SCOLED: Strong-Coupling-Enhanced Nanoparticle Array Organic Light-Emitting Diode

我们提出了一种基于纳米结构修饰光-物质耦合来提高有机电致发光二极管(OLED)效率的根本性解决方案。之前所有提高OLED效率以与商业无机LED竞争的尝试都失败了。如果成功，我们关于强耦合有机发光二极管(SCOLED)的新愿景将绕过现有的技术瓶颈。有机发光二极管可以用地球上丰富的无毒材料制造，使用节能工艺，这与目前市场领先的无机LED形成了鲜明对比。然而，尽管OLED对环境的影响要小得多，但其有限的效率阻碍了OLED的广泛应用。为了在效率上实现所需的阶跃变化，将使用等离子体纳米粒子阵列来增强有机发光二极管中光和物质之间的耦合。我们的目标是将OLED的效率提高到与无机LED竞争的水平，同时调整纳米颗粒的周期、大小和形状，以控制发射光的颜色、偏振和方向分布。分析理论、数值模拟和纳米制造将与一个跨学科团队的光学和电子表征相结合，该团队拥有从材料科学和电子学到光子学和量子物理的专业知识，包括世界领先的纳米颗粒阵列和强大的光-物质耦合能力。我们雄心勃勃的目标是验证原理，证明OLED具有超过50%的外部量子效率，并可定制地控制发射光的性质。SCOLED提供了一项突破性技术的前景，该技术将极大地减少LED技术在照明和显示应用中对环境的影响，并将OLED应用的调色板拓宽到新的和新兴的领域，如电动汽车、增强现实和城市农业。

We propose a radical new solution to the problem of increasing the efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on modifying the light-matter coupling by nanostructures. All previous attempts to increase the efficiency of OLEDs to be competitive with commercial inorganic LEDs have failed. If successful, our new vision for strongly coupled organic light-emitting diodes (SCOLEDs) will bypass the existing technological bottleneck. OLEDs can be fabricated from earth-abundant non-toxic materials using energy-efficient processes, in stark contrast to the present market-leading inorganic LEDs. However, despite their much lower environmental impact, the widespread deployment of OLEDs has been blocked by their limited efficiency. To achieve the required step-change in efficiency, plasmonic nano-particle arrays will be used to enhance the coupling between light and matter within OLEDs. Our objectives are to enhance OLED efficiency to a level competitive with inorganic LEDs, and at the same time to adjust the periodicity, size and shape of the nanoparticles to control the colour, polarization and directional distribution of the emitted light. Analytic theory, numerical simulations and nanofabrication will be combined with optical and electronic characterization across an interdisciplinary team with expertise ranging from materials science and electronics to photonics and quantum physics, including world-leading proficiency in nanoparticle arrays and strong light-matter coupling. Our ambitious target is the proof-of-principle demonstration of an OLED with more than 50% external quantum efficiency and tailorable control of the properties of the emitted light. SCOLEDs offer the prospect of a breakthrough technology that will dramatically reduce the environmental impact of LED technology in lighting and display applications and will widen the palette of OLED applications to new and emerging areas such as electronic vehicles, augmented reality and urban agriculture.