Citing an initial investment of 20 million Euros, Osram announced that it has opened a pilot-production line for the manufacture of organic LEDs in Regensburg, Germany.

The new pilot-production line enables Osram to manufacture transparent OLED-panels. One goal is to double the brightness of the OLEDs, while improving efficiency and further strengthening panel durability. In the last stage of expansion, Osram expects to reduce OLED manufacturing costs by 90 percent.

While inorganic LEDs use semiconductors to convert electricity into light, OLED panels generate a luminous surface based on a very thin stack of organic semiconductor layers that have been evaporated onto a thin surbstrate (400 nm total thickness). When switched off, the OLED can either display a mirroring effect, be neutrally white or transparent, depending on the basic material.