Organic electroluminescent device

Abstract

The invention relates to an organic electroluminescent device. An apparatus is provided that includes a panchromatic organic light emitting diode (OLED) having a plurality of pixels, where each pixel has a plurality of sub-pixels. A first pixel of the plurality of pixels may include a first sub-pixel having a top emitting device or a bottom emitting device and a second sub-pixel including a first plasmon stack. In some embodiments, a panchromatic organic light emitting diode (OLED) having a plurality of pixels may be provided, where each pixel includes a plurality of sub-pixels. At least one sub-pixel of the plurality of sub-pixels may be configured in a different manner than other sub-pixels by different angular emission distributions and / or different cathode materials or organic stack designs.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference of related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 63 / 703,591, filed October 4, 2024, and U.S. Patent Application Serial No. 63 / 699,436, filed September 24, 2024, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This invention relates to apparatus and techniques for manufacturing organic emitting devices, such as organic light-emitting diodes, which combine plasmonic subpixels and cavity subpixels to increase efficiency, lifetime and display viewing angle, as well as apparatus and techniques including organic emitting devices. Background Technology

[0004] For many reasons, optoelectronic devices utilizing organic materials are becoming increasingly popular. Many of the materials used to manufacture these devices are relatively inexpensive, thus organic optoelectronic devices have the potential to offer a cost advantage over inorganic devices. Furthermore, the inherent properties of organic materials, such as their flexibility, make them more suitable for specific applications, such as fabrication on flexible substrates. Examples of organic optoelectronic devices include organic light-emitting diodes / devices (OLEDs), organic phototransistors, organic photovoltaic cells, and organic photodetectors. For OLEDs, organic materials can exhibit performance advantages over conventional materials. For instance, the wavelength of light emitted by an organic emitting layer can often be easily tuned using appropriate dopants.

[0005] OLEDs utilize organic thin films that emit light when a voltage is applied to the device. OLEDs are becoming an increasingly popular technology for applications such as flat panel displays, lighting, and backlighting. Several OLED materials and configurations are described in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,844,363, 6,303,238, and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0006] One application of phosphorescent emitting molecules is in full-color displays. Industry standards for such displays require pixels suited to emitting specific colors (called "saturated" colors). Specifically, these standards require pixels saturated with red, green, and blue light. Alternatively, OLEDs can be designed to emit white light. In conventional liquid crystal displays, absorption filters are used to filter the emission from a white backlight to produce red, green, and blue emission. The same technology can be used for OLEDs. White OLEDs can be a single EML device or a stacked structure. Color can be measured using CIE coordinates, well-known in the field.

[0007] As used herein, the term "organic" includes both polymeric materials and small-molecule organic materials that can be used to manufacture organic optoelectronic devices. "Small molecule" refers to any organic material that is not a polymer, and "small molecule" can actually be quite large. In some cases, small molecules may include repeating units. For example, using long-chain alkyl groups as substituents does not remove the molecule from the "small molecule" category. Small molecules can also be incorporated into polymers, for example, as side groups on the polymer backbone or as part of the backbone. Small molecules can also serve as the core portion of dendritic polymers, which consist of a series of chemical shells built upon the core portion. The core portion of a dendritic polymer can be a fluorescent or phosphorescent small-molecule emitter. Dendritic polymers can be "small molecules," and all dendritic polymers currently used in the OLED field are considered small molecules.

[0008] As used herein, "top" means furthest from the substrate, and "bottom" means closest to the substrate. When the first layer is described as being "placed" "above" the second layer, the first layer is placed further away from the substrate. Unless specified that the first layer "contacts" the second layer, other layers may exist between the first and second layers. For example, even if various organic layers exist between the cathode and anode, the cathode may still be described as being "placed" "above" the anode.

[0009] As used herein, “solution-handleable” means capable of dissolving, dispersing or transporting in and / or depositing from a liquid medium in the form of a solution or suspension.

[0010] When a ligand is considered to directly contribute to the photosensitivity of the emissive material, the ligand may be referred to as "photosensitive." When a ligand is considered not to contribute to the photosensitivity of the emissive material, the ligand may be referred to as "auxiliary," but auxiliary ligands can alter the properties of photosensitizing ligands.

[0011] As used herein, and as will generally be understood by those skilled in the art, if the first energy level is closer to the vacuum level, then the first "Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital" (HOMO) or "Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital" (LUMO) level is "greater than" or "higher than" the second HOMO or LUMO level. Since the ionization potential (IP) is measured as a negative energy relative to the vacuum level, a higher HOMO level corresponds to an IP with a smaller absolute value (less negative IP). Similarly, a higher LUMO level corresponds to an electron affinity (EA) with a smaller absolute value (less negative EA). On a conventional energy level diagram with the vacuum level at the top, the LUMO levels of a material are higher than the HOMO levels of the same material. "Higher" HOMO or LUMO levels appear to be closer to the top of this diagram than "lower" HOMO or LUMO levels.

[0012] As used herein, and as will generally be understood by those skilled in the art, if the first work function has a higher absolute value, then the first work function is “greater” or “higher” than the second work function. This is because the work function is typically measured as a negative number relative to the vacuum level, meaning that the “higher” work function is more negative. On a conventional energy level diagram with the vacuum level at the top, the “higher” work function is illustrated as being farther from the vacuum level in the downward direction. Therefore, the definitions of HOMO and LUMO levels follow different rules than those for the work function.

[0013] This document may describe layers, materials, regions, and devices by referring to the color of light emitted. Generally, as used herein, an emitting region that produces light of a particular color may include one or more emitting layers arranged in a stacked manner on top of each other.

[0014] As used herein, a "red" layer, material, region, or device refers to a layer, material, region, or device that emits light or whose emission spectrum has a peak in the range of approximately 580-700 nm. Similarly, a "green" layer, material, region, or device refers to a layer, material, region, or device that emits or has an emission spectrum with a peak wavelength in the range of approximately 500-600 nm; a "blue" layer, material, or device refers to a layer, material, or device that emits or has an emission spectrum with a peak wavelength in the range of approximately 400-500 nm; and a "yellow" layer, material, region, or device refers to a layer, material, region, or device with an emission spectrum with a peak wavelength in the range of approximately 540-600 nm. As used herein, a near-infrared "NIR" layer, material, region, or device refers to a layer, material, region, or device that emits light or whose emission spectrum has a peak in the range of approximately 700-1400 nm. As used herein, a short-wave infrared (SWIR) layer, material, region, or device refers to a layer, material, region, or device that emits light or whose emission spectrum has a peak in the region of approximately 1400–3000 nm. In some arrangements, individual regions, layers, materials, regions, or devices may provide separate “deep blue” and “light blue” light. As used herein, in an arrangement providing separate “light blue” and “deep blue” components, the “deep blue” component refers to the component whose peak emission wavelength is at least about 4 nm smaller than the peak emission wavelength of the “light blue” component. Typically, the peak emission wavelength of the “light blue” component is in the range of approximately 465 nm to 500 nm, and the peak emission wavelength of the “deep blue” component is in the range of approximately 400 nm to 470 nm, but these ranges may vary for some configurations. Similarly, a color-changing layer refers to a layer that converts or modifies light of another color to have light with a wavelength specified for said color. For example, a “red” filter refers to a filter that forms light with a wavelength in the range of approximately 580–700 nm. Generally, there are two types of color-changing layers: color filters that modify the spectrum by removing unwanted wavelengths of light, and color-changing layers that convert higher-energy photons into lower-energy ones. The "color" component refers to the component of light that, when activated or used, produces or otherwise emits light of a specific color as previously described. For example, "a first emission region of a first color" and "a second emission region of a second color different from the first color" describe two emission regions that emit two different colors as previously described when activated within the device.

[0015] As used herein, emitting materials, layers, and regions can be distinguished from each other and from other structures based on the light initially generated by said material, layer, or region, rather than by the light ultimately emitted by the same or different structures. Initial light generation is typically a result of energy level changes that lead to photon emission. For example, an organic emitting material can initially generate blue light, which can be converted into red or green light by a color filter, quantum dot, or other structure, causing the entire emitting stack or sub-pixel to emit red or green light. In this case, the initial emitting material or layer can be referred to as the "blue" component, even if the sub-pixel is a "red" or "green" component.

[0016] In some cases, the color of components, such as the color of emitting regions, subpixels, color-changing layers, etc., can preferably be described according to 1931 CIE coordinates. For example, a yellow emitting material may have multiple peak emission wavelengths, one in or near the edge of the "green" region and one in or near the edge of the "red" region, as previously described. Therefore, as used herein, each color item also corresponds to a shape in the 1931 CIE coordinate color space. The shape in the 1931 CIE color space is constructed by following the trajectory between two color points and any other interior points. For example, the interior shape parameters for red, green, blue, and yellow can be defined as follows:

[0017]

[0018] Further details about OLEDs and the definitions described above can be found in U.S. Patent No. 7,279,704, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Summary of the Invention

[0019] According to one embodiment, an organic light-emitting diode / device (OLED) is also provided. The OLED may include an anode, a cathode, and an organic layer disposed between the anode and the cathode. According to one embodiment, the organic light-emitting device is incorporated into one or more devices selected from consumer products, electronic component modules, and / or lighting panels.

[0020] According to one embodiment, the device may include a full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) having a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel has a plurality of sub-pixels. A first pixel among the plurality of pixels may include a first sub-pixel having a top-emitting device or a bottom-emitting device and a second sub-pixel having a first plasmon stack. The top-emitting device may be a cavity structure.

[0021] For the first pixel, the third sub-pixel may include a cavity, a plasmonic stack, and / or a bottom emitter structure.

[0022] The first plasmon stack may include an organic emission layer with an organic emission material disposed above the electrodes, wherein the organic emission material may have a total nonradiative decay rate constant. Total radiation attenuation rate constant The total nonradiative attenuation rate constant attributed to the enhancement layer And it can have a total radiation attenuation rate constant attributable to the enhancement layer. The first plasmon stack may include a reinforcement layer disposed above the organic emitter layer opposite to the first electrode. The reinforcement layer has a plasmon material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, which is nonradiatively coupled to the organic emitter material and transfers excited-state energy from the emitter material to the nonradiative mode of the surface plasmon polaritons. The reinforcement layer may be positioned at a distance from the organic emitter layer not exceeding a threshold distance, wherein the threshold distance can be a distance satisfying the following conditions.

[0023]

[0024] The first plasmon stack may include an excoupling layer disposed above the enhancement layer, wherein the excoupling layer scatters or extracts energy from surface plasmon polaritons in the form of photons into free space. The excoupling layer may be disposed above all sub-pixels of the first pixel, or the excoupling layer may be disposed above only one or more sub-pixels of the first pixel.

[0025] When the first pixel can emit white light under DCIP3 white point, photons of the light emitted by the first pixel that are greater than 1%, greater than 3%, greater than 5%, greater than 10%, greater than 25%, or greater than 50% can be emitted from the plasmonic mode of the first sub-pixel.

[0026] The absolute EQE of the first pixel being greater than 1%, greater than 5%, greater than 10%, greater than 15%, greater than 20%, or greater than 25% can be attributed to the emission of plasmonic modes from the first sub-pixel.

[0027] When presenting a uniform D65 white dot image, EQE greater than 1%, greater than 5%, greater than 10%, greater than 15%, greater than 20%, or greater than 25% of the OLED can be attributed to emission from plasmonic modes.

[0028] The first plasmon stack may include a color-changing layer disposed above the decoupling layer, wherein the transmission spectrum of the color-changing layer overlaps with the emission spectrum of light output from the decoupling layer. The enhancement layer may be an electrode of the plasmon stack. The enhancement layer may be an electrode of another sub-pixel of the pixel. In other words, the enhancement layer of the first sub-pixel may be a layer in the second sub-pixel. Here, the enhancement layer may be an electrode (i.e., an anode or cathode) in the second sub-pixel or another layer located within the second sub-pixel.

