Transparent and Flexible Thin Film Electroluminescent Devices Using HiTUS Deposition and Laser Processing Fabrication

Highly transparent thin film electroluminescent structures offering excellent switch on characteristics, high luminance and large break-down voltages have been deposited onto glass and flexible polymeric materials with no substrate heating using high target utilization sputtering. Deposition of ZnS:Mn as the active light emitting layer and Y2O3,Al2O3,Ta2O5, and HfO2 as dielectric materials arranged in single and multiple layer configurations were investigated. Devices incorporating Al2O3,HfO2 quadruple layers demonstrate the highest attainable luminance at low threshold voltage. Single pulse excimer laser irradiation of the phosphor layer prior to deposition of the top dielectric layer enhanced the luminance of the devices. The devices fabricated on glass and polymeric substrates exhibited a maximum luminance of 500 and 450 cdm−2 when driven at 270 VRMS and 220 VRMS, respectively, with a 1.0 kHz sine wave

Single layer multi-color luminescent display

The invention is a multi-color luminescent display comprising an insulator substrate and a single layer of host material which may be a phosphor deposited thereon that hosts one or more differential impurities, therein forming a pattern of selected and distinctly colored phosphors such as blue, green, and red phosphors in a single layer of host material. Transparent electrical conductor means may be provided for subjecting selected portions of the pattern of colored phosphors to an electric field thereby forming a multi-color, single layer electroluminescent display

Growth optimisation and laser processing of thin film phosphors for electroluminescent displays

This thesis presents results of a study of ZnS:Mn thin film phosphors used in Thin Film ELectroluminescent (TFEL) and Laterally Emitting TFEL (LETFEL) devices, examining techniques for phosphor growth optimisation and post deposition processing in order to strengthen development of novel TFEL devices. To achieve this, thin films of phosphor were deposited using RF magnetron sputtering to investigate the use of co-sputtering in order to optimise dopant concentration. 800 nm films of ZnS:Mn were simultaneously co-sputtered from ZnS and ZnS:Mn (1 wt.%) solid targets. The thin films were deposited at different manganese concentrations by varying the relative RF power applied to each target. The films were deposited directly onto 100 mm diameter (100) n-type silicon substrates, or onto a layer of 300 nm of Y2O3 to fabricate electroluminescent test devices. Luminescence from the phosphor films was characterised via photoluminescent excitation using a 337 nm pulsed N2 laser, with the photoluminescence (PL) optimum obtained at 0.38 ZnS:Mn power ratio. Electroluminescence (EL) from TFEL devices were excited by applying a sinusoidal waveform voltage at a frequency of 1 kHz with maximum luminance obtained at 0.36 ZnS:Mn power ratio

Luminescence in sulfides : a rich history and a bright future

Sulfide-based luminescent materials have attracted a lot of attention for a wide range of photo-, cathodo- and electroluminescent applications. Upon doping with Ce3+ and Eu2+, the luminescence can be varied over the entire visible region by appropriately choosing the composition of the sulfide host. Main application areas are flat panel displays based on thin film electroluminescence, field emission displays and ZnS-based powder electroluminescence for backlights. For these applications, special attention is given to BaAl2S4:Eu, ZnS:Mn and ZnS:Cu. Recently, sulfide materials have regained interest due to their ability (in contrast to oxide materials) to provide a broad band, Eu2+-based red emission for use as a color conversion material in white-light emitting diodes (LEDs). The potential application of rare-earth doped binary alkaline-earth sulfides, like CaS and SrS, thiogallates, thioaluminates and thiosilicates as conversion phosphors is discussed. Finally, this review concludes with the size-dependent luminescence in intrinsic colloidal quantum dots like PbS and CdS, and with the luminescence in doped nanoparticles

Alternating current electroluminescence (AC-EL) with organic light emitting material

