OLED technology was invented in the 1980s by Kodak. OLED displays, based on organic emitting materials and a simple structure, offer the best image quality, coupled with a simple design, high degree of flexibility and efficiency.
No wonder that OLEDs have taken over the display industry, and are used in smartphones, wearables, tablets, laptops and TVs. The OLED market is currently evaluated at over $40 billion dollars, and is expected to continue to grow as demand for OLEDs is rising in applications such as TV, IT and automotive.
OLED technology enables unique solutions that were not available before, such as foldable, rollable and stretchable displays, transparent screens and high-brightness microdisplays for VR and AR. These exciting new displays are now entering the market and are set to change how we view the world.
The potential of OLED technology is currently hindered by the quality of available emitter systems. First generation OLED emitters, based on fluorescence emission, are limited in efficiency. Second generation phosphorescent emitters offer higher efficiency, but suffer from a wide emission spectrum and need to rely on heavy metals. Although second-generation phosphorescence is highly efficient, it suffers from a wide emission spectrum, low color purity, and it relies on expensive rare metals.
A key challenge for the OLED industry is developing a blue emitter system with high power efficiency, a long lifetime a narrow spectrum. The industry is still looking for a technology that combines the advantages of fluorescence and phosphorescence, and achieves high luminous efficiency, narrow emission spectrum, and high color purity. In particular, a new technology for blue emission is highly sought-after.
Kyulux’s Hyperfluorescence™ emission system combines first-gen fluorescence emitters with third-gen TADF emitters. TADF molecules have a small energy gap between the singlet and the triplet energy states (⊿Est). This enables up-conversion of excited energy from triplet to singlet spin. In Hyperfluorescence™ emission, the TADF molecules generate the excitons, and the excited energy transfers to fluorescent molecules. This integrates the best of both worlds: the high efficiency of TADF emission and the narrow spectrum of fluorescent emitters.
These two technologies enable the ultimate OLED emission that offers:
Kyulux, established in 2015 in Japan, has an exclusive license to the Hyperfluorescence™ technology, originally developed in 2012 at Kyushu University. Kyulux brings together a top-notch team of researchers and chemists with a world-leading machine-learning AI materials system (licensed from Harvard University in 2016) to realize the potential of Hyperfluorescence™ technology.
In 2020, Kyulux commenced commercial shipments of its first material systems for PMOLED displays. The company is working with leading OLED makers, and is on track for full-scale commercialization of green AMOLED material systems in 2023 and red and blue AMOLED systems by 2024.
Kyulux’s OLED emitter systems outperform currently-used emitters in all important aspects: efficiency, emission spectrum, price and lifetime.
Kyulux’s mission is to create the future of OLED technology, based on its innovative materials, a leading team and advanced software technology. The company is developing an organic photonics ecosystem in Kyushu, to realize the full potential of OLED display and lighting technologies.
We would like to express our deep gratitude for all the wishes and condolences, and we hope Mr. Minakuchi will be remembered as a splendid venture capitalist and a good friend
On July 24, Kyulux welcomed a group of students from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands, who are visiting Japan on an educational tour
Kyulux is proud to be selected for this list and promises to keep working hard to fulfill its IP potential.
