The future’s bright, the future’s OLED

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) will soon show our world in a new light: the days of small light sources are numbered; in future, entire walls, ceilings, façades and car exteriors will light up our lives. Empa is exploring OLED development as a new research area. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the light sources of the future. Luminescent paintwork on cars, colorful living room walls and kitchen ceilings that light up, billboards of a very different kind - all this will now be conceivable. Last year the EU project TREASORES, coordinated by Empa, created flexible, transparent electrodes, the basis for supple, rollable OLEDs. Acquiring the experience to fabricate and functionalize the multi-layered structures of OLEDs light sources is the next step forward. After all, manufacturing a homogenously lit wallpaper is anything but trivial.