Dept of Ece

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) (154M1A0494)
1. INTRODUCTION
Can we just imagine of having a TV which can be rolled up? Wouldn’t you like
to be able to read off the screen of your laptop in direct sunlight? Your mobile phone
battery to last much, much longer? Or your next f lat screen TV to be less expensive,
much flatter, and even flexible? Well, now it is possible by an emerging technology
based on the revolutionary discovery that, light emitting; fast switching diode could be
made from polymers as well as semiconductors.
We know, Ordinary LED emits light when electric current is passed through.
Organic displays use a material with self luminous property that eliminates the need of a
back light. These result in a thin and compact display. While backlighting is a crucial
component to improving brightness in LCDs, it also adds significant cost as well as
requires extra power. With an organic display, your laptop might be less heavy to carry
around, or your battery lasts much longer compared to a laptop equipped with a
traditional LCD screen.
OLEDs are solid-state devices composed of thin films of organic molecules that
create light with the application of electricity. OLEDs can provide brighter, crisper
displays on electronic devices and use less power than conventional light emitting
diodes (LEDs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used today.
Organic opto-electronic devices including organic resonant tunneling diodes,
OLEDs, organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells and organic photo detectors
have formed a tremendous area of research in chemistry and physics. Electroluminescent
devices based on organic materials are of considerable interest owing to their attractive
characteristics and potential applications to flat panel display.
OLED displays are based on component devices containing organic
electroluminescent material (made by small molecules or polymers) that emits light
when stimulated by electricity. An OLED is a solid-state semiconductor device that is
100 to 500 nanometers thick and consists of a conducting layer and an emissive layer, all
together sandwiched between two electrodes and deposited on a substrate. The
conducting layer is made of organic plastic molecules that transport "holes" from the
anode.
DEPT OF ECE Page 1

A screen based on Poly LEDs has obvious advantages: the screen is lightweight
and flexible, so that it can be rolled up. With plastic chips you can ensure that the
electronics driving the screen are integrated in the screen itself. One big advantage of
plastic electronics is that there is virtually no restriction on size.
Research and development in the field of OLED is proceeding rapidly and may
lead to future applications in heads-up displays, automotive dashboards, billboard-type
displays, mobile phones, television screen, home and office lighting and flexible
displays.
1.1 HISTORY:
The first observations of electroluminescence in organic materials were in the

early 1950s by A. Bernanose and co-workers at the Nancy-Universite, France. They
applied high-voltage alternating current (AC) fields in air to materials such as acridine
orange, either deposited on or dissolved in cellulose or cellophane thin films. The
proposed mechanism was either direct excitation of the dye molecules or excitation of
electrons.
In 1960, Martin Pope and co-workers at New York University developed ohmic
dark-injecting electrode contacts to organic crystals. They further described the
necessary energetic requirements (work functions) for hole and electron injecting
electrode contacts. These contacts are the basis of charge injection in all modern OLED
devices. Pope's group also first observed direct current (DC) electroluminescence under
vacuum on a single crystal of anthracene and on anthracene crystals doped with
tetracene in 1963 using a small area silver electrode at 400V. The proposed mechanism
was field accelerated electron excitation of molecular fluorescence.
Pope's group reported in 1965 that in the absence of an external electric field, the
electroluminescence in anthracene crystals is caused by the recombination of a
thermalized electron and hole, and that the conducting level of anthracene is higher in
energy than the exciton energy level. Also in 1965, W. Helfrich and W. G. Schneider of
the National Research Council in Canada produced double injection recombination
electroluminescence for the first time in an anthracene single crystal using hole and
DEPT OF ECE Page 2

electron injecting electrodes, the forerunner of modern double injection devices. In the
same year, Dow Chemical researchers patented a method of preparing
electroluminescent cells using high voltage (500–1500 V) AC-driven (100–3000 Hz)
electrically-insulated one millimetre thin layers of a melted phosphor consisting of
ground anthracene powder, tetracene, and graphite powder. Their proposed mechanism
involved electronic excitationat the contacts between the graphite particles and the
anthracene molecules.
Device performance was limited by the poor electrical conductivity of
contemporary organic materials. This was overcome by the discovery and development
of highly conductive polymers. For more on the history of such materials, see
conductive polymers.
Electroluminescence from polymer films was first observed by Roger Partridge at
the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The device consisted of a film
of poly (n- vinylcarbazole) up to 2.2 micrometres thick located between two charge
injecting electrodes. The results of the project were patented in 1975 and published in
1983.
The first diode device was reported at Eastman Kodak by Ching W. Tang and
Steven Van Slyke in 1987.This device used a novel two-layer structure with separate
whole transporting and electron transporting layers such that recombination and light
emission occurred in the middle of the organic layer. This resulted in a reduction in
operating voltage and improvements in efficiency and led to the current era of OLED
research and device production.Research into polymer electroluminescence culminated
in 1990 with J.H. Burroughes et al. at the Cavindish laboratory in Cambridge reporting a
high efficiency green light-emitting polymer based device using 100 nm thick films of
poly (p-phenylenevinylene)
1.2 FEATURES OF OLED
Organic LED has several inherent properties that afford unique possibilities
 High brightness is achieved at low drive voltages / current densities
 Operating lifetime exceeding 10,000 hours
DEPT OF ECE Page 3

