Development of a color‐tunable polychromatic organic‐light‐emitting‐diode device for roll‐to‐roll manufacturing

A flexible vertically stacked flexible polychromatic color‐tunable OLED has been developed by means of low resistive intermediate electrode technology. The polychromatic OLED has a capability to show 16 million colors with 105% National Television Committee Standard (NTSC) color reproduction. The device can produce arbitrary shape with arbitrary colors, suitable for artistic expressions, just as many as those used in information displays. Independently controlled red, green, and blue light‐emitting layers are stacked vertically. With conventional indium tin oxide technology, because of the temperature restriction, it was quite difficult to achieve low resistance on plastic substrate. The reported numbers were all more than 80 Ω/□. According to the surface mobility control using Fick's law analysis, low sheet resistance 7.34 Ω/□ on plastic film was developed. At first, flexible 7.17 cm² transparent OLED was fabricated for the performance confirmation of transparent electrode. And then polychromatic color‐tunable OLED with the same size were successfully fabricated on plastic. With optical length optimization for each color stack of polychromatic OLED, more than 100% color reproduction in National Television Committee Standard was achieved by stack design. The polychromatic device can be used for colored illumination, as well as for organic‐light‐emitting display pixels for three times emission than conventional pixel design. The device is fabricated on plastic substrate so that the polychromatic organic‐light‐emitting‐diode device is manufacturable with roll‐to‐roll production line.     

Microcavity white‐emitting OLED devices

Abstract— Microcavity designs for OLED devices with an unpatterned white emitter have the potential to provide greater brightness and larger color gamut than non‐microcavity designs while still enabling lower‐cost large‐format manufacturing. In this paper, such microcavity and non‐microcavity designs are compared. Color filters must still be employed to provide an adequate color gamut. Top‐emitter structures have somewhat greater on‐axis luminance and color gamut, but increased angular change, than bottom‐emitter designs. In a single‐stack bottom‐emitter active‐matrix TFT device using an RGBW format, the use of microcavities is estimated to reduce the average power usage by 35% and the peak power by 58%, while increasing the NTSC ratio for color gamut area by about 10%. Angular luminance and color change is likely to be acceptable, especially for hand‐held applications. Tandem devices employing multiple emitter stacks increase the lifetime of OLED devices but require larger driving voltages; for such devices, microcavity structures are useful although the percentage reduction obtained in power usage is not quite as large. Generally, tandem devices with microcavities have a slightly stronger cavity effect yielding slightly larger color gamut, but also greater angular color and luminance shift. Therefore, microcavity architectures are less appealing for tandem devices.     

High efficiency and ultra‐wide color gamut quantum dot LEDs for next generation displays

Colloidal quantum dot‐based hybrid light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) have been demonstrated that exhibit quantum efficiencies (EQEs) >10% for all three fundamental colors red, green, and blue (21% EQE, 82 cd/A for green). This is the first report of a green QLED with EQE >20% and current efficiency >80 cd/A. The devices have the longest lifetimes reported in the literature (280k hrs) and extremely well‐tuned color fidelity. The narrow QLED emission spectra (full width at half maximum < 30 nm) and well‐controlled peak wavelengths generate a color gamut covering >170% of the National Television System Committee (NTSC) 1987 color space and ~90% of the Rec. 2020 color space. This color gamut is larger than that of OLED televisions in mass production and is the largest of all QLEDs reported. Additionally, these devices are completely fabricated using solution‐processing techniques. The extremely desirable properties of high efficiency, color tunability/fidelity, long lifetime, and low cost processing from solutions make QLED technology disruptive and will lead to next generation displays.     

15‐in. RGBW panel using two‐stacked white OLED and color filters for large‐sized display applications

Abstract— A 15‐in. HD panel employing two‐stacked WOLEDs and color filters for which the color gamut can be as high as 101.2% (CIE1976) and the power consumption is 5.22 W. The WOLEDs exhibit a current efficiency of 61.3 cd/A and a power efficiency of 30 lm/W at 1000 nits and their CIE coordinate is (0.340, 0.334). A 15‐in. RGBW panel was investigated to verify the electrical and optical performance compared to that of a 15‐in. RGB TV made by using FMM technology. The characteristics of the 15‐in. RGBW panel are comparable to those of the 15‐in. RGB panel. Color filters combined with WOLEDs is a possible patterning technology for large‐sized OLED TV, which surpasses the limits of fine‐metal‐mask technology.     

