Organic electroluminescence element and image forming apparatus or portable terminal unit using thereof

• US 20030164679A1
• Filed: 02/26/2003
• Published: 09/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: JOLED Inc.
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Tanaka, Yasuhiro, Yamaguchi, Hiroshi, Wakita, Naohide, Sasano, Tomohiko, Sugiura, Hisanori, Hamano, Takafumi
• Granted Patent: US 6,833,667 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 313/504
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/3026 Top emission
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/854 comprising scattering means
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/856 comprising reflective means
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/858 comprising refractive means, e.g. lenses
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/17 Passive-matrix OLED displays
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/877 comprising scattering means
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/878 comprising reflective means
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/879 comprising refractive means, e.g. lenses

Abstract

There are provided an organic electroluminescence element which is excellent in visibility and which can maintain a light emission performance with a high degree of efficiency, an image forming apparatus which is excellent in visibility and which can maintain a light emission performance with a high degree of efficiency, and a portable terminal unit which is lightweight and which has a long use life. The organic electroluminescence element incorporates at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone, a cathode for injecting electrons, wherein light radiated from the luminous layer is extracted through a surface opposed to the substrate, and an inverted V-like structure higher than the luminous layer is formed on at least a part of an element forming surface of the substrate.

Claims

1. An organic electroluminescence element at least having, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer including a luminous zone, and a cathode for injecting electrons, characterized in that light emitted from the luminous layer is extracted to a surface opposed to the substrate, and an inverted V-like structure is formed in at least a part of an element forming surface of the substrate, the inverted V-like structure being higher than the luminous layer.

2. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that a light extracting surface of said organic electroluminescence element is flattened by a transparent flattening structure made of a transparent material.

3. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said inverted V-like structure reflects light.

4. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 2, characterized in that said inverted V-like structure is made of a material having a refractive index which is lower than that of said transparent flattening structure.

5. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 2, characterized in that said transparent flattening structure is formed on a protecting film formed on a surface of said organic electroluminescence element.

6. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said inverted V-like structure is formed so as to be left-right symmetric.

7. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said inverted V-like structure is formed so as to be left-right symmetric.

8. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said inverted V-like structure has a sectional shape which is defined by two rectilinear lines in a V-like shape.

9. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1, characterized in that said inverted V-like structure has a sectional shape which is defined by curves which are convex inward of a V-like shape.

10. An image forming apparatus characterized in that said anode and said cathode of said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1 have stripe-like electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another so as to constitute an image display array composed of a plurality of pixels, and the direction of said inverted V-like structure in the substrate surface is coincident with the direction of the pixels defined by the stripe electrodes.

11. An image forming apparatus characterized in that said anode and said cathode of said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 1 each have electrodes which are each electrically separated from one another for each of pixels, the separated electrodes are scanned by way of at least more than one of switching elements so as to obtain an image display array, and the direction of said inverted V-like structure in the substrate surface is coincident with the direction of the pixels defined by the stripe electrodes.

12. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that pitches of said inverted V-like structure in each direction are substantially equal to pitches of said luminous layer corresponding to said pixels, and said inverted V-like structure has a center which is located at a substantially middle point of a line connecting centers of said pixels.

13. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 10 or 11, characterized in that said transparent flattening structure has a height which is smaller than the sum of a height of said inverted V-like structure and a width of the pixels in a plane direction.

14. A portable terminal unit comprising a voice signal converting means for converting voice into a voice signal, a manipulating means for inputting data including a telephone number, a display means for displaying data including a received message and a telephone number, a transmitting means for converting the voice signal into a transmission signal, a receiving means for converting a received signal into a voice signal, an antenna for transmitting and receiving the transmission signal and the received signal, a control means for controlling several portions, characterized in that said display means is formed of an image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 10 or 11.

15. An organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone and a cathode for injecting electrons, characterized in that a light emitting part including said luminous layer has an area which is greater than an area of an aperture through which light from said luminous layer is extracted.

17. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 15, characterized in that said luminous layer is formed in an upper part of an irregular structure formed at least on a surface of said substrate.

18. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17, characterized in that said irregular structure is formed in a quadratic pyramid-like shape, a cone-like shape or a curved shape.

19. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17, characterized in that said substrate, said irregular structure, or said anode or said cathode which are formed on said substrate are transparent.

20. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17, characterized in that the anode or the cathode which are formed on said irregular structure on said substrate is a reflective electrode for reflecting light emitted from the luminous layer, the cathode or the anode which is opposed to the reflective electrode is a transparent electrode, and a transparent flattening structure having a planer light extracting surface is formed above the transparent electrode.

21. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 20, characterized in that said transparent flattening structure is formed on a protecting film formed on the transparent electrode.

22. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17, characterized in that said irregular structure is formed at an oblique angle which is in a range from 60 to 170 deg. and preferably in a range from 100 to 140 deg. with respect to a direction normal to the substrate.

23. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17, characterized in that said irregular structure has a refractive index which is in a range from 1.4 to 2.0, and preferably in a range from 1.7 to 2.0.

24. An image forming apparatus characterized in that said anode and said cathode of said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17 have stripe-like electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another so as to constitute an image display array composed of a plurality of pixels.

25. An image forming apparatus characterized in that said anode and said cathode of said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 17 are electrically separated from one another for each of pixels, said anode or said cathode is scanned by way of at least more than one of switching elements so as to obtain an image display array.

26. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 24 or 25, characterized in that said irregular structure has a size which is smaller in a plane direction than a size of the pixel in a plane direction.

27. A portable terminal unit comprising a voice signal converting portion for converting voice into a voice signal, a manipulating portion for inputting data including a telephone number, a display portion for displaying data including a received message and a telephone number, a transmitting portion for converting the voice signal into a transmission signal, a receiving portion for converting a received signal into a voice signal, an antenna for transmitting and receiving the transmission signal and the received signal, a control portion for controlling several portions, characterized in that said display portion is formed of an image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 24 or 25.

16. An organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone and a cathode for injecting electrons, characterized in that a light emitting part including said luminous layer is formed in a plane having an nonparallel relationship with an aperture through which light from said luminous layer is extracted.

28. An organic electroluminescence element having at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone, and a cathode for injecting electrons, characterized by a light angle changing panel formed on an element forming surface of said substrate.

29. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is joined to the element forming surface of said substrate through the intermediary of a protecting film formed in the element forming surface.

30. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel has a light extraction surface which is a light scattering surface.

31. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel incorporates a plurality of grooves which are parallel in one direction within an in-plane direction.

32. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel incorporates a plurality of grooves which are parallel in two direction orthogonal to each other within an in-plane direction.

33. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is formed therein grooves each of which is a V-like grove having a V-like sectional shape defined by two rectilinear lines formed in a V-like shape.

34. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that in that said light angle changing panel is formed therein grooves each of which is a V-like groove having a curved V-like sectional shape defined by curves which are convex inward of the V-like shape.

35. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is formed therein grooves which have a symmetric shape.

36. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is formed therein grooves which have an asymmetric shape.

37. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is formed therein grooves each having at least side surfaces formed with light reflecting surfaces.

38. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is formed therein grooves each having at least side surfaces formed with surfaces made of medium having a refractive index which is smaller than that of said light angle changing panel.

39. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is made of a medium having a thermal expansion coefficient which is not less than 80% but not greater than 120% of a thermal expansion of said substrate.

40. An organic electroluminescence display unit using said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, said anode split into a plurality of stripe-like electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another and said cathode is split into a plurality stripe-like electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another so as to obtain an image display array, and a direction of grooves formed in said light angle changing panel is coincident with a direction of pixels which are defined by any of the stripe electrodes.

41. An organic electroluminescence display unit using said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 28, said anode or said cathode is split into a plurality of stripe-like electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another, said isolated electrodes are scanned by means of more than one of switching elements so as to obtain an image display array, and a direction of grooves formed in said light angle changing panel is coincident with a direction of pixels which are defined by any of the stripe electrodes.

42. An organic electroluminescence display unit as set forth in claim 40 or 41, characterized in that the direction of V-like grooves formed in said light angle changing panel is coincident with a direction of a column or a row of said pixels.

43. An organic electroluminescence display unit as set forth in claim 40 or 41, characterized in that pitches of V-like grooves formed in said light angle changing panel are substantially equal to pitches of said light emitting portions corresponding to the pixels in each direction, and the V-like groove has a center which is located at a substantially middle point of a line connecting between centers of the pixels.

44. An organic electroluminescence display unit as set forth in claim 40 or 41, characterized in that pitches of said V-like grooves are smaller than pitches of said light emitting portions corresponding to said pixels in each direction.

45. An organic electroluminescence display unit as set forth in claim 40 or 41, characterized in that a convex surface defined by said V-like grooves has an area which is smaller than an area of said luminous layer in said pixel.