 Materials do not need to be crystalline , so easy to fabricate

 Possible to fabricate on glass and flexible substrates
 Self luminescent so no requirement of backlighting
 Higher brightness
 Low operating and turn-on voltage
Low cost of materials and substrates of OLEDs can provide desirable advantages over
today's liquid crystal displays (LCDs),
 High contrast
 Low power consumption
 Wide operating temperature range
 Long operating life time
 A flexible, thin and light weight
 Cost effective manufacture ability
OLED displays have other advantages over LCDs as well
 Increased brightness
 Faster response time for full motion video
Lighter weight Greater
Durability
Broader operating temperature ranges
Conventional semiconductor components have become smaller and smaller over
the course of time. Silicon is the base material of all microelectronics and is eminently
suited for this purpose. However, the making of larger components is difficult and
therefore costly.
The silicon in semiconductor components has to be mono crystalline; it has to
have a very pure crystal form without defects in the crystal structure. This is achieved by
allowing melted silicon to crystallize under precisely controlled conditions. The larger
the crystal, the more problematic this process is. Plastic does not have any of these
problems, so that semiconducting plastics are paving way for larger semiconductor
components.
DEPT OF ECE Page 4

2. WHAT IS OLEDS
An OLED is a solid state device or electronic device that typically consists of

Organic thin films sandwiched between two thin film conductive electrodes. When
Electrical current is applied, a bright light is emitted. LED use a carbon-based designer
molecule that emits light when an electric current passes through it. This is called electro
phosphorescence. Even with the layered system, these systems are thin usually less than
500 nm or about 200 times smaller than a human hair.
When used to produce displays. OLED technology produces self-luminous
displays that do not require backlighting and hence more energy efficient. These
properties result in thin, very compact displays. The displays require very little power,
i.e.; only 2-10 volts. OLED technology uses substances that emit red, green, blue or
white light. Without any other source of illumination, OLED materials present bright,
clear video and images that are easy to see at almost any angle. Enhancing organic
material helps to control the brightness and color of light, i.e.; the brightness of an
OLED is determined by how much power you supply to the system.
Figure2.1: Example structure of OLED

OLED devices can be divided into two classes: depending on the type of organic layer:
• Small molecule devices (SMOLED)
• Organic polymer devices (PLED or LEP)
DEPT OF ECE Page 5

2.1 BASIC OF SMOLED:

Small-molecule devices are fabricated using vacuum evaporation techniques,
whereas polymer structures can be applied using spin-casting or even ink-jet printing
techniques. Originating at Eastman Kodak Co. (Rochester, NY), the small-molecule
technology has achieved commercialization first. OLEDs based on “small molecules”
have tris (8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum (Alq3) as the prototype and only a few
derivatives have been proposed so far.

Organic materials used for different types of SMOLED:
Figure2.2: SMOLED prototype – Alq3

The p-n diode structure proves to be a key feature for the OLED device. The basic
structure of SMOLED consists of two layers of organic thin films - a hole transport layer
– HTL (p-layer by LED) and an electron transport layer - ETL (n-layer by LED) -
sandwiched between an anode and a cathode. These two organic layers, each on the
order of about 500 Å thick, provide the appropriate media for transporting charge
carriers, toward the interface formed between the two layers.
DEPT OF ECE Page 6

Figure2.3: SMOLED energy diagram

When voltage is applied, charge injection of electrons through the cathode and
hole through the anode occurs. Electrons are transported to the LUMO of the ETL, and
holes to the HOMO of the HTL. Recombination of these charges occurs across the
barriers; with holes primarily moving into Alq3 .Excitations formed in Alq3 in this case
emit green fluorescence. As a result, this organic interface region, on the order of 100 to
200 Å thick, is also primarily responsible for the light generation from the SMOLED
device.
2.2 BASIC OF PLEDS:

There has been a big advance recently also on PLEDs first discovered by
researchers at Cambridge University in 1989. OLEDs based on polymers have poly-
paraphenylene-vinylene (PPV) as the prototype, but over the years a number of
derivatives of PPV or other polymers have been proposed and used.
Organic materials used for different types of PLED:
Figure2.4: PLED protocol-PPV
DEPT OF ECE Page 7

The energy level diagram of a typical single layer PLED is shown in Figure. The device
utilizes ~100 nm of PPV with an ITO anode and calcium cathode.
Figure2.5: PLED energy diagram
When a forward bias is applied, electrons are injected from the cathode into the
LUMO of the polymer and holes are injected from the anode into the HOMO of the
polymer. Thus, the electrons must overcome the barrier between the Ca Fermi level and
the LUMO level of the polymer. Low work function metals such as Mg or Ca are
typically used to minimize this barrier and provide an ohmic contact. A good energy
match between cathode and LUMO means that not much energy is lost when electrons
are injected.
2.3 Phosphorescent doping (Singlet, Triplet excitations):
The process of charge injection and recombination in OLEDs results in the

generation of singlet and triplet. Quantum statistics limits the direct generation of singlet
to 25%, while the rest of the excitations, 75% are triplets. In traditional OLEDs, which
are fluorescence based, only the singlet excitations contribute directly to the light
generation process. Taking into consideration the device planar geometry, and other
factors, the external quantum efficiency is limited to about 5%. Significant increases in
the device quantum efficiency can be brought upon by allowing the triplets to contribute
to the lightemission process. This can be achieved by using phosphorescent dyes in an
appropriate host material.
DEPT OF ECE Page 8

Figure2.6: singlet and triplet excitation light emissions
Even though highly fluorescent dyes increase EL efficiencies for small-molecule