Fabrication of flexible organic light‐emitting‐diode display with a flexible color filter driven by In—Ga—Zn—Oxide TFTs

Abstract— A novel flexible active‐matrix organic light‐emitting‐diode (OLED) display fabricated on planarized stainless—used‐steel substrates with a resolution of 85 dpi in a 4.7‐in. active area has been demonstrated. Amorphous indium—gallium—zinc—oxide thin‐film transistors were used as the backplane for the OLED display with high device performance, high electrical stability, and long lifetime. A full‐color moving image at a frame frequency of 60 Hz was also realized by using a flexible color filter directly patterned on a plastic substrate with a white OLED as the light source.     

Flexible high‐resolution full‐color top‐emitting active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode display

We developed a high‐performance 3.4‐in. flexible active‐matrix organic light‐emitting diode (AMOLED) display with remarkably high resolution using an oxide semiconductor in a backplane, by applying our transfer technology that utilizes metal separation layers. Using this panel, we also fabricated a prototype of a side‐roll display for mobile uses. In these AMOLED displays, a white OLED combined with a color filter was used in order to achieve remarkably high resolution. For the white OLED, a tandem structure in which a phosphorescent emission unit and a fluorescent emission unit are serially connected with an intermediate layer sandwiched between the emission units was employed. Furthermore, revolutionary technologies that enable a reduction in power consumption in both the phosphorescent and fluorescent emission units were introduced to the white tandem OLED.     

White‐emitting OLED devices in an RGBW format with microelement white subpixels

Abstract— OLED devices with an RGBW pixel format using an unpatterned white emitter have the potential to provide very good efficiency and color gamut while enabling lower‐cost and large‐format manufacturing. However, the white subpixel often has unacceptably large color shifts with viewing angle. Furthermore, for some architectures such as top‐emitting microcavity devices, it can even be difficult to produce a white subpixel with good on‐axis color. In this paper, we describe the use of a white subpixel made up of a combination of differently tuned microelements and demonstrate how such an approach can overcome these problems. By carefully tuning the color and areas of each of the microelements in the white subpixel, we can trade off between better on‐axis color, less color change with angle, and higher efficiency. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that an RGBW top‐emitter microcavity device with a microelement white subpixel can achieve an increase in both power efficiency and color gamut relative to a conventional RGBW bottom‐emitter non‐microcavity device.     

Enhancement of blue‐light‐emission properties for OLED displays by using a polarized light‐recycling structure

Abstract— The blue‐light‐emission properties of organic light‐emitting‐diode (OLED) displays must be enhanced to meet the requirements for color purity and luminous efficiency because few blue‐light‐emitting materials meet these requirements. This is particularly true for polymeric and phosphorescent light‐emitting materials. To attain the required purity and efficiency, a polarized‐light‐recycling structure for blue light that is called a blue enhanced circular polarizer (BECP) has been developed. The principle of the structure and the fabricated prototype device is described and it is shown that the structure increases blue‐light intensity and color purity, improves efficiency, provides a wide color gamut, and limits ambient‐light reflection.     

A dual‐gap RGBW transflective TFT‐LCD with adjustable color gamut

Abstract— An adjustable‐color‐gamut dual‐gap RGBW transflective liquid‐crystal display that uses a four‐color manufacturing process and a color‐processing algorithm to achieve the appropriate color performance in both the transmissive and reflective modes is presented. Based on superior‐color‐transformation units, the total brightness and color gamut can be modified under different ambience. The highest NTSC color gamut in the reflective mode (reflectance, 4.4%) that has been fabricated successfully for a RGBW 1.5‐in. dual‐gap panel is 23% with a 7%, 17%, and 40% NTSC color gamut in the transmissive mode by using different algorithms. Compared to a typical RGB panel, it not only provides flexibility for any environment but also satisfies a variety of personal requirements. Based on personal preference, users have more choices to adjust the LCD settings such as color saturation, brightness, etc. The smart RGBW TRLCD will definitely become the developing trend towards sunlight‐readable LCDs in the near future.     

