Ching Wan Tang — ‘Father of OLED’, First Chinese Kyoto Prize Laureate, and His Laboratory at HKUST

In brief: Ching Wan Tang (born 1947, Yuen Long, Hong Kong) is a Chair Professor jointly appointed across the Departments of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He is best known for the bilayer organic electroluminescent diode (OLED) he invented in 1987 at Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories^※. This invention earned him a number of historic firsts: he became the first Chinese scientist to receive the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2011)^※ and the first Chinese laureate of the Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology (2019)^※. His seminal 1987 paper has garnered over 18,500 citations^※ (per Google Scholar, at the time of this article’s compilation), laying the cornerstone for the modern display industry.

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# Who is Ching Wan Tang? Why is He Called the ‘Father of OLED’?

Ching Wan Tang (some HKUST faculty records also cite his name as Tang Jingrong; see related entries in Notable Professors and Academic Leaders and Honorary Scholars and Fellows) was born on 23 July 1947^※ in Yuen Long, British Hong Kong. He grew up in a tiny rural hamlet of barely twelve households, where as a boy he had to plant rice seedlings in the paddies and farm for a living^※. Reports recount that he once fashioned a simple weeding tool from scrap wood and nails to improve the efficiency of pulling weeds in the sodden paddies — arguably his first ‘invention’ in life^※, a poignant counterpoint to the achievement that would one day upend the global display industry. He received his primary education at a local village school, then attended Yuen Long Public Secondary School and Queen’s College for his secondary schooling. He earned a BSc in Chemistry from the University of British Columbia, Canada, in 1970^※, and completed his PhD in Physical Chemistry at Cornell University in 1975^※. It was precisely this dual training across chemistry and physics that later enabled him to break through the technical bottlenecks of organic electronics from two dimensions — materials and devices — simultaneously.

His title ‘Father of OLED’ originates from a groundbreaking paper, ‘Organic Electroluminescent Diodes’ (Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 51, No. 12, pp. 913–915), published in 1987^※ in collaboration with Steven Van Slyke at Eastman Kodak Research Laboratories. The device they described achieved high-brightness emission exceeding 1,000 cd/m²^※ at a driving voltage below 10 volts^※ — an order-of-magnitude leap over earlier organic electroluminescent devices, which required thousands of volts to operate. This paper has become one of the most-cited articles in the history of Applied Physics Letters^※, with over 18,500 citations^※ (per Google Scholar).

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# Thirty-One Years at Kodak: The Path from Organic Solar Cells to the OLED Pivot

Tang joined Kodak in 1975^※, initially focusing on organic photovoltaic (OPV) device research. He spent several years in the laboratory working to improve the photoelectric conversion efficiency of organic heterojunction solar cells, ultimately raising the efficiency of initial-stage devices from roughly 0.2% to around 1%^※, and secured the relevant patent in 1979^※. However, compared with the >10% efficiency achieved by inorganic solar cells at the time, the organic approach still showed a considerable gap, and the related research was subsequently shelved.

This ‘detour’ proved to be a serendipitous gain. While studying heterojunction bilayer structures, Tang discovered that the same ‘donor-acceptor’ stacked design, when placed in a powered state, could not only separate photogenerated charge carriers but also cause the organic layers to efficiently emit visible light. He delved deeper along this path, securing his first OLED device patent in 1982^※, achieving an external quantum efficiency of about 1% at a mere 5 volts^※ — whereas all known organic electroluminescent devices of the time needed roughly 2,000 volts^※ to function.

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# The 1987 Bilayer Device: Which Technical Innovation Moved OLED from the Lab to Industry?

In their 1987 device^※, Tang and Van Slyke employed a stacked bilayer organic thin-film structure: a bottom layer of aromatic amine serving as the hole-transport layer (HTL), and a top layer of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminium (Alq₃) functioning simultaneously as the electron-transport layer and the emissive layer. The two layers respectively optimised the injection and transport efficiencies of holes and electrons, enabling carriers to recombine efficiently and emit light near the interface, thus raising the luminous efficiency to above 1%^※, about an order of magnitude higher than the state of the art at the time.

In 1989^※, he further demonstrated that by doping fluorescent dye guest molecules into the emissive layer, colour tuning could be achieved through a host–guest energy-transfer mechanism, opening a technical pathway for full-colour OLED displays. These two bodies of work established the fundamental paradigm of the modern OLED device, which remains the core architectural basis for academic research and industrial mass production today.

The following table outlines Tang's key technical milestones at Kodak:

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# The Wolf Prize in Chemistry (2011): Why Does This Award Carry Special Weight?

In 2011^※, the Israel-based Wolf Foundation awarded that year’s Wolf Prize in Chemistry to Ching Wan Tang, Stuart A. Rice, and Krzysztof Matyjaszewski, in recognition of their work in ‘exploring the nature of organic solids, their energy landscapes, structure, and dynamics, and for creating new pathways to organic materials of every sort, from polymers to organic-based devices that harvest energy from the sun and light the world for us.’