[0029] The first plasmon stack may include: a reinforcement layer disposed above the organic emitter layer opposite to the first electrode, the reinforcement layer having a plasmon material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, the plasmon material being nonradiatively coupled to the organic emitter material and transferring excited-state energy from the emitter material to the nonradiative mode of the surface plasmon polaritons; and an organic emitter layer disposed above the electrode having an organic emitter material having a total nonradiative decay rate constant and a total radiative decay rate constant attributable to the reinforcement layer. The reinforcement layer may be disposed at a distance from the organic emitter layer not exceeding a threshold distance, the threshold distance being the distance at which the total nonradiative decay rate constant equals the total radiative decay rate constant.

[0030] A first sub-pixel of the device may include an emitting material configured to emit blue light. The emitting material may be configured to emit deep blue light. A second sub-pixel may be configured to emit yellow light. At least one of the first and second sub-pixels may include a color-changing layer. A first pixel may include at least three sub-pixels, and each of the at least three sub-pixels, except for the sub-pixel having a material configured to emit deep blue light, may be configured to emit green or red light. At least one of the at least three sub-pixels may be configured to emit green light. At least one of the at least three sub-pixels may be configured to emit red light. A first pixel may include at least four sub-pixels. Except for the sub-pixel having a material configured to emit deep blue or light blue light, at least one of the at least four sub-pixels may include a color-changing layer configured to emit yellow, green, or red light. At least one of the at least four sub-pixels may be configured to emit green light. At least one of the at least four sub-pixels may be configured to emit red light. Two of the at least four sub-pixels may have the same emitting layer. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit deep blue light or light blue light, and at least one of the four other sub-pixels may be configured to emit deep blue light or light blue light.

[0031] The first pixel of the device may include at least three sub-pixels, and the first pixel may include an excoupling layer that decouples light from at least one of the three sub-pixels. The excoupling layer may emit yellow light, and each of the three or more sub-pixels may have a color-changing layer configured to emit yellow, green, or red light. The excoupling layer may be patterned over each of the plurality of plasmonic sub-pixels, but not over each of the plurality of non-platinonic sub-pixels. Alternatively, the excoupling layer may be patterned over each of the plurality of sub-pixels, regardless of whether they are plasmonic or non-platinonic. One of the at least three sub-pixels of the device may be configured to emit green light, and one of the at least three sub-pixels may be configured to emit red light. The device may include no more than two emission layer depositions. The two emission depositions may include yellow and blue emitting materials. The device may include no more than three emission layer depositions.

[0032] The two sub-pixels of the first pixel of the device can be configured to emit light having the same first color. The two sub-pixels can be the first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel.

[0033] The first plasmonic stack of the device may include multiple nanoparticles, and the nanoparticles have an average nanoparticle size. In other words, the average size of all nanoparticles is the average nanoparticle size. In an embodiment, each plasmonic subpixel in the first pixel may include nanoparticles with a size factor variation of no more than 15%. Size factor variation is a coefficient of variation, a statistical measure of relative variability, which expresses the standard deviation as a percentage of the mean. Size factor variation is calculated as (standard deviation / mean) × 100%. The multiple nanoparticles may have a maximum diameter that varies from one another by no more than 70 nm. All nanoparticles positioned above the plasmonic subpixels in the device may have a maximum diameter that varies from one another by no more than 70 nm. The nanoparticle size can be selected to decouple the plasmonic energy of the first plasmonic stack, wherein the plasmonic stack may be configured to emit red and / or green light. The plasmonic stack may include a dielectric spacer material, the refractive index of which is selected based on the color of the light emitted by the organic emitting material. In one embodiment, a dielectric spacer material (i.e., a dielectric spacer layer) may be located between the reinforcement layer and the nanoparticles in the plasmonic stack. In an alternative embodiment, the dielectric spacer material may be located between the two electrodes in the plasmonic stack. In yet another embodiment, the dielectric spacer material may be located on either side of either electrode, outside the plasmonic stack. In yet another embodiment, the dielectric spacer material may be located between the reinforcement layer and the decoupling layer or may be integrated within the decoupling layer. The second sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit red or green light. The nanoparticles may be coated with a dielectric material. The plasmonic stack may include a dielectric spacer material, wherein the refractive index of the dielectric material may be selected based on the color of light emitted by the organic emitting material. The spacing size variation of the dielectric spacer material in each plasmonic sub-pixel does not exceed 10%. Each plasmonic sub-pixel in the device may include a dielectric spacer material with a spacing size variation not exceeding 50%.

[0034] The apparatus may include a capping layer disposed over a plasmonic stack. In some embodiments, the capping layer may be disposed over non-plasmonic subpixels (e.g., cavity subpixels). The capping layer may be the same material covering both the plasmonic stack (i.e., plasmonic subpixels) and the non-plasmonic subpixels. In some embodiments, a first material may be used for the capping layer disposed over the plasmonic stack and / or the plasmonic subpixels, and a second material may be used for the capping layer disposed over the non-plasmonic subpixels (e.g., cavity subpixels).

[0035] The first pixel of the device may include a third sub-pixel. In this arrangement, the first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, and the third sub-pixel may include a second plasmon stack and be configured to emit green light. The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel may be greater than the aperture ratio of the second and third sub-pixels. The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel may be greater than 40%, greater than 50%, or greater than 60%, and the aperture ratio of the second, third, or both sub-pixels may be less than 20%, less than 15%, or less than 10%. The cavity structure of the first sub-pixel may be a polariton-enhanced Purcell effect device.

[0036] The second sub-pixel of the device may include a nanoparticle-based decoupling scheme. The nanoparticle-based decoupling scheme may include a first nanopatch antenna (NPA) array. The first NPA array may be disposed above a first dielectric material. In one embodiment, this nanoparticle-based decoupling scheme may also be referred to as an decoupling layer.

[0037] The first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel having at least one structure, which may be a second cavity structure or a bottom emission structure configured to emit yellow light, and / or a second plasmon stack configured to emit yellow light.

[0038] The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, and the third sub-pixel may include at least one structure, the at least one structure being a third cavity structure or a bottom emitting structure configured to emit green light, and / or a third plasmon stack configured to emit green light.

[0039] The first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel having at least one structure, which is a second cavity structure or a bottom-emitting structure configured to emit blue light having a first peak wavelength, and / or a second plasmon stack configured to emit blue light having a first peak wavelength. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength. The second sub-pixel may include at least one structure, which is a third cavity stack or a bottom-emitting stack configured to emit red light, and / or a second plasmon stack configured to emit red light. The third sub-pixel may include at least one structure, which is a fourth cavity stack or a bottom-emitting stack configured to emit green light, and / or a third plasmon stack configured to emit green light.

[0040] The first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel configured to emit green light and may have a cavity, plasmon resonance device, and / or bottom emission device structure. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light having a first peak wavelength, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength, and the third sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light from the cavity, plasmon resonance device, and / or bottom emission device structure.

[0041] The first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel configured to emit green light from the second plasmon stack, a fifth sub-pixel configured to emit blue light from the second cavity structure, and a sixth sub-pixel configured to emit blue light from the third plasmon stack. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, and the third sub-pixel may be configured to emit green light from the third cavity structure.

[0042] The first sub-pixel of the device can have a different angular emission distribution than the second sub-pixel.

[0043] The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel of the device can be greater than the aperture ratio of the second sub-pixel. The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel can be greater than 40%, greater than 50%, or greater than 60%, and the aperture ratio of the second sub-pixel can be less than 20%, less than 15%, or less than 10%.

[0044] The first pixel may include a sub-pixel having at least one of the following emission materials: fluorescent emission material, phosphorescent emission material, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emission material, phosphorescently sensitized fluorescence (PSF) emission material, inorganic emission material, and / or 2D dichalcogenide emission material. At least one sub-pixel in the first pixel may include a tandem arrangement. In one embodiment, the tandem arrangement may include two or more plasmonic stacks, two or more non-platinonic stacks, or two or more stacks where at least one stack is plasmonic and the other stacks are non-platinonic. It should be noted that non-platinonic stacks are as follows: Figure 1 and Figure 2 The aforementioned traditional OLED stacking.

[0045] The first pixel may include two or more sub-pixels having the same emissive material, wherein the two or more sub-pixels are configured to emit light of the same color at different peak wavelengths from each other.

[0046] The second sub-pixel of the device can be configured to emit blue light, and the first sub-pixel of the device can be configured to emit red and / or green light.

[0047] The second sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit blue and / or green light, and the first sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit red light.

[0048] The second sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit blue and / or red light, and the first sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit green light.

[0049] The second sub-pixel of the device can be configured to emit green light, and the first sub-pixel of the device can be configured to emit red light and / or blue light.

[0050] The second sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit green and / or red light, and the first sub-pixel of the device may be configured to emit blue light.

[0051] The second sub-pixel of the device can be configured to emit red light, and the first sub-pixel of the device can be configured to emit green light and / or blue light.

[0052] The plasmon stack of the second sub-pixel of the device may include an emitter having a fluorescent material, which may be configured to emit blue light.

[0053] According to one embodiment, the device may include a full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) having a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel has a plurality of sub-pixels, wherein for a first pixel of the plurality of pixels, the first sub-pixel includes a top emitter or a bottom emitter or a plasmonic stack, wherein an enhancement layer may be disposed at a location less than a threshold distance from the organic emitter layer, and a second sub-pixel includes a stack having both cavity and plasmonic emission. The enhancement layer in this sub-pixel is disposed at a location more than a threshold distance from the organic emitter layer, wherein the threshold distance is a distance that satisfies the following condition.

[0054]

[0055] The top emitting device can be a cavity structure. The second sub-pixel may include an excoupling layer, wherein the excoupling layer scatters or extracts energy from surface plasmon polaritons in the form of photons emitted from the device.

[0056] The device may be a consumer electronic device, including flat panel displays, curved displays, computer monitors, medical monitors, televisions, billboards, lights for internal or external lighting and / or signaling, head-up displays, fully transparent or partially transparent displays, flexible displays, rollable displays, foldable displays, stretchable displays, laser printers, telephones, cellular phones, tablets, phablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearable devices, laptops, digital cameras, camcorders, viewfinders, microdisplays with a diagonal of less than 2 inches, 3D displays, virtual reality or augmented reality displays, vehicles, video walls with multiple displays tiled together, theater or stadium screens, and / or signs.

[0057] According to one embodiment, the device may include a full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) having multiple pixels, wherein each pixel includes multiple sub-pixels. At least one of the multiple sub-pixels may be configured differently from the other sub-pixels by using different angular emission distributions and / or different cathode materials. Attached Figure Description

[0058] Figure 1 An organic light-emitting device was displayed.

[0059] Figure 2 An inverted organic light-emitting device without an independent electron transport layer was demonstrated.

[0060] Figure 3 An exemplary RGB1B2 architecture is shown based on one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter.

[0061] Figure 4 An exemplary YB+CF architecture is shown as an embodiment of the disclosed subject matter.

[0062] Figure 5 An exemplary plasmonic phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (PHOLED) subpixel stack is shown according to one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter. Detailed Implementation

[0063] Generally, an OLED comprises at least one organic layer disposed between and electrically connected to both the anode and cathode. When a current is applied, holes are injected into the anode and electrons into the organic layer from the cathode. The injected holes and electrons migrate toward their respective oppositely charged electrodes. When electrons and holes are localized on the same molecule, an "exciton" is formed, which is a localized electron-hole pair with an excited energy state. When the exciton relaxes through a photoemission mechanism, light is emitted. In some cases, excitons may be localized on excimers or excited-state complexes. Non-radiative mechanisms (such as thermal relaxation) may also occur, but are generally considered undesirable.

