PFI-TT: Development of a low-cost OLED via surface chemistry

这一创新-技术转化伙伴关系（PFI-TT）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是更大程度地提供上级（但目前更昂贵）有机发光二极管（OLED）。 OLED显示器的优点包括高亮度、大视角、薄外形、轻质和灵活的结构以及定制的形状因素。通过该项目实现的成本节约可能使这些OLED进入目前由液晶显示器（LCD，例如计算器，监视器）占据的低成本市场，以可比成本提供更高质量的显示器。 更低成本的柔性OLED加速了它们在下一代设备中的采用，例如智能织物，可卷曲/可折叠电子产品和生物电子产品。 OLED中降低的成本也直接使已经包含这些屏幕的电子设备的消费者受益（例如，OLED电视、智能手机和平板电脑）。拟议的项目旨在解决OLED堆栈制造过程中最后一步出现的问题。 该步骤将热的或高能量的金属电极沉积到敏感的有机层上，导致材料损坏和/或形成使装置短路的金属丝。 作为替代方案，可以将仅纳米厚的薄化学涂层施加到顶部有机层的表面。 化学取代物被设计成专门与进入的金属结合，阻止其渗透到敏感的有机层并消除损害。 通过控制该界面，需要更少的有机材料来补偿损伤引起的低效率。 这些降低成本的OLED原型通过标准器件度量（例如，器件驱动电压、外量子效率和寿命）来显示器件性能。 在工业兼容的工具（原子层沉积）中优化涂层条件，处理时间和热预算符合制造要求。 这项研究的预期成果是一项现有显示器制造商可以立即实施的技术。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is greater availability of the superior (but currently more expensive) organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). OLEDs display advantages including high brightness, large viewing angles, thin profile, lightweight and flexible construction, and custom form factors. The cost savings achieved via the project potentially allows these OLEDs to enter lower cost markets currently occupied by liquid crystal displays (LCD, e.g. calculators, monitors), providing higher quality displays at comparable cost. Lower cost flexible OLEDs accelerate their adoption in next generation devices such as smart fabrics, rollable/foldable electronics, and bioelectronics. Reduced cost in OLEDs also directly benefits consumers of electronic devices which already contain these screens (e.g., OLED TVs, smartphones, and tablets).The proposed project seeks to address an issue that occurs during the last step of the OLED stack manufacturing process. This step deposits hot or high energy metal electrodes onto the sensitive organic layers leading to material damage and/or formation of metal filaments shorting the device. As an alternative, a thin chemical coating, only a nanometer thick, can be applied to the surface of the top organic layer. Chemical substituents are designed to specifically bind to the incoming metal, arresting its penetration into the sensitive organic layers and eliminating damage. By controlling this interface, less organic material is needed to compensate for the damage-induced inefficiencies. These reduced cost OLED prototypes are fabricated and assessed via standard device metrics (e.g., device driving voltage, external quantum efficiency, and lifetime) to show device performance is maintained. Coating conditions are optimized within industrially-compatible tools (atomic layer deposition) with a processing time and thermal budget in line with manufacturing requirements. The anticipated outputs of this research are a technology which can be immediately implemented by existing display manufacturers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.