Researchers from Osaka University developed the best performing heavy-metal-free room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) OLED emitters.
The researchers say that the new emitter (called SiAz), made entirely out of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and silicon atoms, combines the mechanisms of TADF and RTP to create an efficient emitter system.
A couple of months ago we reported that researchers at UDC developed an OLED device with plasmonic decay rate enhancement that dramatically increase device stability. It turns out that UDC filed for two new trademark applications that seem to hint it is aiming to commercialize this technology.
The two trademarks at PLASMON PHOLED and PLASMONLED, which both of course indicate that these are emitters that adopt plasmon technology.
Universal Display reported its Q3 2020 financial results, with revenues of $117 million (up from $58 million in Q2 2020 and $98 million in Q3 2019, and a net income of $40.5 million. UDC ended the quarter with with $673 million in cash and equivalents
UDC reports a significant pickup in customer orders in the third quarter, and the company expects full-year 2020 revenues to be in the range of $385 million to $400 million. UDC sees meaningful growth in the OLED industry in 2021 and beyond.
Researchers at Universal Display, developed an OLED device with plasmonic decay rate enhancement that dramatically increase device stability. By including a nanoparticle-based out-coupling scheme to extract energy from the plasmon mode, the researchers managed to maintain the device efficiency.
The device used an archetypal phosphorescent emitter to achieve a two-fold increase in functional stability at the same brightness as a reference conventional OLED device and extracted 16% of the energy from the plasmon mode as light.
Researchers from Korea's Pusan National University have developed an efficient deep-blue phosphorescent OLED emitter. The researcher say that their new materials has an EQE of 24% while the color point is CIE (0.149, 0.085).
According to the Korean press, the main achievement in this research was the adjustment of the doping concentration of a novel dopant (mer ‐Ir1) to optimize the balance of electron and holes in the light emitting layer.
TCL subsidiary China Star Optoelectronics (CSoT) signed an OLED technology license agreement and material purchase agreement with Universal Display (UDC). UDC will supply phosphorescent OLED materials CSoT to be used in its display products.
CSoT is currently producing flexible OLEDs in its T4 line which has a monthly capacity of 45,000 6-Gen substrates. Last week it was reported that CSoT is planning to build a new flexible OLED production line in Wuhan, in a $1.4 billion investment.
Universal Display reported its Q4 2019 financial results - revenues were $102 million, an increase of 45% compared to Q4 2018. Net income in the fourth quarter was $26.4 million.
Looking at 2019, UDC had a record year - with revenues of $405 million and a net income of $138 million. 2019 was a year of significant capacity additions, and 2020 will see less significant growth due to "capacity digestion". Looking into 2020, UDC sees revenues in the range of $430 to $70 million. UDC estimates that the coronavirus outbreak in China could lower its 2020 revenues by $40 - 50 million.
TADF, or Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence, is a relatively new class of OLED emitter materials that promise efficient and long-lifetime performance without any heavy metals. TADF research started at around 2012, originally at Kyushu University in Japan and today many academic groups and several commercial companies are developing TADF materials.
The main reason companies are interested in TADF emission is that it could lead to an efficient and long-lasting blue OLED emitter - something that hasn't been yet achieved by other means (mainly - UDC's Phosphorescent OLED emitter technology). In recent years companies initiated commercial development of red, green and yellow TADF emitters as these can offer a lower cost alternative to UDC's PHOLEDs materials.
Idemitsu Kosan and Toray Industries announced that the companies have jointly developed a red OLED device that is the world's most efficient emitter at 46 cd/A. The device uses a TADF emitter combined with red fluorescent materials (which likely means this is a HyperFluorescence device).
Idemitsu and Toray has been collaborating on OLED material development since 2017. This new device uses Idemitsu's TADF material combined with Toray's new red fluorescent material. The two companies say that this new material provides the same results as currently used red phosphorescent devices, and the plan is now to "drive forward to secure adoption of their materials" in mobile and TV applications.
Researchers from RUDN University in Russia have synthesized new OLED emitter compounds. These compounds seem to be phosphorescent emitters, based on copper and silver atoms.
The researchers say that the compound platform they created can lead to efficient and cost-effective OLED emitters, and also offer a special molecular geometry that can enable freedom-of-design for developers.
