ORGANIC LIGHT EMITTING DIODE (OLED)

Heru Suseno, S.Pd, M.Pd

Guru SMAN 2 Madiun
[email protected]
http://herususeno.wordpress.com

m
o
c

A. Introduction of OLED

li .

An exciting technology has been available in many small devices such as cell
phones and digital camera displays for the last 15 years. Soon it may available
for use in larger standard office and home entertainment displays. The
technology is organic light emitting diode (OLED). OLED is equipment made
from film of organic semiconductor materials. That can emit light when get
the electricity. That is the electroluminescence process. When used as a
screen backlight does not require. Whit this are, the OLED screen to save
power and thinner than the LCD screen. It is possible that in the next 5-10
years you may see an 80 or more OLED in your living room or board room that
only requires 10 or less volts of power to operate.

a
m
g

@
5
6
1

OLED display devices use organic carbon-based films, sandwiched together

between two charged electrodes. One is a metallic cathode and the other a
transparent anode, which is usually glass. Online encyclopedia, Wikipedia,
defines an organic compound as any member of a large class of chemical
compounds whose molecules contain carbon, with the exception of carbides,
carbonates, carbon oxides and gases containing carbon.
The basic components of an OLED are:
Substrate. This is support for the OLED.
Anode. The anode removes electrons when a current flows through the
device.
Organic layers. These layers are made of organic molecules or polymers.
- Conducting layer. This layer is made of organic plastic molecules that
send electrons out from the anode.
- Emissive layer. This layer is made of organic plastic molecules (different
ones from the conducting layer) that transport electrons from the cathode;
this is where light is made.
Cathode (may or may not be transparent depending on the type of OLED).
The cathode injects electrons when a current flows through the device.

e
h

s
r

n
e

m
o
c

li .

a
m
g

Figure 1. Structure of OLED

Applying the organic layers to the substrate can be accomplished in three ways.
1. Vacuum Deposition or Vacuum Thermal Evaporation (VTE). In a vacuum
chamber, the organic molecules are evaporated through a slow heat process
and then allowed to condense as thin films onto a cooled substrate. This is a
very inefficient and expensive process.

@
5
6
1

2. Organic Vapor Phase Deposition (OVPD). This process employs an inert

carrier gas (such as nitrogen) to precisely transfer films of organic material
onto a cooled substrate in a hot-walled, low-pressure chamber. The precise
transfer and ability to better control film thickness translates to lower
material cost and higher production throughput.
3. Inkjet Printing. OLEDs are sprayed onto the substrate the same way our
desktop inkjet printer sprays ink onto paper. This greatly reduces the cost of
manufacturing OLEDs and allows for printing on very large films. This allows
for a much lower cost and larger home displays and PIPD products.

s
r

n
e

One of the major benefits of OLEDs is their low power consumption when
compared to traditional LEDs or LCDs. OLEDs also do not require backlighting
to function, which in addition to using less power, also lowers manufacturing
costs.

e
h

Even with all the layers that make up an OLED, this is an emissive technology
meaning it generates its own light. An OLED display is very thin and
compact, typically has a viewing angle of 160 degrees and will operate on as
little as 2 volts.
Imagine todays typical 60 flat-screen display, but instead of an 8-in. thick,
250-lb. plasma display or a 65-lb. LCD, your 60 OLED display is only 1/2
thick and weighs roughly 30 lbs.!

Other OLED advantages over traditional LCDs include:

Increased brightness
Faster response time (fast action, live events)
Greater durability
Thinner and lighter weight product
Higher contrast

m
o
c

B. How do OLEDs work?

As previously mentioned, OLEDs are an emissive technology, which means

they emits light instead of diffusing or reflecting a secondary source, as LCDs
and LEDs currently do. Below is a graphic explanation of how the technology
works.

li .

a
m
g

n
e

s
r

e
h

@
5
6
1

Figure 2. OLED Working

C. Types of OLEDs
There currently are six types of OLED screens, each designed for a different
type of use. The types are:
1. Passive Matrix OLEDs (PMOLEDs) have strips of cathode, organic layers and
strips of anode. The anode strips are arranged perpendicular to the cathode
strips. The intersections of the cathode and anode make up the pixels where
light is emitted. External circuitry applies current to selected strips of anode
and cathode, determining which pixels get turned on and which pixels remain
off. Again, the brightness of each pixel is proportional to the amount of
applied current.
PMOLEDs are easy to make, but they consume more power than other types of
OLED, mainly due to the power needed for the external circuitry. PMOLEDs
are most efficient for text and icons and are best suited for small screens (2to 3-inch diagonal) such as those you find in cell phones, PDAs and MP3
players. Even with the external circuitry, PMOLEDs consume less battery
power than the LCDs that are currently used in these devices.

