May 28 2008
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and celebrated lighting designer Ingo Maurer have unveiled a revolutionary lighting application based on organic LEDs (OLEDs), which will make its first US show appearance at LightFair in Las Vegas, NV (May 26-30, 2008). Ingo Maurer is the first to use OSRAM OLEDs in a functioning table light. OLEDS are composed of thin films of organic molecules and use less power than conventional light-emitting diodes. The limited-edition lamp, titled "Early Future," shines with OSRAM OLED tiles and demonstrates the enormous potential of using OLEDs to create future applications with eye-catching illumination and creative design elements.
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors made OLED prototypes available to the designer for his exclusive creation. “We are excited to bring this new design application to the US,” said Tom Shottes, President and CEO, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Inc. “The creation of this lamp helps to demonstrate the possible applications and design projects involving OLEDs.”
From prototypes to works of art
Ingo Maurer used OLED tiles with an area of 132 x 33 millimeters for his creation. Maurer has been shaping developments in light-as-art and lighting design for many years and has received numerous awards. “‘Early Future’ represents an important stage in the transition from abstract object to functional designer lighting,” he said. In 1966 he exhibited the designer luminaire Bulb which has been on exhibit in the New York Museum of Modern Art since 1969 along with his additional works.
OLEDs – a journey from the laboratory to the home
Organic LEDs offer all the familiar benefits of LEDs such as high energy efficiency, low operating voltage and mercury-free design with their own unique and impressive properties. The light source is not a collection of individual light points but a uniform light-generating surface. Initial laboratory prototypes from OSRAM showed the property of transparent light in a usable tile size. Thanks to the layer structure, it is possible to produce not only very thin OLEDs but also scalable ones for various applications.
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has a team of approximately 50 research engineers working on the development of OLEDs. “In the future it will be possible to use OLEDs as flexible or transparent light sources. A transparent OLED over a window in a roof would allow natural light in during the day and provide fascinating illumination for the room at night,” said Dr. Bernhard Stapp, Head of Solid State Lighting at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors.
There are possible applications for these new OLED light sources in the automotive industry as well, for example rear lighting elements could someday be integrated entirely within the rear windshield.