Current OLEDs

Consequently, this straightforward realization of vertical doping profiles and material mixtures enables precise layer fine-tuning to optimize device performance, for example power efficiency or lifetime [25]. For current OLED research and development and production [32, 33] doping and coevaporation are fundamental for device optimization and longer lifetimes. 

The paper is oiganized to describe, first, the materials that have been used in OLEDs, then the device structures that have been evaluated. After a description of the methods used to characterize and evaluate materials and devices, we summarize the current stale of understanding of the physics of device operation, followed by a discussion of the mechanisms which lead to degradation and failure. Finally, we present the issues that must be addressed to develop a viable flat-panel display technology using OLEDs. Space and schedule prevent a comprehensive review of the vast literature in this rapidly moving field. We have tried to present... 

Studies of double carrier injection and transport in insulators and semiconductors (the so called bipolar current problem) date all the way back to the 1950s. A solution that relates to the operation of OLEDs was provided recently by Scott et al. [142], who extended the work of Parmenter and Ruppel [143] to include Lange-vin recombination. In order to obtain an analytic solution, diffusion was ignored and the electron and hole mobilities were taken to be electric field-independent. The current-voltage relation was derived and expressed in terms of two independent boundary conditions, the relative electron contributions to the current at the anode, jJfVj, and at the cathode, JKplJ. 

There have been numerous studies of the electrical and emission properties of conjugated polymer-, small molecule-, and molecularly doped polymer-based OLEDs. The current-voltage and radiance-voltage characteristics have been nica sured as a function of thickness of the organic layer, temperature, different metal electrodes, etc. in an attempt to understand the device physics. A major factor in hibiting progress is the purity of the organic impurities that are incorporated dur-... 

An additional limit to the size of a passive array relates to the current which flows in an OLED when it is under reverse bias [189]. When a given pixel is turned on in the array, there are many possible parallel paths for the current, each involving two diodes in reverse bias and one forward. Hence, as the number of rows and columns increases, there is a higher level of background emission from non-selected pixels that limits the contrast ratio of the array. As a result, the contrast degrades as N increases. 

The upper limit for passive matrix OLEDs thus depends on many factors, including the reverse current of the diodes, the current delivery of the row drivers, the roll-off in OLED power efficiency, and the brightness and contrast ratio requirements of the application. The practical limit is probably less than VGA resolution (480 rows by 640 x 3 columns, where the factor of 3 reflects the RGB subpixels for color) for power-sensitive portable applications. However, such considerations are less important where a wall-plug is available and one company in Japan (Idemitsu Kosan [190]) has demonstrated full color television using passive OLED arrays. 

The processes of charge injection, transport, and recombination dictate the recombination efficiency h(/), which is the fraction of injected electrons that recombine to give an exciton. The recombination efficiency, which is a function of the device current, plays a primaty role in determining the amount of emitted light, therefore determining the OLED figurcs-of-meril. For example, the quantum efficiency /y(/) (fraction of injected electrons that results in the emission of a photon from the device) is, to a first approximation, given by ... 

Figure 13-6. The vullage dependence ol the cuinenl densities in the dark (open triangles), under illumination (open circles) and their difference (filled squares) for an fTO/MEH-PPV/Mg OLED. The inset shows the same data plotted as tire logarithm of the current (difference)- Reproduced with permission front [97J.

Another way to measure the Vhi is by means of photovoltaic measurements [97, 113. The technique is based on the fact that, at near zero applied bias, the OLED acts as a photovoltaic cell, where photogencraled carriers drift under the influence of Vhi to produce a current in an external cireuit. In a way similar to electroabsorption, an external bias is applied in order to compensate the built-in potential and null the net pholocurrent (Fig. 13-6). However, it has been shown that the measurement produces accurate results only at low temperatures, where diffusive transport of charges that are phoiogcneraled at the interlaces is negligible [97]. 

Figure 13-11. (a) A diagram showing ihc spatial distribution of lire relative hole and electron currents in an OLED. The recombination efficiency h is equal to the fraction of the electron (hole) current that docs not make it to the anode (cathode) (b) cll icicncy-currcni balance diagram for OLEDs. Sec text for details. 

The analytic theory outlined above provides valuable insight into the factors that determine the efficiency of OI.EDs. However, there is no completely analytical solution that includes diffusive transport of carriers, field-dependent mobilities, and specific injection mechanisms. Therefore, numerical simulations have been undertaken in order to provide quantitative solutions to the general case of the bipolar current problem for typical parameters of OLED materials [144—1481. Emphasis was given to the influence of charge injection and transport on OLED performance. 1. Campbell et at. [I47 found that, for Richardson-Dushman thermionic emission from a barrier height lower than 0.4 eV, the contact is able to supply... 

Recently, Mailiaras et al. [ 1511 have shown that for the analysis of the current-voltage characteristics of single layer OLEDs, it is of fundamental importance to properly account for the built-in potential. The electrical characteristics of MEH-... 

On the experimental front, Burrows and Forrest 155] have measured the electric field and thickness dependence of the current and radiance from bilayer devices with various HTLs and Alqs as the ETL. The data were analyzed in temis of trap-limited transport in the Alq t layer, with the assumption that the voltage drop across the HTL is negligible. However, this assumption was challenged by Vestweber and Riess [ I56 and Giebcler et al. 1157], who demonstrated that HTL plays an important role in determining the efficiency of bilayer OLEDs. 

The redispersion microreactor is applied for the liquid-liquid polycondensation to yield an OLED material by multiple Suzuki coupling. As the initial test reaction, the following single Suzuki coupling is currently being explored in the liquid-liquid system made from water/ dioxane/toluene. 

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