46. An organic electroluminescence display unit as set forth in claim 40 or 41, characterized in that a distance from said luminous layer to a convex surface formed by said V-like grooves is smaller than a length of one side of said pixel.

47. An organic electroluminescence display unit as set forth in claim 40 or 41, characterized in that said light angle changing panel is split into pieces for not less than one of said pixels.

48. A portable terminal unit comprising a voice signal converting means for converting voice into a voice signal, a manipulating means for inputting data including a telephone number, a display means for displaying a display of data including a received message and a telephone number, a transmitting means for converting the voice signal into a transmission signal, a receiving means for converting a received signal into a voice signal, an antenna for transmitting and receiving the transmission signal and the received signal, a control means for controlling several portions, characterized in that said display means is formed of an image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 40 or 41.

49. An organic electroluminescence element incorporating a luminous layer having a light emitting zone between two electrodes, a substrate is provided at one of said electrode sides, and a light angle changing panel is provided at the other of said electrode sides.

50. An organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone, and a cathode for injecting electrons, characterized in that light radiated from said luminous layer is extracted through a light extracting surface opposed to said substrate, not less than at least two semisphere-like micro lenses having sizes which are different from one another are formed on said light extracting surface.

52. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50, characterized in that said micro lenses are affixed to the light extracting surface through the intermediary of an optical binder.

53. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50, characterized in that said micro lenses are made of a material having a refractive index which is greater than 1.4.

54. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50, characterized in that said micro lenses is made of a transparent material which can emit not less than 50% of light radiated from said luminous layer.

55. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50, characterized in that said micro lenses are formed by optically coupling at least two materials.

56. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50, characterized in that said micro lenses are formed on a protecting film which is formed on a surface of said organic electroluminescence element.

57. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 56, characterized in that said protecting film has a refractive index which is greater than 1.4.

58. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 56, characterized in that said protecting film is made of a material which can emit not less than 50% of light radiated from said luminous layer.

59. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 52, characterized in that said optical binder has a refractive index which is greater than 1.4.

60. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 52, characterized in that said optical binder is made of a transparent material which can emit not less than 50% of light radiated from luminous layer.

61. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 52, characterized in that said optical binder is made of a material which is liquid or gel-like.

62. An organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 52, characterized in that said optical binder is made of a material which is cured by heat or light.

63. An image forming apparatus characterized in that said anode and said cathode of said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50 have stripe-like electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another so as to provide an image display array composed of a plurality of pixels.

64. An image forming apparatus characterized in that said anode or said cathode of said organic electroluminescence element as set forth in claim 50 is split into electrodes which are electrically isolated from one another for each electrode, and said isolated electrodes are scanned through the intermediary of at least more than one of switching elements so as to provide an image display array.

65. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 63 or 64, characterized by an organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone and a cathode injecting electrons, said micro lenses having diameters which are smaller than a length of a long side of said pixel.

66. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 63 or 64, characterized by an organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone and a cathode injecting electrons, said micro lenses having diameters which are smaller than a length of a short side of said pixel.

67. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 63 or 64, characterized by an organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone and a cathode injecting electrons, a distance from said luminous layer to the outermost surface of said micro lenses is shorter than a length of a long side of said pixel.

68. An image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 63 or 64, characterized by an organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone and a cathode injecting electrons, a distance from said luminous layer to the outermost surface of said micro lenses is shorter than a length of a short side of said pixel.

69. A portable terminal unit comprising a voice signal converting means for converting voice into a voice signal, a manipulating means for inputting data including a telephone number, a display means for displaying data including a received message and a telephone number, a transmitting means for converting the voice signal into a transmission signal, a receiving means for converting a received signal into a voice signal, an antenna for transmitting and receiving the transmission signal and the received signal, and a control means for controlling several portions, characterized in that said display means is formed of an image forming apparatus as set forth in claim 63 or 64.

51. An organic electroluminescence element incorporating at least, on a substrate, an anode for injecting holes, a luminous layer having a light emitting zone, and a cathode for injecting electrons, characterized in that light radiated from said luminous layer is extracted through a light extracting surface opposed to said substrate, not less that at least two semisphere-like micro lenses having sizes which are different from one another are formed on said light extracting surface, and a flattening surface is formed on the light extracting surface side of the micro lenses so as to define a flat surface through the intermediary of an air layer and at least a part of contact points.

70. An organic electroluminescence element incorporating a luminous layer having a light emitting zone between two electrodes, characterized in that a substrate is provided on one of said electrode sides, and semisphere-like micro lenses are provided on the other one of said electrode sides.