Enhancement in light extraction efficiency of organic light emitting diodes using double-layered transparent conducting oxide structure

We examined double-layered transparent conducting oxide (TCO) anode structures consisted of zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO) over the gallium-doped zinc oxide (GZO), and IZO over the GZO with electrochemical treatment. In bottom type OLEDs, power efficiency and current efficiency were enhanced by a factor of 1.50 and 1.14 at a current density of 10 mA/cm² in IZO/GZO anode structure, compared to the only IZO anode structure. Due to the reduced sheet resistance of the IZO/GZO TCO surface, the operating voltage of the OLED with IZO/GZO anode structure was lowered, leading to mostly enhance power efficiency. More enhanced in power efficiency and current efficiency by a factor of 1.21 and 1.25 at a current density of 10 mA/cm² were achieved in IZO/GZO anode structure with electrochemical treatment, compared to the IZO/GZO anode structure due to the change of the surface morphology of the GZO and the existence of the nanoporous layer beneath the GZO surface by an electrochemical treatment. In total, double-layered IZO/GZO anode structure with electrochemical treatment was revealed at an enhancement factor of 1.80 in power efficiency and 1.42 in current efficiency, compared to the only IZO anode structure.     

Enhance external quantum efficiency of organic light-emitting devices using thin transparent electrodes

High-index transparent electrodes have been one major origin of light trapping and lower light extraction in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). In this work, influences of the bottom transparent electrode thickness on emission properties of OLEDs are systematically studied by both simulation and experiments. Simulation shows that with substantially decreasing the thickness of the high-index indium tin oxide (ITO) electrode, waveguided modes, that otherwise would be significantly induced in regular/thicker ITO devices, can be effectively eliminated. Consequently, the overall coupling efficiencies of OLED emission into substrates can be much enhanced. Through further effective light extraction from the substrate, green phosphorescent OLEDs with a high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of up to ≈57.5% were experimentally demonstrated by adopting the very thin (20 nm) ITO electrode and preferentially horizontal dipole emitters (with a horizontal dipole ratio of 76%). The simulation further predicts that very high optical coupling efficiencies into substrates and EQEs approaching 80% are possible with further adopting purely horizontal dipole emitters and/or low-index electron transport layer (ETL) to suppress surface plasmon modes. Overall, this study clearly reveals the potential of using thin transparent electrodes for highly efficient OLEDs.     

Organic light-emitting diodes fabricated on recessed anodes for light extraction enhancement

Circular recesses have been fabricated on indium tin oxide (ITO) anodes to enhance light extraction of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The effects of recess depth and recess coverage ratio on the performance of a green OLED were systematically investigated. Results showed that the current efficiency could be enhanced from 40.7 cd/A of a planar device to 47.2 cd/A of the device with a recess depth of 100 nm and a recess coverage ratio of 14.1%. The enhanced light extraction by the recess wall effect was realized to be the major factor leading to the improved efficiency. The efficiency is however limited by the accompanying increase in electrical resistivity of the ITO films at deep recesses and high recess coverage ratios. Despite of the insignificant efficiency enhancement (up to 16%) in this study, this recessed ITO approach provides a simple architecture to enhance waveguide mode light extraction without adding an internal medium.     

Random nano-structures as light extraction functionals for organic light-emitting diode applications

In this study, we demonstrated a nano-structured random scattering layer (RSL) as an internal light extraction method to improve the light extraction efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Using dewetted Ag droplets as a hard mask, we textured the glass surface to have a scattering layer of the random structure. OLEDs equipped with the RSL showed more that 50% improvement in the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and luminance efficacy (LE) compared to OLEDs without the RSL. This improvement can be understood by the scattering effect which reduces the optical loss at wave-guided modes. Also, by combining the RSL and an external light extraction micro-lens array (MLA), it was possible to achieve further improvements of 105.8% and 92.06% in the EQE and the LE, respectively.     

