Enhanced outcoupling from surface plasmon modes in corrugated OLEDs
Devices and techniques are provided for achieving OLED devices that include one or more enhancement layers formed at least partially from a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance that non-radiatively couples to an organic emissive material in the organic emissive layer, where a majority of excited state energy is transferred from the organic emissive material to a non-radiative mode of surface plasmon polaritons of the enhancement layer.
1. An organic emissive device comprising:
a substrate;
a corrugated outcoupling layer disposed above the substrate;
a first electrode disposed over the outcoupling layer;
an emissive stack disposed over the first electrode and comprising an organic emissive layer;
a second electrode disposed over the emissive stack;
an underlayer disposed between the outcoupling layer and the first enhancement layer; and
a first enhancement layer disposed between the emissive stack and the outcoupling layer and comprising a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance that non-radiatively couples to an organic emissive material in the organic emissive layer and transfers the majority of excited state energy from the organic emissive material to a non-radiative mode of surface plasmon polaritons of the enhancement layer;
wherein the organic emissive material emits light having a peak wavelength λ and the underlayer has a thickness not more than 4nλ, wherein n is a refractive index of the underlayer.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first enhancement layer comprises the first electrode or the second electrode.
3. The device of claim 2 , wherein the first enhancement layer comprises an adhesion layer.
4. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first enhancement layer is disposed between the corrugated outcoupling layer and the emissive stack.
5. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a second enhancement layer.
6. The device of claim 5 , wherein the second enhancement layer comprises the second electrode.
7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the first enhancement layer comprises the first electrode.
8. The device of claim 5 , wherein the first enhancement layer comprises the first electrode.
9. The device of claim 5 , further comprising:
an underlayer disposed between the first enhancement layer and the corrugated outcoupling layer; and
an overlayer disposed above the second enhancement layer.
10. The device of claim 1 , wherein the emissive stack has a pitch defined by a pitch of the corrugated outcoupling layer.
11. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first enhancement layer has a thickness of 20-100 nm.
12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the underlayer has an RMS surface roughness of not more than 50 nm.
13. The device of claim 12 , wherein the underlayer has an RMS surface roughness of 0-3 nm.
14. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first enhancement layer is disposed above the emissive stack.
15. The device of claim 14 , further comprising an overlayer disposed above the first enhancement layer.
16. The device of claim 1 , wherein the corrugated outcoupling layer has a refractive index that varies spatially.
17. The device of claim 16 , wherein the outcoupling layer comprises a plurality of layers of dielectric materials.
18. The device of claim 1 , wherein the first enhancement layer comprises a plurality of vertically-stacked layers.
19. The device of claim 1 , wherein the device is at least one type selected from the group consisting of: a flat panel display, a computer monitor, a medical monitor, a television, a billboard, a light for interior or exterior illumination and/or signaling, a heads-up display, a fully or partially transparent display, a flexible display, a laser printer, a telephone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a phablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wearable device, a laptop computer, a digital camera, a camcorder, a viewfinder, a micro-display having an active area with a primary diagonal of 2 inches or less, a 3-D display, a virtual reality or augmented reality display, a vehicle, a video wall comprising multiple displays tiled together, a theater or stadium screen, and a sign.
20. A consumer electronic device comprising:
an organic emissive device comprising:
a substrate;
a corrugated outcoupling layer disposed above the substrate;
a first electrode disposed over the outcoupling layer;
an emissive stack disposed over the first electrode and comprising an organic emissive layer;
a second electrode disposed over the emissive stack;
an underlayer disposed between the outcoupling layer and the first enhancement layer; and
a first enhancement layer disposed between the emissive stack and the outcoupling layer and comprising a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance that non-radiatively couples to an organic emissive material in the organic emissive layer and transfers the majority of excited state energy from the organic emissive material to a non-radiative mode of surface plasmon polaritons of the enhancement layer;
wherein the organic emissive material emits light having a peak wavelength λ and the underlayer has a thickness not more than 4nλ, wherein n is a refractive index of the underlayer.
21. The consumer electronic device of claim 20 , wherein the device is at least one type selected from the group consisting of: a flat panel display, a computer monitor, a medical monitor, a television, a billboard, a light for interior or exterior illumination and/or signaling, a heads-up display, a fully or partially transparent display, a flexible display, a laser printer, a telephone, a mobile phone, a tablet, a phablet, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wearable device, a laptop computer, a digital camera, a camcorder, a viewfinder, a micro-display having an active area with a primary diagonal of 2 inches or less, a 3-D display, a virtual reality or augmented reality display, a vehicle, a video wall comprising multiple displays tiled together, a theater or stadium screen, and a sign.