Korean Materials Company Expected to Mass-Produce Blue Phosphorescent OLED Materials This Year

On February 17, Lordin, a South Korean OLED material supplier, announced at the Korea India OLED Innovation Forum held in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that it would mass?produce blue phosphorescent OLED materials within this year.

OLEDs consist of self?emissive materials. Depending on the light?emitting mechanism, OLEDs are classified into phosphorescent and fluorescent types. Fluorescent OLEDs have a theoretical internal light?emitting efficiency of only 25%, while phosphorescent OLEDs can reach nearly 100%. However, phosphorescent materials are less stable than fluorescent ones, making ideal implementation challenging.Among the three primary colors (RGB), red and green phosphorescent OLEDs have already been commercialized, but blue phosphorescent OLEDs-which consume the most power-suffer from short lifetime and have been difficult to apply in actual panels.

The head of Lordin’s research institute stated:“In fluorescent structures, three?quarters of energy is lost as heat, and heat generation directly shortens device lifetime.”

In OLEDs, electrons and holes meet and emit light in the Emissive Layer (EML) between the anode and cathode. Excitons-bound states of electrons and holes-play a key role.Based on spin combinations, singlet and triplet excitons are formed at a ratio of 1:3. Conventional fluorescent materials can only convert singlet excitons (25%) into light, with the remaining 75% dissipated as heat.

Phosphorescence utilizes triplet excitons for light emission, theoretically achieving 100% internal quantum efficiency. This means brighter emission at the same current, or equivalent brightness at lower power consumption.Lordin noted:“If efficiency is raised from 25% to 100%, brightness can be quadrupled at the same current level, and power consumption is expected to decrease by at least 25% to 50%.”This is expected to bring direct benefits such as longer smartphone battery life, high?brightness HDR for TVs, and improved outdoor visibility.

Thermal stability forms the foundation of blue phosphorescence development.Materials must withstand the heat of continuous manufacturing processes for more than one week while maintaining performance comparable to the initial deposition stage.Lordin emphasized:“Before pursuing efficiency, fundamentals such as thermal stability must first be secured.”

The company has focused on strengthening molecular structural stability.Through deuteration technology, C-H bonds are converted into C-D bonds, which reduce molecular vibrational energy and slow down decomposition.Lordin pointed out:“Deuteration plays an indispensable role in extending the lifetime of blue materials.”

Meanwhile, strategies for process simplification are being actively pursued.Conventional structures often use multiple components, such as n?type hosts, p?type hosts, and dopants.Lordin has proposed a proprietary structure called “ZETPLEX”, which combines a specific host and dopant.The concept is to reduce variables in the evaporation process by cutting the number of components, making process control easier.Lordin stressed:“Simplified structures help ensure uniformity in mass production, and stability and driving voltage characteristics are also improving.”

Lordin stated that development has entered the final stage in terms of efficiency, lifetime, and driving voltage.In particular, lifetime has improved significantly from the early stage, with room for further enhancement.The head of Lordin’s research institute said:“We are optimizing both materials and device structures in parallel. Our goal is to move beyond R&D and enter actual mass production and application this year.”

Once blue phosphorescence is mass?produced and adopted, the profit structure of the OLED industry is expected to shift.Lower power consumption at the same brightness will reshape panel cost structures, while reduced heat will help extend panel lifetime and reliability.Applications cover a wide range, including IT OLEDs, large?screen TVs, and next?generation extended reality (XR) devices.The industry believes that once blue phosphorescence technology matures, OLEDs will undergo another generational shift.

Although OLEDs already outperform LCDs in image quality competitiveness, there remains room for improvement in power efficiency, lifetime, and manufacturing stability.Lordin commented:“Blue phosphorescence is not an option but a necessary stage. The adoption of this technology will open the next decade of OLEDs.”