OLEDs, they only harness a fraction of all electrically generated excitations. Two types
of excitations are formed when electrically injected carriers recombine: singlet
excitations with total spin S = 0 and triplet excitations with total spin S = 1. Since the
ground state of organic molecules has S = 0, and the relaxation of a molecule through
the radioactive recombination of an exciton must conserve spin, fluorescent emission
from singlet excitations is the only allowed process that generates photons. Hence, for
typical fluorescent-based OLEDs, all triplet excitations are wasted.
For small-molecule devices, it is believed that only 25% of the emissive singlet
excitations are formed during electrical excitation. However, some materials do exhibit
light emission from triplet excitations. In these materials, the singlet and triplet states are
mixed and hence the excited triplet states share some singlet character and radioactive
decay to the ground state is allowed. This process is known as phosphorescence. Adding
a heavy metal atom such as iridium to an organic molecule increases the spin-orbit
coupling that mixes singlet and triplet excited states allowing for efficient radioactive
decay of triplet excitations. The energy level schematic of an OLED employing an
iridium-based phosphorescent small molecule. Here, two ETL layers are used - one
(CBP) hosts the phosphorescent iridium complex and one (BCP) acts solely as a hole
(and exciton) blocking layer.
Upon injection, holes are transported in the HTL and recombine with the
electrons that have been injected into the hole blocking layer and have drifted to the
DEPT OF ECE Page 9

CBP ETL. Both singlet and triplet excitation are formed in the CBP host and then both
types of excitations are transferred nonradioactive to the emissive state of the iridium
complex. This state then emits light through phosphorescence. The net effect is that both
the singlet and triplet excitations created in CBP are utilized for light emission. And this
clearly demonstrates the potential of high efficiency OLEDs based on phosphorescence.
Figure2.7: Schematic energy level diagram of an optimized small molecule

OLED employing the phosphorescent complex.
DEPT OF ECE Page 10

3. THE PHYSICS BEHIND OLEDS
3.1ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTORS:
SMOLEDs are constructional more similar to LEDs than PLEDs are, thus we
first take a look at conductivity properties of polymer materials used in PLEDs. The
question arising is: How polymer becomes conductive? How can plastic conduct
electricity?
Polymers are made of long chain molecules entangled between each other. The polymer
chains are formed by connecting many small molecular units called monomers.
Figure3.1: polymer chain building
Most polymers are organic compounds, which mean they are composed mostly
of carbon chains with hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms. Hence polymers typically
do not conduct electricity and are used in electronic application as insulator.
The prototypical conducting polymer is polyacetylene (PA), (CH) n. Every bond
contains a localized “sigma” (σ) bond which forms a strong chemical bond. In addition,
every double bond also contains a less strongly localized “pi” (π) bond which is weaker.
A π molecular orbital is thus formed when two carbon atoms form a double bond and the
2pz orbital have the same symmetry. The electrons in this π orbital have equal
probability of being around each carbon nucleus.
Figure3.2: 2pz orbital interact and form a “conductive” electron cloud
DEPT OF ECE Page 11

Moreover, π-bonding, in which the carbon orbital are in the sp²pz configuration
and in which the orbital of successive carbon atoms along the backbone overlap, leads to
electron delocalization along the backbone of the polymer.
Actually because of the Peripherals Instability with two carbon atoms in the repeat
unit, the π-band is divided into π- and π* bands. What Peripherals showed is that due to
the coupling between electronic and elastic properties the polymer develops a structural
distortion such as to open a gap in the electronic excitation spectrum.
Figure3.3: Bonding and anti-bonding (*) π orbital
Since each band can hold two electrons per atom (spin up and spin down), the π-
band is filled and the π*-band is empty. This energy band structure is similar to a
semiconductor. In this form polymer is a poor electrical conductor. In a diatomic
molecule, a molecular orbital (MO) diagram can be drawn showing a single HOMO and
LUMO, corresponding to a low energy π orbital and a high energy π* orbital.
Figure3.4: molecular orbital diagram
DEPT OF ECE Page 12

They are separated by a band gap which is typically 0-10eV and depends on the
type of material. PPV has a band gap of 0.25eV.
3.2 DOPING, CHARGE TRANSPORT:
In conjugation, the bonds between the carbon atoms are alternately single and
double. Before a current can flow along the molecule one or more electrons have to be
removed or inserted. The conductivity of the plastic material, which consists of many
polymer chains, will be limited by the fact that the electrons have to "jump" (hop) from
one molecule to the next. Hence, the chains have to be well packed in ordered rows.
There are two types of doping, oxidation or reduction. In the case of PA the
reactions are written:
+ -
Oxidation with halogen (p-doping): [CH] n + 3x/2 I2 → [CH] nx + x I3
- +
Reduction with alkali metal (n-doping): [CH] n + x Na → [CH] nx + x Na
However, it is not the iodide or sodium ions that move to create the current, but
the electrons from the conjugated double bonds.
The trans-structure of polyacetylene possesses a two-fold degenerate ground
state and single and double bonds can be interchanged without changing energy. A break
in pattern of bond alternation separates degenerate ground-state structures.
Figure3.6: Degenerate phases in trans-polyacetylene
This break leads to a free radical defect, a so-called neutral soliton which is
relatively stable. Addition of an acceptor removes an electron and creates a positive
soliton (or a neutral one if the electron removed is not the free electron). The resulting
DEPT OF ECE Page 13

carbonation is stabilized by having the charge spread over several monomer units and
the charged soliton are responsible for making polyacetylene a conductor
Figure3.7: Band theory model in polymers.
3.3 LIGHT EMISSION:

