The illumination of the future will be shining bright, luminous and flexible - and will consume little energy: lighting plastics, Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs for short), will make this happen. 

In the presence of the German Federal Research Minister, Annette Schavan, and the Prime Minister of Saxony, Stanislaw Tillich, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Micro-Systems - IPMS in Dresden, officially opened the "Center for Organic Materials and Electronic Devices Dresden (COMEDD)" on 30 October 2008.

The Federal Government, the State of Saxony and the European Union have invested EUR 25 million in the Center. COMEDD's key assignment is to develop cost-effective and production-suitable processes for organic semi-conductor devices. These include Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and organic solar cells. OLEDs are considered the future technology for displays and lighting.

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has already been promoting this innovative technology for several years (OLLA Project). A further boost to support in the area of "Organic Light Emitting Diodes - Phase II" is currently being provided by the promotional programs "Optical Technologies" and "Werkstoffinnovationen für Industrie und Gesellschaft - WING" (material innovations for industry and society).

OLEDs are components made from ultra-thin organic layers on a glass or plastic base, which emit light when a voltage is applied. Nature provides an example in this respect - "the firefly", which can turn its yellowish light on and off. OLEDs can be laid on large surfaces in ultra-thin layers; they provide a perfect image from every viewing angle, have a luminous color saturation, and require little energy. OLEDs can already be produced, and the first organic illuminated displays are already on the market.

In order, however, for OLEDs to establish themselves on the mass market against the Asian competition, they will have to be produced cost-effectively. "The industry for organic illumination will only grow if we in Europe both develop and design, and produce here," explains Prof. Karl Leo, Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Micro-Systems IPMS, COMEDD's governing body. The Fraunhofer IPMS is setting up three pilot production lines. Organic displays can be produced with two different procedures. The OLED pioneer, Kodak, for example, has developed "Small Molecule OLEDs", whereby small molecules are vacuum-metalized. Cambridge Display Technology has developed the other technology, which uses big, long-chain molecules. These can be dissolved in liquid and cost-effectively centrifugally coated, or applied with a printer on to the electrode.

Fraunhofer researchers are working in COMEDD on organic light-emitting diodes based on small molecules. The Center's main focus is on several vacuum coating systems, on which innovation process concepts are evaluated. A 300 mm wide roll-to-roll coating system is being set up in COMEDD in cooperation with the Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology (FEP) to develop and produce OLED lighting modules on flexible substrata.

Lighting wallpaper or rollout screens are therefore getting closer all the time! OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has developed a large transparent white OLED, which is transparent when both turned on and off, and under lab conditions has more than 20 lm/W at 1000 cd/m² brightness. By way of comparison: A 100 watt bulb only generates 15 lm/W. In the future lighting surfaces that aren't even seen during the day, but in the evening give off a pleasant, diffuse light, are now conceivable.

Over ten years ago researchers discovered the first plastic that lights when a power is applied to it. Since then numerous companies and research groups all over the world have been working on the lighting plastics of tomorrow. Plastic displays are forecast to have enormous market potential. Both German and European companies now have the opportunity to capture some of this market.
OLED light
Photo: Fraunhofer IPMS.
The Atlantic Hotel's globe shines across the rooftops of Hamburg with the LINEARlight-DRAGON Colormix from OSRAM in its new and colorful brilliance. Earlier fluorescent bulbs consumed more than 400 watts for this - but now the globe gleams just as brightly with 100 watts, and its colors can be controlled via software.
Photo: OSRAM