Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs): A Bright Future to the Energy-Efficiency

Cutting down the global energy consumption through efficient use of energy is one of the major research challenges among scientists. Replacing the tungsten filament bulb with novel semiconductor-based light emitting diodes (LEDs) has been a major step forward towards energy-efficiency. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), the third-generation lighting systems, are even better in this move. OLEDs are organic molecules or semiconducting organic polymers that can emit light when exposed to an applied electrical current. Owing to their low-cost, low operating voltage, high energy-efficiency and longer lifetime, OLEDs are expected to soon dominate the lighting world. OLEDs can transform more than 80% of the energy into light, where the long-existing tungsten bulb can produce light out of only 1 0 % of the energy and the rest 90% get drained as heat. Apart from the lighting applications, OLEDs are also proven to dominate over their predecessor liquid crystal display (LCD) in the flat panel display technology. Some of the elegant features of OLED displays include flexibility, wider viewing angle, better contrast ratio, high resolution and ultra-thin thickness. This article has been aimed to provide a concise overview of the evolution of OLED technology and their role in energy*efficiency to the modern world.