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Research Highlights
DOE partners with leading researchers from industry, academia, and national laboratories to accelerate advances in solid-state lighting (SSL). These researchers have made dramatic progress in just a few years, achieving several world records as well as national recognition.

Since DOE began funding SSL research projects in 2000, a total of 71 patents have been applied for or awarded.  For more information, see the SSL Patents fact sheet (PDF 136 KB) in the Publications section of this website.

Collaborative, cost-shared DOE R&D projects combine the technical resources of premier research institutions and national laboratories with the product development, manufacturing, and commercialization expertise of industry leaders. DOE invests in research projects that target the needed improvements in price, performance, and manufacturability to speed SSL technologies to market.

For a complete listing of current DOE SSL R&D projects, see the Project Portfolio.
 
 

Increasing Efficiency of Green LEDs
DOE-funded research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) has shown the importance of both the epitaxial structure and the substrate material in improving green light efficiency. The RPI team is working on non-polar epitaxial multi-quantum well LEDs on Gallium Nitride substrates that produce deep green light directly. (January 2008) Learn more.

 

High-Efficiency Nitride-Based Photonic Crystal Light Sources
The University of California Santa Barbara is maximizing the efficiency of white LEDs by enhancing the external quantum efficiency using photonic crystals to extract light that would normally be confined in a conventional structure. (January 2008). Learn more.

Record Efficacy for White OLED
Universal Display Corporation has successfully demonstrated an all phosphorescent white organic light emitting diode (WOLED™) with a record power efficacy of 45 lm/W at 1,000 cd/m2. This high-efficacy device was enabled by lowering the device operating voltage, increasing the outcoupling efficiency, and incorporating highly efficient phosphorescent emitters. (June 2007) Learn more.

LED Record Efficacy and Brightness
The Cree XLamp® power LED sets new records for LED brightness and efficacy, up to 85 lm/W at 350 mA.The XLamp utilizes Cree’s performance breakthrough EZBright™ LED chip; both products include technology that was developed in part with R&D funding support from DOE. (October 2006) Learn more.

Record EQE in Blue OLED Device
Scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a blue OLED device with an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 11% at 800 cd/m2. This achievement was accomplished at a much lower operating voltage (6.2V) than previous demonstrations, revealing potential for much higher power efficiencies. (November 2006) Learn more.

Breakthrough Performance in White LEDs
Cree, Inc.’s Santa Barbara Technology Center has achieved breakthrough efficacy greater than 65 lumens per watt in a white LED pre-production prototype. The improvement in brightness is particularly significant because it was achieved with Cree’s standard XLamp® power LED package, rather than a developmental package. (December 2005) Learn more.

New Efficiency Record for White OLED Device
Osram Opto-Semiconductors, Inc. has successfully demonstrated a white OLED with a record efficiency of 25 lumens per watt, the highest known efficiency achieved to date for a polymer-based white OLED. In another breakthrough, Osram has developed the first polymer-OLED, “tunable” light source. (November 2005)
Learn more.

Large-area Photonic Crystal LED Fabricated
Lumileds Lighting, the University of New Mexico, and Sandia National Laboratories have demonstrated uniform light emission from the largest-area photonic crystal LED ever fabricated. A large-area device that can be extended to a more engineered, full-wafer patterning tool is essential for low-cost, high-volume manufacturing. (October 2005) Learn more.
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Advances in LED Chip Technology, Packaging
Significant advances in chip technology have enabled Cree, Inc.'s Santa Barbara Technology Center to demonstrate white LEDs with record efficacies as high as 74 lumens per watt - on par with fluorescent lighting systems and more than four times as efficient as incandescent sources. (November 2005) Learn more.

Low Voltage White Phosphorescent OLED Achievements
Universal Display Corporation teamed with Princeton University and the University of Southern California to develop low voltage, high efficiency white phosphorescent OLEDs (PHOLED™). The team succeeded in developing a white PHOLED that achieved a record 20 lumens per watt, operating at 6.3 V. (October 2004) Learn more.
Cantilever Epitaxy R&D 100 Award
Sandia National Laboratories received an R&D 100 Award from R&D Magazine for development of a new process for growing gallium nitride on an etched sapphire substrate. The process, called cantilever epitaxy, promises to make brighter and more efficient green, blue, and white LEDs. (October 2004) Learn more.
LED Pioneers Honored
In November 2003, two of DOE’s research partners – Dr. George Craford of Lumileds Lighting and Russell Dupuis of Georgia Institute of Technology – were awarded the 2002 National Medal of Technology. These pioneers were honored for their contributions to the development and commercialization of LED technology.
White LED Breakthroughs in Performance, Quality
Lumileds Lighting teamed with Sandia National Laboratories to investigate critical materials issues, including the use of semiconductor nanoparticles ("quantum dots") as luminescent down-converting materials for white LEDs. The nanoparticles produced conversion yields up to 76 percent, a world record. (April 2004) Learn more.
Size and Performance Breakthroughs in OLED Panels
General Electric Global Research teamed with Cambridge Display Technologies to develop a practical-sized OLED light panel that produces 1200 lumens of quality white light with an efficacy of 15 lumens/watt – on par with today’s incandescent bulb technology. This achievement broke two world records. (April 2004)
Learn more.


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