There is no necessary boundary between basic research and applied research on OLED

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the most eye-catching and fastest-growing direction in the currently very active field of organic optoelectronics research. In October 2008, my country's first large-scale OLED production line designed and built independently was officially put into production. The completion of the production line was rated as one of my country's 10 major technological advances in 2008 by Science and Technology Herald. In the same month of the same year, Academician Zhou Guangzhao, former Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress and former Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, inspected the production line and had a conversation with Qiu Yong, the project leader and professor at Tsinghua University. Qiu Yong said: "Through the conversation with Mr. Zhou and combined with my own scientific research practice, I have a clearer understanding of the relationship between basic research and applied research. Any discipline has basic research content and applied research content, but the two cannot be separated."

Qiu Yong, who is also the director of the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics and Molecular Engineering at Tsinghua University, the leader of the expert group of the Ministry of Science and Technology's "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" 863 New Flat Panel Display Technology Major Project, and the chief scientist of Visionox, published an article entitled "Research Progress and Development Trends of Organic Optoelectronic Materials" in the third issue of "Frontier Science" in 2010. The article pointed out: "The rapid development of organic optoelectronics over the past decade has largely benefited from the close integration and mutual promotion of basic research and applied research." "However, there is a certain degree of disconnection between basic research and industrial application in domestic organic optoelectronic research." "The combination of basic and applied is a common phenomenon in the high-tech field, especially for some emerging frontier interdisciplinary disciplines." Regarding why some developed countries in the world do not have the problem of disconnection between research and application, Qiu Yong explained: "This is because the research work of Western developed countries exists not only in universities and research institutes, but also in enterprises, especially multinational enterprises, while the research strength of Chinese enterprises is still very weak in general."

Taking the development of display technology as an example, Qiu Yong pointed out that user needs and industry needs not only put forward new topics for applied research, but also for basic research. Only by combining basic research with industrial applications can the common development of disciplines and industries be promoted.

Seize innovation opportunities in competition and accelerate the application of new technologies

"The vast majority of research is ultimately guided by social development and social needs. For example, the length of time between the awarding of the Nobel Prize and the initial discovery often depends on whether the results have been widely used or whether their application value has been confirmed." Qiu Yong said, "In the current social science and technology history, new frontier disciplines are constantly emerging, and there is often competition among multiple technologies in the same field. There are more and more entities participating in the competition (universities, research institutions, and enterprises). All of this has led to a greatly shortened process of scientific development from basic theoretical research to technological development and then to application. Sometimes, the application of technology precedes the solution of theoretical problems."

Having focused on the research of organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) for many years, Qiu Yong deeply felt the impact of technological changes on academic research. He said: "From thick to thin, from bulky to light, from cathode ray tubes (CRT) to thin film transistors (LCD), flat panel display technology has ended the CRT era. Unlike the original CRT, although LCD technology is the mainstream in the flat panel display era, there are still other technologies such as plasma display technology (PDP), organic light-emitting display technology (OLED), and laser projection display technology."

In Qiu Yong's view, the current situation of multiple technologies coexisting and competing with each other can not only promote the further development of various technologies and make display products more perfect; the development and application of OLED technology actually reflects the development of the emerging discipline of organic optoelectronics.

"For a certain technology and industry, innovation has an active period. During the active period, the technology and industry structure are not completely determined. Although the risks are great, the chances of occupying the top of the future technology and industry structure are also greater. Once the technology matures, the industry development will also remain relatively stable. In this case, it is very difficult to achieve transcendence. my country has long introduced CRT production technology, and the color TV industry is large but not strong. The reason is that we have lost the opportunity for technological innovation and have not made up our minds to invest in technological innovation. Therefore, for technologies and industries that are in an active period of innovation, forward-looking layout is particularly important." Qiu Yong said, "OLED technology is currently in In such an active innovation period, the application prospects of OLED in high-definition and ultra-thin TV sets and in flat, efficient and environmentally friendly lighting sources have just begun to emerge. "From 1996 to the present, Qiu Yong has led his team to actively explore technology and development mechanisms: closely combining school laboratory research with the development of the company's R&D center; solving a series of key technical problems, inventing a series of innovative materials and devices; solving many environmental interference problems in the product application process, and the products were successfully applied to my country's "Shenzhou VII" extravehicular space suits, creating an international precedent for the application of OLED display screens in the aerospace field.

Technology applications will deepen understanding of core issues and promote the development of basic research

Traditional semiconductor devices are based on inorganic semiconductor materials represented by silicon. In 1987, Deng Qingyun and others from Kodak used a multilayer film structure of organic compounds to obtain an organic light-emitting diode with high luminous efficiency, high brightness and low driving voltage for the first time. This breakthrough made the academic and industrial circles deeply aware of such a change: in addition to inorganic semiconductor materials, there is also a new type of organic semiconductor materials.

"However, how do these organic molecules transmit electrons or holes? How can we efficiently design organic semiconductor materials with excellent comprehensive performance? In addition, flexibility may be the biggest feature that distinguishes organic materials from inorganic materials, but how to achieve a flexible preparation process and ultimately a flexible device? These problems are not just technical problems, but require breakthroughs in basic theory." Qiu Yong told reporters that with the practical application of the OLED industry and other organic semiconductor devices, there are still many scientific issues in organic optoelectronics that need further in-depth research. Not only that, the development of the industry has also put forward higher requirements for organic compound semiconductor materials, organic electronic devices, and production and manufacturing equipment.

"For researchers, the most important thing is to grasp the core issues, that is, the direction of research. A deep understanding of the technology application process helps researchers grasp the core issues of technology and understand the subsequent research direction. Basic research aimed at achieving application value and basic research aimed at publishing papers are two completely different research ideas." After the establishment of the enterprise R&D center in 2001, Qiu Yong promoted and established the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Organic Optoelectronics and Molecular Engineering at Tsinghua University in 2003 and served as the laboratory director. Can it be said that more than 200 international and domestic patents reflect the achievements of Qiu Yong and others in applied research, while more than 100 international academic papers reflect their achievements in basic research.