beeOLED is developing blue OLED emitters based on a novel approach: the use of rare-earth metal complexes, such as those with cerium or europium as the central atom. These are stabilized with organic ligands and made vacuum-vaporizable.
beeOLED was founded in November 2020 with EXIST funding by the two OLED experts Dr. Carsten Rothe and Dr. Volodymyr Senkovskyy and has since grown to 25 employees. Initial technical successes have been achieved and protected by patent applications.
In addition to the pilot plant discussed here, the technical infrastructure for implementing the project is already in place at beeOLED. In particular, beeOLED has a well-equipped synthesis laboratory and access to various analytical techniques (NMR, IR, MS, EA, HPLC). This includes, in particular, the fabrication and characterization of emitters in OLED components at the R&D level using so-called single-chamber vacuum evaporation systems. In these systems, a complete OLED, consisting of approximately six layers with a total of about ten materials, is fabricated in a vacuum vessel. Cross-contamination of the materials can occur here, which limits the properties of the OLED.
Project objective: While the suitability of a newly synthesized emitter material can be demonstrated using the evaporation systems currently available at beeOLED, this is only sufficient for the requirements of the research phase of these materials. To successfully implement one of our materials with the customer (the OLED display manufacturer), we need to be able to test the materials in production environments and with OLED stacks similar to those used in manufacturing.
The main technical topics are:
a) Providing more statistical data in general,
b) Complex emission layers and optimizing lifespan,
c) Testing new materials in a so-called top-emission OLED (the standard for smaller OLED displays),
d) Ensuring sufficient thermal stability of the emitters for mass production facilities.
beeOLED simply cannot manage all these pilot phase tests without its own OLED material pilot plant with more than one process chamber – the commercialization of the research results is at risk. Therefore, beeOLED must invest in such an OLED material pilot plant and expand its R&D work accordingly.
The target group for the new beeOLED technology is, in principle, all OLED manufacturers. The total global consumption of blue emitters is currently approximately 580 kg/year (data inferred from several statements by DSCC). This amount is expected to grow to approximately 880 kg/year by 2027. Assuming a selling price for such advanced OLED emitters between €500/g and €1,000/g, the addressable market for beeOLED is between €440 million and €880 million per year. We expect material sales revenues of €10 million starting in 2028. Revenues are then projected to increase significantly in subsequent years, reaching a target of €177 million by 2029.
The grant of EUR 2,533,321.05 is provided from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and from tax revenues based on the budget approved by the Saxon State Parliament.
Almost everyone is familiar with OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) today: they are used in high-quality televisions and smartphones and light up thanks to wafer-thin layers of organic semiconductors. In our research project funded by the Sächsische AufbauBank, we have chosen a special approach: We are developing blue emitters based on lanthanide complexes (for example, europium and cerium). These rare earths are not only durable and efficient, but are actually quite common in the earth's crust - which makes their use affordable and sustainable.
Over the course of the project, we have not only successfully finalised a first molecular structure class, but also discovered a second, completely novel series of compounds. Both are now rapidly moving us towards commercialisation. In addition, we have already synthesised over 300 previously unknown molecules and registered around ten patents. This shows impressively how much potential there is in these new materials.
The grant totalling EUR 2,235,635.41 is being provided from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and from tax revenue on the basis of the budget approved by the Saxon state parliament.
