Electroluminescent devices and displays with integrally fabricated address and logic devices fabricated by printing or weaving
View Patent ↗Improved electroluminescent and photonic devices with integrated logic and control circuits are disclosed. Low mobility, contact barrier, space charge limitation and carrier balancing are provided solutions that increase efficiency, reliability and longevity of the devices. Device power loss and power requirements are reduced. True-ohmic contact materials allow a gate-controlled, light emitting organic triode MESFET configuration that eliminates commonly used ITO thereby increasing luminous output, and providing ease of address and control by integrally fabricated complementary MESFET address and control circuitry. The devices can be fabricated by printing or by weaving appropriate materials, and can be configured as color displays.
1. An EL device comprising:
(a) an EL material;
(b) a interconnect metal contacting said EL material;
(c) A true-ohmic injection contact contacting said EL material and said interconnect metal; and
(d) a hole injection barrier contact which contacts said EL material.
2. The EL device of claim 1 wherein said EL device is fabricated by printing said EL material and said true-ohmic injection contact and said interconnect metal and said hole injection barrier contact in pattern and sequence required to produce cooperative elements of said EL device.
3. The EL device of claim 2 wherein:
(a) said EL material is first printed upon said hole injection barrier contact;
(b) said true-ohmic injection contact is next printed upon said EL material; and
(c) said interconnect metal is next printed upon said EL material and said true ohmic injection contact.
4. The EL device of claim 1 further comprising polymer encapsulating material which encapsulates said EL material and said interconnect metal and said true-ohmic injection contact.
5. The EL device of claim 1 wherein said EL material and said interconnect metal and said true-ohmic injector contact are formed into fibers and said fibers organized in a warp and a woof of a weaving loom and are woven thereby forming a weave to fabricate said device.
6. The EL device of claim 5 wherein said weave is affixed to a transparent substrate.
7. The EL device of claim 1 wherein said true-ohmic contact metal comprises Al 2 Li 3 .
8. The EL device of claim 1 wherein said true-ohmic contact metal comprises CuCa 2 .
9. The EL device of claim 1 wherein said EL material is organic.
10. A method for fabricating an EL device comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an EL material;
(b) contacting said EL material with an interconnect metal;
(c) contacting said EL material and said interconnect metal with a true-ohmic injection contact; and
(d) contacting said EL material with a hole injection barrier contact.
11. The method of claim 10 wherein said EL device is fabricated by printing in pattern and in sequence required to produce cooperative elements of said EL device.
12. The method of claim 11 comprising the additional steps of:
(a) first depositing said EL material upon said hole injection barrier contact;
(b) next printing said true-ohmic injection contact upon said EL material; and
(c) next printing said interconnect metal upon said EL material and said true ohmic injection contact.
13. The method of claim 10 comprising the additional step encapsulating said EL material and said interconnect metal and said true-ohmic injection contact within an oxygen barrier polymer material.
14. The method of claim 11 comprising the additional step of printing with an ink jet printer.
15. The method of claim 11 comprising the additional step of printing within an oxygen free environment.
16. The method of claim 10 comprising the additional steps of:
(a) forming said EL material and said interconnect metal and said true-ohmic injector contact into fibers;
(b) organizing said fibers in a warp and a woof of a weaving loom; and
(c) weaving said fibers with said loom thereby forming said EL device.
17. A video display comprising an EL device and integrally fabricated address and logic devices for controlling said EL device, wherein said EL device comprises:
(a) an EL material;
(b) a interconnect metal contacting said EL material;
(c) A true-ohmic injection contact contacting said EL material and said interconnect metal; and
(d) a hole injection barrier contact which contacts said EL material.
18. The display of claim 17 wherein said EL device comprises at least one OMESFET comprising:
(a) a substrate;
(b) an organic semiconductor contacting said substrate;
(c) a first true ohmic contact metal contacting said semiconductor and at a first edge of said semiconductor;
(d) a second true ohmic contact metal contacting said semiconductor at a second edge of said semiconductor opposite said first edge;
(e) a high barrier surround gate contacting said semiconductor between said first true-ohmic contact metal and said second true-ohmic contact metal;
(f) a source interconnect metal contacting said first true-ohmic contact metal;
(g) a drain interconnect metal contacting said second true-ohmic contact metal; and
(h) a gate interconnect metal contacting said semiconductor and said high barrier surround gate.
19. The display of claim 18 wherein said EL device comprises three pairs of red, blue and green emitting OMESFETs.
20. The display of claim 17 further comprising:
(a) an optically transparent substrate; and wherein
(b) said display is fabricated by printing semiconductor elements of said display and insulating elements of said display and metal conducting elements of said display upon said substrate in pattern and sequence required to produce cooperative elements of said display.
21. The display of claim 17 wherein:
(a) semiconductor elements of said display are formed from semiconductor fibers, and insulating elements of said display are formed from insulating fibers, and metal conducting elements of said display are formed from conducting fibers;
(b) said semiconducting fibers and said conducting fibers and said insulating fibers are organized in a warp and a woof of a weaving loom; and
(c) said semiconducting fibers and said conducting fibers and said insulating fibers are woven in said loom to produce said video display.
22. A method for fabricating a video display comprising an EL device and integrally fabricated address and logic devices for controlling said EL device, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an organic EL material;
(b) interconnecting a metal contacting said EL material;
(c) contacting said EL material and said interconnect metal with a true-ohmic injection contact; and
(d) contacting said EL material with a hole injection barrier.
23. The method of claim 22 wherein said EL device comprises at least one OMESFET comprising:
(a) a substrate;
(b) an organic semiconductor contacting said substrate;
(c) a first true ohmic contact metal contacting said semiconductor and at a first edge of said semiconductor;
(d) a second true ohmic contact metal contacting said semiconductor at a second edge of said semiconductor opposite said first edge;
(e) a high barrier surround gate contacting said semiconductor between said first true-ohmic contact metal and said second true-ohmic contact metal;
(f) a source interconnect metal contacting said first true-ohmic contact metal;
(g) a drain interconnect metal contacting said second true-ohmic contact metal; and
(h) a gate interconnect metal contacting said semiconductor and said high barrier surround gate.
24. The method of claim 23 wherein said EL device comprises three pairs of red, blue and green emitting OMESFETs.
25. The method of claim 22 further comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an optically transparent substrate;
(b) depositing said organic EL material upon said substrate; and wherein
(c) fabricating said display by printing insulating elements of said display and metal conducting elements of said display upon said substrate in pattern and sequence required to produce cooperative elements of said display.
26. The method of claim 22 comprising the additional steps of:
(a) forming semiconductor elements of said display from semiconductor fibers, and forming insulating elements of said display from insulating fibers, and forming metal conducting elements of said display from conducting fibers;
(b) organizing said semiconducting fibers and said conducting fibers and said insulating fibers in a warp and a woof of a weaving loom; and
(c) weaving said semiconducting fibers and said conducting fibers and said insulating fibers in said loom to produce said video display.