DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Enhanced Light Extraction from OLEDs Fabricated on Patterned Plastic Substrates

Abstract

Abstract A key scientific and technological challenge in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) is enhancing the light outcoupling factor η out , which is typically <20%. This paper reports experimental and modeling results of a promising approach to strongly increase η out by fabricating OLEDs on novel flexible nanopatterned substrates that result in a >2× enhancement in green phosphorescent OLEDs (PhOLEDs) fabricated on corrugated polycarbonate (PC). The external quantum efficiency (EQE) reaches 50% (meaning η out ≥50%); it increases 2.6x relative to a glass/ITO device and 2× relative to devices on glass/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) or flat PC/PEDOT:PSS. A significant enhancement is also observed for blue PhOLEDs with EQE 1.7× relative to flat PC. The corrugated PC substrates are fabricated efficiently and cost‐effectively by direct room‐temperature molding. These substrates successfully reduce photon losses due to trapping/waveguiding in the organic+anode layers and possibly substrate, and losses to plasmons at the metal cathode. Focused ion beam gauged the conformality of the OLEDs. Dome‐shaped convex nanopatterns with height of ∼280–400 nm and pitch ∼750–800 nm were found to be optimal. Substrate design and layer thickness simulations, reported first for patterned devices, agree with the experimental results that present a promising method to mitigate photon lossmore » paths in OLEDs.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]; ORCiD logo [1];  [7]
  1. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Physics & Astronomy Dept.
  2. Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept.
  3. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States); Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept., and Microelectronics Research Center
  4. Ames Lab. and Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Physics & Astronomy Dept.; Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept., and Microelectronics Research Center
  5. MicroContinuum, Inc., Cambridge, MA (United States)
  6. Trovato Manufacturing, Inc., Victor, NY (United States)
  7. Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept., and Microelectronics Research Center
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Ames Laboratory (AMES), Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1425476
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1415661
Report Number(s):
IS-J-9585
Journal ID: ISSN 2195-1071
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0011337; EE0007621; AC02-07CH11358; DE‐SC0011337; DE‐EE0007621
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Advanced Optical Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 6; Journal Issue: 4; Journal ID: ISSN 2195-1071
Publisher:
Wiley
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE; 71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSICS; organic light-emitting diodes; outcoupling; phosphorescent OLEDs; plastic patterned substrates; solid state lighting

Citation Formats

Hippola, Chamika, Kaudal, Rajiv, Manna, Eeshita, Xiao, Teng, Peer, Akshit, Biswas, Rana, Slafer, Warren Dennis, Trovato, Tom, Shinar, Joseph, and Shinar, Ruth. Enhanced Light Extraction from OLEDs Fabricated on Patterned Plastic Substrates. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.1002/adom.201701244.
Hippola, Chamika, Kaudal, Rajiv, Manna, Eeshita, Xiao, Teng, Peer, Akshit, Biswas, Rana, Slafer, Warren Dennis, Trovato, Tom, Shinar, Joseph, & Shinar, Ruth. Enhanced Light Extraction from OLEDs Fabricated on Patterned Plastic Substrates. United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.201701244
Hippola, Chamika, Kaudal, Rajiv, Manna, Eeshita, Xiao, Teng, Peer, Akshit, Biswas, Rana, Slafer, Warren Dennis, Trovato, Tom, Shinar, Joseph, and Shinar, Ruth. Mon . "Enhanced Light Extraction from OLEDs Fabricated on Patterned Plastic Substrates". United States. https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.201701244. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1425476.
@article{osti_1425476,
title = {Enhanced Light Extraction from OLEDs Fabricated on Patterned Plastic Substrates},
author = {Hippola, Chamika and Kaudal, Rajiv and Manna, Eeshita and Xiao, Teng and Peer, Akshit and Biswas, Rana and Slafer, Warren Dennis and Trovato, Tom and Shinar, Joseph and Shinar, Ruth},
abstractNote = {Abstract A key scientific and technological challenge in organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) is enhancing the light outcoupling factor η out , which is typically <20%. This paper reports experimental and modeling results of a promising approach to strongly increase η out by fabricating OLEDs on novel flexible nanopatterned substrates that result in a >2× enhancement in green phosphorescent OLEDs (PhOLEDs) fabricated on corrugated polycarbonate (PC). The external quantum efficiency (EQE) reaches 50% (meaning η out ≥50%); it increases 2.6x relative to a glass/ITO device and 2× relative to devices on glass/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) or flat PC/PEDOT:PSS. A significant enhancement is also observed for blue PhOLEDs with EQE 1.7× relative to flat PC. The corrugated PC substrates are fabricated efficiently and cost‐effectively by direct room‐temperature molding. These substrates successfully reduce photon losses due to trapping/waveguiding in the organic+anode layers and possibly substrate, and losses to plasmons at the metal cathode. Focused ion beam gauged the conformality of the OLEDs. Dome‐shaped convex nanopatterns with height of ∼280–400 nm and pitch ∼750–800 nm were found to be optimal. Substrate design and layer thickness simulations, reported first for patterned devices, agree with the experimental results that present a promising method to mitigate photon loss paths in OLEDs.},
doi = {10.1002/adom.201701244},
journal = {Advanced Optical Materials},
number = 4,
volume = 6,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2018},
month = {Mon Feb 19 00:00:00 EST 2018}
}

