A high-extraction-efficiency nanopatterned organic light-emitting diode

To improve light extraction from organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), we introduced a photonic crystal pattern into the glass substrate of an OLED. The periodic modulation converts the guided waves in the high-refractive-index indium-tin-oxide/organic layers into external leaky waves. We used the finite-difference time-domain method to optimize the structural parameters of the photonic crystal pattern and to analyze the microcavity effect by the metallic cathode of the OLED. With the use of an optimized photonic crystal pattern, an increase of over 80% in the extraction efficiency of the OLED is expected theoretically. An increase in the extraction efficiency of over 50% was achieved experimentally, without detriment to the crucial electrical properties of the OLED. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.