A folding, web-based newspaper that updates automatically. Glowing wallpaper that replaces light bulbs. A flexible computer display for your shirt cuff. Sound like Hollywood science fiction?
Universal Display Corporation, a leader in organic light emitting device display technology, says such innovations are right around the corner. Located in the small town of Ewing, N.J., the company has already come up with a computer display thinner than a credit card. Universal Display draws expertise from scientists and engineers at Princeton University and the University of Southern California to develop a new generation of video screens: super-thin, flexible and affordable.
OLEDs are paper thin, bendable sandwiches of organic materials. The organic materials emit light when triggered by an electric signal, and the signal can be manipulated so that the materials display images — like LCD computer screens, but better.
The increasing popularity of cell phones and personal digital assistants, and a growing consumer preference for lightweight, low-power and high-resolution displays, has started a new market for better display technology. Whereas LCD screens — the dominant technology for flat panel displays in laptop computers, cell phones and PDAs — cannot be viewed clearly from different angles, OLED displays produce pictures that remain sharp no matter from what direction they are viewed. OLED displays are also flexible, lighter, less breakable and of better image and color quality than LCD screens.
Applying science
Founded in 1994, Universal Display Corporation has 45 employees and finds itself signing development and commercialization agreements with Sony, Samsung SDI and DuPoint Display, all of which are developing OLED product prototypes.
In 1996, Sherwin Seligsohn, Universal Display chairman and chief executive officer, funded basic research at the University in the hopes that the research would later have a commercial value.
By the end of 1999, Universal Display built its own facility of 21,000 sq. ft. with a full-scale pilot production line. After going public, Universal Display expanded University research to find display and lighting applications of the technology.
The research is performed at the University under the direction of Professor Stephen Forrest, chair of the electric engineering department, in the University's Advanced Technology Center for Photonics and Optoelectronic Materials. The Center was integrated yesterday into the new Princeton Institute for the Science and Technology of Materials.
Before establishing a contract with Universal Display, the University had experimented unsuccessfully to sell its display technology directly to large electronics makers.
Universal Display Vice President of Technology Janice Mahon said the collaboration makes it easier and more efficient for scientists to obtain funding for basic scientific research.
Forrest characterized the relationship between the University and Universal Display as "mutually beneficial" — though his team also receives funding from other groups, including the U.S. defense department, the Air Force and the National Science Foundation.
Under the agreement between Princeton and Universal Display, Princeton owns the patents, and it licenses rights to use the technology to Universal Display.
"Significantly more than 50 percent of our patents originate from work done at Princeton. It has been a very fruitful and longstanding relationship," Mahon said.
Universal Display spends about $1 million per year to fund research at Princeton and USC and to pay the patent costs. Princeton receives three percent of the royalties that Universal Display receives from the companies that use its technology.
In the seven years Universal Display has been working with Princeton, the company has accumulated 400 worldwide patents related to OLED technology. Last year, Forrest's research partnership with Universal Display was extended for five years, and University scientists will get as much as $7.5 million for further research and patent licenses. In return, the company will be able to commercialize Forrest's research in flattop computer screens and other video displays.
Army research
Universal Display's groundbreaking technological advancements have captured the imagination of not only scientists and engineers but of the U.S. military as well. Last year, Universal Display was awarded a two-year, $2 million contract with the U.S. Army to develop the next generation of mobile communications devices. The Army wanted low-power consumption displays for land-warrior applications. At a ceremony in the Pentagon last month, Universal Display received an award for their project entitled "Transparent Organic Phosphorescent Backlights." The project focused on the development of highly efficient, stacked, full-color, transparent and white backlights incorporating Universal Display's proprietary phosphorescent OLED and transparent OLED technologies. Universal Display is also integrating high-resolution displays into the face shields of helmets for soldiers.
White light
The U.S. Department of Energy two weeks ago awarded Universal Display $200,000 to develop innovative techniques to reduce OLED power consumption, a critical performance attribute for the general lighting industry. Universal Display and its research partners at the University are developing several approaches for highly efficient white light using the PHOLED technology.
"We are working very hard on white lighting and how to deposit materials efficiently at high resolution to make organic nanostructures," Forrest said.
Mahon explained why Universal Display received the DOE contract. "Next generation technology revolves around white lighting because PHOLED is four times more power efficient than [conventional technology]," she said.
Together, Universal Display and the University are achieving technological breakthroughs for creating flat panel displays, lasers and light generating sources. Mahon remarked on the current goal of Universal Display, "We are focusing on commercializing first generation technology; however, we are continuing to support basic research at USC and Princeton."
Princeton's relationship with Universal Display has become an example for the increasingly common partnerships that Princeton scientists and engineers are establishing with commercial ventures. It illustrates how connections with the real-world industry can combine both academic research and applied product development. Only time will tell when the future seen in the movies will become reality.
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