Journal Article:
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 25 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Figures / Tables:

Figure 1 Figure 1: Left: AFM image of a 10x10 μm2 convex PC with $h$ ~320 nm and $a$ ~750 nm; Center: AFM image of a 10x10 μm2 concave PET/CAB with $h$ ~250 nm and $a$ ~1.75 μm coated with ITO. Right: FIB image (with 20 μm scale bar) of ITO onmore » corrugated PET/CAB showing damaged areas.« less

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Analysis of the external and internal quantum efficiency of multi-emitter, white organic light emitting diodes
journal, October 2012

  • Furno, Mauro; Rosenow, Thomas C.; Gather, Malte C.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 101, Issue 14
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.4757610

Light extraction from OLEDS with (high) index matched glass substrates
conference, June 2008

  • Gaertner, Georg; Greiner, Horst
  • Photonics Europe, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.780249

High-Efficiency Solution-Processed Small Molecule Electrophosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
journal, July 2011


Importance of indium tin oxide surface acido basicity for charge injection into organic materials based light emitting diodes
journal, June 2000

  • Nüesch, F.; Forsythe, E. W.; Le, Q. T.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 87, Issue 11
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.373482

Blue organic light-emitting diodes realizing external quantum efficiency over 25% using thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters
journal, March 2017


Quantification of energy loss mechanisms in organic light-emitting diodes
journal, December 2010

  • Meerheim, Rico; Furno, Mauro; Hofmann, Simone
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 97, Issue 25
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3527936

Holographic Embossing at Polaroid: The Polaform Process
conference, June 1986

  • Cowan, James J.; Slafer, W. Dennis
  • 1985 International Technical Symposium/Europe, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.952426

Improvement of output coupling efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes by backside substrate modification
journal, March 2000

  • Madigan, C. F.; Lu, M. -H.; Sturm, J. C.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 76, Issue 13
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.126124

Efficient and Flexible ITO-Free Organic Solar Cells Using Highly Conductive Polymer Anodes
journal, November 2008


Organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and OLED-based chemical and biological sensors: an overview
journal, June 2008


Enhanced light out-coupling of organic light-emitting devices using embedded low-index grids
journal, July 2008


Highly Conductive and Transparent PEDOT:PSS Films with a Fluorosurfactant for Stretchable and Flexible Transparent Electrodes
journal, November 2011

  • Vosgueritchian, Michael; Lipomi, Darren J.; Bao, Zhenan
  • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 22, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201101775

A Transparent, Smooth, Thermally Robust, Conductive Polyimide for Flexible Electronics
journal, November 2015

