University of Florida scientists achieved a new record in the efficiency of blue organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs. Because blue is essential to white light, the advance helps pave the way to lighting that is much more efficient than compact fluorescents, but can produce high-quality light similar to standard incandescent bulbs.
"The quality of the light is really the advantage," said Franky So, a University of Florida associate professor of materials science and engineering and the lead investigator on the project. So and his team's blue OLED achieved a peak efficiency of 50 lumens - a significant step toward the goal of producing white light with efficiency higher than 100 lumens per watt.
OLEDs are similar to inorganic light emitting diodes, or LEDs, but are built with organic semiconductors on large area glass substrates rather than inorganic semiconductor wafers. When used in display screens or computer monitors, they have higher efficiency, better color saturation and a larger viewing angle.
