Luminescence from oriented emitting dipoles in a birefringent medium

We present an optical model to describe the luminescence from oriented emitting dipoles in a birefringent medium and validate the theoretical model through its applications to a dye doped organic thin film and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). We demonstrate that the optical birefringence affects not only far-field radiation characteristics such as the angle-dependent emission spectrum and intensity from the thin film and OLEDs, but also the outcoupling efficiency of OLEDs. The orientation of emitting dipoles in a birefringent medium is successfully analyzed from the far-field radiation pattern of a thin film using the model. In addition, the birefringent model presented here provides a precise analysis of the angle-dependent EL spectra and efficiencies of OLEDs with the determined emitting dipole orientation. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America