  • Spechler, Joshua A.; Koh, Tae-Wook; Herb, Jake T.
  • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 25, Issue 48
  • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201503342

Modifications of the exciton lifetime and internal quantum efficiency for organic light-emitting devices with a weak/strong microcavity
journal, November 2007

  • Chen, Xue-Wen; Choy, Wallace C. H.; Liang, C. J.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 91, Issue 22
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.2819610

Simple routes for improving polythiophene:fullerene-based organic solar cells
journal, February 2011


Enhanced Outcoupling in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes via a High-Index Contrast Scattering Layer
journal, August 2015


Extremely Efficient Indium-Tin-Oxide-Free Green Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
journal, July 2012


Enhanced light extraction from organic light-emitting devices using a sub-anode grid
journal, October 2015


Measuring the internal luminescence quantum efficiency of OLED emitter materials in electrical operation
conference, February 2010

  • Flämmich, Michael; Danz, Norbert; Michaelis, Dirk
  • OPTO, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.842114

Continuous manufacturing of thin cover sheet optical media
conference, August 1992

  • Slafer, Warren D.; Kime, Milford B.; Monen, Marinus J.
  • Optical Data Storage Topical Meeting, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.137558

Improved light out-coupling in organic light emitting diodes employing ordered microlens arrays
journal, March 2002

  • Möller, S.; Forrest, S. R.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 91, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.1435422

Simulation of light emission from thin-film microcavities
journal, January 1998


Highly Conductive PEDOT:PSS Electrode with Optimized Solvent and Thermal Post-Treatment for ITO-Free Organic Solar Cells
journal, February 2011

  • Kim, Yong Hyun; Sachse, Christoph; Machala, Michael L.
  • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 21, Issue 6
  • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201002290

Emerging Transparent Electrodes Based on Thin Films of Carbon Nanotubes, Graphene, and Metallic Nanostructures
journal, February 2011

  • Hecht, David S.; Hu, Liangbing; Irvin, Glen
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 23, Issue 13, p. 1482-1513
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201003188

Enhancement and inhibition of electromagnetic radiation in plane-layered media IPlane-wave spectrum approach to modeling classical effects
journal, January 1997

  • Sullivan, Kevin G.; Hall, Dennis G.
  • Journal of the Optical Society of America B, Vol. 14, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1364/JOSAB.14.001149

Fourfold power efficiency improvement in organic light-emitting devices using an embedded nanocomposite scattering layer
journal, June 2012


Highly Conductive Polymer Anodes as Replacements for Inorganic Materials in High-Efficiency Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
journal, February 2007


Polarization Conversion in Surface-Plasmon-Coupled Emission from Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Using Spontaneously Formed Buckles
journal, January 2011

  • Koo, Won Hoe; Jeong, Soon Moon; Nishimura, Suzushi
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 23, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201003357

Highly efficient and stable tandem organic light-emitting devices based on HAT-CN/HAT-CN:TAPC/TAPC as a charge generation layer
journal, January 2015

  • Dai, Yanfeng; Zhang, Hongmei; Zhang, Zhiqiang
  • Journal of Materials Chemistry C, Vol. 3, Issue 26
  • DOI: 10.1039/C4TC02875A

Electroluminescence emission pattern of organic light-emitting diodes: Implications for device efficiency calculations
journal, July 2000

  • Kim, Ji-Seon; Ho, Peter K. H.; Greenham, Neil C.
  • Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 88, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.373779

Highly efficient phosphorescent emission from organic electroluminescent devices
journal, September 1998

  • Baldo, M. A.; O'Brien, D. F.; You, Y.
  • Nature, Vol. 395, Issue 6698, p. 151-154
  • DOI: 10.1038/25954

High-Performance Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Using Embedded Silver Network Transparent Electrodes
journal, November 2014

  • Zhou, Lei; Xiang, Heng-Yang; Shen, Su
  • ACS Nano, Vol. 8, Issue 12
  • DOI: 10.1021/nn506034g

