
EU R&D project integrates intelligence into OLED modules
The systems to be developed within the scope of IMOLA will be used in future energy-efficient wall, ceiling and car dome lighting, where the light intensity can be adjusted intelligently, e.g. according to the time of the day or weather conditions.
OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) are paper-thin, flexible and lightweight electronic devices. They consist of organic materials which emit light in response to an electric current. OLEDs consume up to 70% less energy compared to conventional incandescent bulbs. This feature set makes OLED technology a prime candidate for the next generation of energy-saving lighting. But before flexible large-area OLED lighting can be commercialized, more R&D is needed to solve some outstanding challenges. These areas, which mainly concern the driving electronics, power distribution, integration and miniaturization, as well as sensors and application intelligence, will be tackled by IMOLA.
The IMOLA consortium includes industrial and academic partners that are leaders in their field of expertise. Next to project coordinator Imec, the partners involved in IMOLA are TNO/Holst Centre (Netherlands), Philips Technologie (Germany), NXP Semiconductors (Netherlands, Belgium), Hanita Coatings RCA (Israel), Henkel Electronic Materials (Belgium), Centro Ricerche Plast-optica (Italy), and the FER department of the University of Zagreb (Croatia).
IMOLA’s application demonstrators in the areas of car and wall lighting will raise public awareness and acceptance for environmental-friendly OLED lighting. In addition, IMOLA will help create a common OLED infrastructure on a European scale. IMOLA’s R&D results will help to give Europe a leading edge in OLED fabrication, especially in the field of high value-added applications, such as automotive lighting.
