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SALT LAKE CITY — Physicists at the University of Utah have invented a brighter, cheaper, more environmentally friendly organic light-emitting diode, or OLED, the university announced Monday.
Physicists made a prototype of the new "spintronic" OLED that produces an orange color and expect the technology to be able to produce red and blue in two years and eventually white, according to the university. Light-emitting diodes are commonly used in televisions, computer displays, traffic lights and other electronic devices.
"It's a completely different technology," said Valy Vardeny, a physics professor and senior author of a study of the new OLEDs published in the July 13 issue of "Science." "These new organic LEDs can be brighter than regular organic LEDs."
Vardeny said it could be five years before the OLEDs reach the market because they currently operate at temperatures significantly lower than room temperature.
According to the University of Utah, original LEDs, introduced in the early 1960s, used a conventional semiconductor to generate colored light. Newer organic LEDs or OLEDs - with an organic polymer or "plastic" semiconductor to generate light - have become increasingly common, particularly for displays in MP3 music players, cellular phones and digital cameras. OLEDs also are expected to be used increasingly for room lighting. Big-screen TVs with existing OLEDs will hit the market later this year.