具有凹凸界面结构的有机发光器件的性能研究

通过采用毫米尺度的凹凸界面结构实现了有机发光器件(Organic Light Emitting Device,OLED)发光效率的提高。在制备OLED器件过程中使用双狭缝模板,在发光层的界面处构建了高度为10nm的凸起,获得最大功率效率为23.9lm/W,最大电流效率为45.6cd/A,与传统的平直界面的OLED相比,分别提高了70%和36%。经过实验数据分析与理论模拟得出初步结论:OLED发光效率提高主要归因于金属界面处局域表面等离子体共振激发,提高了金属阴极界面的远场散射,从而提高OLED的出光效率;另外适当凹凸深度也改善了器件的电学性能。     

Optical and electrical effects of nickel oxide interlayer for anode-recessed organic light-emitting diodes

Forming a nickel oxide (NiO_x) layer on recessed indium tin oxide (ITO) anodes has successfully enhanced the current efficiency of an organic light emitting diode (OLED) by up to 46%. The recesses largely increased the haze of ITO film and led to a 32.8% current efficiency enhancement of a planar OLED. The introduced NiO_x interlayer allowed another 12.9% efficiency enhancement mainly due to lowered potential barrier at the ITO/organic interface and further elevated haze that led to a more efficient light extraction.     

Enhancement of light extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diode using ZnO sol-gel direct imprinting

ZnO nano-structures were formed on transparent conducting oxide layer of GaN LED device on non-patterned (non-PSS) and patterned sapphire substrates (PSS). Since ZnO nano-structures were formed by sol-gel direct imprinting process, plasma etching process, which may create the plasma induced damage, was not used. Due to the ZnO nano-structures, light extracted from active layer was coupled with ZnO nano-structures and thus total internal reflection at the ITO layer was suppressed. According to electroluminescence measurement, the emission intensities of GaN LED devices with ZnO nano-structures, on both non-PSS and PSS sapphire substrates were increased by 20.5% and 19.0%, respectively, compared to GaN LED devices without ZnO nano-structures, due to the suppression of total internal reflection. Moreover, it is confirmed that there is no decrease of light extraction on side direction due to light focusing to vertical axis by nanostructure. Electrical performance of GaN LED devices were not degraded by ZnO sol-gel direct imprinting process.     

Room-temperature corrugated indium zinc oxide anode to achieve high-efficiency blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

A corrugated indium zinc oxide thin film was fabricated on a glass substrate at room temperature for use in a blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting device (OLED) to facilitate device efficiency in term of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) of the device, which increased from 28.77% to 34.33% after the fabrication of the aforementioned layer. Furthermore, a remarkably high EQE of 52.51% was achieved through external light extraction by attaching a hemispheric macrolens on the substrate of the device. Consequently, the efficiency of the developed blue phosphorescent OLED became 1.83 times higher than that of a planar counterpart. Moreover, this finding was verified through theoretical analyses, that indicated the underlying light extraction physics was attributed to the efficient extraction of trapped light from the surface plasmon polariton, waveguide, and substrate modes.(submitted to Organic Electronics).     

Deep blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes with excellent external quantum efficiency

Highly efficient deep blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) using two heteroleptic iridium compounds, (dfpypy)₂Ir(acac) and (dfpypy)₂Ir(dpm), as a dopant and 9-(3-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)-9H-carbazol-3-yl)diphenylphosphine oxide as a host material have been developed. The electroluminescent device of (dfpypy)₂Ir(dpm) at the doping level of 3 wt% shows the best performance with external quantum efficiency of 18.5–20.4% at the brightness of 100–1000 cd/m² and the color coordinate of (0.14, 0.18) at 1000 cd/m².     

Corrugated structure through a spin-coating process for enhanced light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes

We have demonstrated a simple fabrication method for an out-coupling structure to enhance light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Spin-coating of SiO₂ and TiO_x sol mixture solution develops corrugated film. The structural evolution of the corrugation was explained by the localization of surface tension during the solvent evaporation. The structural parameters of the corrugated structure were characterized by varying the spin-coating speed and the mixing ratio of the solution. Compared to conventional devices, OLEDs with a corrugated structure at the backside of the glass substrate showed increased external quantum efficiency without change in the electroluminescence spectrum. The light extraction enhancement is attributed to the decreased incidence angle at the interface of glass substrate and air.     

