Universal Display Corp. (Ewing, NJ), has been awarded a $99,927 SBIR Phase I contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Under this program, Universal Display intends to demonstrate a white phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED) lighting panel that meets Energy Star criteria using an optical enhancement technique which improves outcoupling efficiency while preserving the thin form of the white PHOLED lighting panel.
Universal Display will employ an outcoupling technique that performs similarly to thicker treatments, such as macro-extractors or outcoupling blocks, but is significantly thinner. Outcoupling enhancements help increase the amount of light that is emitted as useful light. In addition to maintaining its thin and lightweight form, the resulting white PHOLED lighting panel, which UDC intends to deliver to the DOE, may improve the company’s previously reported lighting panel efficacy results by more than 25% and demonstrate a desirable path to meet the Energy Star Category B criteria for solid-state lighting.
“As energy efficiency and eco-friendliness continue to influence consumer purchasing patterns, white OLED lighting panels are moving toward commercial reality as a leading potential solution for power-efficient and environmentally-benign solid state lighting,” said Steven V. Abramson, Universal Display’s president and CEO.