The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded five Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grants targeting advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. The SBIR program seeks to increase the participation of small businesses in federal research and development. These five SBIR Phase I awards will explore the technical merit or feasibility of an innovative concept or technology.

To learn more about the DOE Office of Science SBIR program, visit https://science.energy.gov/sbir/.

The Phase I awards related to SSL are listed below:

Recipient: Add-Vision, Inc.
Title: Materials Degradation Analysis and Development to Enable Ultra Low-Cost Web-Processed White P-OLED for SSL

Summary: This project will develop new technologies for ultra low-cost printing of specialty SSL in thin, flexible and robust forms. By identifying the degradation mechanisms of the light-emitting organic materials and developing targeted solutions, this project will bring this technology to products using U.S.-based manufacturing.

Recipient: Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation
Title: Flexible Environmental Barrier Technology for OLEDs

Summary: This project seeks to develop improved moisture barriers for increased lifetimes for flexible OLED lighting. The public benefits of a viable OLED display industry are due to the revolutionary transformation in energy efficiency, as the U.S. gradually shifts to LED and OLED-based lighting.

Recipient: Nanomaterials and Nanofabrication Laboratories 
Title: Improved Light Extraction Efficiencies of White pc-LEDs for SSL by using Non-Toxic, Non-Scattering, Bright, and Stable Doped ZnSe Quantum Dot Nanophosphors

Summary: This project will develop novel non-toxic doped-semiconductor nanophosphors to improve the energy efficiency of high brightness white LEDs for general illumination applications. The nationwide energy cost savings for lighting in buildings alone could reach billions of dollars annually and provide an environmentally benign alternative to fluorescent lamps which contain mercury vapor.

Recipient: Universal Display Corporation
Title: Stable, Efficient, Large Area WOLED

Summary: This project will utilize novel OLED fabrication techniques enabling highly efficient stable, organic, solid-state lighting sources to replace short lifetime 12 lm/W incandescent sources and hence reduce overall energy consumption in the U.S.

Recipient: Universal Display Corporation
Title: High Stability White SOLEDs

Summary: This project will increase the conversion efficiency of electrical energy into light for white-organic-light emitting devices and thereby enable replacement of inefficient conventional incandescent bulbs.