F r a u n h o f e r R e s e a r c h I n s t i t u t i o n f o r O r g a n i c s , M at e r i a l s a n d E l e c t r o n i c D e v i c e s CO M EDD

OLED

photodetectors

Capillary with owing transparent

uid and reecting particles

OLED

Si CMOS chip
carrier PCB

Photodiodes

Encapsulation
CMOS Chip

1 OLED-on-CMOS sensor test chip

by IPMS.

2 Particle flow sensor setup.

3 Feedback demonstrator.

Smart optoelectronic microsensors by OLED-on-CMOS

Introduction

OLED layers onto silicon CMOS backplanes

monolithically integrated optoelectronic

Fraunhofer Research Institution for

Since the advent of silicon-based micro-

silicon devices incorporating optical excita-

Organics, Materials and Electronic

electronics the combination of circuitry and

tion may be envisaged (OLED-on-CMOS).

Devices COMEDD

embedded sensors, especially photodetec-

Those can be designed as highly-integrated

tors has been evident (e.g., CMOS camera

micro-scale optical illumination and recep-

Maria-Reiche-Str. 2

chips). However, there is a specific area

tion units on a smart single chip (adding

01109 Dresden

that cannot be covered by this technology

on-chip signal processing capabilities), by

inherently due to the silicon bandgap ef-

single elements (e.g., OLED-photodiode

ficient photoemission. That application is

combination), in segments or arrays.

Contact
Ines Schedwill

so far reserved by the III-V semiconductor

Phone +49 351 8823-238

industry and prevents monolithic integra-

ines.schedwill@comedd.fraunhofer.de

tion of light-emitting optoelectronic devices

Dr. Uwe Vogel

Phone +49 351 8823-282
uwe.vogel@comedd.fraunhofer.de
www.comedd.fraunhofer.de

Perspective

into silicon processes, which are by far

A totally new device generation of

most-widely employed in microsystems

OLED-based optoelectronics is foreseen. By

manufacturing. Light-emitting components,

integrating such highly efficient and stable

as commonly used in optoelectronic

light sources onto CMOS and into micro-

sensors, have to be added in a hybrid way,

systems for the first time monolithically

which increases cost and reduces reliability.

integrated optoelectronic components/

micro-devices with embedded illumination

ISO 9001:2008

Quality Management

Now, for the first time organic-light

become reality. This is achieved by highly

We are certified

emitting diodes (OLED) promise to cross

integrated micro-scale optical transmission

Voluntary participation in regular

monitoring according to ISO 9001:2008

that barrier: By embedding highly efficient

A C erti fica ti
KR
o
DE

ce rtified

oledcmos-e

and receiver units on a single chip, as single

Achievements

Development offer

Bidirectional prototype device

OLED-on-CMOS device integration

Brightness: >1000cd/m

R&D in OLED-based integrated

elements, in segments or arrays.

OLED allow improving the integration
density:

OLED efficiency: >15cd/A

Monolithic OLED integration reduces

number of system components, lowering size, weight and costs of the system
Highly-precise optical adjustment of

OLED emitter towards detector area

allows tuned beam steering

Display resolution: 320 240 pixels

(QVGA) monochrome
Camera resolution:

160 120 photo diodes

Active matrix diagonal size: ca. 0.6

Electronics design (backplane (integrated

circuitry/ ASIC), control, interface,)

System design (sensor electronics (e.g.,

controller, RF-ID,), packaging, module)

Product development and qualification
Pilot-production (small to medium

Arbitrary shaped and patterned OLED-

on-CMOS light sources allow new

optoelectronics

Applications

volume fabrication)

approaches in dimensional sensors,

being impossible with current sources

Particle flow sensor

(LED, lamps,)
Wafer-level integration of beam-steering

micro-optics

OLED stripes for fluid illumination and 8

photodiodes
Light reflection depending on local fluid

Further exploitation opportunities of OLEDon-CMOS opto sensor technology beyond

velocity and particle density

References

Analyzing photocurrents and correlation

the scope of this project can be expected,

functions, the fluid particle velocity can

Zoom: BMBF/ 16SV2283

e.g., single-chip reflection light barriers,

be calculated

ISEMO: BMBF/D 16SV3682

optical sensors requiring embedded

illumination (slope sensors, stray light sen-

Optical inspection

sors, wave front sensors, single-chip optical

heads for 3D shape detection by patterned
illumination,), lab-on-chip modules with
embedded microfluidics, excitation and
sensors, optical finger-print sensors, chipto-chip communication and OLED-based

Patterned illumination and detection of

pattern distortion
Dimensional optical measuring of

surface topology

print-heads. That shows the broad market

potential of this new technology and

Opto-coupler

devices in several areas beside biomedicine

and biotechnology (including pharmacy),

4 Display and camera

demonstrator.

OLED as embedded light source for

5 OLED-on-CMOS sensor test chip

such as mechanical engineering, telecom-

integrated opto-couplers (e.g., in drivers,

by IPMS.

munication, or automotive.

controllers,)

6 Feedback demonstrator.