Improved light extraction efficiency and leakage characteristics in light-emitting diodes by nanorod arrays formed on hexagonal pits

We report the enhancement of light extraction efficiency (LEE) and electrical performance in GaN-based green light-emitting diodes (LEDs) using ZnO nanorods formed on the etched surface of p-GaN. Green LEDs with hybrid ZnO nanorod structures grown on the hexagonally etched topmost layer of the LEDs, show an improvement in electroluminescence intensity that is 3.5 times higher than LEDs without any other surface treatments. The improvement in LEE in LEDs with nanohybrid structures was confirmed by finite-difference time-domain simulation analysis. Besides LEE enhancement, the surface etching effects on the reduction of leakage current of fabricated LEDs were also investigated.     

High efficiency ITO-free flexible white organic light-emitting diodes based on multi-cavity technology

The technology of white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) is attracting growing interest due to their potential application in indoor lighting. Nevertheless the simultaneous achievement of high luminous efficacy (LE), high color rendering index (CRI), very low manufacturing costs and compatibility with flexible thin substrates is still a great challenge. Indeed, very high efficiency devices show usually low values of CRI, not suitable for lighting applications, and use expensive indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes which are not compatible with low cost and/or flexible products. Here we show a novel low cost ITO-free WOLED structure based on a multi-cavity architecture with increased photonic mode density and still broad white emission spectrum, which allows for simultaneous optimization of all device characteristics. Without using out-coupling optics or high refractive index substrates, CRI of 85 and LE as high as 33 lm W⁻¹ and 14 lm W⁻¹ have been demonstrated on ITO-free glass and flexible substrates, respectively.     

High efficiency pure white organic light-emitting diodes using a diphenylaminofluorene-based blue fluorescent material

High efficiency pure white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) were developed using a highly efficient diphenylaminofluorene-based deep blue fluorescent material (DAF). A high quantum efficiency of 7.1% with color coordinates of (0.15, 0.18) were obtained from the DAF-doped blue device, which was then combined with phosphorescent red/green devices. A mixed interlayer was used to control the color coordinates and charge balance in the emitting layer of the WOLEDs. The pure white hybrid WOLEDs showed a high quantum efficiency of 12.3%.     

Color temperature tunable white organic light-emitting diodes

In this work, we demonstrated color-tunable white organic light-emitting diodes by stacking upper orange transparent and lower blue bottom emission organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). By independently operating each OLED, it was possible to tune the color temperature in a range of 1500–10,000 K, which covers the full Planckian locus in the 1931 CIE space. In designing stable and efficient OLEDs, in addition to the electrical characteristics, the importance of internal microcavity was emphasized and implemented. In fabricating the upper transparent OLED, special attention was paid to the capping layer for enhancing the emission. Our results presented a general guideline that is practically useful in designing high-performance color-tunable OLEDs with transparent OLEDs.     

Polymer-based scattering layers for internal light extraction from organic light emitting diodes

Efficient light extraction for organic light emitting diodes (OLED) using scalable processes and low-cost materials are important prerequisites for the future commercialization of OLED lighting devices. The light-extraction technology exhibited in this paper uses polymer-based high-refractive index scattering layers processed from solution. The scatter matrix formulation incorporates two types of nanoparticles for refractive index tuning and scattering, respectively. Planarization by the same material in order to reduce surface defects was critical for achieving highly increased device yield. Highly efficient and defect-free large-area (1.8 cm²) white OLED devices were fabricated on top of the scattering layer in a bottom emitter configuration. Light extraction enhancement leads to an overall efficiency gain of up to 81% for luminances of 5000 cd m⁻².     