A 13.5‐in. Quad‐FHD flexible CAAC‐OS AMOLED display with long‐life OLED device structure

In this study, the device structure of a white tandem organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) was changed to control the emission area and thereby achieve less luminance decay. A long‐life 13.5‐inch 4 K flexible c‐axis‐aligned crystal oxide semiconductor (CAAC‐OS) active‐matrix OLED with less color shift and high resolution was fabricated using this long‐life white OLED, transfer technology, and a CAAC‐OS field‐effect transistor.     

A 3.0‐in. 308‐ppi WVGA AMOLED with a top‐emission white OLED and color filter

Abstract— A 3.0‐in. 308‐ppi WVGA top‐emission AMOLED display with a white OLED and color filters, driven by LTPS TFTs demonstrating a color gamut of >90% and a Δ(u′,v′) of <0.02 is reported. A white‐emission source with a unique device structure was developed using all fluorescent materials and yielded efficiencies of 8.45% and 16 cd/A at 4000 nits with CIE color coordinates of (0.30, 0.32).     

RGB‐to‐RGBW conversion with current limiting for OLED displays

Abstract— Organic‐light‐emitting‐diode (OLED) displays employing white‐light‐emitting OLEDs in combination with RGBW color filters can demand high peak currents to present images with bright, highly saturated colors. Image‐processing methods that take advantage of a very highly efficient white subpixel in addition to filtered RGB subpixels to reduce the peak current and power of these displays are described. The image‐quality impact of these algorithms are explored to develop a final image‐processing algorithm.     

Eliminate angular color shift in top‐emitting OLEDs through cavity design

OLEDs suffer from viewing angle dependent spectral shift due to microcavity effects. To address this issue, we introduce a novel top‐emitting OLED with a dielectric spacer that forms multiple cavity modes. The resulting device shows almost no color shift at different viewing angles.     

System design for a wide‐color‐gamut TV‐sized AMOLED display

Abstract— By using current technology, it is possible to design and fabricate performance‐competitive TV‐sized AMOLED displays. In this paper, the system design considerations are described that lead to the selection of the device architecture (including a stacked white OLED‐emitting unit), the backplane technology [an amorphous Si (a‐Si) backplane with compensation for TFT degradation], and module design (for long life and low cost). The resulting AMOLED displays will meet performance and lifetime requirements, and will be manufacturing cost‐competitive for TV applications. A high‐performance 14‐in. AMOLED display was fabricated by using an in‐line OLED deposition machine to demonstrate some of these approaches. The chosen OLED technologies are scalable to larger glass substrate sizes compatible with existing a‐Si backplane fabs.     

Power‐saving primary design for displays enclosing a target color gamut

Abstract— Display primaries are optimized for the trade‐off between the total primary power and color gamut under the requirement that a target color gamut is enclosed by the color gamut of the display. LED displays and HDTV color gamut are taken as examples. Compared to the display using a set of typical commercial RGB LEDs, it was found that a total optical (electrical) power of 23.6% (15.6%) can be saved for the display using optimal RGB LEDs. Although the size of the display color gamut is sacrificed, the color gamut of the display using optimal RGB LEDs still encloses the HDTV color gamut. The combined effect of the LED luminous efficiency and white‐point condition on the determination of the optimal LED wavelengths and bandwidths is also studied.     

All solution‐processed white quantum‐dot light‐emitting diodes with three‐unit tandem structure

Quantum‐dot light‐emitting diodes (QLEDs) are promising candidates for next generation displays. White QLEDs which can emit red, green and blue colors are particularly important; this is because the combination of white QLEDs and color filters offers a practical solution for high‐resolution full‐color displays. In this work, we demonstrate all‐solution processed three‐unit (red/green/blue) white tandem QLEDs for the first time. The white tandem devices are achieved by serially connecting the red bottom sub‐QLED, the green middle sub‐QLED and the blue top sub‐QLED using the inter‐connecting layer (ICL) based on ZnMgO/PEDOT:PSS heterojunction. With the proposed ICL, the two‐unit tandem QLEDs exhibit a high current efficiency of 22.22 cd/A, while the three‐unit white QLEDs exhibit evenly separated red, green and blue emission with a CIE coordinate of (0.30, 0.44), a peak current efficiency of 4.75 cd/A and a high luminance of 4206 cd/m². Displays based on the developed white QLEDs exhibit a wide color gamut of 114% NTSC. This work confirms the effectiveness of the proposed ZnMgO/PEDOT:PSS ICL and the feasibility of making all‐solution processed tandem white QLEDs by using the proposed ICL.     

