DARPA funds organic flat-panel-display R&D;

17 Jun 2002

The US Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $5 million contract to Planar Systems to develop and advance the commercial viability of organic-light-emitting-diode (OLED) flat-panel- display technology. The project seeks to produce a full-color VGA- resolution OLED active-matrix display using materials and processing furnished by Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY). The David Sarnoff Research Center (Princeton, NJ) will design and fabricate the polysilicon active-matrix circuitry, with support for process integration by the Princeton University Center for Photonics and Opto-Electronics Materials (POEM).

Organic light-emitting thin films have potentially higher efficiencies than inorganic thin-film phosphors for lower display power needs. Mark Hartney, DARPA program manager for display technology, notes, "Planar's thin-film electroluminescent technology and manufacturing process are similar to what is expected for successful OLED manufacturing." POEM director Stephen Forrest told a Boston meeting of the Laser and Electro-Optics Society that a small, full-spectrum (white light) OLED display should be functioning at the center by the end of the year.
Courtesy of Laser Focus World