The present application claims priority from European Patent Application 17306292.8 filed on Sep. 28, 2017, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
The invention is in the field of micro-electronic and opto-electronic.
The invention presents a fast micro Organic electronic/opto-electronic device configured for high density current.
In particular, these devices can have a time response below 10 ns, in response to an electrical pulse having a duration time below 100 ns, advantageously below 10 ns.
In one embodiment shown on the drawings, the invention relates precisely to a micro Organic Opto-electronic device emitting a light impulse in response to an electrical impulse.
Conventional (or inorganic) electronics use semiconductor crystals that require complex and expensive manufacturing processes, colossal infrastructure (clean room) with dangerous and even lethal chemicals (As) and very high temperatures, with a relatively long manufacturing time (a few months).
In contrast to the inorganic semiconductor technology, organic electronics, the newest branch (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2000, Alan J. Heeger, Alan MacDiarmid, Hideki Shirakawa), mainly uses plastics (polymeric or small organic compounds molecules). With relatively simple, fast (more environmentally friendly), economical production processes and almost unlimited availability of raw material, organic semiconductors are emerging as the key materials in low cost electronic. They find their applications in components such as organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic photovoltaic (PV) cells, organic transistors (OFETs), memories or sensors.
This electronics industry has developed unprecedented in recent years with the mature and commercialization of the first components. They are found as display devices on televisions and mobile phones or as lighting and signaling device.
Although the main applications of organic opto-electronics are now limited to lighting, display and photovoltaic cells, they could apply to the field of optical transmissions with Li-Fi, backplanes or optical telecommunications, if sufficiently fast components (fast organic opto-electronics) can be developed and can operate efficiently in an impulse operating regime.
The general context of the discussed applications is the field of electrical excitation in the range of ultra-short pulses of the order of nanoseconds and possibly high current density of organic opto-electronic components and more particularly of organic light-emitting diodes of micrometric size (micro OLED). OLED miniaturization is an important parameter of the speed/band pass of the component. Such short times require a small response time, a large bandwidth and an impedance matching an excitation circuit so that the electrical energy contained in the pulse is effectively transmitted to the organic opto-electronic component and not reflected.
As shown in the following bibliographic table, the state of the art does not offer organic opto-electronic devices obtaining for ultra-short pulses of the order of nanoseconds and high current density, a response time efficient in an impulse operating regime.
Thus, there is a need to improve the prior art to bridge the gap between current state-of-the-art OLEDs and discussed applications, to offer devices with the high-speed and high-current density characteristics required.
This implies to identify and optimize the dominant parameters/elements behavior inherent to the structure and to the manufacturing process that limit the time response of micro Organic Opto-electronic devices.
Presentation of the Invention
The invention is aimed at achieving the conditions for producing fast opto-electronic components, by optimizing the geometry and structure, in order to achieve a fast and high voltage pulse excitation of a micro Organic Opto-electronic device to reach high current densities while avoiding the device failure (as high-speed/ultra-short pulsed excitation with low repetition rates prevents thermal failure resulting from high-current density).
For this purpose, the subject of the invention is a micro Organic Opto-Electronic device according to claim 1.
Advantageously, but optionally, the micro Organic Opto-Electronic device according to the invention may further comprise at least one of the following characteristics:
defining β(γ) for γ1 and γ2 in the interval 0<γ<1/√{square root over ((2))};
defining β(γ) for γ1 and γ2 in the interval 1/√{square root over ((2))}<γ<1; h being the thickness of the dielectric substrate;
Such micro Organic Opto-Electronic device allows improving the electrical time constant by:
Advantageously, but optionally, the micro Organic Opto-Electronic device according to the invention may further comprise at least one of the following characteristics:
Such micro Organic Opto-Electronic device allows improving the electrical time constant by:
Consequently, it advantageously allo conceiving low cost and fast time-to-market/simpler Opto-Electronic device.
In another embodiment not shown on drawings, the invention can concern only a micro organic electronic device which cannot emit some light.