m
o
c

li .

a
m
g

n
e

s
r

e
h

@
5
6
1

Figure 3. Structure of Passive Matrix OLEDs

2. Active-matrix OLEDs (AMOLEDs) have full layers of cathode, organic

molecules and anode, but the anode layer overlays a thin film transistor (TFT)
array that forms a matrix. The TFT array itself is the circuitry that determines
which pixels get turned on to form an image.
AMOLEDs consume less power than PMOLEDs because the TFT array requires
less power than external circuitry, so they are efficient for large displays.
AMOLEDs also have faster refresh rates suitable for video. The best uses for
AMOLEDs are computer monitors, large-screen TVs and electronic signs or
billboards.

li .

a
m
g

Figure 4. Structure of Active-matrix OLEDs

m
o
c

3. Transparent OLEDs have only transparent components (substrate, cathode

and anode) and, when turned off, are up to 85% as transparent as their
substrate. When a transparent OLED display is turned on, it allows light to
pass in both directions. A transparent OLED display can be either active- or
passive-matrix.
This technology can be used for heads-up displays.

n
e

s
r

e
h

@
5
6
1

Figure 5. Structure of Transparent OLEDs

4. Top-emitting OLEDs have a substrate that is either opaque or reflective.

They are best suited to active-matrix design. Manufacturers may use topemitting OLED displays in smart cards.

li .

a
m
g

Figure 6. Structure of Top-emitting OLEDs

m
o
c

5. Foldable OLEDs have substrates made of very flexible metallic foils or

plastics. Foldable OLEDs are very lightweight and durable. Their use in
devices such as cell phones and PDAs can reduce breakage, a major cause for
return or repair. Potentially, foldable OLED displays can be sewn into fabrics
for smart clothing, such as outdoor survival clothing with an integrated
computer chip, cell phone, GPS receiver and OLED display sewn into it.

e
h

s
r

n
e

@
5
6
1

Figure 7. Foldable OLEDs

6. White OLEDs emit white light that is brighter, more uniform and more
energy efficient than that emitted by fluorescent lights. White OLEDs also
have the true-color qualities of incandescent lighting. Because OLEDs can be
made in large sheets, they can replace fluorescent lights that are currently
used in homes and buildings. Their use could potentially reduce energy costs
for lighting.

m
o
c

Figure 8. White OLEDs

li .

D. History of OLED

a
m
g

The first observations of electroluminescence in organic materials were in the

early 1950s by A. Bernanose and co-workers at the Nancy-Universit, France.
They applied high-voltage alternating current (AC) fields in air to materials
such as acridine orange, either deposited on or dissolved in cellulose or
cellophane thin films. The proposed mechanism was either direct excitation
of the dye molecules or excitation of electrons.
In 1960, Martin Pope and co-workers at New York University developed ohmic
dark-injecting electrode contacts to organic crystals. They further described
the necessary energetic requirements (work functions) for hole and electron
injecting electrode contacts. These contacts are the basis of charge injection
in all modern OLED devices. Pope's group also first observed direct current
(DC) electroluminescence under vacuum on a pure single crystal
of anthracene and on anthracene crystals doped with tetracene in 1963 using
a small area silver electrode at 400 V. The proposed mechanism was fieldaccelerated electron excitation of molecular fluorescence.

@
5
6
1

n
e

Pope's group reported in 1965 that in the absence of an external electric

field, the electroluminescence in anthracene crystals is caused by the
recombination of a thermalized electron and hole, and that the conducting
level of anthracene is higher in energy than the exciton energy level. Also in
1965, W. Helfrich and W. G. Schneider of the National Research Council in
Canada produced double injection recombination electroluminescence for the
first time in an anthracene single crystal using hole and electron injecting
electrodes, the forerunner of modern double injection devices. In the same
year, Dow Chemical researchers patented a method of preparing
electroluminescent cells using high voltage (5001500 V) AC-driven (100
3000 Hz) electrically insulated one millimetre thin layers of a melted
phosphor consisting of ground anthracene powder, tetracene, and graphite
powder. Their proposed mechanism involved electronic excitation at the
contacts between the graphite particles and the anthracene molecules.

e
h

s
r

Device performance was limited by the poor electrical conductivity of

contemporary organic materials. This was overcome by the discovery and
development of highly conductive polymers.
Electroluminescence from polymer films was first observed by Roger Partridge
at the National Physical Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The device
consisted of a film of poly(n-vinylcarbazole) up to 2.2 micrometres thick
located between two charge injecting electrodes. The results of the project
were patented in 1975 and published in 1983.

m
o
c

The first diode device was reported at Eastman Kodak by Ching W.

