The Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) in Dresden is one of the leading research centers in the sector for organic materials and systems. For its new Center for Organic Materials and Electronic Devices Dresden (COMEDD), Fraunhofer IPMS is building a new type of production line to manufacture OLED lighting modules and organic solar cells.

The new system is part of the institute's plan to accelerate the development of new types of organic lighting solutions. It is one of the first systems of its kind in the world for manufacturing OLED lighting modules and organic solar cells.

Fraunhofer IPMS is building the new processing line as well as two other pilot production lines to speed up the process of bringing OLEDs, organic solar cells and components such as OLED-on-CMOS to market.

The Saxony state government, the German federal government and the EU are investing a total of 25 million euros in the COMEDD to build one of the leading European centers for the research, development and pilot production of organic components based on so-called small molecules. The objective of the center, which was commissioned on September 10, 2007, is to strengthen the industry for organic lighting and photovoltaics in Europe, particularly in the field of production engineering.

The new manufacturing system, which is being supplied by Sunic System Ltd., South Korea and Aixtron AG, consists of modules for thermal evaporation and for organic vapor-phase deposition. The substrate materials, which have a usable space of 370 x 470 mm, are made of glass or foil. The planned cycle time is three minutes, which results in a capacity of some 13,000 m² per year. The system makes efficient use of starting materials and is particularly flexible, so it can be used for various substrate sizes and organic layer structures.

Besides conventional inorganic light-emitting diodes (LEDs), in the future OLEDs will be used as large-surface luminaries for efficient lighting solutions and even open up new growth markets. Fraunhofer IPMS has already manufactured the first samples, but current OLED technology must be improved, particularly with regard to production costs and integration aspects.

In September 2007, Fraunhofer IPMS introduced one of the world's largest OLED lighting modules based on small molecules (SM-OLED). With external dimensions of 80 x 20 cm and an active area of 1,100 cm², which is divided into four light panels, and the light output is 250 lumens - a "brilliant example" of COMEDD's outstanding expertise.

Additional information: www.ipms.fraunhofer.de