Printed Anodes and Internal Extraction Layers on Flexible Glass to Create Cost-Effective High-Efficacy Bendable OLED Lighting Panels

Lead Performer: OLEDWorks, LLC – Rochester, NY

Solid-State Lighting

June 5, 2018
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Lead Performer: OLEDWorks, LLC – Rochester, NY
DOE Total Funding: $1,048,355
Project Term: August 19, 2019 – August 18, 2022
Grant Type: SBIR

PROJECT OBJECTIVE

This project will work with a variety of suppliers (companies and universities) to demonstrate the world’s highest-efficacy bendable OLED lighting panels. This will be done by co-optimizing flexible glass substrates, a variety of internal extraction layers (IELs), printable silver nanowire anodes, and multi-stack OLED structures. The primary focus will be on comparing a variety of IELs, including scattering type, corrugated type, and sub-anode micro-lens array type, in combination with multi-stack OLEDs and both printed silver nanowire anodes and standard sputtered indium tin oxide anodes. Through co-optimization with the anode, IEL, and OLED structure, OLEDWorks proposes to increase the resulting extraction efficiency beyond the present state-of-the-art of 49%. Prior work by the OLEDWorks and others has demonstrated individual extraction efficiency improvements but has not integrated these established techniques to demonstrate an optimized, bendable structure with performance exceeding 100 lm/W (at ~3,000 K, <0.004 Duv, and 3,000 cd/m2). The current project, which is Phase II, will advance the performance of this structure to surpass the efficiency goal of 110 lm/W.

PROJECT IMPACT

Flexible glass substrates and printable silver nanowire anodes will lead to reduced cost of OLED lighting panels by increasing sales and filling existing production capacity, and by enabling roll-to-roll OLED manufacturing in the future.

CONTACTS

DOE Technology Manager: Brian Walker, [email protected]
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Spindler, OLEDWorks, LLC

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