Letter: Novel approaches to realize high‐resolution AMOLED display

Two different approaches to realize high‐resolution active‐matrix organic light‐emitting device (AMOLED) display were delivered. By adopting specific organic light emitting diode (OLED) structure with pre‐pattern electrode and the utilization of color filter, we successfully simplify the fabrication process with fine metal mask (FMM)‐free or one‐FMM solutions. Each approach was demonstrated with a 4.4″ panel with 413 ppi pixel density based on real stripe RGB. Both panels possessed low power consumption, low reflectivity, and superior NTSC performance. Because the utilization of FMM was avoided or reduced, higher production yield, higher throughput, and lower cost could be achieved. Therefore, these two approaches are very promising for mass production of high‐resolution AMOLED display.     

Analysis of color volume of multi‐chromatic displays using gamut rings

There are claims that multi‐chromatic displays can achieve a wider color gamut by the use of additional highly saturated secondary color channels. However, there are other claims that these displays lose lightness and/or color saturation at brighter levels. These apparently divergent views have led to some controversy in the display industry and at standard setting organizations. This study examines the color gamut volume for a variety of simulated and measured multi‐chromatic (sometimes incorrectly referred to as “multi‐primary”) displays using combinations of white and/or secondary color channels, such as cyan, magenta, and yellow. Furthermore, a two‐dimensional gamut representation, referred to as “gamut rings,” is introduced to illustrate that the addition of nonprimary optical color channels to a trichromatic (RGB) display can result in a significant decrease in the chroma at higher lightness levels. The additional saturated color channels can increase the gamut volume only around their hues at darker levels. The results also confirm the validity of comparing the color light output and white light output for revealing the design trade‐offs between the high‐peak white and the color‐image brightness for multi‐chromatic displays.     

High‐performance white OLEDs with high color‐rendering index for next‐generation solid‐state lighting

Abstract— Several white‐OLED structures with a high color‐rendering index (CRI) were investigated for lighting applications. A two‐unit fluorescent/phosphorescent hybrid white OLED achieved an excellent CRI of 95, high luminous efficacy of 37 lm/W, and long lifetime of over 40,000 hours at 1000 cd/m². White‐OLED lighting panels of 8 × 8 cm for high‐luminance operation were fabricated, and a stable emission at 3000 cd/m² was confirmed. Quite a small variation in chromaticity in a different directions was achieved by using an optimized optical device structure. With a light‐outcoupling substrate, a higher efficacy of 56 lm/W, high CRI of 91, and longer half‐decay lifetime of over 150,000 hours at 1000 cd/m² was achieved. All‐phosphorescent white OLEDs placed on the light‐outcoupling substrate show a high CRI of 85 and higher efficacy of 65 lm/W with a fairly good half‐decay lifetime of over 30,000 hours. With a further voltage reduction and a high‐index spherical extractor, 128 lm/W at 1000 cd/m² has been achieved.     

Flexible active‐matrix OLED displays: Challenges and progress

Abstract— Organic light‐emitting‐device (OLED) devices are very promising candidates for flexible‐display applications because of their organic thin‐film configuration and excellent optical and video performance. Recent progress of flexible‐OLED technologies for high‐performance full‐color active‐matrix OLED (AMOLED) displays will be presented and future challenges will be discussed. Specific focus is placed on technology components, including high‐efficiency phosphorescent OLED technology, substrates and backplanes for flexible displays, transparent compound cathode technology, conformal packaging, and the flexibility testing of these devices. Finally, the latest prototype in collaboration with LG. Phillips LCD, a flexible 4‐in. QVGA full‐color AMOLED built on amorphous‐silicon backplane, will be described.