LASER World of PHOTONICS 2013: LEDs and OLEDs ring in new era in illumination

Munich. LEDs and, in the future, OLEDs – i.e. organic light diodes – are marking the beginning of a new era in illumination. Besides saving a great deal of energy, these semiconductor light sources allow entirely new illumination scenarios. These and other recent trends will be the focus of the international trade fair LASER World of PHOTONICS 2013 from May 13 – 16 as well as the related World of Photonics Congress from May 12 – 16, 2013 – both at the Messe München trade-fair center.

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Energy-saving lamps have just established themselves, but there is already a threat that they could be replaced by LEDs. They are not only extremely durable and save a great deal of energy, they can also be used for a much wider variety of applications than previous light sources. Experts believe that energy consumption in the lighting sector could be reduced by 50 percent using targeted measures such as modern LED technology. That would correspond to a reduction in global electricity consumption of nearly ten percent.

LED technology has already established itself in cell phones, televisions and automobiles. When it comes to illumination in the public and private sector as well as in industrial buildings, LED lighting is forging ahead. Prof. Dr. Andreas Tünnermann, Head of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering (IOF) explains: “Among other things, this development is being driven by the fact that LED lights are being incorporated into intelligent networks for business control as well as by new concepts for financing and providing lighting solutions such as “light contracting” energy providers for street lighting.”

Flexible light control improves traffic safety

According to the Fraunhofer researcher, one clear advantage of LED lighting over other technologies lies in the ability to flexibly control intensity distribution and color temperature. This is important for street lighting, for example, so that it can be adjusted to the time of day and to weather conditions. This also makes it possible to avoid dangerous glare in rain and fog.

Combined with intelligent controls, the flexibility of LEDs also allows new application scenarios in other areas. For example, adapting the color of light for use in specific situations continues to make progress. On long-haul flights, for example, colored cabin light is now being used to get passengers used to the local time at their destination. Blue light signals morning light to the body, whereas higher percentages of red cause the human body to adjust for evening.

Cool light keeps you awake

The influence that light color has on the human body can also be put to use at home and at the workplace. Colder light helps people to stay awake and remain concentrated. A warmer pleasant light helps people feel comfortable and stay relaxed. Developers are also working on ways to use LEDs to imitate brightness and light colors that exist outdoors and replicate them in indoor areas such as offices. However, a number of studies are still being conducted in this field to better understand how the color of light affects human health and activity.

LEDS – Advertising and information display resolutions continue to increase

Thanks to LEDs, a great deal of progress has also been made on outdoor advertising and information displays. In this case, viewers and advertising companies that have become increasingly accustomed to high-definition (HD) devices in the private sector are demanding increasingly higher display quality here, as well. In current solutions, this is achieved by using a larger number of very small LED pixels in the displays. This improvement is also possible due to the declining prices of LED components. However, pixel numbers will have to increase even further to realize 3D displays in the future. In this field, Osram Opto Semiconductors is putting its money on durable, weatherproof multi-chip LEDs that consist of a red, a green and a blue SMT LED chip in a single housing. This makes the individual pixels smaller, permits higher pixel densities and increases the resolution.

OLEDs permit large number of design variants

Organic light-emitting diodes, or OLEDs, also offer completely new design possibilities. Ultra-flat, two-dimensional, bendable and – if desired – even transparent: these are the main advantages of this technology, which the industry is promoting energetically. Manufacturers have already introduced the first demonstration products with entirely new design alternatives. Transparent OLED tiles from Osram, for example, have a luminous surface of 18 x 6.5 centimeters. They let through 57 percent of incident light and generate a luminous flux of 20 lumens per watt. Series production should begin in 2014. But as Lars Unnebrink, Senior Technology Consultant at the VDI Technology Center, explains: “The average consumer will still have to wait a bit for OLED lighting until the triad of cost, brightness and service life of the OLED is brought into harmony with the demands to be met and the financial possibilities.”

Market for light-emitting diodes: High growth rates

When it comes to energy efficiency, what are now considered “conventional” LEDs lead the way. Right now, commercially available LEDs generate a luminous flux of up to 100 lumens per watt, which is more or less at the same level as discharge lamps, which are considerably more expensive. “Under laboratory conditions, LEDs can even achieve values of between 150 and 180 lumens per watt, which corresponds to efficiency rates in the neighborhood of 60 to 70 percent,” explains Unnebrink. OLED technology, which is still new compared to LEDs, is still working on values of 30 to 40 lumens per watt – but that is already twice that of the classic incandescent lamp.

The pressure to save energy and the diverse range of new potential applications for LEDs continues to promote the spread of LEDs and is resulting in enormous market growth. While they have seen widespread use, especially in mobile telephones, DVD players, notebooks and televisions, now they are gaining a stronghold in the illumination sector. According to studies, they accounted for just 1.4 percent of the illumination sector in 2010 – but that is expected to increase to more than nine percent by 2014. Overall sales of LEDs are expected to increase from USD 7.2 (2010) to 12.7 billion by 2014.

Experts also expect almost explosive growth – albeit from a modest level – for organic light-emitting diodes. The global OLED market is expected to grow by more than 90 percent per year from 2011 to 2020. Global sales of OLEDs should reach USD 8.3 billion by 2020.

Practice-oriented lectures and product innovations

The World of Photonics Congress will include an entire session featuring Application Panels dedicated to LEDs and OLEDs. On May 15, there will be an Application Panel on “Solid-state Light Sources” (10 a.m. in Hall B2) that explains how the latest LED and OLED modules can be used for energy-saving and resource-efficient illumination indoors, outdoors and for a number of technical applications.

Examples of recent innovations in the illumination sector include improved light diodes for automobile headlights. Osram Semiconductors has developed a special LED for this automotive application that permits high luminous flux levels, even at high temperatures. The solution simplifies thermal management in automobile headlights considerably.

Recently introduced color-inspection lights based on light-emitting diodes are proving that earlier restrictions to light color in LEDs can now be overcome. That is because inspecting colors, especially in the printing, automotive and textile industries, places the highest demands on the light source’s spectral characteristics. Now a multispectral LED light source can be used to reproduce the widest variety of spectral distributions.

As an extremely homogeneous flat light source, classic integrating spheres are still used to measure illumination sources and adjust optical systems. Inside the sphere, the projected light is reflected and diffused over a broad spectral range. Besides systems with a classic barium sulfate coating, OptoPolymer is introducing versions with a high-quality polymer coating that, among other things, can reflect evenly across an even wider wavelength range.

When it comes to displays, the trend is toward increasing the maximum angle at which the display can still be viewed. Affordable technologies now exist that make it possible to see them at angles of up to 80 degrees. There have also been improvements in touchscreen displays. SCHOTT and the US-based company JDSU are introducing a jointly developed surface coating that features properties that could not be combined until now – i.e. a non-reflecting coating that ensures high image contrast and keeps the surface free of ugly finger prints at the same time.

The press release and respective pictures can be found at http://world-of-photonics.net/en/laser/press/pressreleases   

Details about the World of Photonics Congress 2013 are available at http://www.photonics-congress.com.

Photos from the 2011 fair are available at http://media.messe-muenchen.de/Laser/Standard_e/SelectCatalog_Presse.jsp

Press Contact:

Claudia Huber

Trade Fair PR Manager

Phone: +49 89 949 21471

Fax: +49 89 949 97 21471

E-mail: claudia.huber@messe-muenchen.de