Among the three laureates, the core contribution for which Tang was recognised was the creation of two of the most vibrant fields of organic materials research — organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs)^※. The Wolf Prize is widely regarded within the scientific community as one of the highest academic honours second only to the Nobel Prize^※, and a significant proportion of its past recipients have subsequently been awarded the Nobel. Tang is the first Chinese scientist ever to receive the Wolf Prize in Chemistry^※. The three laureates shared a prize of US$100,000^※, and the award ceremony took place on 29 May 2011^※ at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament.

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# Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame (2013): Another Industry Accolade Alongside Van Slyke

Two years after receiving the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, Tang was inducted in October 2013^※, together with his collaborator Steven Van Slyke, into the Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame^※, established by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA, now CTA). They were honoured alongside fourteen other industry leaders^※ at the CEA Industry Forum in Los Angeles. This was the first national-level industry honour the two men received for the invention of OLED, predating the National Inventors Hall of Fame induction in 2018. It confirmed that OLED technology had, by that point, evolved from a laboratory invention into an established real-world force reshaping the consumer electronics landscape — by then, AMOLED handset screens from firms like Samsung and LG were already entering mass production.

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# National Inventors Hall of Fame (2018): What Does Induction with Van Slyke Signify?

In 2018^※, Tang and his collaborator Steven Van Slyke were simultaneously inducted into the United States National Inventors Hall of Fame, in recognition of the organic light-emitting diode technology they co-invented under U.S. Patent No. 4,356,429^※. Standing alongside the Nobel Prize and the U.S. National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the National Inventors Hall of Fame represents the highest tier of official recognition in the United States for invention and innovation. Its criteria for inclusion require that the invention has had ‘a widespread and sustained impact on society.’

At the time of his induction, Tang already held more than 80 patents^※. In media interviews, he offered this observation: ‘What's most important is that you always experiment with ideas. That's the key to all inventions.’ This scholarly attitude has permeated his entire career — from the initially unpromising research into organic solar cells, to the OLED invention that would fundamentally alter the display industry landscape.

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# The Kyoto Prize (2019): The Historical Significance of Being the First Chinese Laureate

On 14 June 2019^※, the Inamori Foundation announced that the 2019 Kyoto Prize in Advanced Technology (in the field of Engineering Sciences and Technology)^※ would be awarded to Ching Wan Tang, in recognition of his ‘pioneering contributions to the birth of high-efficiency organic light-emitting diodes and their applications.’ Since the Kyoto Prize was first established in 1985^※, Tang is the first person of Chinese descent to receive this honour^※. Each laureate receives a certificate bearing the credentials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a 20-karat gold medal, and a cash award of ¥100 million^※ (approximately equivalent to over HK$7.5 million at the exchange rates of the time). The award ceremony was held on 10 November 2019^※ in Kyoto, Japan.

The official citation for the Kyoto Prize specifically noted that the bilayer device structure Tang developed ‘led to substantial improvements in their efficiency and reliability; and led to the practical use of OLEDs and their widespread use in displays and lighting.’ On the eve of the award, Tang expressed his own sense of his research’s value:

‘For a scientist, nothing is more fulfilling than creating an invention that billions of people around the world benefit from every day.’ — Ching Wan Tang, 2019^※

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# What Is Tang's Role at HKUST? What Are His Research Interests?

In 2013^※, Tang left the University of Rochester and formally joined The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, where he was appointed IAS Bank of East Asia Professor at the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)^※, holding concurrent Chair Professorships across three academic departments: Electronic and Computer Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics. Holding a single professorship that spans three disciplinary departments is notably rare in HKUST’s history, reflecting the profoundly interdisciplinary nature of organic electronics itself.

At HKUST, Tang's research has focused on organic semiconductor materials and devices, continuing and deepening the core themes of his Kodak era. As a Research Team Leader, he participated in the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Displays and Optoelectronics Technologies (Partner Laboratory), approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China in September 2013^※. Jointly established by HKUST and Sun Yat-sen University, this laboratory concentrates on five major research directions: oxide thin-film transistor arrays, third-generation organic light-emitting diodes, liquid crystal displays, video signal processing, and integrated circuit design. With green, energy-efficient active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) technology as its core objective, it brings together a total of twenty-three^※ senior faculty and researchers from HKUST’s Schools of Engineering and Science.

During his time at HKUST, Tang has also been actively involved in academic dissemination. He has delivered specialist lectures at institutions including the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, systematically recounting the history of OLED invention and the latest progress in organic solar cells (at the time, organic photovoltaic efficiency was approaching 10%^※). He is also a Founding Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences^※. On 17 March 2021^※, at the invitation of the Blavatnik School of Government at the University of Oxford (a collaborating institution of the Kyoto Prize), he delivered an online talk recounting his personal story and the technological development of OLED, retracing for a global audience the complete trajectory from the Kodak labs to the Kyoto Prize.