Thus, a subject of the invention is also a micro Organic electronic device, comprising a substrate, and superposed on the substrate:
Advantageously, but optionally, the micro Organic electronic device according to the invention may further comprise at least one of the following characteristics:
A subject of the invention is also a Micro Organic Electronic device having a time response below 10 ns, in response to electrical impulse having a pulse duration time below 100 ns, comprising a dielectric substrate which supports:
wherein the first planar electrode, the second planar electrode and the ground plane are separated by gaps without conductive material so as to adapt the speed of the propagation of the electrical pulse in the device for limiting the reflections due to the passage of the electrical impulse between electrical wire and the planar electrode.
Advantageously, but optionally, the micro Organic electronic device according to the invention may further comprise at least one of the following characteristics: the first planar electrode, the second planar electrode and the ground plane are structured to integrate an excitation and characterization circuit, such as resistance, capacity and/or inductance.
All the features described pages 3-9 of the micro Organic Opto-electronic device can be applied to the micro Organic electronic device.
Other features, objects and advantages of the present invention will appear on reading the following detailed description, with regard to the accompanying figures, given as non-limiting examples and in which:
a to 5d show schematically the positioning of electrodes of an OLED according to the state of the art;
With reference to
The current I flowing through Rmes is the sum of ID, IC, and ICR, which are the currents flowing through the diode D and RD, the junction capacitor C, and the fabrication process capacitor CR, respectively.
The currents IC and ICR appear during the transient regime then vanish after the decay time τ (95% decay after 3τ).
Therefore, the relevant current flowing through the μ-OLED must be measured once the steady state is established after three times the time response (3τ). In other words, the capacitances are charged first which produces the peak current followed by a decay in current that allow the current through the active part of the μ-OLED to flows progressively.
If the pulse transversal dimension is too short and ends before the capacitance current vanishes, the current flowing through the organic diode remains negligible and the latter hardly lights-up. Therefore, there is a minimum pulse duration for a μ-OLED to operate efficiently with significant light emission because of the transient regime described above. In order to be able to excite an OLED with an ultra-short pulse and to reduce the transient regime duration, the time response ti of the OLED has to be minimized.
Simulation results of this equivalent model in the presence of a pulse excitation are shown in
For a pulse excitation with amplitude A, the voltage across Rmes exhibits a sharp rise reaching a current peak followed by an exponential decay to a steady state current value.
The peak of current is the result of an IC+ICR current flowing through the capacitors and short-circuiting the diode. The current Id actually passing through the light emitting zone increases as the current charging the capacitors is switched off (load saturation).
The electrical time constant, which characterizes the “duration” of the transient regime, is typically the result of a product Te=Req×Ceq.
A more detailed expression is:
with Ceq=C+CR and
The time constant Te′ corresponding to the speed of charge of the capacitors is therefore limited by RS, RD, C, CR (and Rmes when there is one). The electrical time constant is thus accessible by the geometry and structure of the μ-OLED.
By optimizing the geometry and structure, mainly from the electrical and physical point of view to reduce RD, RS, C and CR when it exists. It is therefore a question of optimizing the component including its electrodes, so that the very short electrical pulses are effectively applied to the organic hetero-structure without reflection and with a minimized Joule effect so that the energy contained in each pulse contributes effectively to the emission of a light pulse.
Thus, the following sections are addressed to optimize the μ-OLED and improve the electrical time constant by:
1. The reduction of capacitances C (and CR when it exists) are reduced. That is typically achieved by reduction of the active surface area of the OLED.
2. The minimization of serial resistance RS (and the resistance RD or RD′) (reduction of the resistive effect related to the geometry of the electrodes).
3. The effective speed propagation of the pulse in the electrode, such as it does not show rupture with the rest of an excitation circuit.
1. Capacitance Issue
Organic materials are closer to dielectrics than semiconductors. Thus, when these materials are positioned between two electrodes, they constitute a capacitor.
The anode 21 and cathode 23 may contain preferentially ITO or aluminum.
For aμ-OLED with organic semiconductors of mean relative dielectric constant εr≈3.5 and surface area S=L×W, the junction capacitance is: C=εr*ε0*(S/e) wherein L and W are the longitudinal dimensions and transversal dimensions, where e is the thickness of the stacks of various materials that constitute the organic hetero-structure between the anode and the anode.
