Dec 18 2008
Scientists and engineers on GE's OLED research team rang in the 2008 holiday season with a first-ever OLED Christmas tree lighting at GE's Global Research Center headquarters in Niskayuna, NY. Illuminated in green light, GE's flexible OLED panels cut quite a tree and provide a glimpse at how this revolutionary lighting concept is going to transform the lighting industry.
Some members of the team illuminated under the green OLED glow
To see a video of the team and the lighting of the OLED Christmas tree, the video has been posted to You Tube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqMXk3mntOQ&feature=channel_page. You also can view a blog entry from GE's OLED program leader, Anil Duggal, at the Research Center's technology blog, From Edison's Desk, at www.grcblog.com.
"We haven't quite achieved Rockefeller or National Christmas tree lighting status yet, but we're well on our way," said Anil Duggal, who leads GE's OLED program. "We hope GE's OLED tree lighting will inspire and capture people's imagination during the holidays on the limitless possibilities of this next generation lighting concept."
"Customers will recognize that while this demonstration was more for holiday spirit and team camaraderie, it does reinforce how far OLED technology has come and how it is poised to revolutionize lighting and interior design," says John Strainic, global product general manager with GE Consumer & Industrial, which will commercialize OLEDs for businesses and consumers in the coming years.
OLEDs are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate when an electrical charge is applied. They represent the next evolution in lighting products. Their widespread design capabilities will provide an entirely different way for people to light their homes or businesses. Moreover, OLEDs have the potential to deliver dramatically improved levels of efficiency and environmental performance, while achieving the same quality of illumination found in traditional products in the marketplace today with less electrical power.
Earlier this year, GE scientists achieved a major research milestone by demonstrating the world's first roll-to-roll manufactured OLED lighting devices. This process for producing OLEDs has been likened to a newspaper printing process. Roll-to-roll manufacturing is seen as a key factor to making OLED lighting commercially viable in the general lighting industry.
Duggal said, "We're making great progress toward hitting the metrics needed to successfully introduce OLED lighting to market. We continue to make steady advances in efficiency, lifetime, and lighting-quality using device structures that can be made with roll-to-roll manufacturing, so that we'll be able to introduce OLED lighting at an affordable price."