SAN JOSE, Calif., April 15 -- Osram Opto Semiconductors Inc. announced today it has reached the first milestone in a three-year, white organic light-emitting diode (OLED) project funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE): an advanced prototype light source based on two 2-inch x 3-inch white emitting tiles. It was awarded the $4.65 million grant in 2004 to research the potential of white OLEDs to save energy in commercial and residential lighting applications. The project supports the government's plan to introduce new technologies that will reduce costs, lower emissions and save energy. The DOE grant funds the development, fabrication and characterization of a 12-inch by 20-inch OLED white light prototype. Osram is matching the DOE’s $4.65 million for a project total of $9.3 million. In 2004, Osram became a member of the Organic LEDs for Lighting Applications consortium, a 24-member organization comprising European companies and research establishments. This consortium will receive more than $15 million from a European government commission to research high-brightness, high-efficiency, white OLEDs and demonstrate their use in general lighting applications. Osram is also a member of the Next-Generation Lighting Industry Alliance, a US organization sponsored by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association to foster a government/industry partnership that accelerates the technical foundation and commercialization of solid-state lighting systems. "The DOE announcement is significant, not only because it represents the DOE’s enormous commitment to the future of white OLEDs, but also because the project will result in a technological breakthrough: the development of the first energy-efficient, polymer OLED, solid-state lighting source based on white-emitting polymer materials," said Homer Antoniadis, DOE program director and head of OLED product development for Osram. The advanced white-light prototype is based on multiple, discrete 2 by 3 in. white-light devices fabricated on glass substrates. Osram’s first-year deliverable is an advanced prototype light source where each tile in the module has a luminous efficacy of 7 lumens per watt (lm/W) and a color-rendering index of about 80. The prototype operates at an average luminance of 250 nits. At the end of the program, Osram will produce a color-balanced OLED white light source with a luminous efficacy of 40 lumens per watt at 800 nits and an operating half-life of 3000 hours. Osram said its materials and device organization and its processing group are working closely with major polymer materials suppliers and academic institutions to develop the polymer emissive technology needed to meet the DOE project’s performance milestones. Its product development team is creating the white lighting module, including the electronic control, for powering the lighting source. The lighting module will be field-tested by commercial lighting groups within Osram. The second milestone, scheduled for February 2006, is an advanced white-light prototype based on eight discrete 2 by 3-in. white-light devices fabricated on glass substrates. The OLED white-light source will have a luminous efficacy of 20 lumens per watt at 400 nits and an operating half-life of 3000 hours. The program will conclude in February 2007 with the delivery of a white-light prototype based on 32 tiles. For more information, visit: www.osram-os.com