The said equation shows that the capacitance increases with the active surface.
A typical junction capacitance value is about 20-40 nF/cm2.
The thickness e of a typical μ-OLED is preferentially between about 80 nm and 100 nm.
The state of the art is to reduce the thickness of the organic hetero-structure to compensate for the low mobility of the charges of organic semiconductors.
On the contrary, increasing the thickness makes it possible to minimize the capacitance as shown in
Moreover, to optimize the time constant, we can make thicker organic hetero-structures using the material m-MtDATA (4,4′,4″-Tris[(3-methylphenyl) phenylamino] triphenylamine) which exhibits much greater mobility than other semiconductors organic.
Thus, optimized capacitance can be obtained preferentially for a thickness between about 125 nm and 180 nm, which allows a reduction of a factor of about 2.25 compared to the standard μ-OLED.
As seen previously with the equation of the junction capacitance, it is possible to precisely controlling the latter by limiting the zone of superposition of the cathode and the anode (active area), as the capacitance increases with the active surface.
It is therefore possible to reduce the active area S of a μ-OLED by reducing the size of one of the electrodes to a transversal dimension L, and superimposing the two electrodes with a distance W. The active surface is then S=W×L.
The delimitation of the active surface area of the μ-OLED can be carried out in two ways different (present in the literature):
To successfully delimit μ-OLED by superposition for obtaining the active area 45, the precision of the positioning of the cache mask is crucial. This positioning must be done during evaporation under vacuum by a precision mechanical system. In practice, it is difficult to conceive the alignment of masks with masks better than +/−0.5 mm and the smallest holes can hardly be less than 100 μm. In addition, conical projection effects during evaporation may lead to a widening of the pattern of a factor of 2. In the area of μ-OLED display, the resolution of hollow-mask allows realizing pixels of a typical size of 300 μm.
It should be noted that the structuring steps are only possible before the filing of the organic layers because they are fragile and sensitive to any chemical contact. It is therefore easier to micro-nano structure the anode than the cathode. The latter can only be delimited “grossly” by evaporation through a hollow mask.
The cone of projections through this mask introduces uncertainties on the transversal dimension and lateral positioning ΔL and longitudinal ΔW of the cathode as illustrated in
For rectangular geometries, the surfaces defined by the dimensions of the electrodes (51, 53) are in practice subjected to positioning problems and uncertainties that have a significant impact on the active area 54 according to the sign of the positioning error:
The μ-OLED 60 comprises a substrate and superposed on the substrate 61, 131:
The first planar electrode 62 and/or the second planar electrode 63 presents a transparent and conductive layer, preferentially with a conductive and transparent oxide layer or a metallic layer, configured for letting the light pass through or for waveguiding of light. Preferentially, the cathode presents an ITO (indium Tin Oxide) layer, and the anode and presents a metallic layer.
At least one electrode, preferentially the cathode 62 is pre-structured with a hollowed area 66 to reduce the active area 64.
For that purpose, as illustrated in
So, the cathode 62 is hollowed out in the area superimposed with the anode 63. The part of the other extremity 63 is rectilinear, and is perpendicular to the branch 65b.
The transversal dimension Wb of the branch 65b is between 2 μm and 20 mm; the longitudinal dimension Lh of the hollow zone 66 is between 2 μm and 20 mm; the transversal dimension of the part of extremity is between 1 μm and 10 mm, the transversal dimension Wb of the said branch 65b is between 1 μm and 10 mm, and the transversal dimension La of the arms 65a are between 1 μm and 1 mm.
Thus, the longitudinal dimension L of the branch 76 is greater than or equal to the margin error of lateral positioning ΔL of the extremity of the second electrode, the longitudinal dimension of the hollow zone is greater than or equal to the margin error of the longitudinal positioning ΔW of the extremity of the first electrode.