[0064] Early OLEDs used emitting molecules that emitted light from a single state (“fluorescence”), as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Patent No. 4,769,292, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Fluorescence emission typically occurs within timeframes of less than 10 nanoseconds.

[0065] Recently, OLEDs with emitting materials that emit light from the triplet state (“phosphorescence”) have been demonstrated. Baldo et al., “Highly Efficient Phosphorescent Emission from Organic Electroluminescent Devices,” Nature, Vol. 395, 151-154, 1998 (“Baldo-I”); and Baldo et al., “Very high-efficiency green organic light-emitting devices based on electrophosphorescence,” Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 75, 3, 4-6 (1999) (“Baldo-II”), are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Phosphorescence is described in more detail in columns 5-6 of U.S. Patent No. 7,279,704, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0066] Figure 1 An organic light-emitting device 100 is shown. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Device 100 may include a substrate 110, an anode 115, a hole injection layer 120, a hole transport layer 125, an electron blocking layer 130, an emission layer 135, a hole blocking layer 140, an electron transport layer 145, an electron injection layer 150, a protective layer 155, a cathode 160, and a blocking layer 170. The cathode 160 is a composite cathode having a first conductive layer 162 and a second conductive layer 164. Device 100 can be fabricated by sequentially depositing the layers. The properties and functions of these various layers, as well as example materials, are described in more detail in columns 6-10 of US 7,279,704, which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0067] Further examples of each of these layers are available. For instance, a flexible and transparent substrate-anode combination is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,844,363, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An example of a p-doped hole transport layer is m-MTDATA doped with F4-TCNQ in a 50:1 molar ratio, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003 / 0230980, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Examples of emitting and host materials are disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 6,303,238 to Thompson et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An example of an n-doped electron transport layer is BPhen doped with Li in a 1:1 molar ratio, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003 / 0230980, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Examples of cathodes, comprising composite cathodes having a thin layer of metal (e.g., Mg:Ag) having an overlying transparent, conductive, sputtered ITO layer, are disclosed in their entirety in U.S. Patent Nos. 5,703,436 and 5,707,745, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Theories and uses of barrier layers are described in more detail in U.S. Patent No. 6,097,147 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003 / 0230980, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Examples of implantation layers are provided in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2004 / 0174116, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Barrier layer 170 may be a single layer or multiple layers and may cover or surround other layers of the device. Barrier layer 170 may also surround substrate 110, and / or it may be disposed between the substrate and other layers of the device. Barrier layers may also be referred to as encapsulation, encapsulation layer, protective layer, or permeation barrier, and generally provide protection against moisture, ambient air, and other similar materials permeating other layers of the device. Examples of barrier layer materials and structures are provided in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,537,688, 6,597,111, 6,664,137, 6,835,950, 6,888,305, 6,888,307, 6,897,474, 7,187,119, and 7,683,534, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0068] Figure 2 An inverted OLED 200 is shown. The device includes a substrate 210, a cathode 215, an emitter layer 220, a hole transport layer 225, and an anode 230. The device 200 can be fabricated by sequentially depositing these layers. Because the most common OLED configuration has a cathode disposed above the anode, and the device 200 has a cathode 215 disposed below the anode 230, the device 200 can be referred to as an "inverted" OLED. Materials similar to those described with respect to device 100 can be used in the corresponding layers of the device 200. Figure 2Provide an example of how some layers can be omitted from the structure of device 100.

[0069] Figure 1 and 2 The simple layered structures illustrated herein are provided by way of non-limiting examples, and it should be understood that embodiments of the invention can be used in conjunction with a variety of other structures. The specific materials and structures described are exemplary in nature, and other materials and structures can be used. Functional OLEDs can be obtained by combining the various layers described in different ways, or the layers can be omitted entirely based on design, performance, and cost factors. Other layers not specifically described may also be included. Materials other than those specifically described may be used. Although many examples provided herein describe various layers as comprising a single material, it should be understood that combinations of materials, such as mixtures of host and dopant, or more generally, mixtures, can be used. Furthermore, the layers may have various sublayers. The names given to the various layers herein are not intended to be strictly limiting. For example, in device 200, hole transport layer 225 transports holes and injects holes into emitter layer 220, and can be described as a hole transport layer or a hole injection layer. In one embodiment, an OLED may be described as having an “organic layer” disposed between a cathode and an anode. This organic layer may comprise a single layer, or may further comprise, for example, regarding Figure 1 and 2 Multiple layers of the different organic materials mentioned above.

[0070] Structures and materials not specifically described can also be used, such as OLEDs (PLEDs) containing polymeric materials, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patent No. 5,247,190 to Friend et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. By another example, OLEDs with a single organic layer can be used. OLEDs can be stacked, for example, as described in, U.S. Patent No. 5,707,745 to Forrest et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. OLED structures can be deviated from... Figure 1 and 2 The simple layered structure described herein. For example, the substrate may include angled reflective surfaces to improve out-coupling, such as the tabletop structure described in U.S. Patent No. 6,091,195 to Forrest et al., and / or the recessed structure described in U.S. Patent No. 5,834,893 to Bulovic et al., which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0071] In some embodiments disclosed herein, the emission layer or material, for example Figure 1-2The emitting layers 135 and 220 shown herein may include quantum dots. Unless explicitly indicated otherwise or as understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the term "emitting layer" or "emitting material" as disclosed herein may include organic emitting materials and / or emitting materials containing quantum dots or equivalent structures. Generally, an emitting layer comprises emitting material within a host matrix. Such an emitting layer may comprise only quantum dot material that converts light emitted by a separate emitting material or other emitting entity, or it may also comprise a separate emitting material or other emitting entity, or it may emit light directly by applying an electric current. Similarly, color-changing layers, filters, upconversion or downconversion layers, or structures may comprise materials containing quantum dots, but such layers are not considered "emitting layers" as disclosed herein. Typically, an "emitting layer" or material is a material that emits initial light based on injected charge, wherein the initial light may be altered by another layer, such as a filter or other color-changing layer, which does not itself emit the initial light within the device but may re-emit altered light with different spectral content based on the absorption and downconversion of the initial light emitted by the emitting layer to lower energy light emission. In some embodiments disclosed herein, color-changing layers, color filters, up-conversion and / or down-conversion layers may be disposed outside the OLED device, for example, above or below the electrodes of the OLED device.

[0072] Unless otherwise specified, any of the layers in the various embodiments may be deposited by any suitable method. For organic layers, preferred methods include thermal evaporation, inkjet printing (as described in U.S. Patent Nos. 6,013,982 and 6,087,196, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety), organic vapor deposition (OVPD) (as described in U.S. Patent No. 6,337,102 by Forrest et al., which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety), and deposition by organic vapor jet printing (OVJP) (as described in U.S. Patent No. 7,431,968, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). Other suitable deposition methods include spin coating and other solution-based processes. Solution-based processes are preferably performed in a nitrogen or inert atmosphere. For other layers, preferred methods include thermal evaporation. Preferred patterning methods include deposition via a mask, cold soldering (as described in U.S. Patents 6,294,398 and 6,468,819, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety), and patterning associated with some of the deposition methods such as inkjet and OVJD. Other methods may also be used. The material to be deposited may be modified to suit a particular deposition method. For example, branched or unbranched substituents, preferably containing at least three carbons, such as alkyl and aryl groups, may be used in small molecules to enhance their solution handling ability. Substituents having 20 or more carbons may be used, with 3 to 20 carbons being a preferred range. Materials with asymmetric structures may have better solution handleability than those with symmetric structures because asymmetric materials may have a lower tendency to recrystallize. Dendritic polymer substituents may be used to enhance the solution handling ability of small molecules.

[0073] Devices manufactured according to embodiments of the present invention may optionally further include a barrier layer. One use of the barrier layer is to protect the electrodes and organic layers from damage caused by exposure to harmful substances in an environment including moisture, vapor, and / or gases. The barrier layer may be deposited on, under, or beside a substrate or electrode, or on any other part of the device, including edges. The barrier layer may comprise a single layer or multiple layers. The barrier layer can be formed using various known chemical vapor deposition techniques and may comprise compositions having a single phase and compositions having multiple phases. Any suitable material or combination of materials may be used for the barrier layer. The barrier layer may contain inorganic or organic compounds, or both. Preferred barrier layers comprise a mixture of polymeric and non-polymeric materials, as described in U.S. Patent No. 7,968,146, PCT Patent Application Nos. PCT / US2007 / 023098 and PCT / US2009 / 042829, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. For the process to be considered a "mixture," the aforementioned polymeric and non-polymeric materials constituting the barrier layer should be deposited and / or deposited simultaneously under the same reaction conditions. The weight ratio of polymeric to non-polymeric materials can range from 95:5 to 5:95. The polymeric and non-polymeric materials can be produced from the same precursor material. In one example, the mixture of polymeric and non-polymeric materials is essentially composed of polymeric silicon and inorganic silicon.

[0074] In some embodiments, at least one of the anode, cathode, or a new layer disposed above the organic emitting layer serves as a reinforcement layer. The reinforcement layer comprises a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, the plasmonic material being nonradiatively coupled to the emitting material and transferring excited-state energy from the emitting material to the nonradiative modes of the surface plasmon polaritons. The reinforcement layer is provided at a threshold distance from the organic emitting layer, wherein, due to the presence of the reinforcement layer, the emitting material has a total nonradiative decay rate constant and a total radiative decay rate constant, and the threshold distance is a distance at which the total nonradiative decay rate constant is equal to the total radiative decay rate constant, as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 9,960,386, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In some embodiments, the OLED further comprises an decoupling layer. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer is disposed above the reinforcement layer on the opposite side of the organic emitting layer. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer is disposed on the opposite side of the emitting layer from the reinforcement layer, but still decouples energy from the surface plasmon polariton modes of the reinforcement layer. The decoupling layer scatters or extracts energy from the surface plasmon polaritons. In some embodiments, this energy is scattered into free space in the form of photons. In other embodiments, energy is scattered or extracted from the surface plasmon modes of the device into other modes, such as, but not limited to, organic waveguide modes, substrate modes, or another waveguide mode. If energy is scattered or extracted into the non-free-space modes of the OLED, other decoupling schemes can be incorporated to extract energy into free space. In some embodiments, one or more dielectric spacer layers may be disposed between the reinforcement layer and the decoupling layer. The plasmon stack may include a dielectric spacer material (i.e., a dielectric spacer layer) whose refractive index is selected based on the color of light emitted by the organic emitting material. In embodiments, the dielectric spacer material (i.e., the dielectric spacer layer) may be located between the reinforcement layer and the nanoparticles in the plasmon stack. In an alternative embodiment, the dielectric spacer material may be located between two electrodes in the plasmon stack. In yet another embodiment, the dielectric spacer material may be located on either side of either electrode, outside the plasmon stack. In yet another embodiment, the dielectric spacer material may be located between the reinforcement layer and the decoupling layer or may be integrated within the decoupling layer. In some embodiments, the dielectric spacer layer may be present only in plasmonic stack sub-pixels, only in non-platinonic stack sub-pixels, or in both. Examples of materials suitable for the dielectric spacer layer include dielectric materials, including organic, inorganic, perovskite, and oxide materials, and may include stacks and / or mixtures of these materials.

