Light extraction from surface plasmons and waveguide modes in an organic light-emitting layer by nanoimprinted gratings

Opt Express. 2011 Jan 3:19 Suppl 1:A7-19. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.0000A7.

Abstract

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) usually exhibit a low light outcoupling efficiency because a large fraction of power is lost to surface plasmons (SPs) and waveguide modes. In this paper it is demonstrated that periodic grating structures with almost µm-scale can be used to extract SPs as well as waveguide modes and therefore enhance the outcoupling efficiency in light-emitting thin film structures. The gratings are fabricated by nanoimprint lithography using a commercially available diffraction grating as a mold which is pressed into a polymer resist. The outcoupling of SPs and waveguide modes is detected in fluorescent organic films adjacent to a thin metal layer in angular dependent photoluminescence measurements. Scattering up to 5th-order is observed and the extracted modes are identified by comparison to the SP and waveguide dispersion obtained from optical simulations. In order to demonstrate the low-cost, high quality and large area applicability of grating structures in optoelectronic devices, we also present SP extraction using a grating structure fabricated by a common DVD stamp.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Electronics
  • Fluorescent Dyes / chemistry
  • Light
  • Luminescence
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force / methods
  • Models, Statistical
  • Nanotechnology / methods*
  • Optics and Photonics
  • Organic Chemicals / chemistry
  • Scattering, Radiation
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / methods*

Substances

  • Fluorescent Dyes
  • Organic Chemicals