A simple effective method to improve light out-coupling in organic light-emitting diodes by introducing pyramid-based texture structure

This paper showed a very simple method to increase the light extraction of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) by attaching an inverted pyramid texture film to them. The texture film was fabricated by transferring the pyramid-based textured morphology of mono-crystalline silicon surface using a printing process. Compared to the reference device, our results showed a great improvement in the current efficiency (+37.0%) and external quantum efficiency (+36.6%) at a current density of 100 mA/cm². Furthermore, the EL spectrum and CIE coordinates of the OLEDs did hardly vary with the introduction of the texture film and variation of viewing angles, and the OLED with the texture film was proved to be a perfect Lambertian emitter, which suggested that the utilization of this method was a promising approach for the development of OLEDs and could be suggestive conduction to EL lightening and backlight.     

白光有机电致发光器件发光稳定性研究

基于红绿/蓝双发光层,制作了结构为ITO/MoO ₃(10nm)/NPB(40nm)/TCTA(10nm)/CBP:R-4B(2%):GIR1(14%,X nm)/mCP:Firpic(8%,Y nm/BCP(10nm)/Alq₃(40nm)/LiF(1nm)/Al( 100nm)的白色全磷光有机电致发光器件(OLED),通过 调节红绿发光层的厚度X与蓝光发光层的厚度Y,研究了不同发光层厚度器件发 光性能的影响。研究发现:当X 为23nm、Y为7nm时,器件的光效和色坐标都具有 很高的稳定性,在电压分别为5、 10和15V时,色坐标分别为(0.33,0.37)、(0.33,0. 37)和(0.34,0.38);在电压为 5V时,电流密度为0.674mA,亮度为158.7cd ,最大电流效率为26.87cd/A;利用电子阻 挡材料TCTA和空穴阻挡材料BCP能够显著提高载流子的复合效率。分析认为:发光层顺序 为红绿/蓝时,更有利于蓝光的出射,从而使白光的色坐标更稳定。     

AlGaInP发光二极管内量子效率测量分析

采用两种方法对650 nm AlGaInP LED内量子效率进行测量分析.一是考虑光子循环利用的影响,建立取光效率模型,使用光线追迹法模拟计算取光效率,进而反推出内量子效率.另一方法是变温L-I-V测量分析,在降温过程测量外量子效率随温度的变化,测量出一定温度范围内外量子效率出现最大值且稳定,并根据LED内部的复合机制,从而确定内量予效率值.最后分析两种测量方法,并给出了影响测量的因素.     

Evaluation of light extraction efficiency for the light-emitting diodes based on the transfer matrix formalism and ray-tracing method

The internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of the light-emitting diodes can be calculated by the ratio of the external quantum efficiency (EQE) and the light extraction efficiency (LEE). The EQE can be measured experimentally, but the LEE is difficult to calculate due to the complicated LED structures. In this work, a model was established to calculate the LEE by combining the transfer matrix formalism and an in-plane ray tracing method. With the calculated LEE, the IQE was determined and made a good agreement with that obtained by the ABC model and temperature-dependent photoluminescence method. The proposed method makes the determination of the IQE more practical and conventional.     

Achieving above 30% external quantum efficiency for inverted phosphorescence organic light-emitting diodes based on ultrathin emitting layer

High efficiency inverted phosphorescence organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs) based on ultrathin undoped and doped emitting layer (EML) have been developed. Compared to conventional device, the inverted PhOLED with 0.5 nm undoped EML exhibits significantly larger external quantum efficiency (EQE), due to effective energy transfer from the excited host to the emitter. According to the atomic force microscopy image of EML, the 0.5 nm emitter sandwiched by two hosts can be considered as the emitter doped in two hosts. The inverted device with intentionally doped ultrathin EML (1.5 nm) exhibits the maximum EQE of 31.1%, which is attributed to optimized charge balance and preferred horizontal orientation of emitter. However, such inverted device has large efficiency roll-off at high brightness because of triplet–triplet annihilation process within the ultrathin EML. This can be improved by broadening the doped EML. The inverted device with 10.5 nm doped EML has about EQE of 20 % at 10,000 cd/m². It is expected that our inverted PhOLED will promote development of high efficiency active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes based on the n-type Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide thin film transistor.