Michele Ricks

The Next Dimensions in OLED Materials Development

Traditional OLED materials development strives to find new molecular structures improving the three fundamental parameters of stack performance: Efficiency, Voltage and Lifetime. We call it the “Magic Triangle”. Whilst this remains very important, new dimensions of development have evolved. Deuteration can have tremendous benefits for device lifetime without trade-offs in efficiency or voltage. The use of new emitter technologies might revolutionize the energy efficiency of OLED panels. And display artefacts like pixel crosstalk or transient phenomena linked to stack capacity can only be tackled by a more holistic view on materials development. In addition, advanced computer modeling opens new doors to property prediction, and sustainability has become a strong driver, even in early stages of development. This situation adds complexity but, if well handled, it also offers tremendous chances in how OLED materials and thus OLED panels can move to the next level. This will not only broaden OLED’s footprint in mobile and TV, but also in e.g. automotive and IT, where OLED annual growth rates of well over 30% have been predicted.

Michele is currently Business Development Manager, OLED Technical Marketing at EMD Electronics, a business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, specializing in OLED materials. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the OLED industry, working with manufacturers worldwide. Michele was an integral member of the Kodak team that successfully launched production of the world’s first Active Matrix OLED display. She holds 20 granted US patents in the areas of OLED materials, processes and device architecture and has commercialized new materials.