The geometry adopted for the anode (an arch having two arms and a branch connecting the two arms) and the positioning of the cathode allows reducing the active surface and therefore the capacitance of the μ-OLED, while minimizing the effect of increase of the contact resistance because the charges can move from one end to the other of the branch of the arch. Indeed, the contact resistance is reduced by a factor of at least two for identical electrodes transversal dimensions compared to conventional geometry, such as the one illustrated in
In reference to
Thus, the arch can have a semicircular, elliptical, basket-handle, or right geometry.
Preferentially, an active area has a maximum dimension of less than 500×500 micrometers squared, preferably less than 200×200 micrometers squared, more preferably less than 100 micrometers squared and even more preferably less than 20 micrometers squared, with a capacitance value less or equal than about 200 pF, preferably less than 20 pF, preferably less than 1 pF, and more preferably less than 0.4 pF.
The equivalent resistivity of the active area is less than 500 Ohms, preferably less than 50 Ohms, and more preferably less than 1 Ohm.
2. Resistance Issue:
There are two types of resistance models:
The reduction of the active surface, therefore of dimensions W and L of the electrodes, can lead to an increase in the series resistance RS due to the geometry of the electrodes in addition to the reduction of the desired capacitance.
Therefore, to reduce the time constant of the organic opto-electronic component, it is essential to also reduce the serial resistance which results from the geometry of the anode and the cathode.
Moreover, if an electrode includes ITO material, as ITO is less conductive than metals (ITO conductivity is 5.95 105 S/m versus 3.53 107 S/m for aluminum), the series resistance of such electrode is higher to those of the inorganic opto-electronic components.
In the example of an ITO anode of transversal dimension W, longitudinal dimension Iito, thickness tC and resistivity ρito, and an aluminum cathode of longitudinal dimension Ial Transversal dimension L and thickness ta.
The total series resistance is: RS=RS-cathode+RS-anode, sum of the anode-induced series resistance; RS-anode=ρITO*Iito/Wtc, and that induced by the cathode is: RS-cathode=ρAl*IAl/Lta.
It is clear that the reduction of the surface area of the μ-OLED (S=W×L) leads to an increase in the series resistance whose main contribution is the ITO anode.
Typical series resistance values obtained without metallization of at least one electrode are in the range 40-100 Ohm, for track longitudinal dimensions of 1 cm and transversal dimensions W=2 mm.
This resistance is favorably reduced by a factor of 2900 if an electrode comprising ITO is metallized by aluminum at locations other than the active area which must remain transparent, i.e. less or equal than about a few ohms or even a few fractions of ohm.
In reference to
The function having the Intensity (A) in abscissa and the Voltage (V) in ordinates, has the shape of the inverse of a log normal function. So, it shows that the resistance value of RD′, starts to diminish when reaching a given voltage.
To reduce the dynamic resistance RD′, it is therefore important to work with an operating point with the highest possible voltage.
The power line is dimensioned for a characteristic impedance of 500 at the target frequency of 1 GHz (the same principle is applicable to other target frequencies beyond 1 GHz for example). So, to ensure continuity of impedance with the excitation source and its connectivity, one should obtain the dynamic resistance as near as possible of 50 Ohm. The voltages must therefore be higher than in the normal operation of a μ-OLED. To reach these high voltages, it is important to ensure that the effective propagation speed of the pulse in the electrode does not break with other parts of the excitation circuit. Indeed, breaking or changing propagation speeds from one element to another causes reflection. Thus, minimizing these reflections allows the energy contained in the pulse to be delivered to the active part of the μ-OLED.
3. Pulse Reflections Issue
The propagation speed Vφ of a wave in a cable is of the order of 180,000 to 200,000 km/s, i.e., considering c, the constant for the speed of light in vacuum: c/0.7<Vφ<c/1.5.
The propagation speed VT is also written as a function of the material and more particularly as a function of the dielectric constant εr of the latter: Vφ=c/√εr. In a coaxial cable (type RG 58C/U) the speed is v=200,000 km/s and can also be expressed as a function of the linear capacitance (C˜100 pF/m) and the linear inductance (L˜250 nH): Vφ=√(L/C).