[0075] The enhancement layer modifies the effective properties of the medium in which the emitter material resides, thereby causing any or all of the following: reduced emissivity, modification of emission spectral shape, changes in emission intensity and angle, changes in the stability of the emitter material, changes in OLED efficiency, and reduced efficiency degradation of the OLED device. Placing the enhancement layer on the cathode side, anode side, or both sides produces an OLED device that utilizes any of the above effects. In addition to the specific functional layers mentioned herein and illustrated in the various OLED examples shown in the figures, the OLED according to the invention may also include any of the other functional layers commonly found in OLEDs.

[0076] The reinforcing layer can be composed of plasmonic materials, optically active metamaterials, and / or hyperbolic metamaterials. As used herein, plasmonic materials are materials whose real portion of the dielectric constant crosses zero in the visible or ultraviolet region of the electromagnetic spectrum. In some embodiments, the plasmonic material comprises at least one metal. In such embodiments, the metal may include at least one of the following: Ag, Al, Au, Ir, Pt, Ni, Cu, W, Ta, Fe, Cr, Mg, Ga, Rh, Ti, Ru, Pd, In, Bi, Ca, alloys or mixtures of these materials, and stacks of these materials. Generally, metamaterials are media composed of different materials, wherein the medium as a whole acts differently than the sum of its material parts. Specifically, we define optically active metamaterials as materials having both a negative dielectric constant and negative permeability. On the other hand, hyperbolic metamaterials are anisotropic media, wherein the permittivity or permeability has different signs for different spatial orientations. Optically active metamaterials and hyperbolic metamaterials are strictly distinguished from many other photonic structures, such as distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs), because the medium must be uniform along the length scale of the light wavelength in the direction of propagation. Using terminology understood by those skilled in the art, the dielectric constant of the metamaterial in the direction of propagation can be approximated by an effective medium. Plasmon materials and metamaterials offer methods for controlling light propagation that can enhance OLED performance in a variety of ways.

[0077] In some embodiments, the enhancement layer is provided as a planar layer. In other embodiments, the enhancement layer has wavelength-sized features arranged periodically, quasi-periodicly, or randomly, or subwavelength-sized features arranged periodically, quasi-periodicly, or randomly. In some embodiments, the wavelength-sized features and subwavelength-sized features have sharp edges.

[0078] In some embodiments, the decoupling layer has a wavelength size characterized by a periodic, quasi-periodic, or random arrangement, or a subwavelength size characterized by a periodic, quasi-periodic, or random arrangement. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer may be composed of a plurality of nanoparticles, and in other embodiments, the decoupling layer is composed of a plurality of nanoparticles disposed on a material. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer may have a periodic, quasi-periodic, or random arrangement of larger-than-wavelength characteristics, or may have a periodic, quasi-periodic, or random arrangement of subwavelength characteristics. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer may have a periodic, quasi-periodic, or random arrangement of smaller-than-wavelength characteristics, or may have a periodic, quasi-periodic, or random arrangement of subwavelength characteristics. In these embodiments, decoupling can be tuned by at least one of the following: changing the size of the plurality of nanoparticles, changing the shape of the plurality of nanoparticles, changing the material of the plurality of nanoparticles, adjusting the thickness of the material, changing the refractive index of the material or an additional layer disposed on the plurality of nanoparticles, changing the thickness of the reinforcing layer, and / or changing the material of the reinforcing layer. The multiple nanoparticles of the device can be formed from at least one of the following: a metal, a dielectric material, a semiconductor material, a metal alloy, a mixture of dielectric materials, a stack or layer of one or more materials, and / or a core of one type of material coated with a shell of a different type of material. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer is composed of at least metal nanoparticles, wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of: Ag, Al, Au, Ir, Pt, Ni, Cu, W, Ta, Fe, Cr, Mg, Ga, Rh, Ti, Ru, Pd, In, Bi, Ca, alloys or mixtures of these materials, and stacks of these materials. The multiple nanoparticles may have additional layers disposed on them. In some embodiments, the polarization of the emission can be tuned using the decoupling layer. Changing the dimension and periodicity of the decoupling layer can select a type of polarization that preferentially decouples to air. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer also functions as an electrode of the device.

[0079] In some embodiments, the decoupling layer is placed only above the plasmonic subpixels, while in other embodiments, the decoupling layer is placed above all subpixels. In some embodiments, the decoupling layer is placed above a portion of the subpixels in the display.

[0080] It is believed that the internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of fluorescent OLEDs can exceed the 25% spin statistical limit through delayed fluorescence. As used in this paper, there are two types of delayed fluorescence: P-type delayed fluorescence and E-type delayed fluorescence. P-type delayed fluorescence is generated by triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA).

[0081] On the other hand, E-type delayed fluorescence does not depend on the collision of two triplet states, but rather on the thermal population between the triplet and singlet excited states. Compounds capable of producing E-type delayed fluorescence are required to have a very small singlet-triplet gap. Thermal energy can activate transitions from the triplet state back to the singlet state. This type of delayed fluorescence is also called thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). A significant characteristic of TADF is that the delayed component increases with increasing temperature due to increased thermal energy. If the reverse intersystem crossing rate is fast enough to minimize nonradiative decay from the triplet state, the fraction of singlet excited states that are refilled can reach 75%. The total singlet fraction can be 100%, far exceeding the spin statistical limit of electrically generated excitons.

[0082] E-type delayed fluorescence can be observed in excited complex systems or single compounds. Unbound by theory, it is believed that E-type delayed fluorescence requires the luminescent material to have a small singlet-triplet band gap (ΔES-T). Organic, metal-free donor-acceptor luminescent materials may be able to achieve this. The emission of these materials is typically characterized by donor-acceptor charge transfer (CT) emission. Spatial separation of the HOMO and LUMO in these donor-acceptor compounds usually results in a small ΔES-T. These states may involve CT states. Typically, donor-acceptor luminescent materials are constructed by linking an electron donor moiety (e.g., an amino or carbazole derivative) with an electron acceptor moiety (e.g., an N-containing six-membered aromatic ring).

[0083] Devices manufactured according to embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated into a wide variety of electronic component modules (or units), which can be incorporated into a variety of electronic products or intermediate components. Examples of such electronic products or intermediate components include displays, lighting devices (such as discrete light source devices or lighting panels), etc., which can be utilized by end-user product manufacturers. The electronic component module may optionally include driving electronics and / or a power supply. Devices manufactured according to embodiments of the present invention can be incorporated into a wide variety of consumer products having one or more electronic component modules (or units) incorporated therein. A consumer product incorporating an OLED is disclosed, wherein the OLED comprises compounds of the present disclosure in its organic layer. The consumer product should include any type of product containing one or more light sources and / or one or more of some type of visual display. Examples of the consumer products described include flat panel displays, curved displays, computer monitors, medical monitors, televisions, billboards, lights for internal or external lighting and / or signaling, head-up displays, fully transparent or partially transparent displays, flexible displays, rollable displays, foldable displays, stretchable displays, laser printers, telephones, cellular phones, tablet computers, phablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearable devices, laptop computers, digital cameras, camcorders, viewfinders, microdisplays with a diagonal of less than 2 inches, 3D displays, virtual reality or augmented reality displays, vehicles, video walls comprising multiple tiled displays, theater or stadium screens, and signage. Various control mechanisms, including passive and active matrices, can be used to control the devices manufactured according to the invention. Many of the devices are intended for use in temperature ranges comfortable for humans, such as 18°C ​​to 30°C, and more preferably at room temperature (20-25°C), but can be used outside this temperature range (e.g., 40°C to 80°C).

[0084] The materials and structures described herein can be applied to devices other than OLEDs. For example, other optoelectronic devices such as organic solar cells and organic photodetectors can utilize the materials and structures described herein. More generally, organic devices such as organic transistors can utilize the materials and structures described herein.

[0085] In some embodiments, the OLED has one or more features selected from the group consisting of: flexible, rollable, foldable, stretchable, and bendable. In some embodiments, the OLED is transparent or translucent. In some embodiments, the OLED further comprises a layer including carbon nanotubes.

[0086] In some embodiments, the OLED further comprises a layer including a delayed phosphor emitter. In some embodiments, the OLED comprises an RGB pixel arrangement or a white pixel arrangement with a color filter. In some embodiments, the OLED is a mobile device, a handheld device, or a wearable device. In some embodiments, the OLED is a display panel with a diagonal of less than 10 inches or an area of ​​less than 50 square inches. In some embodiments, the display is a micro-OLED display with a diagonal of less than 2 inches. In some embodiments, the OLED is a display panel with a diagonal of at least 10 inches or an area of ​​at least 50 square inches. In some embodiments, the OLED is an illumination panel. In some embodiments, the OLED display may have a pixel size of less than 100 micrometers. In some embodiments, the minimum size of at least one subpixel within a pixel in the pixel plane may be less than 20 micrometers. In some embodiments, the minimum size of at least one subpixel within a pixel in the pixel plane may be less than 5 micrometers.

[0087] In some embodiments of the launch area, the launch area further includes a body.

[0088] In some embodiments, the compound may be an emission dopant. In some embodiments, the compound may generate emission via phosphorescence, fluorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF, also known as E-type delayed fluorescence), triplet-triplet annihilation, or a combination of these processes, such as phosphorescently sensitized fluorescence.

[0089] The OLEDs disclosed herein can be incorporated into one or more consumer products, electronic component modules, and lighting panels. The organic layer can be an emission layer, and the compound can be an emission dopant in some embodiments, while in other embodiments it can be a non-emission dopant.

[0090] The organic layer may also include a host. In some embodiments, two or more hosts are preferred. In some embodiments, the host used may be a) bipolar, b) electron transport, c) hole transport, or d) wide-bandgap material that plays a minor role in charge transport. In some embodiments, the host may include a metal complex. The host may be an inorganic compound.

[0091] Combination with other materials

[0092] The materials described herein for use in specific layers of organic light-emitting devices can be used in combination with a wide variety of other materials present in the device. For example, the emission dopants disclosed herein can be used in combination with a wide variety of possible host layers, transport layers, blocking layers, injection layers, electrodes, and other layers. The materials described or mentioned below are non-limiting examples of materials that can be used in combination with the compounds disclosed herein, and those skilled in the art can readily consult the literature to identify other materials that can be used in combination.

[0093] The various emitting and non-emitting layers and arrangements disclosed herein can be made of different materials. Examples of suitable materials are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2017 / 0229663, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0094] Conductive dopants:

[0095] Charge transport layers can be doped with conductive dopants to substantially alter their charge carrier density, which in turn changes their conductivity. Conductivity is increased by creating charge carriers in the matrix material and, depending on the type of dopant, can also achieve variations in the Fermi level of the semiconductor. Hole transport layers can be doped with p-type conductive dopants, while n-type conductive dopants are used in electron transport layers.

[0096] HIL / HTL:

[0097] The hole injection / transport materials used in this invention are not particularly limited, and any compound can be used, as long as the compound is commonly used as a hole injection / transport material.

[0098] EBL:

[0099] An electron blocking layer (EBL) can be used to reduce the number of electrons and / or excitons leaving the emitter layer. The presence of such a blocking layer in a device can result in generally higher efficiency and / or longer lifetime compared to similar devices lacking a blocking layer. Furthermore, the blocking layer can be used to confine emission to a desired area of ​​the OLED. In some embodiments, the EBL material has a higher LUMO (closer to vacuum level) and / or higher triplet energy compared to the emitter closest to the EBL interface. In some embodiments, the EBL material has a higher LUMO and / or higher triplet energy compared to one or more of the bodies closest to the EBL interface. In one aspect, the compound used in the EBL contains the same molecules or the same functional groups as those used in one of the bodies described below.

