A new milestone for OLED efficiency

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors claim to have achieved record values for OLEDs in warm white with an efficiency of 46 lm/W and a life of more than 5000 hours at a brightness of 1000 cd/m2. This efficiency is similar to that of fluorescent lamps and more than twice that of incandescent lamps.

 

Higher efficiency used to mean a shorter life and vice versa but now the team are delighted with the results because OLED flat light sources are approaching the values of conventional lighting solutions, making it more attractive for a wide variety of applications.

 

The color rendering index (CRI) of the almost 100 cm2 large prototype is 80. The team hope that by 2009 they will be able to deliver an overall luminous flux of 500 lm from a power consumption of less than 10 W with an OLED flat light module comprising several tiles.

 

Because OLED lights are thin and can offer a high quality of light, its applications are particularly useful for illuminating wall coverings, covering large areas and embedding in fabric. As OLED lighting becomes cheaper and more widely used, with the global population of vehicles increasing we are likely to see OLED lighting used inside and outside these vehicles in the form of lighting, signage and advertising. We may also see them used in our homes for interior decorating. For example one industrial design student designed shutters that light your window space with OLED lights as part of his final-year show at the University of Western Sydney last year (see below).

 

 

Read our earlier articles "Novaled Germany - 100,000h lifetime for a highly efficient white OLED" and Who is Winning With OLED Lighting?.

 

For further information on OLEDs attend Printed Electronics Europe 2008.