The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded small business innovation research grants to Applied Nanotech and Universal Display for research on thermal management for LEDs and research on high efficacy WOLEDs respectively.

The grant awarded to Applied Nanotech, for $149,933, will explore using the CarbAl heat-transfer material in a high-power LED circuit board. The goal is to use lower cost materials and less complex printing techniques for the boards. The CarbAl heat transfer material has a combination of low density, high thermal diffusivity, high thermal conductivity, and a low coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) that results in a material that exceeds the capabilities of conventional passive thermal management materials.

The grant awarded to Universal Display, for $150,000, will focus on the company's research in a single-layer outcoupling manufacturing technique that can deliver External Quantum Efficiencies (EQE) of greater than 42%, providing superior light extraction when compared to high-efficiency phosphorescent white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLED) produced with no outcouping enhancement. This increase in EQE will demonstrate a two square-millimeter WOLED lighting pixel with an efficacy of more than 80 lm/W, a CRI of over 80, and a lifetime to L70 of more than 30,000 hours in a lighting system with a total thickness of three millimeters or less.

This grant is part of steps in achieving the DOE's target of 140 lm/W in an OLED lighting system. Universal Display has already achieved a research milestone of 102 lm/W with a WOLED research lighting panel. This grant will expand on the company's research in developing high efficacy lighting solutions.