Introduction
Organic light-emitting device (OLED) is a semiconductor device that uses functional organic materials to realize carrier migration and compound luminescence under applied voltage. A complete OLED material structurally including ITO transparent electrode (Anode), Hole injection layer (HIL), Electron transport layer (ETL), Electron injection layer (EIL) and Cathode. The luminescent materials commonly used in OLED include fluorescent materials, phosphorescent materials and a new generation of luminescent materials thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials.
Fig.1 Typical multilayer OLED structure
Application
After years of research and development, OLED technology is increasingly mature. As the technology matures, the cost of OLED gradually decreases, and it is widely used in display devices and has been deeply studied and applied in the biomedical field.
- Biomedical field: The demand for portable medical equipment and all-day health monitor continues to increase with the development of the medical industry. Benefiting from the advantages such as flexibility, stretchability, light weight, uniform irradiation and jointing skin surface, OLED materials are becoming a new type of light source for wearable biomedical devices. Lian [1] applied flexible OLED materials to photodynamic therapy (PDT) by changing the thickness of the Hole Transport layer (HTL). Methylene blue (MB) was selected as photosensitizer to kill more than 99% Staphylococcus aureus. In addition to the application of photodynamic therapy, OLED materials can also be used in the fields of photoplethysmography, oximeter, optogenetics, photobiomodulation and so on.
Fig.2 Variable electroluminescence spectra of OLED [1]
- Flexible display technology: In recent decades, research into printable semiconductors and technologies has grown rapidly, creating novel applications in many fields such as energy, sensing, logic circuits and information displays. The latest display technologies have turned to metal oxide semiconductors, or indium gallium zinc oxide, to improve on the improvements needed to drive active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes. The future will be convenience and portability through flexible and wearable displays.
Fig.3 Flexible OLED display
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Reference
- LIAN.; et al. Flexible organic light-emitting diodes for antimicrobial photodynamic therapy. NPJ Flexible Electronics, 2019, 3(1): 1-6.