[0100] main body:

[0101] The light-emitting layer of the organic EL device of the present invention preferably contains at least a metal complex as the light-emitting material, and may contain a host material using a metal complex as a dopant material. Examples of the host material are not particularly limited, and any metal complex or organic compound can be used, as long as the triplet energy of the host is greater than that of the dopant. Any host material can be used with any dopant, as long as the triplet criterion is satisfied.

[0102] HBL:

[0103] Hole blocking layers (HBLs) can be used to reduce the number of holes and / or excitons leaving the emitter layer. The presence of such blocking layers in a device can result in generally higher efficiency and / or longer lifetime compared to similar devices lacking a blocking layer. Furthermore, blocking layers can be used to confine emission to a desired area of ​​the OLED. In some embodiments, the HBL material has a lower HOMO (farthest from vacuum level) and / or higher triplet energy compared to the emitter closest to the HBL interface. In some embodiments, the HBL material has a lower HOMO and / or higher triplet energy compared to one or more of the bodies closest to the HBL interface.

[0104] ETL:

[0105] An electron transport layer (ETL) may comprise a material capable of transporting electrons. The ETL may be intrinsic (undoped) or doped. Doping can be used to enhance conductivity. Examples of ETL materials are not particularly limited, and any metal complex or organic compound may be used, provided it is typically used for electron transport.

[0106] Charge generation layer (CGL)

[0107] In tandem or stacked OLEDs, the conduction layer (CGL) plays a fundamental role in performance. It consists of an n-doped layer and a p-doped layer, respectively, for injecting electrons and holes. Electrons and holes are supplied by the CGL and the electrodes. Electrons and holes consumed in the CGL are refilled by electrons and holes injected from the cathode and anode, respectively; subsequently, the bipolar current gradually reaches a steady state. Typical CGL materials include n- and p-conductive dopants used in the transport layer.

[0108] The embodiments described herein can be found in devices having pixels comprising one or more subpixels. In a first embodiment, at least one subpixel may be in a side-by-side (SBS) architecture. In an SBS architecture, at least one or more emission layers of each subpixel in the pixel are different from the emission layer of another subpixel in the pixel. Typically, a "red" subpixel will have a red emission layer, and the red emission layer emits red light, and the subpixel emits red light. In one embodiment, a color filter or color-changing layer may be absent in the SBS architecture, but this is not necessary and color filters or color-changing layers can be used. In a second embodiment, at least one subpixel may be in a stacked architecture. In a stacked architecture, at least one or more emission layers are shared between two or more subpixels in the pixel. Typically, this is used in a white plus color filter / color-changing layer architecture, where the emission layer in the pixel produces "white" light, and different color filters / color-changing layers are arranged for the subpixels in the pixel to produce the desired color. For example, stacking can produce "white" light. The first sub-pixel can have a red filter / color-changing layer, so the first sub-pixel will produce red light, and the second sub-pixel can have a green filter / color-changing layer, so the second sub-pixel will produce green light. Any filter / color-changing layer can be used to produce any color of light. Furthermore, stacking does not necessarily need to produce "white" light and can produce any color of light. An apparatus can be fabricated as a hybrid of both SBS and stacking architectures to produce pixel / subpixel designs including some or all of the architectures described. Embodiments of the invention may include one or more SBS or stacked pixel / subpixel designs.

[0109] Plasmon OLEDs can significantly benefit from reduced excited-state lifetimes. This can lead to extended operating lifetimes while increasing external quantum efficiency (EQE), which enables higher brightness and more stable OLED devices. Such devices can have a Lambertian emission profile. The optical performance of the device can benefit from photons generated outside the organic stack via an outcoupling layer (i.e., a nanoparticle-based outcoupling scheme (NPO)). The outcoupling layer can include one or more outcoupling layers, such as dielectric spacers, layers of material with nanoparticles, one or more nanoparticles, etc. While this arrangement can allow for high EQE and Lambertian emission, it may be difficult to use cavity optics for highly saturated emission colors, particularly blue. In some embodiments, the angle dependence of color shift and / or intensity can vary between subpixels. In some embodiments, the intensity of subpixels with plasmon stacks can be minimized with angle. In some embodiments, the color of subpixels with plasmon stacks can be minimized with angle. In some embodiments, either the intensity or color shift of green subpixels can be minimized with angle. In one embodiment, the green subpixel may have the greatest impact on the brightness level as it varies with angle. Additionally, light emission from all subpixels can contribute to the observed color change as it varies with angle. However, in a full-blue image, when the display shows only blue, the blue subpixel may have the smallest perceptible shift in (blue) color with angle due to the sensitivity of the eye.

[0110] Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can provide a display architecture that combines plasmonic subpixels and cavity subpixels (e.g., blue cavity subpixels) in the same display to improve device efficiency and / or lifetime, and improve display viewing angle. Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter recognize that the cavity subpixels can be one or more selected from a group consisting of top-emitting (TE) subpixels or bottom-emitting (BE) subpixels. Here, BE subpixels emit light through the substrate, while alternatively, TE subpixels emit light without passing through the substrate. Alternatively, BE or TE subpixels may not be cavity subpixels.

[0111] Figure 3 This diagram illustrates the RGB1B2 architecture, where the R subpixel is configured to output red light, the G subpixel is configured to output green light, the B1 subpixel is configured to output light blue light, and the B2 subpixel is configured to output dark blue light. The light blue subpixel can be a plasmonic device, and the red and / or green subpixels can be plasmonic devices, cavity structures, and / or non-cavity devices. The B2 dark blue subpixel can be a cavity device.

[0112] In one embodiment of the disclosed subject matter, the plasmonic device can be combined with an RGB1B2 device architecture, wherein the B1 light blue emission can be used by the plasmonic device for at least a portion of the blue emission, and the B2 dark blue emission (when needed) can be generated by a cavity device. The B2 cavity device can be used for a small percentage of the operating time, which allows for less stringent requirements on the device's lifetime and efficiency parameters. Most of the blue light emission can be provided by the B1 plasmonic device, where the device lifetime, EQE, and emission distribution benefit from plasmonic enhancement. The red and / or green subpixels in this example device architecture can be cavity or non-cavity structures, or they can be plasmonic devices.

[0113] In another RGB1B2 embodiment, colors other than B1 (e.g., red, green, and / or yellow) can be plasmonic devices. In this example, B2 can be a cavity design and can be a single stacked or cascaded arrangement. Such an arrangement can provide a display with improved viewing angles. In alternative embodiments, the display can include any number of multicolor pixel arrangements. In other words, the display can be R1R2GB, RG1G2B, R1R2G1G2B, or R1R2G1G2B1B2RG1G2B1B2 or similar arrangements. In these arrangements, any combination of plasmonic and non-platinonic subpixels can exist. For example, subpixels of a common color (i.e., R1R2, G1G2, or B1B2) can all be plasmonic, can all be non-platinonic, or one can be plasmonic and the other can be non-platinonic. Regardless of the arrangement, non-common-color subpixels (i.e., G and B in R1R2GB, R and G in RGB1B2, R and B in RG1G2B, etc.) can be any mixture of plasmonic and non-platinonic subpixels. For example, in an R1R2GB arrangement, G can be a plasmonic subpixel and B can be a non-platinonic subpixel. Alternatively, in an R1R2GB arrangement, G and B can both be plasmonic subpixels, or both can be non-platinonic subpixels.

[0114] It should also be noted that in some embodiments, the number of sub-pixels of the same color is not limited to two, as there may be three or more sub-pixels of the same color (e.g., RGB1B2B3).

[0115] To simplify fabrication, the size of individual nanoparticles can be selected to decouple the plasmonic energy from both the red and green sub-pixels. Specific decoupling resonances (i.e., colors) can be tuned by using dielectric spacer materials with different refractive index values ​​for the red and green sub-pixels. In one embodiment, the refractive index of the spacer layer for the red sub-pixel may be higher than that for the green sub-pixel. In another embodiment, the red and green sub-pixels can use the same dielectric spacer material, but the nanoparticles used for one of the sub-pixels (e.g., the red sub-pixel) may be externally coated with a dielectric material, such as a capping layer (CPL, etc.). Figure 5 As shown in the figure, it has a higher refractive index than any dielectric material that can be externally coated with green subpixels, such as Figure 5 The plasmonic PHOLED subpixel stack is shown. This can have the effect of redshifting the NPO resonance to achieve good spectral overlap with the emission spectrum of the emitter device. The refractive index and / or thickness of the CPL can be varied to tune the plasmonic outcoupling resonance. Typically, for metal nanoparticles, a spacer layer with a higher refractive index and the CPL can redshift the plasmonic outcoupling resonance. By coating the nanoparticles with CPL, the effective refractive index around the particles can be altered, and saturation can be achieved at a CPL thickness of approximately 200 nm. The NPO resonance can be tuned by an excess of free polymer in the nanoparticle solution, where a higher concentration of excess free polymer increases the effective refractive index around the nanoparticles, thereby causing a redshift.

[0116] In some embodiments, the overlay layer may be disposed over plasmonic subpixels, such as red (R), light blue (B1), and / or green (G) subpixels. In some embodiments, the overlay layer may be disposed over cavity subpixels, such as red (R) cavity subpixels, dark blue (B2) cavity subpixels, and / or green (G) cavity subpixels. In some embodiments, the same material may be used for the overlay layers of both plasmonic and cavity subpixels. In other embodiments, a first material may be used as the overlay layer of the plasmonic subpixels, and a second material may be used as the overlay layer of the cavity subpixels.

[0117] In some embodiments, when two or more sub-pixels are plasmons, the two or more plasmon sub-pixels may have the same dielectric spacer material or may have different dielectric spacer materials. In some embodiments, when two or more sub-pixels are plasmons, the two or more plasmon sub-pixels may have dielectric spacer materials of the same thickness or may have dielectric spacer materials of different thicknesses. In these embodiments, the thickness may be the same or different, regardless of the material selected for the dielectric spacer material and / or the refractive index of the material selected for the dielectric spacer material. In some embodiments, when two or more sub-pixels are plasmons, the two or more plasmon sub-pixels may have dielectric spacer materials of the same refractive index or may have dielectric spacer materials of different refractive indices.

[0118] The fabrication process can be further simplified by depositing nanoparticles over all R, G, and B subpixels. This can have the effect of scattering or extracting the cavity emission of non-plasmic subpixels to a distribution closer to Lambertian, which may be desirable for some applications. For example, if the blue subpixel is a TE microcavity device and nanoparticles are deposited over all subpixels, the angle dependence of the blue subpixel may be altered due to the nanoparticles. The nanoparticles can reduce the angle dependence of the blue subpixel, resulting in a display with improved angle dependence. In another embodiment, the R, G, and B subpixels may share a common cathode material, composition, and / or thickness. While plasmonic devices can use a thicker Ag cathode (approximately 30 nm) compared to top-emitting microcavity devices (approximately 15 nm), microcavity devices may be able to recover some or even more of the light lost due to the reduced transmittance of a thicker cathode using plasmonic decoupling. The shared cathode can be thickness-tuned to achieve a desired combination of plasmonic decoupling efficiency and TEMC decoupling efficiency. For example, an Ag cathode less than 30 nm thick can reduce the plasmon decoupling efficiency of plasmon subpixels, but the decoupling efficiency of TEMC subpixels can be increased by increasing the cathode transmittance.

[0119] In some embodiments, the same emitter layer (EML) can be used for both B1 and B2 subpixels to simplify the fabrication of a device having three (3) OLED emitter deposits for four (4) subpixels.

[0120] Using light blue subpixels as plasmonic devices allows for a simplified outcoupling layer design because only a single, pre-sized outcoupling layer nanoparticle may need to be deposited above the device cathode, and the nanoparticle size used to generate light blue emission can be more easily fabricated than that of subpixels used for dark blue emission. In some embodiments, the outcoupling layer nanoparticles may be of more than one size.

