Liberating the light trapped inside a white OLED (2015)

Enhanced outcoupling in organic light emitting diodes via a high-index contrast scattering layer

Published in ACS Photonics 2015

Despite high internal quantum efficiencies, planar organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) typically suffer from limited outcoupling efficiencies. To improve this outcoupling efficiency, we have developed a new thin (∼2 μm) light scattering layer that employs air voids (low-index scattering centers) embedded in a high-index polyimide matrix to effectively frustrate the substrate-trapped light, increasing the outcoupling efficiency. The porous polyimide scattering layers are created through the simple and scalable fabrication technique of phase inversion. The optical properties of the scattering layers have been characterized via microscopy, transmittance/haze measurements, and ellipsometry, which demonstrate the excellent scattering properties of these layers. We have integrated these films into a green OLED stack, where they show a 65% enhancement of the external quantum efficiency and a 77% enhancement of the power efficiency. Furthermore, we have integrated these layers into a white OLED and observed similar enhancements. Both the green and white OLEDs additionally demonstrate excellent color stability over wide viewing angles with the integration of this thin scattering layer.