New Hybrid Material for OLED and LCD

British scientists from the University of Hull have recently developed a new type of hybrid material, which may lead to an entirely new generation of OLED- and LCD-based displays, Technology Review reports. The material contains structures known as electroluminescent liquid crystals, which are apparently able to emit light when they are electrically stimulated. Behind the innovation was a team of scientists led by UH head of chemistry Stephen Kelly, and UH physicist Mary O'Neill.

Typical LCD devices work rather simply – the liquid crystals in the display are used to polarize the light coming in from a white background. In the new approach, the crystals themselves will emit light when electricity is applied on them. After Kelly made this discovery, back in 2000, he and O'Neill have been working around the clock for the past 9 years on perfecting it to the point where it could actually be used commercially for mass-production.

The recently-created, Leeds, UK-based Polar OLED is the company that spun out of the innovation. It now owns the patent to the new technology, and aims at working with representatives from the industry for designing and manufacturing new products. For instance, as far as OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) displays go, the new material could lead to the creation of entirely different, superior-performing diodes that could be used to increase viewers' visual pleasure. In the case of traditional LCD displays, simpler, but more effective back-lights could be created.

Physicists have known for a long time that liquid crystals are able to emit light when exposed to photons – the elementary particles making up light. But making them responsive to electrical impulses was another story entirely, the two scientists say. Over the past years, they worked most on improving the transport of the electrical charge through the material. Kelly adds that stacking or printing the new polymer layers close together is also feasible. This may favor the development of other types of applications for the material as well.