Simone Lenk

Adjustable white-light emission from a photo-structured micro-OLED array

White organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are promising candidates for future solid-state lighting applications and backplane illumination in large-area displays. One very specific feature of OLEDs, which is currently gaining momentum, is that they can enable tunable white light emission. This feature is conventionally realized either through the vertical stacking of independent OLEDs emitting different colors or in lateral arrangement of OLEDs. The vertical design is optically difficult to optimize and often results in efficiency compromises between the units. In contrast, the lateral concept introduces severe area losses to dark regions between the subunits, which requires a significantly larger overall device area to achieve equal brightness. Here we demonstrate a color-tunable, two-color OLED device realized by side-by-side alignment of yellow and blue p-i-n OLEDs structured down to 20 μm by a simple and up-scalable orthogonal photolithography technique. This layout eliminates the problems of conventional lateral approaches by utilizing all area for light emission. The corresponding emission of the photo-patterned two-unit OLED can be tuned over a wide range from yellow to white to blue colors. The independent control of the different units allows the desired overall spectrum to be set at any given brightness level. Operated as a white light source, the microstructured OLED reaches a luminous efficacy of 13 lm W−1 at 1000 cd m−2 without an additional light outcoupling enhancement and reaches a color rendering index of 68 when operated near the color point E. Finally, we demonstrate an improved device lifetime by means of size variation of the subunits.

White organic light-emitting diodes with 4 nm metal electrode

We investigate metal layers with a thickness of only a few nanometers as anode replacement for indium tin oxide (ITO) in white organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The ultrathin metal electrodes prove to be an excellent alternative that can, with regard to the angular dependence and efficiency of the OLED devices, outperform the ITO reference. Furthermore, unlike ITO, the thin composite metal electrodes are readily compatible with demanding architectures (e.g., top-emission or transparent OLEDs, device unit stacking, etc.) and flexible substrates. Here, we compare the sheet resistance of both types of electrodes on polyethylene terephthalate for different bending radii. The electrical performance of ITO breaks down at a radius of 10 mm, while the metal electrode remains intact even at radii smaller than 1 mm.

Orientation of OLED Emitter Molecules Revealed by XRD

Thin films of the phosphorescent emitters Ir(ppy)3 and Ir(ppy)2(acac) are investigated by GIXRD and GIWAXS. Both molecules form crystalline grains and exhibit a preferred orientation that is pertained even when doped into a host.

Optical Energy Losses in Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite Light-Emitting Diodes

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites, in particular, 3D and quasi-2D ones, are in the fast development and their external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) have exce ...

New concept for organic light-emitting devices under high excitations using emission from a metal-free area

In this work, a new organic light-emitting device (OLED) structure is proposed that allows light-emission from a metal-free device region, thus reducing the hurdles towards an electrically pumped organic solid state laser (OSL). Our design concept employs a stepwise change from a highly conductive but opaque metal part to a highly transparent but less conductive intrinsic emission layer. Here, the high current densities are localized to an area of a few micrometer in square, which is in the range of the mode volume of the transverse mode of an organic vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). Besides these experimental results, we present findings from simulations which further support the feasibility of our design concept. Using an equivalent circuit approach, representing the current flow in the device, we calculate the time-dependent length of the emission zone and give estimations for appropriate material parameters.

White top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes with solution-processed nano-particle scattering layers

A random scattering approach to enhance light extraction in white top-emitting organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is reported. Through solution processing from fluorinated solvents, a nano-particle scattering layer (NPSL) can be deposited directly on top of small molecule OLEDs without affecting their electrical performance. The scattering length for light inside the NPSL is determined from transmission measurements and found to be in agreement with Mie scattering theory. Furthermore, the dependence of the light outcoupling enhancement on electron transport layer thickness is studied. Depending on the electron transport layer thickness, the NPSL enhances the external quantum efficiency of the investigated white OLEDs by between 1.5 and 2.3-fold. For a device structure that has been optimized prior to application of the NPSL, the maximum external quantum efficiency is improved from 4.7% to 7.4% (1.6-fold improvement). In addition, the scattering layer strongly reduces the undesired shift in emission color with viewing angle.

High-performance organic light-emitting diodes comprising ultrastable glass layers

Organic light-emitting diodes with ultrastable glass emission layers show increased efficiency and device stability. Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are one of the key solid-state light sources for various applications including small and large displays, automotive lighting, solid-state lighting, and signage. For any given commercial application, OLEDs need to perform at their best, which is judged by their device efficiency and operational stability. We present OLEDs that comprise functional layers fabricated as ultrastable glasses, which represent the thermodynamically most favorable and, thus, stable molecular conformation achievable nowadays in disordered solids. For both external quantum efficiencies and LT70 lifetimes, OLEDs with four different phosphorescent emitters show >15% enhancements over their respective reference devices. The only difference to the latter is the growth condition used for ultrastable glass layers that is optimal at about 85% of the materials’ glass transition temperature. These improvements are achieved through neither material refinements nor device architecture optimization, suggesting a general applicability of this concept to maximize the OLED performance, no matter which specific materials are used.

Bragg Scattering of Non-radiative Modes in Red Top-emitting Organic Light Emitting Diodes with Variation of Cavity Length

The spectral radiant intensity and external quantum efficiency of red top-emitting organic light emitting diodes with integrated one dimensional periodic gratings is studied in dependence of the cavity length with comparison to optical simulations.

Three-terminal RGB full-color OLED pixels for ultrahigh density displays

In recent years, the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology has been a rapidly evolving field of research, successfully making the transition to commercial applications such as mobile phones and other small portable devices. OLEDs provide efficient generation of light, excellent color quality, and allow for innovative display designs, e.g., curved shapes, mechanically flexible and/or transparent devices. Especially their self emissive nature is a highly desirable feature for display applications. In this work, we demonstrate an approach for full-color OLED pixels that are fabricated by vertical stacking of a red-, green-, and blue-emitting unit. Each unit can be addressed separately which allows for efficient generation of every color that is accessible by superpositioning the spectra of the individual emission units. Here, we use a combination of time division multiplexing and pulse width modulation to achieve efficient color mixing. The presented device design requires only three independently addressable electrodes, simplifying both fabrication and electrical driving. The device is built in a top-emission geometry, which is highly desirable for display fabrication as the pixel can be directly deposited onto back-plane electronics. Despite the top-emission design and the application of three silver layers within the device, there is only a minor color shift even for large viewing angles. The color space spanned by the three emission sub-units exceeds the sRGB space, providing more saturated green/yellow/red colors. Furthermore, the electrical performance of each individual unit is on par with standard single emission unit OLEDs, showing very low leakage currents and achieving brightness levels above 1000 cd/m2 at moderate voltages of around 3–4 V.

84-3: Invited Paper: Organic Light-Emitting Diode Beam Shaping: Pixel Design for Variable Angular Emission Profile Control

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the leading self-emitting pixel technology in current and future small and large area displays. Once integrated with a certain layer architecture into the backplane layout, their emission colour and angular distribution is set by the optical properties of the layered system. In this paper, we demonstrate a pixel design that allows for actively controlled variation of the angular emission profile of the individual vertical pixel. For this, a tandem device is developed that comprises two units optimized for different angular emission pattern. We constrained the system to operate in a narrow emission band to maintain monochromaticity of the individual pixel. We discuss this concept for a red phosphorescence-based OLED stack and give an outlook based on simulations for the other primary display colours green and blue. The tandem unit can be operated with only two electrodes making use of the AC/DC driving concept, where the outer electrodes are in direct connection. In this paper, we will discuss the potential, status, and technology challenges for this concept.