SRI International and Showa Denko K.K. Announce Breakthrough Performance in Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) Devices for Solid-State Lighting Applications
Menlo Park, Calif.—July 28 , 2009—SRI International, an independent nonprofit research institute, and Showa Denko K.K. (SDK), a Japan-based chemical industry company in partnership with Itochu Plastics Inc. (CIPS), have achieved record-breaking results using SRI’s newcavity organic light-emitting diode (COLED) technology and SDK’s light-emitting polymers to produce a highly efficient light source that could one day replace incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.
SRI’s COLED device is a new OLED structure designed by Dr. Yijian Shi, project team leader and senior chemist at SRI, that uses cavities to generate up to five times greater light output compared to traditional OLED structures. In addition, SRI’s new COLED device has the potential to be two times more efficient than compact fluorescent lights, which contain mercury and present a disposal problem.
"With our new cavity design, SRI has significantly increased the efficiency of OLED devices," said Philip von Guggenberg, director of business development, SRI International. "These new results validate our strategy of focusing on new device architectures to improve the performance of OLED devices."
A combination of SDK’s light-emitting polymer materials and SRI’s COLED technology has enabled researchers to achieve an output of 30 lumen (a measure of light output) per watt for blue light — higher than any other reported polymer OLED result. For green light, the team has achieved more than 80 lumen per watt — about three times higher than a traditional OLED. To produce white light that is acceptable for illumination, a mix of red, green, and blue light is required — with blue being the most technically challenging to produce. The results from SRI and SDK’s research point to the feasibility of producing a white light source of sufficient quality at low cost.
"Showa Denko is excited about this promising development. With SRI’s help, we expect to make this technology available to the lighting industry as early as 2010," said Mr. Kyohei Takahashi, president of Showa Denko, K.K.
"SRI’s COLED device will bring an innovative breakthrough to the lighting industry and the world’s energy conservation efforts. I am proud of what the SDK, SRI and CIPS team has accomplished in such a short period of time," said Mr. Ryuichi Komatsuzaki, president of Itochu Plastics Inc.
About SRI International Silicon Valley-based SRI International is one of the world's leading independent research and technology development organizations. SRI, which was founded by Stanford University as Stanford Research Institute in 1946 and became independent in 1970, has been meeting the strategic needs of clients and partners for more than 60 years. Perhaps best known for its invention of the computer mouse and interactive computing, SRI has also been responsible for major advances in networking and communications, robotics, drug discovery and development, advanced materials, atmospheric research, education research, economic development, national security, and more. The nonprofit institute performs sponsored research and development for government agencies, businesses, and foundations. SRI also licenses its technologies, forms strategic alliances, and creates spin-off companies. In 2008, SRI's consolidated revenues, including its wholly owned for-profit subsidiary, Sarnoff Corporation, were approximately $490 million.
About Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) is a unique chemical company that has inorganic/organic chemical and aluminum manufacturing technologies. The company was established in 1939 through the merger of Showa Fertilizers K.K., which became the first company in Japan to produce ammonia by a domestically developed process, and Nihon Electrical Industries K.K., which also became the first Japanese company to commercialize aluminum smelting in Japan. Fully utilizing its rich stock of technologies, SDK continues to create useful products and services for a wide range of industries.
About Itochu Plastics Inc. (CIPS) Itochu Plastics Inc., (CIPS) is a global leader in the plastics and electronics industry. CIPS is a 100% subsidiary of Itochu Corporation (ITOCHU), the world’s leading trading conglomerate with $130 billion in transactions, and is committed to provide a complete solution as a supplier of raw materials to food, office electronics equipment, household appliances, automobiles, and building industries. Backed by ITOCHU’s global network, CIPS’s annual turnover was approximately $2 billion in 2008.