Conjugated polymers can show photoluminescence as well as
electroluminescence. The first being obvious from the fluorescent color a typical light
emitting polymer like PPV exhibits. This is due to the relaxation of a single excited state
generated by the absorption of a photon. A similar process is responsible for the
electroluminescence of a conjugated polymer but the generation of the excited state is
different. Instead of excitation by a photon, a negative electrode injects electrons
(generation of radical anions) and a positive electrode injects holes (generation of radical
cations) respectively. Electrons and holes can combine as they are attracted to each other
by Coulomb interactions. This leads to the formation of neutral bound excited states
termed excitations. The spin wave function of an exciton can be triplet or singlet as in
the case of photoluminescence. The decomposition of them leads to light emission. The
emitted wavelength of an electrically excited conjugated polymer depends crucially on
its band gap
Eg =h c/v
Where h is Planck’s constant and c is the speed of light. PPV produces yellow-green
luminescence (Eg = 2.5 eV).
DEPT OF ECE Page 14

Figure3.8: Photoluminescence and electroluminescence in conjugated polymers.
DEPT OF ECE Page 15

4. OLED COMPONENTS
Like an LED, an OLED is a solid-state semiconductor device that is 100 to 500

nanometers thick or about 200 times smaller than a human hair. OLEDs can have either
two layers or three layers of organic material; in the latter design, the third layer helps
transport electrons from the cathode to the emissive layer.
Figure4.1: OLED components include organic layers that are made of organic
Molecules or polymers.
An OLED consists of the following parts:
Substrate (clear plastic, glass, foil) - The substrate supports the OLED. The
substrate is used to support the OLED. The substrate most commonly used may be a
plastic, foil or even glass. OLED devices are classified as bottom emission devices if
light emitted passes through the transparent substrate on which the panel was
manufactured.
Anode (transparent) - The anode removes electrons (adds electron "holes") when
a Current flows through the device. The anode component usually used is indium tin
oxide ITO. This material is transparent to visible light and is sufficiently conductor and
has a high work function which promotes injection of holes into the HOMO level of the
DEPT OF ECE Page 16

organic layer. A typical conductive layer behaving as a transparent electrode that replace
the traditionally used ITO consist of PEDOT:PSS polymer or poly(3,4-
ethylenedioxythiophene) poly (styrenesulfonate) as the HOMO level of this material
generally lies between the work function of ITO and the HOMO of other commonly
used polymers, reducing the energy barriers for hole injection. Another anode based on
grapheme yields to performance comparable to ITO transparent anodes
Organic layers - These layers are made of organic molecules or polymers.
Conducting layer - This layer is made of organic plastic molecules that
transport "holes" from the anode. One conducting polymer used in OLEDs is
polyaniline.
Emissive layer - This layer is made of organic plastic molecules (different ones
from the conducting layer) that transport electrons from the cathode; this is where light
is made. One polymer used in the emissive layer is polyfluorene.
Cathode (may or may not be transparent depending on the type of OLED) - The
cathode injects electrons when a current flows through the device. The cathode
component depends on the type of OLED required. Noteworthy, even a transparent
cathode can be used. Usually metals like barium, calcium and aluminum are used as a
cathode because they have lesser work functions than anodes which help in injecting
electrons into the LUMO level of the different layers
4.1 MANUFACTURING OF OLED:
The biggest part of manufacturing OLEDs is applying the organic layers to the
substrate.
This can be done in three ways:
 Vacuum deposition or vacuum thermal evaporation (VTE):
In a vacuum chamber, the organic molecules are gently heated (evaporated) and
allowed to condense as thin films onto cooled substrates. This process is expensive
and inefficient.
 Organic vapor phase deposition:
DEPT OF ECE Page 17

In a low pressure, hot-walled reactor chamber, a carrier gas transports evaporated

organic molecules onto cooled substrates, where they condense into thin films.
Using a carrier gas increases the efficiency and reduces the cost of making
OLEDs. The organic materials are stored in external, separate, thermally-
controlled cells .Once evaporated from these heated cells, the materials are
entrained and transported by an inert carrier gas such as nitrogen, using gas flow
rate, pressure and temperature as process control variables.
Usually we go for this method.
Higher deposition rates: - Deposition rates with OVPD can be several times higher
than the rate for conventional VTE processes because the OVPD deposition rate is
primarily controlled by the How of the carrier gas.
Higher materials utilization: - Because the organic materials do not deposit on the
heated surfaces of the chamber, materials' utilization is much better than with VTE
where the materials deposit everywhere. This feature should translate into lower raw
material cost, less downtime and higher production throughput.
Better device performance: - The OVPD process can provide better film thickness
control and uniformly over larger areas than VTE. With three variable process controls,
OVPD offers more precise deposition rates and doping control at very low levels. As a
result, sharper or graded layer interfaces can be more easily achieved. In addition,
multiple materials can be co-deposited in one chamber without the cross-contamination
problems commonly experienced in VTE systems.
Shadow mask patterning: - OVPD offers better shadow mask-to-substrate distance
control than is possible with VTE up-deposition. Because the mask is above, instead of
below the substrate, its thickness can be dictated by the desired pattern shape rather than
the need for rigidity. Thus precise, reproducible pixel profiles can be obtained.
Larger substrate sizes: - Because the Axton AG-proprietary showerhead can be
designed to maintain a constant source-to-substrate distance, OVPD may be more
readily scaled to larger substrate sizes. This also may render OVPD more adaptable to
in-line and roll-to-roll processing for flexible displays.
DEPT OF ECE Page 18

 Inkjet printing –
With inkjet technology, OLEDs are sprayed onto substrates just like inks are
sprayed onto paper during printing. Inkjet technology greatly reduces the cost
OLED manufacturing and allows OLEDs to be printed onto very large films for
large displays like 80-inch TV screens or electronic billboard
4.2 HOW DO OLEDs EMIT LIGHT
Figure4.2: OLED light is created through a process called electrophosphorescene.

