2022 article

Curved Mirror Arrays for Light Extraction in Top-Emitting Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

Amoah, S., Fu, X., Yin, S., Dong, Q., Dong, C., & So, F. (2022, February 15). ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES, pp. 9377–9385.

By: S. Amoah n, X. Fu, S. Yin n, Q. Dong n, C. Dong n & F. So n

author keywords: OLED; top-emitting; light extraction; embedded scattering layer; waveguide mode; SPP mode
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
7. Affordable and Clean Energy (Web of Science; OpenAlex)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: March 7, 2022

The light outcoupling efficiency of a top-emitting organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is only about 20%, and the majority of the light is trapped in the waveguide modes and surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes. Extracting the trapped modes can reduce the device power consumption and improve the operating lifetime. In this study, we demonstrate a top-emitting OLED structure with a dielectric spacer to suppress the SPP mode and with a patterned back mirror to extract the waveguide modes. We examine and compare several curved mirror arrays and conclude that a micromirror array (μMA) can efficiently extract the waveguide modes while minimizing the absorption loss. The optimized μMA device with a semi-transparent top electrode shows a 36% external quantum efficiency, 2 times higher than the referenced device. This optical design can be easily incorporated into a top-emitting device and has a great potential for displays and lighting applications.