The effective propagation speed of a wave in an electrode of coplanar geometry (or ribbon, when the electrodes and ground planes are on the same face of the substrate) depends on the dimensions of this electrode and in particular on the transversal dimension W or L of the track, the thickness of the substrate and the dielectric constant of the latter.
It a priori has a speed different from the speed of propagation in the cable. When a pulse passes from a cable to the electrode of a component, any variation in propagation speed seen by the wave produces a reflection. A part of the wave is indeed reflected because of the break in the spread velocity (or phase velocity in the case of a pulse) between the power cable coming from the generator and the component. This has the effect of reducing the part of the pulse actually delivered to the active part of the component.
The reflections of the pulses can lead to a widening of the pulses, to a dissipation of energy elsewhere than in the organic hetero-structure. These Reflections limit the propagation speed.
One of the most obvious examples relates to the modulation rate when a pulse train is subjected to a μ-OLED which is limited to a period longer than the pulse widening.
Such reflections are well known for electromagnetic waves in the range of optical frequencies (150-250 THz). Thus, at the interface between two materials with index n1=c/v1 and n2=c/v2, or v1 and v2 are the propagation velocities of the wave in media 1 and 2 respectively, the reflection coefficient formulates as:
In the frequency range 100 MHz-10 GHz, the geometries of the electrodes have an influence on the effective propagation velocity and thus create an effective relative dielectric constant εr. There is therefore a way of acting on the geometry to modify the speed of propagation in the electrode. The propagation constant is
Two types of geometries can be distinguished, allowing the relative effective dielectric permittivity to be modulated:
The said dielectric substrate 123 contained glass, silicon, silicon oxide, polymers or flexible substrate.
Planar electrodes are composed of a central electrode 122a (preferentially an anode) placed equidistantly between two tracks of masses 121a, all arranged in the same plane above a dielectric (preferentially containing glass or silicon) support 123.
h and εr represent respectively the thickness and the relative dielectric permittivity of the dielectric substrate. T and t represent respectively the transversal dimension and thickness of the anode. G is the distance between the anode 122a and ground planes 121a (cathode in some configurations).
These ground planes 121a are present on either side of the anode 122a and are connected to each other either by the external circuit or by the geometry of the electrodes.
For a given dielectric, the characteristic impedance of planar electrodes to produce fast opto-electronic components is given mainly as we will see by the form factor defined by the ratio γ1,
The following parameters are also defined:
with γ3=√{square root over ((1−γ2))};
defined for 1/√(2)<γ<1.
The effective relative permittivity is then given by:
with β=β1 or β2.
Thus, the condition for obtaining the same effective relative dielectric permittivity for the electrodes as for the cables, results in:
εr effective=εr=1.5.
So, we obtained a relation between T, G and the ratio T/(T+2G). To reduce or cancel these reflections, it is therefore possible to modify the geometry of the μ-OLED and in particular the ratio T/(T+2G).
Considering a glass substrate (εr=7.75) of thickness H=1000 μm, and tin oxides and indium (ITO) electrodes with a conductivity σ=5.95e5 of 100 nm thickness.
Given a predefined Transversal dimension T value, we calculate Gap G value such ac εr effective=1 to obtain the following table of dimensions:
In reference to
An initial dielectric substrate 131, can be a glass sample covered with a conductive layer 131b, for example with ITO (
Indeed, the gaps G is dimensioned to adapt the speed of propagation of the electrical pulse in the device for limiting the reflections due to the passage of the electrical impulse between electrical wire and the planar electrode.
Moreover, the gaps G have a size so that an effective dielectric permittivity of the Organic Opto-Electronic device equal to the dielectric permittivity of the electrical wire delivering the electrical impulse (plus or minus 10%).
The electrodes can be arranged according to the configurations of
The electrode A of the
The electrode K of the
The cathode and the anode can obviously be reversed in these figures.
Moreover, as seen previously, by adding a hollow zone 133 (
Passive resistances 134a (
A complete structure with a metallized anode A allowing a reduction of the series resistance is shown in
The structures allowing measurements can integrate passive components 134c at the cathode K (
The structures finalized with an organic layer 135 and a metallization of the cathode K arm 136 (
The electrode 122b is placed on one side of a substrate 123 and a ground plane 121b on the opposite side of the said substrate 123.
h and εr respectively represent the thickness and the relative dielectric permittivity of substrate. T and t respectively represent the transversal dimension and thickness of the conductor track.