OLEDs emit light in a similar manner to LEDs through a process called
electrophosphorescene.
The process is as follows:
 The battery or power supply of the device containing the OLED applies a
voltage across the OLED.
 An electrical current flows from the cathode to the anode through the organic
layers. The cathode gives electrons to the emissive layer of organic
molecules. The anode removes electrons from the conductive layer of
DEPT OF ECE Page 19

organic molecules.(This is the equivalent to giving electron holes to the

conductive layer)
 At the boundary between the emissive and the conductive layers, electrons
find electron holes. When an electron finds an electron hole, the electron fills
the hole (it falls into an energy level of the atom that is missing an electron).
When this happens, the electron gives up energy in the form of a photon of
light.
 The OLED emits light.
 The color of the light depends on the type of organic molecule in the
emissive layer. Manufacturers place several types of organic films on the
same OLED to make color displays.
 The intensity or brightness of the light depends on the amount of electrical
current applied. The more the current, the brighter the light.
DEPT OF ECE Page 20

5. TYPES OF OLED
There are six types of OLEDs:

 Passive-matrix OLED
 Active-matrix OLED
 Transparent OLED
 Top-emitting OLED
 Foldable OLED
 White OLED
5.1PASSIVE-MATRIX OLED (PMOLED):
PMOLEDs have strips of cathode, organic layers and strips of anode. The anode
strips are arranged perpendicular to the cathode strips.
Figure5.1: Passive matrix OLED (PMOLED)

The intersections of the cathode and anode make up the pixels where light is
emitted. External circuitry applies current to selected strips of anode and cathode,
determining which pixels get turned on and which pixels remain off. Again, the
brightness of each pixel is proportional to the amount of applied current.
DEPT OF ECE Page 21

PMOLEDs are easy to make, but they consume more power than other types of
OLED, mainly due to the power needed for the external circuitry. PMOLEDs are most
efficient for text and icons and are best suited for small screens (2- to 3-inch diagonal)
such as those you find in cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players. Even with the external
Circuitry, passive-matrix OLEDs consume less battery power than the LCDs that
currently Power these devices.
5.2 ACTIVE-MATRIX OLED (AMOLED):
AMOLEDs have full layers of cathode, organic molecules and anode, but the
anode layer overlays a thin film transistor (TFT) array that forms a matrix. The TFT
array itself is the circuitry that determines which pixels get turned on to form an image.
Figure5.2: Active-matrix OLED (AMOLED)

AMOLEDs consume less power than PMOLEDs because the TFT array requires
less power than external circuitry, so they are efficient for large displays. AMOLEDs
also have faster refresh rates suitable for video. The best uses for AMOLEDs are
computer monitors, large-screen TVs and electronic signs or billboards.
Active-matrix OLED displays provide the same beautiful video-rate performance
as their passive matrix OLED counterpart, but they consume significantly less power.
The advantage makes active matrix OLEDs especially well suited for portable
electronics.
DEPT OF ECE Page 22

5.3 TRANSPARENT OLED:
Transparent OLEDs have only transparent components (substrate, cathode and

anode) and, when turned off, are up to 85 percent as transparent as their substrate.
Figure: Transparent OLED

When a transparent OLED display is turned on, it allows light to pass in both
directions. A transparent OLED display can be either active or passive matrix. This
technology can be used for heads up displays
.
5.4 TOP-EMITTING OLED:
Top-emitting OLEDs have a substrate that is either opaque or reflective. They are
best suited to active-matrix design. Manufacturers may use top-emitting OLED displays
in smart cards.
DEPT OF ECE Page 23

Figure: Top-emitting OLED

Top-emitting OLEDs are better suited for active-matrix applications as they can
be more easily integrated with a non-transparent transistor backplane.
5.5 FOLDABLE OLED

Foldable OLEDs have substrates made of very flexible metallic foils or plastics.
Foldable OLEDs are very lightweight and durable.
Figure: Foldable OLED

FOLEDs are offering crisper picture resolution, a faster response time and high contrast
images for curved televisions, which manufacturers say offer a more immersive TV
experience. Potentially, foldable OLED displays can be attached to fabrics to create
"smart" clothing, such as outdoor survival clothing with an integrated computer chip,
cell phone, GPS receiver and OLED display sewn into it. This type is mainly used in
DEPT OF ECE Page 24

devices which have more chance of breaking. As this material is strong it reduces
breakage and therefore is used in GPS devices, cell phones and large curved screen TVs.
5.6 WHITE OLED

White OLEDs emit white light that is brighter, more uniform and more energy
efficient than that emitted by fluorescent lights.
Figure: White OLED

