| WHAT IS OLED? | | | | cellular phones because the technology is brighter, |
| Short for organic light-emitting diode, a display device | | | | thinner, faster and lighter than LCDs, use less power, |
| that sandwiches carbon-based films between two | | | | offer higher contrast and are cheaper to manufacture. |
| charged electrodes, one a metallic cathode and one a | | | | An important step in the evolutionary process began |
| transparent anode, usually being glass. | | | | with the use of thin-film organic layers. The first EL |
| The organic films consist of a hole-injection layer, a | | | | thin-film device used a single organic layer sandwiched |
| hole-transport layer, an emissive layer and an | | | | between two injecting electrodes. |
| electron-transport layer. When voltage is applied to the | | | | OLEDs are the latest and most promising buzzwords |
| OLED cell, the injected positive and negative charges | | | | in display technology. To give you an idea of their |
| recombine in the emissive layer and create electro | | | | potential, imagine a cardboard-thin TV screen. Now |
| luminescent light. Unlike LCDs, which require backlighting, | | | | imagine that you can roll up your TV, put it away or |
| OLED displays are emissive devices - they emit light | | | | carry it wherever you go. |
| rather than modulate transmitted or reflected light. | | | | Automatically, you start appreciating why millions, if not |
| OLED technology was invented by Eastman Kodak in | | | | billions, of dollars are being poured into OLED research |
| the early 1980s. It is beginning to replace LCD | | | | every year. |
| technology in handheld devices such as PDAs and | | | | |