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History of OLEDs

History of OLEDs

Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology spans a thirty-year history. Over the years, the development and improvement of OLED materials has involved using specialized equipment like glove boxes and spin coaters in research and development setups. Today, OLEDs touch our everyday lives through our reliance on devices like smartphones but, despite being first conceived over three and a half decades ago, OLEDs are still considered an emerging technology.

1960s: Scientists first observe the phenomenon of organic electroluminescence. 1987: The first OLED device is built. 1990: Paper on the first polymer-based OLED is published. 1996 & 1997: The first demonstration of AMOLED and commercial application of PMOLED. 1998: The first high-efficient phosphorescent OLED is built. 2002: Polymer-based OLED shipments begin. 2007: The first OLED TV is produced. 2012: Purely organic TADF emitters with high external quantum efficiency are designed. 2014: A phosphorescent OLED with tenfold lifetime is developed. 2015: TADF emitters are commercialised. 2020: The most efficient fluorescent blue OLED emitter to date is launched.
Timeline of important OLED developments

Inventing OLEDs


In the lead up to the invention of OLED technology, a ripple of scientific breakthroughs occurred. As early on as the 1960s, scientists first observed the phenomenon of organic electroluminescence.

Organic Electroluminescence

In 1961, researchers working at the Admiralty Materials Laboratory, Dorset, discovered thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) in the compound eosin (a fluorescent dye commonly used in microscopy). The mechanism involved was not fully understood at the time. A couple of years later, researchers at New York University found another dye, known as anthracene, that could emit electroluminescence when a sufficiently high voltage was applied.

Besides eosin and anthracene, a number of fluorescent organic compounds were known at the time. However, there were limiting factors in realising the fabrication of practical electroluminescent devices. These were later articulated by Tang and Slyke, the co-discoverers of OLED technology:

  • High voltage is generally required to inject charges into organic crystals
  • The long-term stability of organic EL diodes was unknown

Operating voltage and efficiency were both problematic factors. In the meantime, organic materials were discovered to have extremely high fluorescence quantum efficiencies in the visible spectrum, including the blue region, with some approaching 100%. Even so, it would take almost three decades before light emission at lower voltages could be fully realised.

The First OLED Device

In 1987 at the Eastman Kodak Company, two scientists – Ching Tang and Steven Van Slyke – built the first OLED device. It was operational at a sufficiently low voltage and marked the discovery of OLED technology. For the first time scientists had combined modern thin film deposition techniques with suitable materials and structure to build a double layer OLED device.

Since then, the structural architecture of the OLED has evolved over time from a simple structure, to a more complex multi-layered design that has considerably enhanced efficiency.

Changes in OLED structure
Multi-layer structures have increased OLED efficiency

Development of OLEDs

First generation OLEDs used fluorescence emitters. Then second-generation emitters were doped with heavy metals, like iridium, giving rise to phosphorescence. This vastly improved upon efficiency. The evolution of three successive generations of OLED materials is given below:

Generation

Emission-type

First

Fluorescence

Second

Phosphorescence

Third

Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF)

Both academia and industry have contributed equally to advances in OLED technology. It was close to ten years after the work at Eastman Kodak that the first commercial OLED device was produced by Pioneer and used in car audio systems.

A Bright Future in OLED Technology


More environmentally friendly than traditional LEDs, they are proving ever popular on the consumer market. OLED displays are commonly found in everyday consumer devices, and, unlike traditional liquid crystal displays, they do not require a backlight system.

OLED research and development has come a long way since 1987. Current research in academia and industry is now progressing toward the fourth generation of OLEDs comprising foldable and stretchable displays. We have already seen curved OLED TV screens and foldable smartphone displays. OLEDs based on soluble materials can be printed on flexible substrates ––think wearable devices and clothing. Meanwhile, microLED technologies are being used in the field of virtual reality.

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References


  1. Adachi, C. et al. (2012) Highly efficient organic light-emitting diodes from delayed fluorescence. Nature, 492, 234–238.
  2. Hong, G. et al. (2021) A Brief History of OLEDs—Emitter Development and Industry Milestones. Advanced Materials, 33, (9). Doi: 10.1002/adma.202005630.
  3. Hung, L. et al. (2002) Recent progress of molecular organic electroluminescent materials and devices. Mat. Sci Eng. Rep., 39, 143-222.

Contributing Authors


Written by

Dr. Nicola Williams

Professional Science Writer

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