Press information
OLED initiative with Osram
Opening up new lighting markets together
Osram sees organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as an excellent opportunity to open up new markets for lighting. Possible applications range from self-luminous street signs and traffic signals, through transparent illuminated room dividers to decorative canopies of light. However much research and development work is needed first. German companies, universities and institutes have the best facilities for this, so Osram is joining the BMBF initiative OLED 2015.
Organic light emitting diodes are suitable not only for bright high-contrast displays but also as light sources for general illumination purposes. Unlike familiar LEDs, OLEDs are not point lights sources but two-dimensional light sources. They are flat, transparent and flexible. Their luminous layer is just one hundredth of the diameter of a human hair. „All these properties will open up completely new areas of application in lighting – this is light as it has never been seen before”, said Martin Goetzeler, CEO of Osram, at the launch of the OLED initiative on September 11, 2006.
The possible applications are many and varied: everything from flat self-luminous information signs, traffic signals and advertising panels to contoured light sources in vehicles and even decorative lighting elements in the home – ceilings, wallpaper or curtains that light up.
Major research and development targets include a lifespan of more than 10,000 hours with a brightness of more than 1000 candela per square metre and an efficiency of around 50 lumen per watt for white light.*
Another challenge is the development of simple cost-effective production processes that will enable large-area OLED light sources to be manufactured in reliable quality and uniformity. To achieve this, numerous German companies, universities, institutes and Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) have joined forced in an OLED initiative. “Together, we can use this project to put Germany in a leading position in OLED development”, said Martin Goetzeler. “By involving partners right along the value added chain, by focusing high-level research here in this country and not least by building on state support, Germany can be a pioneer on the international stage and we can create long-term jobs here. In the OLED lighting sector we have already created more than 40 new jobs in research and development in Regensburg since 2005”, added the Osram CEO.
*By comparison:
- Lifespan of a classic light bulb 1000 hours; lifespan of a classic fluorescent lamp up to 20,000 hours
- A brightness of 1000 candela per square metre is approx. 10 times as bright as a white sheet of paper in daylight.
- An efficiency of 50 lumen per watt is the same as that of energy-saving lamps. OLED displays as complete systems still have an efficiency of less than 10 lumen per watt.
OLED Initiative with Osram
Opening up new lighting markets together
Osram sees organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) as an excellent opportunity to open up new markets for lighting. However much research and development work is needed first. German companies, universities and institutes have the best facilities for this, so Osram is joining the BMBF initiative OLED 2015.
Press contact:
OSRAM
Christian Bölling
Tel: +49-89-6213-2597
Fax: +49-89-6213-3457
Email: c.boelling@osram.com