We demonstrate a new approach for fabricating alternating current driven organic electroluminescent devices using the concept of doping in organic semiconductors. Doped charge transport layers are used for generation of charge carriers within the device, hence eliminating the need for injecting charge carriers from external electrodes. The device is an organic-inorganic hybrid: We exploit the mechanical strength and chemical stability of inorganic semiconductors and combine it with better optical properties of organic materials whose emission color can be chemically tuned so that it covers the entire visible spectrum. The device consists of an organic electroluminescence (EL) layer composed of unipolar/ambipolar charge transport materials doped with organic dyes (10 wt% ) as well as molecularly doped charge generation layers enclosed between a pair of transparent insulating metal oxide layers. A transparent indium doped tin oxide (ITO) layer acts as bottom electrode for light outcoupling and Aluminium (Al) as top reflective electrode. The electrodes are for applying field across the device and to charge the device, instead of injection of charge carriers in case of direct current (DC) devices. Bright luminance of up to 5000 cd m-2 is observed when the device is driven with an alternating current (AC) bias. The luminance observed is attributed to charge carrier generation and recombination, leading to formation of excitons within the device, without injection of charge carriers through external electrodes

Characterisation and optimisation of alternating current thin film electroluminescent displays

This Thesis presents research undertaken to investigate the electro-optical characterisation and optimisation of Thin Film Electroluminescent (TFEL) devices and Laterally Emitting Thin Film Electroluminescent (LETFEL) devices with respect to device lifetime and aging. Post deposition localised laser annealing as an alternative to thermal annealing has been previously described in the literature. The effects of laser annealing on various devices is investigated and described within this Thesis. In particular, the novel use of ArF laser annealing at a wavelength of 193nm as a post deposition annealing process for ZnS:Mn thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering has been presented and compared to KrF laser annealing (248nm wavelength). Additionally the use of KrF laser annealing on a new deposition method, High Target Utilisation Sputtering (HiTUS) is presented, with successful results obtained on heat sensitive substrates. Results presented show that the use of KrF produces slightly better performance in respect to maximum luminance, however the use of ArF laser annealing can allow for achievement of higher luminance at lower applied voltages

Tunnel Thin Film Electroluminescent Device

A low voltage tunnel thin film electroluminescent device (10) that comprises a conductive layer (13) that acts as a source of electrons, a first thin barrier layer (14) deposited on the conductive layer, a luminescent layer (16) deposited on the barrier layer a second thin barrier layer (14) deposited on said luminescent layer, and an electrode (18) deposited on the second barrier layer. Electrons from the source layer tunnel through the thin tunnel barrier layer into the luminescent layer which is doped with luminescent centers. The electrons that tunnel through the thin tunnel barrier layer into the luminescent layer have kinetic energy that is within a narrow energy distribution. The material comprising the first barrier layer is preferably chosen to have a positive conduction band off-set (22) with respect to the conductive layer and the material comprising the luminescent layer is chosen to have a negative conduction band off-set (24) with respect to said first barrier layer, wherein the negative conduction band off-set is greater than the positive conduction band off-set. Further, the different material layers are preferably lattice-matched and epitaxially grown in order to make the device more efficient.Georgia Tech Research Corporatio

White-emission from ZnS:Eu incorporated in AC-driven electroluminescent devices via ultrasonic spray pyrolysis

In this work, white-emitting-alternating-current-thin film electroluminescent (w-ACTFEL) devices are demonstrated using europium-doped zinc sulfide (ZnS:Eu) and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) as the emissive and dielectric layers, respectively. These films were deposited by the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis technique on antimony-doped tin oxide glass substrates, forming a standard metal-insulator-semiconductor-insulator-metal (MISIM) architecture. 10 kHz sinusoidal voltages activated the white-EL of the devices. The colorimetric characteristics were investigated for three amplitudes of the applied voltage. The emission of the devices is made up of wide and narrow bands with peaks corresponding to violet, blue, green and red light, which together produce the resulting white light. According to the colorimetric analysis, this white light is close to the standard D65 CIE illuminant with a minimal dominant blue component. The variation in voltage amplitude induces small changes in the visual characteristics of the EL emission. The white-EL emission of these MISIM devices is attributed to the electron-impact excitation and subsequent relaxation of the excited levels of Eu2+ and Eu3+ impurities, and defect levels in the sublayer regions adjacent to the ZrO2–ZnS:Eu interfaces