CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, 11th October 2004 –  In May 2004, Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) announced that it had developed blue electroluminescent materials which achieved 30,000 hours lifetime @ 100cd/m².  CDT is now able to report that lifetimes of 70,000 hours have been achieved.

The key parameters that describe the performance of a polymer light emitting diode (P-OLED) display are efficiency, colour and lifetime.  While red and green P-OLEDs have been developed with adequately long lifetimes for some consumer electronic products, the lifetime of blue P-OLEDs has been much shorter.  Faced with this limitation, CDT has established a cross-functional, ongoing research team made up of chemists, materials scientists, device physicists and process engineers.

As a result, CDT’s materials partners now have available red, green and blue polymers with lifetimes that open up many new display product applications.

An important benefit for manufacturers is that it is now possible to access a range of P-OLED materials optimised for a single (barium cathode) architecture that is compatible with all colours. (Previously each colour required its own optimised cathode type.)

Lifetime data is derived from accelerated testing at high brightness or temperature, using an empirically determined acceleration factor. A minimum number of test displays have to achieve the stated performance, and all claims are rounded down.

Note to editors: When ‘lifetime’ is discussed here, it refers to the time taken for the display to fall to half its initial stated brightness.

About CDT
Cambridge Display Technology is a global leader in the research, development and commercialisation of light emitting polymers (P-OLEDs), which are targeted for use in a wide range of electronic display products used for information management, communications and entertainment. Features include reduced power consumption, size, thickness and weight, very wide viewing angle, superior video imaging performance and the potential for use on flexible display substrates. Current CDT licensees are actively developing their manufacturing strategies. Founded in 1992, the company is headquartered in Cambridge, UK. www.cdtltd.co.uk