White OLEDs also have the true - color qualities of incandescent lighting.
Because OLEDs can be made in large sheets, they can replace fluorescent lights that are
currently used in homes and buildings. Their use could potentially reduce energy costs
for lighting.
Because white OLEDs can be manufactured in large sheets, are cost-effective
and also consumes less power they can replace fluorescent lamps and could potentially
reduce energy costs for lighting. White OLED is perfectly suited for car lighting because
it can display very deep black as well as light so that the displays can be crisp and easy
to use while also showing a higher contrast than LCD and LED backlights.
DEPT OF ECE Page 25

6. ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES

6.1 ADVANTAGES OF OLED:
6.1.1 LOW POWER
Figure6.1: Lower power consumption of OLED

In this picture we have structures of LCD and OLED. Since in LCDs we have a
gray scale shutter i.e. polarizer for light this makes the structure more complex whereas
in OLEDs the organic layers themselves produce colors and thus the structure which
leads to low cost of OLED.
6.1.2 HIGH POWER EFFICIENCY

As we can see in the first picture that for same amount of luminance, we are
getting a better display. For producing the same amount of brightness as shown in the
second picture, OLED will need comparatively lesser luminance.
Figure: Comparing OLED and LCD pictures
DEPT OF ECE Page 26

6.1.3 LESS POWER CONSUMPTION

Organic light emitting diode, or OLED, displays seem to have it all: energy,
efficiency and a beautiful, crisp picture that refreshes rapidly. But it’s difficult to make
them on large scale, so OLED televisions remain very expensive. DuPont Displays
announced the development of a manufacturing process that the company says can be
used to print large, high performance OLED televisions at volumes that should bring
down costs.
Figure: Power consumption by different displays

.
6.1.4 BETTER DISPLAYS
Organic light emitting diode, or OLED, displays seem to have it all: energy,
efficiency and a beautiful, crisp picture that refreshes rapidly. But it’s difficult to make
them on large scale, so OLED televisions remain very expensive. DuPont Displays
announced the development of a manufacturing process that the company says can be
used to print large, high performance OLED televisions at volumes that should bring
down costs.
DEPT OF ECE Page 27

Figure: Brightness and Contrast of OLED and LCD display

Compared to LCDs, today’s dominant flat panel display (FCD) technology, OLEDs are
capable of markedly better performance feature.Thinner, lighter and more attractive,
OLEDs offer much faster response times, wider viewing angels, higher contrast rations
and brighter, more saturated colors for a more enjoyable viewing experience.
6.2DISADVANTAGES OF OLED:
Figure: Effects of OLED display

While these screens have many advantages but there are some disadvantages also
associated with these screens. Check those OLED disadvantages below:
 Short Lifetime: OLEDs biggest disadvantage is that these screens are not for
long use. Compared with LCD, these screens are not designed to last as long. So
life time may be critical issue and of course a biggest disadvantage of OLED
screens. However, these screens may find good use as mobile phone displays as
most people don’t keep phone for more than a year
 Sunlight Effect: Another disadvantage of OLED display is that they are hard to
see in direct sunlight. So if you have open lobbies where sunlight reaches
directly, you will not get benefit of viewing these screens
 Highly Water prone: OLED screens are highly prone to water.
 High Cost: As mentioned above, current cost is quite high which adds to other
OLED disadvantages.
DEPT OF ECE Page 28

7. APPLICATIONS
7.1 LIGHT SOURCE
Starting with light source, not only OLEDs are super-efficient, but these ‘lamps’
do not contain any ‘bad’ metals such as mercury, which is present in efficient CFL
lamps. So OLEDs are really the future lighting source, when all things are considered.
Figure: Light source using White OLED

As the list of potential OLED based displays handheld, digital cameras,
camcorders, automotive displays, computers and TV screens continue to grow, so does
the list of companies getting involved with OLED research, production and
commercialization. Experts predict that during the next few years OLED displays will
explode, with the market increasing in leaps of around 60% per year. Currently, more
than 80 companies worldwide have OLED development programs and over a third of
them are gearing up for volume production.
7.2 FLEXIBLE DISPLAYS
Flexible displays have advantage of Low weight which is important for mobile
applications. They are very sturdy and strong. Cost production is very less due to R2R
manufacturing technology.
A flexible cell phone display can be unfurled and then rolled back up into a
cylinder case. An early prototype show above shows E ink technology at work, what is
absolutely amazing is that the display retains its image even when the power is turned
off.
DEPT OF ECE Page 29

Figure: Prototype flexible OLED display

Not only is it thin, but OLED is so light weight, it is an advantage for hand-held
devices, smart phones, cell phones, laptops and notebooks. Compared to traditional or
old CRT displays, OLED is brighter, sharper and even has a better contrast than LCD.
The OLED imaging quality certainly surpasses that of LCD screens. What is also
incredible is that OLED can be viewed at any angle, a full 170degrees.
7.3 OLED TV
Lighting manufacturers are constantly looking for ways to distinguish
themselves in an industry comprised of light bulbs and fluorescent tubes that sell mostly
on price.
Figure: OLED TV
Potential differentiators might include the initial price paid, but for conventional
products these are now so low that it is unlikely that any new technology could offer an
improvement. With this in mind, lighting producers are seeking other ways to stand out
in the marketplace mostly through improved aesthetics, energy efficiency and improved
lifetimes.
DEPT OF ECE Page 30

