Osram launch pilot production in Germany

Over the course of one year, Osram invested approximately 20 million Euros in building up the production site. Currently it employs more than 220 people at its Regensburg West location. The new pilot production line enables Osram to manufacture transparent OLED-panels. In the last stage of expansion the manufacturing costs are expected to decline by 90%. “Two years ago, we were the first company to offer serial OLED-products on the market. The new production is a major leap on the way to widespread use.,” Martin Goetzeler, Member of the Managing Board and Chief Operating Officer of Osram AG, stated. Apart from LED, which is already suited for mass-market distribution today, OLED is the lighting source of the future. Osram is the only company with production sites for both LED and OLED in Europe. Today, two thirds of Osram’s investments in research and development are made in the field of LED and OLED. In the past five years the company has invested approximately 50 million Euros in research and development of OLED. Viewed from a purely technical aspect, OLED, just as its affiliated technology LED, refers to semiconductors that convert electricity into light. While LED emits light in a punctiform manner on the basis of a tiny shining chip, the so-called OLED-panels generate a luminous surface. In order for OLEDs to produce light, different organic synthetic materials are evaporated onto a basic material. The luminous layer of OLED has a thickness of approx. 400 nanometres – which is equal to one hundredth of the thickness of a single human hair. When switched off, OLED can either display a mirroring effect, be neutrally white or transparent, all depending on the basic material.