By Sayantan Munshi

001610801110
Electrical Engineering Department
Jadavpur University
An organic light emitting diode (OLED) is a light emitting diode

In OLED the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic

compounds .

There are two main families of OLEDs: those based upon small
molecules and those employing polymers.

Adding mobile ions to an OLED creates a Light-emitting Electrochemical

Cell or LEC, which has a slightly different mode of operation.

An OLED display functions without a backlight. Thus, it can display deep

black levels and can be thinner and lighter than liquid crystal display
(LCD).
Cathode

Emissive Layer

Conductive Layer

Anode

Substrate
 Advantages Current and
How OLED Types of
and Future
works OLEDs
Challenges Applications
1. Voltage applied across
Cathode and Anode
1. Typically 2V-10V
2. Current flows from
cathode to anode
1. Electrons flow to emissive
layer
2. Electrons removed from
conductive layer leaving
holes
3. Holes jump into emissive
layer
3. Electron and hole
combine and light
emitted
 Different Colors
 type of organic molecule
in the emissive layer
 3 molecules used -RGB

 Intensity/brightness
 amount of current
 Passive-
matrix OLED

Active-matrix
White OLED
OLED

Types of
OLEDs
Foldable Transparent
OLED OLED

Top-emitting
OLED
 Passive-Matrix OLED
(PMOLED)
 Perpendicular cathode/anode
strip orientation
 Light emitted at intersection
(pixels)
 External circuitry
› Turns on/off pixels
 External circuitry
 Large power consumption
› Used on 1-3 inch screens
› Alphanumeric displays
 Active-Matrix OLED
(AMOLED)
 Full layers of cathode,
anode, organic
molecules
 Thin Film Transistor
matrix (TFT) on top of
anode
› Internal circuitry to
determine which pixels
to turn on/off
 Less power consumed
then PMOLED
› Used for larger displays
 Transparent OLED TOLED

 Transparent substrate,
cathode and anode
 Bi-direction light
emission
 Passive or Active
Matrix OLED
 Useful for heads-up
display
› Transparent projector
screen
› glasses
 Top-emitting OLED
TEOLED

 Non-transparent or
reflective substrate
 Transparent
Cathode
 Used with Active
Matrix Device
 Smart card displays
 Foldable OLED
 Flexable metalic foil or plastic substrate
 Lightweight and durable
 Reduce display breaking
 Clothing OLED
 White OLED

 Emits bright white light

 Replace fluorescent lights
 Reduce energy cost for lighting
 True Color Qualities
Cellphone backlight white OLED vs standard
LED from Organic Lighting Technologies LLC
 Thinner, lighter and more flexible

Plastic substrates rather then glass

High resolution (<5um pixel size)

and fast switching (1-10um)
OLED Do not require backlight, light
generated
Advantages Low voltage, low power and
over LED emissive source
Robust Design (Plastic Substrate)
and LCD Larger sized displays

Brighter- good daylight visibility

Larger viewing angles -170o

Lifetime
• White, Red, Green  46,000-
230,000 hours
Expensive
• About 5-25 years
• Blue  14,000 hours
• About 1.6 years

Overcome multi-billion
Susceptible to water
dollar LCD market
Various Mp3 players
• Muzio JM-200
• Sony NW-E015F
Walkman
• Arcos 204

Kodak’s LS633 3mpx

digital camera
• Priced at 399$
• Good battery life
• 2.2” OLED screen
APPLICATIONS
Mobile devices
•Apple iPhone

Sony Ericsson
W51S
http://www.oled-info.com/buy-oled
 Limited use caused by degradation of materials.

 OLED will replace current LED and LCD

technologies

 Expensive

 Flexibility and thinness will enable many

applications
 REFERENCE
 Bardsley, James. "International OLED Technology Roadmap." IEEE JOURNAL OF
SELECTED TOPICS IN QUANTUM ELECTRONICS. Jan. 2004. IEEE.
<http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=01288066>.

 Freudenrich, Craig, Ph.D. "How OLEDs Work." Howstuffworks. 2008.

<http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/oled.htm>.

 OLED-info. "OLED Lights and Sony OLEDs." OLED displays and television resources, info
and news. 2008.

<http://www.oled-info.com/>.

 Organic Lighting Technologies. "Technology." Organic Lighting Technologies LLC. 2006.

<http://www.o-lite.com/technology.htm>.
Q&A