7.4 KEYBOARD
This keyboard looks like any other keyboard but on a closer view, we find that
each key has a movable cap, a microchip and an OLED which can be configured using
user configurable software. His enables multiple usage of the keyboard. Each key is a
stand-alone display that shows the function currently assigned to it.
Figure: Acer Keyboard with OLED lights

Every button of the keyboard (or, more precisely, a module consisting of a
moving cap, a microchip and a display) can be easily removed to clean or replace.
Optimus’s customizable
Layout allows convenient use of any language Cyrillic, Ancient Greek, Georgian,
Arabic, Quenya, hiragana, etc, as well as of any other character set: notes, numerals,
special symbols, HTML codes, math functions and so on to infinity.
DEPT OF ECE Page 31

8. CURRENT RESEARCHES
Since the discovery of OLEDs an amazing development could be realized. The

first patterns of the new displays already offer a brightness of 150 candelas per square
meter and contrasts above 100:1. Thus, the new technology starts at the level of present
high-value TFT monitors. The initially only weakly glowing layers in laboratories
became bright shining components which achieve luminosities of up to 200.000 candela
per square meter - a brightness for which you need sun glasses.
While fixed organic displays slowly enter the market, flexible displays still cause
some problems. They must be encapsulating carefully since light emitting polymers
react sensitive to air humidity and oxygen. In flexible construction concepts this is still a
problem since the film compound is exposed to extreme mechanical stress.
The combination of organic LEDs with electronic circuits could allow
completely flexible displays which may be bent or rolled in at will. Today, every pixel
must be wired with conventional technology and must be triggered separately. The goal
is to print the electronic circuit directly onto the back. Thus, displays become carrier
systems and even with a film computer behind them they will measure only millimeters.
Experts predict an OLED display market of up to 2 billion dollars by 2007. In the
future many consumer devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs, and DV
players are going to be developed with the OLED technology. Roll to Roll
Manufacturing.
Figure: A R2R Process for Manufacturing Active Matrix Backplanes Base on Plasma
Processing and Self-Aligned Imprint Lithography
DEPT OF ECE Page 32

8.1 FUTURE USES
8.8.1 FLUID LENSES

The tiny fluid lenses will give you the freedom to create astounding photographs
with your camera cell phone are smart phone. No one will know that this picture was
taken from your mobile phone. Camera phone users are certainly not thrilled with the
quality of the pictures they take with their 1.3 or 2.0 mega pixel camera phone.
Figure: Fluid lenses

But there are the rare moments when kayaking through a tropical paradise of
Fuji Island, snowboarding and North Pole or checking out the forbidden Palace in
China: when we wish we had a digital camera close at hand. The premise of taking
snapshots is that all of us have images that carry an internal narrative that we rarely get
to share.
The reason for the poor quality picture produced by most camera phones on the
market today is the flash is nonexistent, as well as the camera lens assembly. Camera
phones have lenses of extremely limited focal length giving you results of the list to be
desired for.
8.8.2 PORTABLE PICTURES
The cell phone projector technology developed by Siemens communications in
Samsung respectively, can detect PDA stylus presses as well as a finger tap on the
projected image. The technology is already in development and soon you can projector
your tiny cell phone screen onto a nearby flat surface and enjoy a larger reading area.
DEPT OF ECE Page 33

Figure: Portable Picture using OLED

If you happen to be a gamer, and the cell phone projector technology has a
special treat to offer you. This will solve the problem for many cell phone users that are
becoming nearsighted because they have to squint and decipher the small printing on a
2x2 inch cell phone screen. For professional and hobby photographers, cell phone
projector technology allows you to show your portfolio with just a cell phone and a
projector.
8.8.3 NANO EMISSIVE DISPLAYS
The whole family would gather round the radio to listen to entertainers and
stories Sunday night after dinner. The classic cathode ray tube CRT displays require an
electronic gun mounted to the back firing electrons, the way a soldier would fire a
machine gun onto a phosphor coated glass. What really is amazing is that Motorola
recently developed a prototype nano emissive display (NED) containing thousands of
guns, for each pixel.
8.8.4 SCROLLING LAPTOPS
The novel and truly exciting features of Universal Displays proprietary
FOLED® flexible technology have the potential to engender a wide variety of new
display and lighting products. With FOLED technology still under development today,
the first commercial FOLED displays are targeted for use in portable electronics and
lighting tiles leveraging their advantages in ruggedness, thinness and light weight.
Based on Universal display's FOLED technology roadmap, the next generation
of FOLEDs may provide added functionality through increased conformability. This
feature may open up a wide range of new product opportunities ± ranging from new
DEPT OF ECE Page 34

shaped cell phone designs to novel communication devices that are wearable, for
example, on the cuff of your shirtsleeve or your backpack.
Figure: Foldable laptop prototype by Nokia

Continued progress in Universal Display's FOLED roadmap may, then, enable
the realization of Universal Displays innovative product concept, the Universal
Communication Device (UCD.
Figure: Scrollable laptop prototype

Envisioned as a truly portable, cell phone-like communication device, the UCD
is designed to offer advanced voice and data communication capabilities via a roll-out,
full-color, full-motion video display that as flexible as it is energy-efficient.
DEPT OF ECE Page 35

