The object
Richard Friend pioneered efficient polymer light-emitting diodes, devices that made it possible to envision plastic displays and later flexible electronics. Cambridge records that Cambridge Display Technology was established to develop the technology, while the university's Plastic Logic history documents its progression from a light-emitting plastic discovery into display products.
What Richard did
Pioneered efficient polymer light-emitting diodes and helped commercialize them through Cambridge Display Technology.
Why it matters
The work launched Cambridge Display Technology and established polymer LEDs as a route to flexible, directly printed display electronics.
Living-status check
Cambridge's 2026 profile lists Friend as Cavendish Professor, Energy IRC steering-committee director, and an active researcher in LEDs and solar cells.