[0121] The emission layer in the above embodiments can be derived from fluorescence, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), phosphorescence, phosphorescently sensitized fluorescence (PSF), inorganic emission materials, 2D dichalcogenide emission materials, perovskites, and / or quantum dots.

[0122] Figure 4 This diagram illustrates a YB+CF architecture, where the Y device is configured to emit yellow light, the R sub-pixel is configured to emit red light, the G sub-pixel is configured to emit green light, the B device is configured to emit blue light, and the B2 sub-pixel is configured to emit dark blue light. The Y device can be a plasmonic device, and the R and / or G sub-pixels can be plasmonic devices with a color-changing layer above the Y device. The B2 sub-pixel can have a cavity design.

[0123] In another embodiment, a YB+CF display architecture can be used. In this example architecture, two OLED emitter depositions (i.e., yellow and blue depositions) can be used, and plasmon enhancement can be applied to the yellow device. A color-changing layer (e.g., a color filter) can be used to generate yellow, green, and red Lambertian or non-platinum emission. The blue subpixel can have a cavity arrangement. This architecture can provide a display with very small color shift over the viewing angle. This arrangement can use a single decoupling layer design to be fabricated above the yellow subpixel.

[0124] Plasmon emission can be used to adjust the emission distribution of a device to provide an optimization between efficiency and emission distribution. This can enhance efficiency and / or provide low angle dependence on output color or brightness.

[0125] In one embodiment, a three-subpixel RGB display can be provided, wherein cavities can be configured to emit blue light, plasmonic devices can be configured to emit red light, and another plasmonic device can be configured to emit green light. This arrangement can have improved efficiency and viewing angle characteristics. The blue emitting cavities can be a single stack or a series stack to improve lifetime and / or efficiency. Since DCIP3 white light is composed of approximately 94% red and green light, the display efficiency can benefit from the extremely high plasmonic EQE that can be achieved with red and green subpixels.

[0126] Because plasmonic devices offer enhanced lifetime and reduced attenuation at higher brightness compared to conventional devices, green and red subpixels can be driven more forcefully to reduce their aperture ratio (AR), or fill factor. This allows for an increase in the AR of the blue subpixel and thus enhances its lifetime. A conventional RGB architecture can have an AR of 25:25:25 (representing the relative AR between red (R), green (G), and blue (B) subpixels, denoted as R:G:B), and the architecture using the above embodiment can have an AR of 15:15:45, with cavities for the blue subpixels and plasmonic subpixels for outputting red and green light. For the R:G:B: label, all available pixel areas (e.g., assuming 100%) can be divided into active areas for emitting and non-emitting regions, taking into account process tolerances. Assuming all colors are equal, the maximum AR for the three colors (red, green, blue) will be 33%, but it can be approximately 25% when process limitations are considered. Because the subpixels must be driven with a higher drive current to compensate for the reduced AR, the red and green cd / A may decrease by 2% or 3%, but in this arrangement, the blue subpixel lifetime can be increased by two times (2×) or more, because the blue subpixel AR is increased by reducing the red and green AR.

[0127] In this embodiment, the blue sub-pixel may have a cavity arrangement (tandem or a single emitter layer) and higher AR to achieve even higher blue lifetime and good saturated blue efficiency. This arrangement can have improved display efficiency, viewing angle, and lifetime. This arrangement can also have improved manufacturability because only one size of decoupling layer nanoparticles can be used for both the red and green sub-pixels, and therefore only one size of decoupling layer nanoparticles needs to be deposited onto the display. For the red and green sub-pixels, dielectric layers with different refractive indices can be applied between the cathode and the decoupling layer to optimize the decoupling layer performance for both colors.

[0128] For COE (color filter and / or color-changing layer on package) arrangements, a small aperture ratio (AR) is preferred because it reduces reflections from the display surface due to the smaller subpixel area, and the active areas of the subpixels can be reflective due to the reflective electrodes used in the subpixel architecture. In embodiments with plasmonic red and green subpixels having small AR and blue subpixels with cavities, this can be beneficial for RGB displays if the RG aperture ratio is reduced, thereby reducing reflections from the front surface of the display. This is likely because the red and green subpixels can be driven more forcefully due to the increased plasmonic lifetime at higher brightness and reduced efficiency decay, making it possible to reduce green and red AR. Blue AR can be increased, thereby further improving blue lifetime. Since the human eye is less sensitive to blue light than to red or green light, it is expected that increased blue reflection will be far less problematic than green or red reflection. In some embodiments, when COE is used for pixels within a display, additional nanoparticles incorporated for subpixels can achieve a larger aperture ratio because the nanoparticles scatter incident ambient light into the black polymer layer between subpixels and between color filters.

[0129] Red, green, and blue subpixel plasmon devices can achieve high efficiency and Lambertian output. Based on the enhanced plasmon lifetime, red, green, and blue subpixel plasmon devices can exhibit low reflectivity due to smaller AR for COE arrangements.

[0130] Blue subpixels may have a cavity arrangement (e.g., tandem or a single emitter layer) and higher AR to increase blue subpixel lifetime and good saturated blue efficiency. Even without considering reduced display reflectivity, embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can provide high efficiency, wide viewing angle, and / or improved lifetime. Red and green plasmonic subpixels may have reduced AR, and blue cavity (tandem) subpixels may have increased AR.

[0131] In some embodiments, the overlay layer may be disposed on plasmonic sub-pixels, such as Figure 4 Above the yellow (Y), red (R), and / or green (G) subpixels shown. In some embodiments, the overlay layer may be disposed above the cavity subpixels, such as... Figure 4 The cavity subpixel is shown above the dark blue (B2) subpixel. In some embodiments, the same material can be used for the overlay layer of both the plasmonic subpixel and the cavity subpixel. In other embodiments, a first material can be used as the overlay layer of the plasmonic subpixel, and a second material can be used as the overlay layer of the cavity subpixel.

[0132] The above embodiments can provide several advantages over conventional architectures. The embodiments can utilize the Lambertian emission of the red and green subpixels to provide improved viewing angles. Assuming that blue reflection is less problematic than red or green reflection, the lower display reflectivity of the red and green subpixels in the embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can provide a smaller AR for a COE polarizer-free arrangement. The lifetime of the blue subpixels in the embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can be enhanced by increasing the AR of the blue subpixels, since the enhanced lifetime of the plasmonic red and green subpixels means that their AR can be reduced. A 25:25:25 AR using a conventional device architecture can be improved to a 15:15:45 AR (for R:G:B:) using an arrangement as discussed above in one of the embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. The red and green subpixel cd / A may decrease by 2% or 3% due to the need for higher drive current to compensate for the reduced RG AR, but the blue subpixel lifetime enhancement can be increased by two times (2×) or more. Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter can increase manufacturability because, for red and green subpixels, only one size of decoupling layer nanoparticles can be used, and dielectric layers with different refractive indices can be applied between the cathode and the decoupling layer nanoparticles to optimize the performance of the decoupling layer nanoparticles for both colors.

[0133] In some embodiments, the display architecture may include a Purcell blue subpixel device with plasmon red and green subpixels. The Purcell blue subpixel may be a polariton-enhanced Purcell (PEP) effect device. In some embodiments, the device may use the PEP effect to extend the operating lifetime of PHOLEDs, such as blue, red, green, and / or white PHOLEDs. Energy transfer to the PEP significantly reduces the triplet radiative lifetime and its density within the PHOLED emissive layer (EML). The PEP is a strongly coupled state at the metal / dielectric interface, caused by the mixing of the metal's SPP mode with excitons in the adjacent dielectric layer. Here, the PEP intensity varies with the oscillator strength of both the cathode and the electron transport layer (ETL). Combined with a low-quality-factor (Q) optical cavity comprising an Ag cathode and a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR), light extraction efficiency and emission color saturation are increased. In some instances, a portion of the ETL absorption spectrum, such as the long-wavelength tail (i.e., the imaginary part of the refractive index), lies within the EML's emission spectrum. In some embodiments, the polaritons are detuned to the absorption. In some embodiments, the ETL absorption spectrum (or the imaginary part of the refractive index) is higher than (i.e., shorter wavelength) the EML emission spectrum, rather than falling within the EML emission spectrum. In some embodiments, the polaritons are detuned to overlap with the EML emission to enhance the Purcell effect, rather than detuning with the absorption. In some embodiments, this overlap can be adjusted to balance light extraction and absorption. In some embodiments, inefficient triplet states are promoted to radiate into the polaritons.

[0134] In some embodiments, the display architecture may include PEP devices for any number of subpixels, as disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2024 / 0268139, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Embodiments of the disclosed subject matter may provide a display in which some subpixels have angle dependencies different from other subpixels. This arrangement differs from current display arrangements that use the same device structure for all subpixels. For example, mobile phones typically utilize top-emitting microcavity OLED structures to achieve narrow emission with a forward angular distribution. As user interaction with the display becomes important, it may be beneficial to alter the angle dependency of one or more subpixels that have the greatest impact on angle-dependent color shift. For example, the green subpixel of a top-emitting microcavity device may exhibit the most significant intensity loss and color change compared to the blue and red subpixels. Therefore, if the green subpixel is a plasmonic device or even a top-emitting non-microcavity OLED, the entire display may have less angle-dependent color shift.

[0135] In some embodiments, the plasmonic cathode and the top-emitting cathode can be fabricated in the same display. The top-emitting (TE) cathode and the plasmonic cathode can be used on the same display. For example, the same thin Ag cathode can be used for both the top-emitting device and the plasmonic device. Typically, the plasmonic cathode and the top-emitting cathode differ in their thickness (approximately 30 nm for plasmonic and approximately 15 nm for TEMC) and their composition (e.g., pure Ag for plasmonic and Ag:Mg for TEMC). Using both plasmonic and TEMC subpixels reduces fabrication complexity by using the same cathode (i.e., the same thickness and material composition).

[0136] In some embodiments, cathode patterning techniques (e.g., developed by OTI Lumens, Inc.) can be applied to selectively deposit additional cathode material over areas where additional cathode metal is required after a blanket deposition of thin silver.

[0137] Hybrid displays incorporating both plasmonic devices and cavity devices can be fabricated. To simplify fabrication, the individual nanoparticle size can be selected to decouple plasmonic energy from both red and green sub-pixels. Specific decoupling resonances (colors) can be tuned by selecting dielectric spacer materials with different refractive index values ​​for the red and green sub-pixels. In a preferred embodiment, the refractive index of the spacer layer for the red sub-pixel will be higher than that for the green sub-pixel. In a separate preferred embodiment, the red and green sub-pixels can utilize the same dielectric spacer material, but the nanoparticles used for one of the sub-pixels (preferably the red sub-pixel) can be externally coated with a dielectric material, such as a capping layer (CPL), having a higher refractive index than any dielectric material that can be externally coated on the green sub-pixel; see [link to relevant documentation]. Figure 3 This will have the effect of causing a redshift in the excoupling layer nanoparticle resonance to achieve good spectral overlap with the emitter spectrum. The refractive index and / or thickness of the CPL can be varied to tune the plasmonic excoupling resonance. Typically, for metallic nanoparticles, a higher refractive index spacer layer and CPL will cause a redshift in the plasmonic excoupling resonance. By coating the nanoparticles with CPL, the effective refractive index around the particles is altered and will saturate at a CPL thickness of approximately 200 nm. The excoupling layer nanoparticle resonance can also be tuned by an excess of free polymer in the nanoparticle solution, where a higher concentration of excess free polymer increases the effective refractive index around the nanoparticles, thereby causing a redshift.