9. CONCLUSION
OLEDs offer many advantages over both LEDs and LCDs. They are thinner,
lighter and more flexible than the crystalline layers in an LED or LCD. They have large
fields of view as they produce their own light.
Research and development in the field of OLEDs is proceeding rapidly and may
lead to future applications in heads up displays, automotive dash boards, billboard type
displays etc. Because OLEDs refresh faster than LCDs, a device with OLED display
could change information almost in real time. Video images could be much more
realistic and constantly updated.
DEPT OF ECE Page 36

10. REFERENCE
 Delnet online http://www.mdpi.com/109-4300/15/6/2277

 http://www.jgateplus.com/KohnoT, Kuranaga T, Kasai N, Akimoto H,”AMOLED
Display for thin film”, Proceedings of IEEE Transactions on Electron,devices,Vol-
60,No11,Nov 2013,pp-378-396
 S.Yamazaki, J. Koyama, Y. Yamamoto, K. Okamoto,”Overview of OLED Display
Technology.” Proceedings of.SID Symp. Dig. Tech, Vol 183, Nov 2011, pp-15-23
 S. Reineke, F. Lindner, G. Schwartz, N. Seidler, K. Walzer, B.Lussem, K.Leo,
”Better displays with organic display”, Proceedings of Nature, Vol 459,Nov 2009,
pp-234-287
 S.-H. Pieh, M.-S.Kim, C.-J.Sung, J.-D.Seo, H.-S. Choi, C.-W.Han, Y.-H.Tak,
SID,” AMOLED materials and OLED displays”, Proceedings of Symposium
Digest, Vol 40, Dec 2009, pp-903-1888
 M. W. Lee, O. K. Song, Y. M. Koo, Y. H. Lee, H.K.Chung, and S. S. Kim, SID”
Sensitive film in OLED”, Proceedings of Symposium Digest ,Vol 41,Jan 2010, pp-
1800-1888
 C.-L. Lin, W.-Y.Chang, C.-C Hung, and C.-D.Tu,” Kodak first OLED camera”,
Proceedings of IEEE Electron devices, Vol 33, Nov 2010, pp-700-900
 C. W. Kim, J. G. Jung, J. B. Choi, D. H. Kim, C. Yi, H.D. Kim, Y. H. Choi, and
J.Im,SID, ”Sony readies OLED”, Proceedings of Symp. Dig. Tech, Vol 11, Dec
2011, pp-862-889
DEPT OF ECE Page 37

DEPT OF ECE Page 38

Dept of Ece

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Dept of Ece

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Organic light emitting diode (OLED) (154M1A0494)

DEPT OF ECE Page 1

The first observations of electroluminescence in organic materials were in the

DEPT OF ECE Page 2

1.2 FEATURES OF OLED

DEPT OF ECE Page 3

 Materials do not need to be crystalline , so easy to fabricate

DEPT OF ECE Page 4

An OLED is a solid state device or electronic device that typically consists of

Figure2.1: Example structure of OLED

DEPT OF ECE Page 5

2.1 BASIC OF SMOLED:

derivatives have been proposed so far.

Figure2.2: SMOLED prototype – Alq3

DEPT OF ECE Page 6

Figure2.3: SMOLED energy diagram

2.2 BASIC OF PLEDS:

Figure2.4: PLED protocol-PPV

DEPT OF ECE Page 7

Figure2.5: PLED energy diagram

2.3 Phosphorescent doping (Singlet, Triplet excitations):

The process of charge injection and recombination in OLEDs results in the

DEPT OF ECE Page 8

Figure2.6: singlet and triplet excitation light emissions

Even though highly fluorescent dyes increase EL efficiencies for small-molecule

DEPT OF ECE Page 9

Figure2.7: Schematic energy level diagram of an optimized small molecule

DEPT OF ECE Page 10

3. THE PHYSICS BEHIND OLEDS

Figure3.1: polymer chain building

Figure3.2: 2pz orbital interact and form a “conductive” electron cloud

DEPT OF ECE Page 11

Figure3.3: Bonding and anti-bonding (*) π orbital

Figure3.4: molecular orbital diagram

DEPT OF ECE Page 12

3.2 DOPING, CHARGE TRANSPORT:

Figure3.6: Degenerate phases in trans-polyacetylene

DEPT OF ECE Page 13

Figure3.7: Band theory model in polymers.

3.3 LIGHT EMISSION:

DEPT OF ECE Page 14

Figure3.8: Photoluminescence and electroluminescence in conjugated polymers.

DEPT OF ECE Page 15

Like an LED, an OLED is a solid-state semiconductor device that is 100 to 500

DEPT OF ECE Page 16

4.1 MANUFACTURING OF OLED:

DEPT OF ECE Page 17

In a low pressure, hot-walled reactor chamber, a carrier gas transports evaporated

DEPT OF ECE Page 18

4.2 HOW DO OLEDs EMIT LIGHT

Figure4.2: OLED light is created through a process called electrophosphorescene.

DEPT OF ECE Page 19

organic molecules.(This is the equivalent to giving electron holes to the

DEPT OF ECE Page 20

There are six types of OLEDs:

5.1PASSIVE-MATRIX OLED (PMOLED):

Figure5.1: Passive matrix OLED (PMOLED)

DEPT OF ECE Page 21

5.2 ACTIVE-MATRIX OLED (AMOLED):

Figure5.2: Active-matrix OLED (AMOLED)

DEPT OF ECE Page 22

5.3 TRANSPARENT OLED:

Transparent OLEDs have only transparent components (substrate, cathode and

Figure: Transparent OLED

DEPT OF ECE Page 23

Figure: Top-emitting OLED