Tang and Steven Van Slyke in 1987. This device used a novel two-layer
structure with separate hole transporting and electron transporting layers
such that recombination and light emission occurred in the middle of the
organic layer. This resulted in a reduction in operating voltage and
improvements in efficiency and led to the current era of OLED research and
device production.

li .

a
m
g

Research into polymer electroluminescence culminated in 1990 with J. H.

Burroughes et al. at the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge reporting a high
efficiency green light-emitting polymer based device using 100 nm thick films
of poly(p-phenylene vinylene).

F. OLED Advantages

@
5
6
1

The LCD is currently the display of choice in small devices and is also popular
in large-screen TVs. Regular LEDs often form the digits on digital clocks and
other electronic devices. OLEDs offer many advantages over both LCDs and
LEDs, including:
The plastic, organic layers of an OLED are thinner, lighter and more flexible
than the crystalline layers in an LED or LCD.
Because the light-emitting layers of an OLED are lighter, the substrate of
an OLED can be flexible instead of rigid. OLED substrates can be plastic
rather than the glass used for LEDs and LCDs.
OLEDs are brighter than LEDs. Because the organic layers of an OLED are
much thinner than the corresponding inorganic crystal layers of an LED, the
conductive and emissive layers of an OLED can be multi-layered. Also, LEDs
and LCDs require glass for support, and glass absorbs some light. OLEDs do
not require glass.
OLEDs do not require backlighting like LCDs. LCDs work by selectively
blocking areas of the backlight to make the images that you see, while
OLEDs generate light themselves. Because OLEDs do not require
backlighting, they consume much less power than LCDs (most of the LCD
power goes to the backlighting). This is especially important for batteryoperated devices such as cell phones.
OLEDs are easier to produce and can be made to larger sizes. Because
OLEDs are essentially plastics, they can be made into large, thin sheets. It
is much more difficult to grow and lay down so many liquid crystals.

e
h

s
r

n
e

 OLEDs have large fields of view, about 170 degrees. Because LCDs work by
blocking light, they have an inherent viewing obstacle from certain angles.
OLEDs produce their own light, so they have a much wider viewing range.

G. OLED Disadvantages

m
o
c

OLED seem to be the perfect technology for all types of displays, however,
they do have some problems, including:
Lifetime. While red and green OLED films have long lifetimes (10,000 to
40,000 hours), blue organics currently have much shorter lifetimes (only
about 1000 hours).
Manufacturing. Processes are expensive right now.
Water. Water can easily damage OLEDss.

li .

a
m
g

H. OLED Applications

OLED technology was invented by Eastman Kodak in the early 1980s and,
currently, OLEDs are used in small-screen devices such as cell phones, PDAs
and digital cameras. In March 2003, the company introduced the worlds first
digital camera with an OLED display.

@
5
6
1

n
e

In September 2004, Sony Corporation announced that it was beginning mass

production of OLED screens for its CLIE PEG-VZ90 model of personalentertainment handhelds.

e
h

s
r

Several companies have already built prototype computer monitors and largescreen TVs. In May 2005, Samsung Electronics announced that it had
developed the first 40 OLED-based, ultraslim TV.

m
o
c

li .

a
m
g

OLED Research and development is moving forward at a rapid pace and may
soon lead to applications in heads-up displays (HUD), automotive dashboards,
billboard-type displays, home and office lighting, and flexible displays.

n
e

s
r

e
h

@
5
6
1

10

OLEDs refresh approximately 1000 times faster than LCDs. Although a device
with an OLED display could change information in real time, the eye cannot
perceive changes to video faster than about 13ms. Refresh rate is also not the
end-all in display products. Many of the highend monitors take advantage of
advanced engineering in scalers and other components to make the view more
pleasing to the eye.

m
o
c

li .

a
m
g

Reference

Organic Light Emitting Diode. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED

@
5
6
1

NEC Display Corpration. OLED: An emerging display technology

e
h

s
r

n
e

11