[0138] The fabrication process can be further simplified by depositing nanoparticles over all R, G, and B subpixels. This can have the effect of scattering or extracting the cavity emission of the B subpixels to a distribution closer to Lambertian, which may be desirable for some applications. In another preferred embodiment, the R, G, and B subpixels share a common cathode material, composition, and thickness. While plasmonic devices typically use a thicker Ag cathode (approximately 30 nm) compared to TEMC devices (approximately 15 nm), TEMC devices may be able to recover some or even more of the light lost due to the reduced transmittance of the thicker cathode using plasmonic decoupling. The shared cathode thickness can be tuned to achieve a desired combination of plasmonic decoupling efficiency and TEMC decoupling efficiency. For example, an Ag cathode less than 30 nm thick can reduce the plasmonic decoupling efficiency of the plasmonic subpixels, but can increase the decoupling efficiency of the TEMC subpixels via increased cathode transmittance.

[0139] If one or more subpixels combine TEMC with plasmon decoupling, then the distance from the EML to the cathode can be used to adjust the percentage of light output with either "cavity" (forward) or "platinum" (Lambertian) characteristics. The farther away from the enhancement layer, the less plasmon-like the light output and the more cavity-like its characteristics. For some practical ranges, if the distance from the EML to the midpoint of the enhancement layer is <25 nm, then the emission will be predominantly plasmon-like, while for larger distances, the emission will be predominantly cavity-like. For ease of fabrication, it is advantageous to decouple all subpixel TEMCs with plasmon decoupling. In full-color displays, pixels capable of producing white light typically have three or more subpixels. These subpixels can be cavity, bottom-emitting, or plasmon-like, as well as subpixels combining both cavity and plasmon emission. We define a plasmonic subpixel as a subpixel in which the enhancement layer is less than a threshold distance from the organic emission layer, and define a subpixel in which both the combined cavity and plasmonic emission are defined as a subpixel in which the enhancement layer is greater than a threshold distance from the organic emission layer and also contains an excoupling layer, wherein the excoupling layer scatters or extracts energy from surface plasmonic polaritons in the form of photons emitted from the device.

[0140] As described above, the plasmon stack may include: a reinforcement layer disposed above the organic emitter layer opposite to the first electrode, the reinforcement layer having a plasmon material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, the plasmon material being nonradiatively coupled to the organic emitter material and transferring excited-state energy from the emitter material to the nonradiative mode of the surface plasmon polaritons; and an organic emitter layer disposed above the electrode having an organic emitter material having a total nonradiative decay rate constant and a total radiative decay rate constant attributable to the reinforcement layer. The reinforcement layer may be disposed at a location not exceeding a threshold distance from the organic emitter layer, and in a first embodiment, the threshold distance is a distance where the total nonradiative decay rate constant is equal to the total radiative decay rate constant.

[0141] As described above, a plasmonic stack may include an organic emission layer with an organic emission material disposed above an electrode, wherein the organic emission material may have a total nonradiative decay rate constant. Total radiation attenuation rate constant The total nonradiative attenuation rate constant attributed to the enhancement layer And it can have a total radiation attenuation rate constant attributable to the enhancement layer. The plasmon stack may include a reinforcement layer disposed above the organic emitter layer opposite to the first electrode. The reinforcement layer has a plasmon material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, which is nonradiatively coupled to the organic emitter material and transfers excited-state energy from the emitter material to the nonradiative mode of the surface plasmon polaritons. The reinforcement layer may be positioned at a distance from the organic emitter layer not exceeding a threshold distance, wherein the threshold distance can be a distance satisfying the following conditions.

[0142]

[0143] More generally, the above equation is a simplification of the condition, namely, that the photon yield (also known as the photoluminescence quantum yield) in the presence of the enhancement layer is the same as the photon yield of the emitting material. Simply put,

[0144]

[0145] The material is in a vacuum. When the material is placed near the reinforcing layer, it experiences an increase in both the radiation rate constant and the non-radiation rate constant.

[0146]

[0147] Solving for the case where the photon yield in the presence of the enhancement layer is the same as the photon yield in vacuum yields the following:

[0148]

[0149] It can be simplified to this condition:

[0150]

[0151] TEMC subpixels can also have their angle dependence tuned by the CPL. TEMC devices with a CPL thinner than the optimized thickness for maximizing forward luminance can produce an emission distribution closer to a Lambertian distribution. Meanwhile, the cavity thickness, determined by the thickness of the organic layers stacked between the mirrors, itself largely determines the narrowness of the emission spectrum, which affects the color point. While a CPL thickness may be zero and result in a device without the typical forward angle distribution of a TEMC OLED, a desired CPL thickness (which can depend on the refractive index of the CPL) can exist that achieves a desired near-Lambertian emission distribution while optimizing desired decoupling values ​​(EQE, luminance, etc.) at a given angle (which can be the normal angle of incidence).

[0152] As mentioned above Figure 3-5The device may include a full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) having multiple pixels, wherein each pixel has multiple sub-pixels. A first pixel among the multiple pixels may include a first sub-pixel having a top-emitting device or a bottom-emitting device and a second sub-pixel having a first plasmon stack. For the first pixel, a third sub-pixel may include a cavity, a plasmon stack, and / or a bottom-emitting device structure. The top-emitting device may be a cavity structure.

[0153] The first plasmon stack may include an organic emission layer having an organic emission material disposed above the electrodes, wherein the organic emission material has a total nonradiative decay rate constant. Total radiation attenuation rate constant The total nonradiative attenuation rate constant attributed to the enhancement layer and the total radiation attenuation rate constant attributed to the enhancement layer The first plasmon stack may include an enhancement layer disposed above the organic emission layer opposite to the first electrode (e.g., Figure 5 The reinforcement layer shown has a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, which is nonradiatively coupled to the organic emitting material and transfers excited-state energy from the emitting material to the nonradiative mode of the surface plasmon polaritons.

[0154]

[0155] The first plasmon stack may include an outcoupling layer disposed above the enhancement layer (e.g., as shown in the image). Figure 5 As shown in the figure, the outcoupling layer scatters or extracts energy from surface plasmon polaritons into free space in the form of photons.

[0156] In some embodiments, the decoupling layer may be disposed above all sub-pixels of the first pixel. In other embodiments, the decoupling layer may be disposed above only one or more sub-pixels of the first pixel.

[0157] When the first pixel can emit white light under DCIP3 white point conditions, greater than 1%, 3%, 5%, 10%, 25%, or 50% of the photons emitted by the first pixel can be emitted from the plasmonic mode of the first sub-pixel. The absolute EQE of the first pixel being greater than 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% can be attributed to the emission from the plasmonic mode of the first sub-pixel. When presenting a uniform D65 white point image, the EQE of the OLED being greater than 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25% can be attributed to the emission from the plasmonic mode.

[0158] In some embodiments, the first plasmon stack may include a color-changing layer disposed above the decoupling layer, wherein the transmission spectrum of the color-changing layer overlaps with the emission spectrum of light output from the decoupling layer. The color-changing layer may be a color filter, quantum dots, or other thin-film technology capable of modulating the spectrum of light passing through the layer. The enhancement layer may be an electrode of the plasmon stack.

[0159] In some embodiments, the first plasmon stack may include: a reinforcement layer disposed above the organic emitter layer opposite to the first electrode, the reinforcement layer having a plasmon material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance, the plasmon material being nonradiatively coupled to the organic emitter material and transferring excited-state energy from the emitter material to the nonradiative mode of the surface plasmon polaritons; and an organic emitter layer disposed above the electrode having an organic emitter material having a total nonradiative decay rate constant and a total radiative decay rate constant attributable to the reinforcement layer. In some embodiments, the reinforcement layer may be disposed at a location not exceeding a threshold distance from the organic emitter layer. The threshold distance may be a distance where the total nonradiative decay rate constant is equal to the total radiative decay rate constant.

[0160] In some embodiments, the first sub-pixel of the device may include an emitting material configured to emit blue light and / or dark blue light, and the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit yellow light. In some embodiments, at least one of the first and second sub-pixels may include a color-changing layer.

[0161] In some embodiments, the first pixel may include at least three sub-pixels, and each of the at least three sub-pixels, except for the sub-pixel having a material configured to emit deep blue light, may be configured to emit green or red light. At least one of the at least three sub-pixels may be configured to emit green light. At least one of the at least three sub-pixels may be configured to emit red light.

[0162] In some embodiments, the first pixel may include at least four sub-pixels. In addition to sub-pixels having a material configured to emit deep blue or light blue light, at least one of the at least four sub-pixels may include a color-changing layer configured to emit yellow, green, or red light. At least one of the at least four sub-pixels may be configured to emit green light. At least one of the at least four sub-pixels may be configured to emit red light. Two of the at least four sub-pixels may have the same emitting layer. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit deep blue or light blue light, and at least one other sub-pixel of the at least four sub-pixels may be configured to emit deep blue or light blue light.

[0163] In some embodiments, a first pixel of the device may include at least three sub-pixels, and the first pixel may include an outcoupling layer that outcouples light from at least one of the at least three sub-pixels. The outcoupling layer may emit yellow light, and each of the three or more sub-pixels may have a color-changing layer configured to emit yellow, green, or red light. For example, one of the at least three sub-pixels of the device may be configured to emit green light, and one of the at least three sub-pixels may be configured to emit red light. The outcoupling layer may be patterned over each of a plurality of plasmonic sub-pixels, but not over each of a plurality of non-platinonic sub-pixels. The device of this embodiment may include no more than two emission layer depositions. The two emission depositions may include yellow and blue emitting materials. In some embodiments, the device may include no more than three emission layer depositions.

[0164] In some embodiments, two sub-pixels of the first pixel of the device may be configured to emit light having the same first color. The two sub-pixels may be the first sub-pixel and the second sub-pixel.

[0165] The first plasmon stack of the device may include multiple nanoparticles having an average nanoparticle size, such as Figure 5 As shown in the diagram, each plasmonic subpixel in the first pixel may include nanoparticles with a size factor variation of no more than 15%. In some embodiments, each plasmonic subpixel in the device may include nanoparticles with a size factor variation of no more than 15%. In some embodiments, the size factor variation of the nanoparticles may be less than 15%, more preferably less than 10%, and even more preferably less than 5%. In some embodiments, the size variation of the nanoparticles is less than 25% or less than 15%. In embodiments where a single nanoparticle is deposited but above two subpixels of different colors (e.g., red and green subpixels), a larger size variation may be desired to broaden the outcoupling resonance (i.e., broaden the wavelength of the emission spectrum from the nanoparticles). In this case, the size factor variation of the nanoparticles may be, for example, 35-50%.

[0166] Multiple nanoparticles may have a maximum diameter that varies from one another by no more than 70 nm. If the shape of one or more nanoparticles varies, then the maximum diameter varies from one another by no more than 20%. All nanoparticles positioned above the plasmonic subpixels in the device may have a maximum diameter that varies from one another by no more than 70 nm. The nanoparticle size may be selected to decouple the plasmonic energy of the first plasmonic stack, wherein the plasmonic stack may be configured to emit red and / or green light. The plasmonic stack may include a dielectric spacer material, the refractive index of which is selected based on the color of light emitted by the organic emitting material. The second subpixel of the device may be configured to emit red or green light.

