The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has awarded two Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. The FY12 Phase I Release 3 awards will explore the technical merit or feasibility of an innovative concept or technology.
The SBIR and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program seeks to increase the participation of small businesses in federal R&D. To learn more about this program, visit http://science.energy.gov/sbir/.
The Phase I Release 3 awards related to SSL are briefly described below:
SBIR Recipient: Applied Nanotech, Inc.
Title: CarbAlTM Based Board for Power LED Packaging
Summary: This Phase I SBIR project seeks to extend the applicant's initial success with a novel CarbAlTM based, high-power LED circuit board by developing a unique thermal management solution that is two to three times less costly than other solutions. Additional cost reductions will be achieved with lower cost materials and less complex printing techniques that can be done with less capital-intensive equipment.
SBIR Recipient: Universal Display Corporation
Title: Novel Low Cost Single Layer Outcoupling Solution for OLED lighting
Summary: The UDC team will demonstrate External Quantum Efficiencies (EQE) >42%—an approximate 2X increase in light extraction compared to the highest-efficiency phosphorescent white organic light-emitting diode (WOLED) produced with no outcoupling enhancement. The proposed increase in EQE will be used to demonstrate a 2 mm2 WOLED lighting pixel with efficacy >80 lm/W, CRI >80, and lifetime to LT70 >30,000 hours at 1,000 cd/m2— in a lighting system whose total thickness is ≤3 mm. The proposed performance targets all meet or exceed ENERGY STAR® Category B criteria for SSL. These goals also represent current world record efficacies for WOLEDs with a thin form factor and high-quality CRI, and are important steps towards achieving DOE's target of 140 lm/W in an OLED lighting system.