Duggal ’87 promotes use of organic LEDs as lighting source

Anil Duggal ’87 thinks that organic light-emitting diodes may be the brightest bulbs in the bunch.

Duggal, an advanced technology leader for electronic materials systems at General Electric’s Global Research Headquarters in Niskayuna, N.Y., has been at the forefront of the company’s research in organic LED technology since 1999.

Organic LEDs are thin polymer surfaces that light up when electrically charged. Though they have previously been employed as display screens, Duggal said he hopes to apply the technology in another capacity: for use as a light source.

“It’s much more energy efficient than an incandescent bulb, and efficiency keeps increasing,” he explained. “It also really gives you a different form factor than what we’ve ever had for lighting, because it’s not a bulb — it’s a thin, flexible sheet.”

The elastic nature of organic LEDs will influence design in many fields, Duggal said, because the lights can be wrapped around an object or curved in ways that light bulbs cannot.

But Duggal, who graduated with an A.B. in chemistry, hasn’t always been so fond of the sciences.

“I felt like I was spending all my time doing problem sets of the ‘how fast does a ball go down an incline’ level, and not really getting at the essence of what the science was trying to study,” he said of his time at the University.

Though he dabbled in religion, philosophy and Russian literature during his sophomore year, Duggal eventually returned to the sciences. His interest in science was cemented while researching his senior thesis, which focused on practical and efficient methods of harnessing solar technology that were applicable in real life rather than just in theory.

More than 20 years later, he is once again exploring ways to create a more efficient world through technology.

Duggal recalled that he was nervous to present his ideas about organic LED technology to Jeff Immelt, the chief executive of GE, especially because one of the company’s founders, Thomas Edison, invented the very technology Duggal hopes organic LEDs will replace.

But Duggal said his motivation to innovate existing technology was a driving force.

“I just wanted to do something new that the world hadn’t seen before and hopefully is good for the world,” he said.

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Todd Alhart, a spokesman for GE Global Research who previously worked with Duggal outside the company, said of the technology, “What started out as an idea translated into a program that is on the verge of commercializing a new lighting technology for the world.”

Alhart added that Duggal's work will be instrumental in expanding the application of organic LEDs, which already appear in consumer devices such as television displays and handheld media players. He said that Duggal is especially suited to bring organic LED technology into the mainstream.

“[Duggal] is wonderful at explaining what can be very complicated technical details in a very understandable way ... and I think that’s an important leadership quality,” he said.

Duggal joined GE Global Research in 1992 after earning his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that same year, and he has spent his entire career at the company researching optical and electrical materials and devices.

He noted that the concentrations he pursued in college and graduate school did not influence his career path as much as his overall educational experience did.

“When you get to a place like where I am now, the disciplines don’t really matter,” Duggal said. “It’s about using your background in science to try to find some problem that’s worth solving and also can make your company some money ... So you end up wearing all kinds of different hats.”

Duggal noted that the University’s “unique” campus culture, however, had a significant impact on his path.

“The best thing about Princeton is that it’s a place where everyone is highly skilled in at least one thing,” he explained. “It’s just a very energizing atmosphere, and you just feed off other people’s passions to hone your own.”