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Researchers develop OLED illuminated surfaces
We've seen transparent OLEDs before, but researchers at the University of Southern California and Princeton University have taken things one step further, developing white-light organic light emitting diodes that can cover just about any surface and act as a light source. The new OLEDs are the result of 13 years of research by Mark Thompson of USC and Stephen Forrest of Princeton, who previously invented single-color OLEDs but, until now, have been unable to overcome the fast burnout time of the white-light types. The trick, as it turned out, was to use a fluorescent dye for the blue component of the OLED instead of a phosphorescence one, which consumed too much energy. Don't start redesigning your place to accomodate glowing surfaces just yet though, they still need to come up with a way of making a plastic backing that'll cover a large area and not allow any humidity to pass through, which degrades the OLED.[Via Inhabitat]
