Project aims to take P-OLED to lighting market

Polymer OLED pioneer Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) is joining with a team from the University of Durham, England and Thorn Lighting on a three-year project to develop processable organic materials and device architectures suitable for large-area white lighting applications.

The total project cost is $6.6 million, almost half of which will come from a U.K. Department of Trade and Industry-led Technology Program grant.

CDT, through its Sumation joint venture with Japanese group Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd, will provide materials, device architecture and testing and modeling.

The project is aimed at developing materials and devices for solid-state, high-efficiency lighting applications based on CDT's patented P-OLED technology. Light-emitting polymer materials can be solution-processed, which offers the potential of low-cost manufacturing for large lighting panels.

David Fyfe, CEO of CDT, said the grant will allow the team to make fast progress in "improving our ability to develop inks and device technology, as well as expand the application of our P-OLED technology into the lighting market."

- John Walko
EE Times Europe