Tang has now stepped down from his resident professorship at the IAS — HKUST’s IAS website currently lists him under its ‘alumni’ directory^※. His tenure as a full-time IAS Professor at HKUST spanned approximately from 2013 to 2022 (see the cross-referenced IAS Fellows Directory in Honorary Scholars and Fellows). He has since transitioned to emeritus status, but continues to participate — as an alumnus and speaker — in OLED-related activities at HKUST and within the global academic community.

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# A Summary of Ching Wan Tang’s Major Honours

The table below summarises the major international awards and honours Tang has received to date (data cross-verified against multiple official sources):

Additionally, Tang holds numerous other industry awards, including the Kodak Eminent Inventor Award (1994), the Kodak Innovation Award (2000), the ACS Team Innovation Award (2004), the Holonyak Award (OSA, 2014), and the NEC C&C Prize (2018). His total patent count exceeds 80^※ (per the National Inventors Hall of Fame, at the time of his induction).

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# From Kodak Patents to a Billion-Dollar LG Deal: How an Invention Becomes an Industry

Tang’s more than 80 patents^※ did not stop at academic citations; through Kodak’s commercialisation efforts, they directly gave birth to today’s OLED panel industry. Before exiting R&D, Kodak had licensed its OLED technology to over twenty companies^※ and, building upon this base, was the first to launch the world’s first AMOLED digital camera and the largest OLED digital photo frame of its time (7.6 inches), validating the technology’s feasibility in making the leap from laboratory to consumer product. In December 2009^※, Kodak sold its entire OLED patent portfolio to LG Display for US$100 million^※, subsequently exiting OLED R&D entirely. This deal also marked the formal transfer of the technological leadership in OLED from its birthplace in the United States to East Asian panel makers, setting the stage for sustained investment in this domain by Samsung Display, LG Display, and, later, mainland China’s BOE.

It is worth noting that the initial bilayer OLED prototype device built by Tang and Van Slyke had a lifetime of merely about 100 hours^※, far short of commercial standards. Over the nearly two decades that followed, continuous improvements in material stability and thin-film encapsulation processes gradually raised OLED device lifetimes to the tens-of-thousands-of-hours level — a stark illustration of the immense, painstaking engineering effort required to bridge the gap from a laboratory proof-of-principle to a mass-production-ready, high-yield product. This is precisely why the contributions of Tang and Van Slyke are often assessed on the dual axes of ‘invention’ and ‘laying the foundations for industrialisation.’

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# How Widespread Is OLED Technology Today? What Impact Has Tang’s Work Had?

The bilayer OLED device Tang invented in 1987 has spawned a multi-tens-of-billion-dollar global industry^※. Today, the displays in smartphones (such as Samsung and Apple iPhone OLED models), televisions, laptops, and wearable devices that consumers use daily largely employ OLED or AMOLED technology based on his principles. Compared with traditional liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), OLED offers self-emission, requires no backlight, achieves true black with higher contrast, and enables thinner, bendable screens — advantages that have made it a standard feature in flagship display devices.

According to market research estimates, the global OLED display market size in 2025 is projected within a rough range of approximately US$51 billion to US$68 billion^※ (the range is broad because different agencies employ different statistical methods, coverage scopes, and forecasting models). Based on panel makers’ revenue share, the following data roughly reflects the current industry landscape:

These three enterprises together command over eighty per cent of global OLED panel revenue, and the technical roots of all three trace back to the fundamental architecture established by Tang and Van Slyke in that single 1987 bilayer-device paper. An invention born in a Kodak laboratory has now evolved into an industry worth hundreds of billions of dollars, spanning both sides of the Pacific and sustained by manufacturers from multiple countries.

On the academic front, Tang’s work has also been profoundly influential: the 1987 paper^※ he co-authored with Van Slyke, cited over 18,500 times (per Google Scholar), stands as one of the most foundational single documents in the field of organic electronics, and represents one of the most highly cited papers in the history of Applied Physics Letters. The concept of the organic heterojunction that he pioneered applies equally to light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and photovoltaic devices (OPVs), allowing two physically reverse-direction devices to share a single set of material-design principles. This ‘one concept, two applications’ paradigm continues to inspire a new generation of organic semiconductor researchers.

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# Related Reading

• Top Scholars — A panoramic overview of HKUST’s academician community featuring a profile of Ching Wan Tang; can be cross-referenced with this article to situate his position within the academic landscape across five vice-chancellorships.
• Notable Professors and Academic Leaders — A school-by-school account of representative HKUST professors; Tang is listed alongside figures such as Luk Kam-biu and Zhang Mingjie as a benchmark figure in engineering and science.
• Honorary Scholars and Fellows — A directory of past and present HKUST IAS Fellows, where the IAS tenures of local scholars including Tang and Luk Kam-biu are cross-referenced.