Scientists turn to fireflies to improve OLED efficiency
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 - 08:30
in Physics & Chemistry
(Phys.org)—Many insects, birds, fish, and amphibians emit light as a way to communicate with each other, but the species that produces light most efficiently is the firefly. In a new study, researchers have investigated the optical properties of the firefly's light-emitting cuticle, which is not smooth like most human-made lights, but instead is patterned with tiny hierarchical structures. Inspired by these features, the researchers replicated the patterns to create a bioinspired organic light-emitting diode (OLED), resulting in a 60% increase in the light extraction efficiency and 15% wider angle of illumination.