Research Highlights

DOE partners with leading researchers from industry, academia, and national laboratories to accelerate advances in solid-state lighting (SSL). These researchers have made dramatic progress in just a few years, achieving several world records as well as national recognition.

Since DOE began funding SSL research projects in 2000, a total of 139 patents have been applied for or awarded. For more information, see the SSL Patents fact sheet. Download Adobe Reader.

Collaborative, cost-shared DOE R&D projects combine the technical resources of premier research institutions and national laboratories with the product development, manufacturing, and commercialization expertise of industry leaders. DOE invests in research projects that target the needed improvements in price, performance, and manufacturability to speed SSL technologies to market.

For a complete listing of current DOE SSL R&D projects, see the Project Portfolio.

		WhiteOptics' Low-Cost Reflector Composite Boosts LED Fixture Efficiency With the help of DOE funding, WhiteOptics has developed a composite coating that can be used to improve efficiency in backlit, indirect, and cavity-mixing LED luminaire designs by maximizing light reflection and output. The highly diffuse coating, which is based on a novel high-reflectance particle technology, allows for uniform distribution of light without exaggerating the point-source nature of the LEDs, and is intended to offer an overall system cost-improving solution for LED optics. (April 2012) Learn more.
		DuPont Displays Develops Low-Cost Method of Printing OLED Panels DuPont Displays Inc. (DDI) has developed a novel way of printing color-tunable OLED lighting panels that keeps manufacturing costs low. The method involves processing the organic layers from solution, with most of the process steps taking place under atmospheric conditions rather than in a high vacuum. Industry-standard slot-coating methods are used in conjunction with nozzle printing—in which the solutions of organic materials are continuously jetted through an array of nozzles moving at high speed—allowing the light-emitting materials to be spatially patterned. (April 2012) Learn more.
		UDC Teaming with Acuity to Make Commercial-Sector PHOLED Luminaire With support from DOE's Small Business Innovation Research program, Universal Display Corporation (UDC) is working with Acuity Brands Lighting to make an efficient, color-tunable luminaire for use in the commercial sector using UDC's proprietary phosphorescent OLED (PHOLED^TM) technology. The present project aims to adapt this technology—which increases the energy efficiency of OLEDs by as much as fourfold—to high-end commercial and institutional building applications. (April 2012) Learn more.
		OSRAM SYLVANIA Develops High-Efficiency LED Troffer Replacement With the help of DOE funding, OSRAM SYLVANIA is developing a high-efficiency LED 2'x2' troffer replacement that is expected to be commercially available in the spring of 2012 and to be cost-competitive with existing troffers of that size. It is projected to have a light output of up to 4,000 lumens, an efficacy of more than 100 lm/W, and a CCT of 3500K. (April 2012) Learn more.
		Philips Light Sources & Electronics is Developing an Efficient, Smaller, Cost-Effective Family of LED Drivers With the help of DOE funding, Philips Light Sources & Electronics is developing a new family of LED drivers that are more efficient and cost-effective as well as smaller in size than currently available drivers. The new drivers are switch-mode power supplies that are similar to today's drivers, but with an improved design. In addition, they have a different topology—boost plus LLC—for wattages of 40W and above, but retain the commonly used flyback topology at lower wattages. (April 2012) Learn more.
		KLA-Tencor's Inspection Tool Reduces LED Manufacturing Costs With the help of DOE funding, KLA-Tencor is developing an improved inspection tool for LED manufacturing that promises to significantly increase overall process yields and minimize expensive waste. The project is based around KLA-Tencor's Candela inspection technology and includes the successful realization of several significant technical enhancements that have improved defect sensitivity. The new tools are currently being used by a number of key manufacturers as part of the project evaluation stage. (March 2011) Learn more.
		Veeco Develops Tools to Drive Down HBLED Costs Veeco is working in partnership with Sandia National Laboratories and Philips Lumileds to drive down the cost of high-brightness LEDs by implementing process simulation tools and by improving temperature measurement and control methods to increase MOCVD yield. (August 2011) Learn more.
		UDC Develops Prototype High-Efficiency OLED Undercabinet Luminaire Universal Display Corporation (UDC) has demonstrated the real-world application of a novel lighting technology by developing two pre-prototype OLED undercabinet lighting systems that exceed 420 total lumens at an efficacy of more than 55 lm/W, with an estimated lifetime (LT70) in excess of 10,000 hours, and a color rendering index (CRI) greater than 85. (September 2011) Learn more.
		DOE Investment Yields R&D 100 Award Winner in Energy-Efficient Lighting RTI International's nanofiber lighting improvement technology (NLITe™) has been honored with a 2011 R&D 100 Award. Established in 1963 by the editors of R&D Magazine, the annual R&D 100 Awards identify the 100 most significant, newly introduced research and development advances of the past year in multiple disciplines. (June 2011) Learn more.