Organic LED

[Stiganator]

How in the heck is it organic? How does it work?

 

[rimshaker]

It is organic in that the material used to fabricate the LED are plastics or polymers, much more flexible and sturdy than the conventional semiconductor material being used. How does it work? Pretty much the same way. Electrons are injected into the material and the extra charges force atoms into an excited state. When these molecules try to return to their lower energy states, they release the extra energy as a photon (light). That's basically how it works. Organic materials are much cheaper to use and aren't as fragile/brittle as normal semiconductor pieces.

 

[Elledan]

The only problem with OLED's so far is that they don't last very long. Last time I checked, blue OLED's lasted only about a 1,000 hours. This means that after a while the colors of an OLED display will start to fade.

 

[BraeBrae]

<< The only problem with OLED's so far is that they don't last very long. Last time I checked, blue OLED's lasted only about a 1,000 hours. This means that after a while the colors of an OLED display will start to fade. >>



You should se what some people are willing to pay in home theater projectors where bulbs ($400-600) last only 1,000 hours. Also, keep in mind that if the costs are on the order of 0.25 to 0.10 that of current LCD/TFT/Plasma technologies and the robustness of manufacturing can be equal or more robust than LCD/TFT/Plasma, this may be well worth it.

Think of OLED like you would have the first portable (i.e. cell) phones. Its only a matter of time (considering the life cycle of technologies in computing) and money. Personally, one could do a lot with a 1,000-hour OLED screen thats 100" diagonal and costing $500. Only a dream, but my dream it is.