Soft holographic interference lithography microlens for enhanced organic light emitting diode light extraction
journal, January 2011

  • Park, Joong-Mok; Gan, Zhengqing; Leung, Wai Y.
  • Optics Express, Vol. 19, Issue S4
  • DOI: 10.1364/OE.19.00A786

Broadband Light Out-Coupling Enhancement of Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Using Biomimetic Quasirandom Nanostructures
journal, October 2014

  • Wang, Rong; Xu, Lu-Hai; Li, Yan-Qing
  • Advanced Optical Materials, Vol. 3, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1002/adom.201400391

Efficiency and rate of spontaneous emission in organic electroluminescent devices
journal, March 2012


Indium-tin-oxide-free tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) Al organic light-emitting diodes with 80% enhanced power efficiency
journal, October 2011

  • Cai, Min; Xiao, Teng; Liu, Rui
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 99, Issue 15
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.3634210

Highly enhanced phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes with cesium fluoride doped electron injection layer
conference, September 2015

  • Han, Jongseok; Kwon, Yongwon; Sohn, Jiho
  • SPIE Organic Photonics + Electronics, SPIE Proceedings
  • DOI: 10.1117/12.2187588

High Quantum Efficiency in Organic Light-Emitting Devices with Iridium-Complex as a Triplet Emissive Center
journal, December 1999

  • Tsutsui, Tetsuo; Yang, Moon-Jae; Yahiro, Masayuki
  • Japanese Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 38, Issue Part 2, No. 12B
  • DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.38.L1502

The Morphological Power of Soap: How Surfactants Lower the Sheet Resistance of PEDOT:PSS by Strong Impact on Inner Film Structure and Molecular Interface Orientation
journal, February 2016

  • Palumbiny, Claudia M.; Schlipf, Johannes; Hexemer, Alexander
  • Advanced Electronic Materials, Vol. 2, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1002/aelm.201500377

Very high-efficiency green organic light-emitting devices based on electrophosphorescence
journal, July 1999

  • Baldo, M. A.; Lamansky, S.; Burrows, P. E.
  • Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 75, Issue 1, p. 4-6
  • DOI: 10.1063/1.124258

Organic Light-Emitting Devices
conference, January 2005


Works referencing / citing this record:

Sodium Ion Modifying In Situ Fabricated CsPbBr 3 Nanoparticles for Efficient Perovskite Light Emitting Diodes
journal, August 2019

  • Chen, Hongting; Fan, Lianwei; Zhang, Rui
  • Advanced Optical Materials, Vol. 7, Issue 21
  • DOI: 10.1002/adom.201900747

Recent Developments in Flexible Organic Light-Emitting Devices
journal, October 2018

  • Liu, Yue-Feng; Feng, Jing; Bi, Yan-Gang
  • Advanced Materials Technologies, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/admt.201800371

Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters for Deep Blue Organic Light Emitting Diodes: A Review of Recent Advances
journal, March 2018

  • Bui, Thanh-Tuân; Goubard, Fabrice; Ibrahim-Ouali, Malika
  • Applied Sciences, Vol. 8, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.3390/app8040494

Emerging Self‐Emissive Technologies for Flexible Displays
journal, October 2019

  • Zhang, Dongdong; Huang, Tianyu; Duan, Lian
  • Advanced Materials, Vol. 32, Issue 15
  • DOI: 10.1002/adma.201902391

Self-catalytic-grown SnO x nanocones for light outcoupling enhancement in organic light-emitting diodes
journal, January 2020


Surface Plasmonic‐Assisted Photocatalysis and Optoelectronic Devices with Noble Metal Nanocrystals: Design, Synthesis, and Applications
journal, December 2019

  • Zada, Amir; Muhammad, Pir; Ahmad, Waqas
  • Advanced Functional Materials, Vol. 30, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1002/adfm.201906744

Enhanced outcoupling in down-conversion white organic light-emitting diodes using imprinted microlens array films with breath figure patterns
journal, January 2019