[0167] Nanoparticles may be coated with a dielectric material. In some embodiments, the dielectric material may be a capping layer (CPL). The nanoparticles may be coated with a dielectric material, typically a polymer, to improve colloidal stability. In other embodiments, a dielectric shell may be grown around the nanoparticles, for example, when the nanoparticles are formed of metal. In some embodiments, the device may include a capping layer disposed above a plasmonic stack. In some embodiments, the capping layer may be disposed on non-platinonic subpixels (e.g., cavity subpixels, such as…). Figure 3-4 The overlay layer can be the same material covering both the plasmonic stack (i.e., plasmonic subpixels) and the non-platinonic subpixels. In some embodiments, a first material may be used for the overlay layer disposed above the plasmonic stack and / or the plasmonic subpixels, and a second material may be used for the non-platinonic subpixels (e.g., cavity subpixels, such as those shown). Figure 3-4 The covering layer above those shown.

[0168] The plasmon stack may include a dielectric spacer material, wherein the refractive index of the dielectric material can be selected based on the color of light emitted by the organic emitting material. The spacing dimension variation of the dielectric spacer material in each plasmon sub-pixel does not exceed 10%. Each plasmon sub-pixel in the device may include a dielectric spacer material with a spacing dimension variation not exceeding 50%. For each sub-pixel, the spacer layer thickness variation can be close to zero or zero, as variation may alter the outcoupling resonance. In one example, the spacer layer thickness variation from the red sub-pixel to the green sub-pixel may not exceed 50%.

[0169] In some embodiments, the first pixel of the device may include a third sub-pixel. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, and the third sub-pixel may include a second plasmon stack and be configured to emit green light. The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel may be greater than the aperture ratio of the second and third sub-pixels. The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel of the device may be greater than 40%, greater than 50%, or greater than 60%, and the aperture ratio of the second sub-pixel, the third sub-pixel, or both may be less than 20%, less than 15%, or less than 10%. The cavity structure of the first sub-pixel may be a polariton-enhanced Purcell effect device.

[0170] The second sub-pixel of the device may include an excitation layer (e.g., a nanoparticle-based excitation (NPO) scheme). The nanoparticle-based excitation layer may include a first nanopatch antenna (NPA) array. The first NPA array may be disposed above a first dielectric material. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, and the third sub-pixel may include at least one structure, which is a third cavity structure or a bottom-emitting structure configured to emit green light, and / or a third plasmon stack configured to emit green light. The first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel having at least one structure, which may be a cavity structure or a bottom-emitting structure configured to emit yellow light, or a plasmon stack configured to emit yellow light.

[0171] In some embodiments, the fourth sub-pixel may have at least one structure, which is a cavity structure configured to emit blue light having a first peak wavelength, and / or a second plasmon stack configured to emit blue light having the first peak wavelength. In this embodiment, the first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength, and the second sub-pixel may include at least one structure, which is a third cavity stack or a bottom-emitting stack configured to emit red light, and / or a second plasmon stack configured to emit red light. In some embodiments, the third sub-pixel may include at least one structure, which is a fourth cavity stack or a bottom-emitting stack configured to emit green light, and / or a third plasmon stack configured to emit green light.

[0172] In some embodiments, the first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel configured to emit green light and having a cavity, plasmon resonance device, and / or bottom emission device structure. In this embodiment, the first sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light having a first peak wavelength, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit blue light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength, and the third sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light from the cavity, plasmon resonance device, and / or bottom emission device structure.

[0173] In some embodiments, the first pixel may include a fourth sub-pixel configured to emit green light from the second plasmon stack, a fifth sub-pixel configured to emit blue light from the second cavity structure, and a sixth sub-pixel configured to emit blue light from the third plasmon stack. The first sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, the second sub-pixel may be configured to emit red light, and the third sub-pixel may be configured to emit green light from the third cavity structure.

[0174] In some embodiments, the first sub-pixel of the device may have a different angular emission distribution than the second sub-pixel. For example, the relationship between intensity and the angle of emitted light may be different and / or the relationship between color shift and the angle of emitted light may be different.

[0175] The aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel of the device can be greater than the aperture ratio of the second sub-pixel. For example, the aperture ratio of the first sub-pixel can be greater than 40%, greater than 50%, or greater than 60%, and the aperture ratio of the second sub-pixel can be less than 20%, less than 15%, or less than 10%.

[0176] In some embodiments, the first pixel may include a sub-pixel having an emitting material, said emitting material being a fluorescent emitting material, a phosphorescent emitting material, a thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitting material, a phosphorescent photosensitive fluorescence (PSF) emitting material, a 2D dichalcogenide emitting material, and / or an inorganic emitting material system. At least one sub-pixel in the first pixel may include a series connection.

[0177] In some embodiments, the first pixel may include two or more sub-pixels having the same emissive material, wherein the two or more sub-pixels are configured to emit light of the same color at different peak wavelengths from each other.

[0178] In some embodiments, the second plasmonic subpixel may be configured to emit blue light, and the first subpixel that emits from the top or bottom may be configured to emit red and / or green light.

[0179] In other embodiments, the second plasmonic subpixel may be configured to emit blue and / or green light, and the first subpixel, which emits from the top or bottom, may be configured to emit red light.

[0180] In another embodiment, the second plasmonic subpixel may be configured to emit blue and / or red light, and the first subpixel, which emits from the top or bottom, may be configured to emit green light.

[0181] In yet another embodiment, the second plasmonic subpixel may be configured to emit green light, and the first subpixel that emits from the top or bottom may be configured to emit red and / or blue light.

[0182] In some embodiments, the second plasmonic subpixel may be configured to emit green and / or red light, and the first subpixel, which emits from the top or bottom, may be configured to emit blue light.

[0183] In some embodiments, the second plasmonic subpixel may be configured to emit red light, and the first subpixel that emits from the top or bottom may be configured to emit green and / or blue light.

[0184] The plasmon stack of the second sub-pixel of the device may include an emitter having a fluorescent material, which may be configured to emit blue light.

[0185] According to one embodiment, the device may include a full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) having a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel includes a plurality of sub-pixels. At least one of the plurality of sub-pixels may be configured differently from the other sub-pixels by means of a different angular emission distribution and / or a different cathode material. The angular emission distribution may be such that at least one sub-pixel having a microcavity is configured for direct emission such that a first ratio of light from a directly emitting sub-pixel in a cone having an angle of 0-20° in the normal direction to the total light emission from the directly emitting sub-pixel may be at least 10%, at least 20%, and / or at least 30% higher than a second ratio of light from a Lambertian-emitting sub-pixel in a cone having an angle of 0-20° in the normal direction to the total light emission from the directly emitting sub-pixel.

[0186] According to one embodiment, the device may include a full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) having a plurality of pixels, wherein each pixel has a plurality of sub-pixels, wherein for a first pixel of the plurality of pixels, the first sub-pixel includes a top emitter or a bottom emitter or a plasmonic stack, wherein an enhancement layer may be disposed at a location less than a threshold distance from the organic emitter layer, and a second sub-pixel includes a stack having both cavity and plasmonic emission. The top emitter may be a cavity structure. The enhancement layer in this sub-pixel is disposed at a location more than a threshold distance from the organic emitter layer, wherein the threshold distance is a distance that satisfies the following condition.

[0187]

[0188] The second sub-pixel may include an excoupling layer, which scatters or extracts energy from surface plasmon polaritons in the form of photons emitted from the device.

[0189] In some embodiments, the distance between the enhancement layer and the emissive material in the organic emissive layer may be the same for each sub-pixel and / or pixel. In some embodiments, the distance between the enhancement layer and the emissive material in the organic emissive layer may include at least one different distance between each sub-pixel and / or pixel.

[0190] It should be understood that the various embodiments described herein are merely examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. For instance, many of the materials and structures described herein can be substituted with other materials and structures without departing from the spirit of the invention. The claimed invention may therefore include variations of the specific examples and preferred embodiments described herein, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It should be understood that various theories regarding why the invention works are not intended to be limiting.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising: A full-color organic light-emitting diode (OLED) with multiple pixels, wherein each pixel has multiple sub-pixels, wherein for a first pixel among the multiple pixels: The first sub-pixel includes a top emitter or a bottom emitter, and The second sub-pixel contains the first plasmon stack.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the top launching device is a cavity structure.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein for the first pixel, there exists a third sub-pixel, the third sub-pixel comprising a structure comprising at least one of the group consisting of a cavity, a plasmonic stack, and a bottom emission device.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first plasmon stack comprises: An organic emission layer comprising an organic emission material disposed above an electrode, wherein the organic emission material has a total nonradiative decay rate constant. Total radiation attenuation rate constant The total nonradiative attenuation rate constant attributed to the enhancement layer and the total radiation attenuation rate constant attributed to the enhancement layer as well as An enhancement layer is disposed above the organic emission layer opposite to the first electrode. The enhancement layer includes a plasmonic material exhibiting surface plasmon resonance. The plasmonic material is nonradiatively coupled to the organic emission material and transfers excited state energy from the emission material to the nonradiative mode of surface plasmon polaritons. The enhancement layer is disposed at a distance not exceeding a threshold distance from the organic emission layer, wherein the threshold distance is a distance that satisfies the following condition.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the first plasmon stack further comprises an outcoupling layer disposed above the enhancement layer, wherein the outcoupling layer scatters or extracts energy from the surface plasmon polaritons in the form of photons into free space.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the outcoupling layer is disposed above all sub-pixels of the first pixel.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the outcoupling layer is disposed above only one or more sub-pixels in the first pixel.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first pixel further comprises a third sub-pixel.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first pixel further comprises: The fourth sub-pixel has at least one structure selected from the group consisting of: A second cavity structure or bottom emitting structure configured to emit yellow light; and A second plasmon stack configured to emit yellow light; in: The first sub-pixel is configured to emit blue light; The second sub-pixel is configured to emit red light; and The third sub-pixel contains at least one structure selected from the group consisting of: A third cavity structure or bottom emitting structure configured to emit green light; and A third plasmon stack configured to emit green light.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first pixel further comprises: The fourth sub-pixel contains at least one structure selected from the group consisting of: A second cavity structure or bottom-emitting structure configured to emit blue light with a first peak wavelength; and A second plasmon stack configured to emit blue light having the first peak wavelength; in: The first sub-pixel is configured to emit blue light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength; The second sub-pixel contains at least one structure selected from the following group: A third cavity stack or a bottom emission stack configured to emit red light; and A second plasmonic stack configured to emit red light; and The third sub-pixel contains at least one structure selected from the group consisting of: A fourth cavity stack or bottom emission stack configured to emit green light; and A third plasmon stack configured to emit green light.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the first pixel further comprises: The fourth sub-pixel is configured to emit green light and includes a structure consisting of a group of selected cavities, plasmon devices, and bottom emitters; in: The first sub-pixel is configured to emit blue light having a first peak wavelength; The second sub-pixel is configured to emit blue light having a second peak wavelength different from the first peak wavelength; The third sub-pixel is configured to emit red light from a structure selected from the group consisting of: cavity structure, plasmon device, and bottom emission device.

12. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein: The first sub-pixel is configured to emit blue light; The second sub-pixel is configured to emit red light; and The third sub-pixel contains a second plasmon stack and is configured to emit green light.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein at least one sub-pixel of the first pixel comprises a series connection.

14. A consumer electronic device comprising the means according to claim 1.

15. The consumer electronic device of claim 14, wherein the device is at least one type selected from the group consisting of: flat panel displays, curved displays, computer monitors, medical monitors, televisions, billboards, lights for internal or external lighting and / or signaling, head-up displays, fully transparent or partially transparent displays, flexible displays, rollable displays, foldable displays, stretchable displays, laser printers, telephones, cellular phones, tablet computers, phablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wearable devices, laptop computers, digital cameras, camcorders, viewfinders, microdisplays with a diagonal of less than 2 inches, 3D displays, virtual reality or augmented reality displays, vehicles, video walls comprising multiple displays tiled together, theater or stadium screens, and signs.

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