Min Jong Bae

Paper as a Substrate for Inorganic Powder Electroluminescence Devices

Alternating-current-type inorganic powder electroluminescence (PEL) devices were successfully fabricated on four kinds of paper substrates, i.e., glossy paper, sticker paper, magazine paper, and newspaper. To protect the paper from wet chemical and heating processes during the formation of the PEL device, the paper substrate was coated with a spin-on-glass layer that served as a buffer layer. In spite of the fragility of paper, quite satisfactory results were obtained-the performance of paper-based PEL devices was almost equivalent to that of PEL devices on a plastic substrate. Extension of a substrate to paper, even to flimsy daily newspaper, will widen the opportunity of PEL devices as one of flexible and disposable displays.

A chlorinated barium titanate-filled polymer composite with a high dielectric constant and its application to electroluminescent devices

We have studied the effect of chlorination on the dielectric performance of a barium titanate (BTO)–polymer film. Functionalization of BTO powder particles with chlorine (Cl) atoms and/or Cl-containing functional groups was achieved by a simple treatment using chlorinated solvents. The chlorinated BTO (Cl-BTO) particles were incorporated into a cyanoethyl-based polymer and the mixture was spin-coated to produce a composite film. The dielectric constant of the composite film with Cl-BTO was as high as 208 at a frequency of 10 Hz, showing a 2.5-fold increase in dielectric constant compared to composites composed of the neat BTO and the cyanoethyl-based polymer at a frequency of 10 Hz. The observed dramatic increase in dielectric constant would be caused by the interfacial polarization due to the p-type doping effect resulting from the presence of strong electronegative Cl atoms. Given a relatively high dielectric constant, composite films with Cl-BTO were further exploited as a dielectric layer in an inorganic electroluminescence (EL) device. The luminance of the EL device with Cl-BTO was 4090 cd m−2 at a frequency of 1 kHz, showing a 2.03-fold increase in luminance compared to that with the untreated BTO. The improved performance of the EL device is attributed to a high dielectric constant of the composite films that allow for efficient charge carrier tunneling into the phosphor and therefore enhanced luminance and efficiency.

Growth of carbon nanotube field emitters on single strand carbon fiber: a linear electron source

The multi-stage effect has been revisited through growing carbon nanotube field emitters on single strand carbon fiber with a thickness of 11 µm. A prepared linear electron source exhibits a turn-on field as low as 0.4 V µm(-1) and an extremely high field enhancement factor of 19,300, when compared with those results from reference nanotube emitters grown on flat silicone wafer; 3.0 V µm(-1) and 2500, respectively. In addition, we introduce a novel method to grow nanotubes uniformly around the circumference of carbon fibers by using direct resistive heating on the continuously feeding carbon threads. These results open up not only a new path for synthesizing nanocomposites, but also offer an excellent linear electron source for special applications such as backlight units for liquid crystal displays and multi-array x-ray sources.

High electroluminescence of the ZnS:Mn nanoparticle/cyanoethyl-resin polymer/single-walled carbon nanotube composite using the tandem structure

The EL performance of the tandem structured phosphor/polymer/SWCNT composite was greatly increased by structural and material effects, which led to increased tunneling charge carriers into phosphor, resulting in improved luminance. The tandem structured composite EL device exhibited a 1570% increase in the luminance compared to the raw phosphor EL device.

Field-Enhancement Effect of Short Carbon Nanotubes Using an Electrical Aging Treatment on Inorganic Electroluminescence

AC inorganic electroluminescence (EL) devices were fabricated using the emitting layer composed of phosphor-single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) composite (PSC) to utilize the local field enhancement of SWCNTs. In order to enhance the electric field in an emitting layer with minimized current paths, bare long SWCNTs were shortened by cryogenic crushing method. After electrical aging treatment of the PSC device, partly formed short SWCNT networks in the emitting layer were effectively removed during the electrical aging treatment. High performance of 60% and 43% increase in efficiency and luminance, respectively, was achieved. This PSC device with short SWCNTs could lead to high brightness due to increased electron tunneling into phosphor. The PSC device reveals the importance of high electric field by SWCNTs leading to high EL performance.

Improvement of Field-Emission Characteristics of Carbon Nanotubes by Post Electrical Treatment

The field-emission characteristics of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), such as uniformity and brightness, were improved by electrical treatment using nonstationary electric fields between the cathode of screen-printed CNT emitters and the anode of a phosphor-coated indium-tin-oxide glass substrate in diode configuration. Dead or weak emission spots, where almost no emission of electrons was observed, started to emit electrons by applying an alternating-current voltage to the cathode electrode and a constant voltage to the anode electrode. The nonstationary electrical treatment was more effective than the direct-current (dc) and the square-pulsed electrical treatments for the emission uniformity and brightness. It was found that the nonstationary electrical treatment not only activated CNT emitters but also suppressed abnormally high emission spots without the drawbacks of electrical breakdown. Consequently, more than 1.8 and 1.3 times improvements of emission uniformity and brightness, respectively, were obtained after the treatment, when compared with the dc electrical treatment for the same amount of emission currents and the same duration of the treatments. Therefore, the method can be effectively applied to field-emission devices based on CNTs for the enhancement of emission properties.

Enhanced Optical and Electrical Properties of Inorganic Electroluminescent Devices Using the Top-Emission Structure

Alternating current inorganic powder electroluminescence (EL) devices with a top-emission structure were fabricated on glass substrates to investigate the structural dependence on EL. The EL performance was examined by comparing the top-emission structure with the conventional EL device, i.e., the bottom-emission structure. High performance, such as 50 and 40% increases in efficiency and brightness, respectively, was achieved. This enhanced EL performance was attributed to the structural change in the EL device, leading to reduced optical loss and enhanced electric field applied to the phosphor.