At a given frequency, the bi-planar electrode is characterized essentially by the form factor W/H. For example, with AN: εr=11.9 (Silicon), σ=3.53 107 (Aluminum) Zc=50Ω, f 1 GHz, H=500 μm, we obtain W=0.803×H=401.6 μm.
In reference to
An initial support 141, can contain a silicon sample 141b covered, for example, with ITO (
Electrodes are structured in the form of a line 142 (
A cathode K and an anode A are created by separation of the line 142 (
A hollow area 143 can be integrated in the anode A (
A ground plane on the underside of the support 141 is not illustrated, but the contact with the latter is by vias 144 which may be connections through the substrate 141 (
It is possible to add measurement resistances 145 between the cathode K and the ground plane (
Measurement probe is possible by adding contact pads 146 connected to the ground by vias (
The deposition of the organic layer 148 and the metallization of the cathode K to produce the cathode finger 149 is illustrated in
The following table illustrates the different geometries allowing the reduction of the impulsions:
The caption in this figure is as follows, A: Anode, K: Cathode, E: Hollow area, S: Active area, D: Metallized cathode fingers, M: ground plane, Rm integrated measuring resistance.
Such configuration allows obtaining:
The electrical and optical time responses are for pulses of 2.5 ns (first column), 5 ns (2nd column), 7.5 ns (3rd column) and 10 ns (4th column).
For each pulse duration, the excitation amplitudes are equal to 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 volts.
The characterization setup consists of a high-speed high-voltage excitation electronic circuit driving the μ-OLED, and a high-speed light collection setup. The excitation circuit also includes a matching resistance equal to 50 ohms to protect the pulse generator, and a serial resistance RMES=50 ohms dedicated to the measurement of the instantaneous current I. Devices are driven by a fast pulse generator (AVTech AVL-2A-B) which produces electrical pulses with a transversal dimension varying from 3 ns to 100 ns, 10 Hz repetition rate and an amplitude up to 160V. The excitation pulses have a rise time of 2 ns. The light collection setup includes a confocal microscope for the observation and the detection is performed via an avalanche photodiode (Thorlabs, APD130A). All signals are acquired with a high-speed oscilloscope (Tektronix, TDS7254).
The measurements in
Thus, the optimized geometry and structure of a μ-OLED as illustrated in
The branch 171b connecting the two arms 171a can contain one or several photonic elements 174a, 174b.
The photonic elements 174a, 174b can be a waveguide, a grating. Distributed Feedback mirror, a laser cavity, a laser cavity made of distributed feedback mirrors, a photonic crystal, a laser cavity made of a defect in a photonic crystal.
Those photonic elements 174a, 174b allows modifying the emission features, so that we can design μ-OLED 170 with particular optical features.
Cited Prior Art
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
17306292 | Sep 2017 | EP | regional |
Entry |
---|
Barlow, et al., “High-speed Electroluminescence Modulation of a Conjugated-Polymer Light Emitting Diode”, Applied Physics Letters, vol. 94, No. 24, Jun. 2009, 3 pages. |
Extended European Search Report for EP Application No. 17306292, dated Mar. 8, 2018. |
Wang, et al., “Fast Pulsed Electroluminescence from Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes”, Journal of Applied Physics, vol. 91, No. 4, Feb. 2002, pp. 2417-2422. |
Wen, Cheng, “Coplanar Waveguide: A Surface Strip Transmission Line Suitable for Nonreciprocal Gyromagnetic Device Applications”, IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, vol. 17, No. 12, Dec. 1969, pp. 1087-1090. |
Zeng, et al., “Electrical and Optical Impulse Response of High-Speed Micro-OLEDs Under UltraShort Pulse Excitation”, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 64, No. 7, Jul. 2017, pp. 2942-2948. |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20190097163 A1 | Mar 2019 | US |