Nanoholdings, a commercialization network of leading University scientists providing innovative solutions to global energy and water problems, today congratulates Prof. Andrew Rinzler, a member of the company’s scientific network from the University of Florida, and his co-authors Dr. Mitchell McCarthy, Dr. Bo Liu, Dr. Do Young Kim, Dr. Franky So, and Evan Donoghue for their article “Low-Voltage, Low-Power, Organic Light-Emitting Transistors for Active Matrix Displays,” published in the April 29th issue of Science Magazine. The article details the team’s innovative work in organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, which will bring newfound energy efficiencies and performance improvements to flat-panel displays. Nanoholdings plans to commercialize the technology through their portfolio company nVerPix.
“We are very proud to see the work of Andrew and his team validated in such an esteemed peer-reviewed journal,” said Nanoholdings CEO Justin Hall-Tipping. “With advantages in energy efficiency, screen performance and product lifespan, we believe that this work will add tremendous value to the marketplace, and are very excited to help its adoption into tomorrow’s displays.”
OLEDs are the long-awaited energy efficient successors to LCD flat panel displays, conserving energy while overcoming the viewing angle limitations of LCD displays. Typical OLEDs currently used in handheld devices use polycrystalline silicon in the backplane transistors. To date, homogeneity problems in polycrystalline silicon have limited the size of these displays.
In a novel vertical design described in the article, the Rinzler group’s innovation exploits an ultrathin film of carbon nanotubes as the transistor source electrode to drive higher currents at lower voltages. More recently, teaming up with OLED experts and fellow Nanoholdings network scientists Dr. Do Young Kim and Dr. Franky So of the University of Florida Materials Science and Engineering Department, the group has integrated the OLED layers into a carbon nanotube-enabled vertical light-emitting transistor (CN-VOLET). As reported in Science Magazine, by integrating the drive transistor and the OLED within the CN-VOLET, the device gains an advantage in energy efficiency, and because the light emitter occupies a larger fraction of the pixel area, it allows for comparable light output at lower current density known to benefit device longevity.
The CN-VOLETs demonstrated in the paper are more than eight times more energy efficient than the next best vertical architecture organic semiconductor channel layer technology and operate at voltages and power dissipation comparable to the OLEDs presently in hand held devices. Such comparable efficiency is a first for an organic channel material which could also provide the long sought-after solution to the homogeneity problem plaguing polycrystalline silicon. In a video released with the paper, the researchers also talk of measurements indicating switching speeds of hundreds of kHz – more than fast enough for large size HDTVs.
The Science Magazine article is available to subscribers at: www.sciencemag.org/content/current
About Nanoholdings
Nanoholdings seeks answers to our most pressing global resource problems by positioning leading University scientists as co-founders and shareholders in ventures that accelerate important technology breakthroughs. By harnessing the collaborative efficiencies of University laboratories and research institutions, Nanoholdings can quickly enable higher performing, more efficient products in a cost-compelling way. The company is based in Rowayton, Connecticut with offices in Singapore and Silicon Valley, and is engaged with scientists at more than 15 Universities around the world.