But perhaps more importantly, it allows for the emergence of a new generation of interior illumination sources. By combining the light emissions of red, green, and blue electrophosphorescent OLEDs, we can generate light that the eye perceives to be white -- and do it very efficiently.

Researchers using an in-line vertical OLED manufacturing process aim to set milestones in terms of cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

A cheaper technique for mass-producing OLED displays and lighting tiles might be a step closer thanks to research being carried out at Fraunhofer IPMS in Germany. The unique vertical in-line tool operates with continuous vertical substrate flow and linear sources for depositing organic and metallic materials. The production line at IPMS is designed for a substrate height of 400 mm and width of 470 mm or larger.

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Osram Opto Semiconductors has announced progress on its OLED Lighting project. The project, funded by a $4.65 million grant from the US Department of Energy, was initiated in 2004 to research the potential of white OLEDs as an energy-saving product for commercial and residential lighting.

The company has achieved a 25-lm/W polymer OLED. The cool-white-emitting diode uses a solution-processable, phosphorescent, blue-emitting device in conjunction with an external inorganic phosphor layer. This 14 lm/W of blue color was achieved by embedding an efficient phosphorescent blue emitter in a polymer host.

The company has also demonstrated a 20-lm/W phosphorescent device based on a white-emitting polymer blend. This diode employs no external phosphors, and the white emission comes directly from the phosphorescent polymer. The company hopes to use the advances as a basis to develop large-area light tiles.

The polymer OLED enables color tuning, using a design based on three separate, printable polymer inks emitting in the red, green and blue portions of the spectrum. Ink-jet was used to pattern the small, three-color segments. The product’s driver circuitry enables users to regulate color from dark blue to white. The technology offers large-size scalability without losses in optical and electrical properties.

Universal Display says there is no row between it and UK organic LED company Cambridge Display Technology following a patent UDC revealed recently. The patent is primarily about the ability to ink-jet print OLEDs using small molecular materials, instead of polymeric materials, for light emission, Janice Mahon, v-p of technology commercialisation at US-based UDC told Electronics Weekly. CDT’s patents largely cover polymeric emissive materials and it is unlikely the patent will cause a conflict.

However, while UDC’s technology in this new patent is fundamentally small-molecule and not polymer, UDC’s patent portfolio broadly covers phosphorescent OLED technology, said UDC’s Mahon. It is too early to tell what structures will be commercialised. We have a very important phosphorescent portfolio just as CDT has a very important polymer portfolio, said Mahon. Mahon added: The competition is LCD, it is not polymer versus small molecule.

Thin-film encapsulation materials supplier Vitex Systems Inc. plans to change its business model to focus on the company’s portfolio of IP and related engineering services.
Vitex (San Jose) has for the past few years done significant development of its Barix thin-film barrier encapsulation technology for manufacturing OLED displays as well as roll-to-roll Flexible Glass technology. The company had a pilot production plant in Windsor, Ct., that manufactured some materials. Under the new business arrangement, Vitex will close the plant and license the core IP to substrate makers having high-volume roll-to-roll manufacturing capacity.

In addition, capital equipment makers will be able to license the IP for Vitex’s Guardian thin-film deposition system with access to the company’s hardware and software.
Vitex expects the revised business model to enable OLED display manufacturers and producers of organic optoelectronic devices to speed time-to-market for thinner, lighter, lower-cost products.

Universal Display Corporation announced today that the Company has entered into an agreement with AU Optronics, to supply the Company's proprietary PHOLED(TM) phosphorescent OLED material for use in an active matrix OLED product.

Universal Display's proprietary PHOLED technology offers up to four times higher efficiency than conventional OLED technology - a feature that is very important for today's battery-operated cell phones and other portable devices, as well as for tomorrow's large-area TVs and solid-state lighting products. Over the past few years, the Company has announced a series of record-breaking performance milestones for its red, green and blue PHOLED systems. The Company's PHOLED materials, manufactured by PPG Industries exclusively for Universal Display, are currently being evaluated and used in commercial production by a number of electronics manufacturers.

LG.Philips announced today that it has entered an evaluation agreement for active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) development with Eastman Kodak Company. Under the terms of the agreement, LG.Philips LCD and Kodak will jointly evaluate display technologies for mobile displays and consider other opportunities, including the development and supply of AMOLED technology and products.

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