DOWN CONVERSION

• US 20130070443A1
• Filed: 04/28/2011
• Published: 03/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Pan, Junyou, Schulte, Niels, Eberle, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,689,556 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 362/84
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 20/00 Nanooptics, e.g. quantum optics or photonic crystals
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 30/00 Nanotechnology for materials or surface science, e.g. nanocomposites
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 11/06 containing organic luminescent materials
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 11/565 with zinc cadmium
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 11/88 containing selenium, tellurium or unspecified chalcogen elements
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 11/883 with zinc or cadmium
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 2211/14 Macromolecular compounds
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 9/02 Organic tenebrescent materials
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 9/32 characterised by the arrangement of the photoluminescent material
• CPC Class Codes: F21V 9/38 Combination of two or more photoluminescent elements of different materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 33/502 Wavelength conversion materials
• CPC Class Codes: H05B 33/14 characterised by the chemical or physical composition or the arrangement of the electroluminescent material , or by the simultaneous addition of the electroluminescent material in or onto the light source
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2101/10 Triplet emission
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 2102/331 Nanoparticles used in non-emissive layers, e.g. in packaging layer
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/11 characterised by the electroluminescent [EL] layers
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/85 Arrangements for extracting light from the devices
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/38 comprising colour filters or colour changing media [CCM]
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/10 Organic polymers or oligomers
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/111 comprising aromatic, heteroaromatic, or aryl chains, e.g. polyaniline, polyphenylene or polyphenylene vinylene
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 20/00 Energy efficient lighting technologies, e.g. halogen lamps or gas discharge lamps
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/774 : Exhibiting three-dimensional carrier confinement, e.g. quantum dots
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/783 : Organic host/matrix, e.g. lipid
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/932 : for electronic or optoelectronic application
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 977/95 : Electromagnetic energy
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 428/21 : Circular sheet or circular blank

Abstract

The present invention relates inter alia to an array comprising i times j array elements, wherein the array elements may comprise at least one quantum dot and/or at least one photoluminescent compound. Further the present invention relates to devices comprising these arrays. The arrays and devices can be used to generate white light with high color purity.

Claims

1-22. -22. (canceled)

23. An array A_ij comprising i times j array elements a_ij, wherein said array A_ij comprises at least one composition comprising at least one quantum dot being localized in one or more of the array elements a_ij, and wherein i is a row index and j is a column index being larger than 0, with the proviso that if i=j=1, the composition of array element a_{1 1} comprises at least two quantum dots and at least one photoluminescent compound.

24. The array of claim 23, wherein the compositions comprised by the array comprise at least one further photoluminescent compound.

25. The array of claim 23, wherein the shape of the array elements a_d is square, circular, oval, triangular, hexagonal, polygonal and irregular curved.

26. The array of claim 23, wherein less than 20% of the array elements a_ij are transparent and do not comprise a composition comprising a quantum dot and/or a photoluminescent compound.

27. The array of claim 23, wherein said array comprises at least 2 quantum dots.

28. The array of claim 23, wherein said at least one quantum dot has an emission intensity maximum in the range between 380 and 700 nm.

29. The array of claim 23, wherein if said composition comprises more than one quantum dot, said quantum dots differ in their emission intensity maxima.

30. The array of claim 23, wherein if said composition comprises more than one quantum dot, quantum dots showing a re-absortion rate of at least 5% are separated in different array elements.

31. The array of claim 23, wherein said at least one quantum dot is selected from Group II-VI, Group III-V, Group IV-VI and Group IV semiconductors.

32. The array of claim 31, wherein said quantum dot is selected from the group consisting of ZnO, ZnS, ZnSe, ZnTe, CdS, CdSe, CdTe, HgS, HgSe, HgTe, MgS, MgSe, GeS, GeSe, GeTe, SnS, SnSe, SnTe, PbO, PbS, PbSe, PbTe, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, InN, InP, InAs, InSb, AlN, AlP, AlAs, AlSb, GaN, GaP, GaAs, GaSb, and a combination thereof.

33. The array of claim 23, wherein said at least one photoluminescent compound is selected from a fluorescent or phosphorescent material.

34. The array of claim 23, wherein said at least one photoluminescent compound has a broadband spectrum.

35. The array of claim 23, wherein said array further comprises at least one binder material and/or at least one organic dye.

36. The array of claim 35, wherein said at least one binder material and/or said at least one organic dye is an emitter selected from an inorganic phosphor.

37. A device comprising at least one array of claim 23.

38. The device of claim 37, wherein said device comprises a light source.

39. The device of claim 38, wherein said light source emits blue and/or ultraviolet light.

40. The device of claim 38, wherein said light source is a light emitting diode, organic light emitting diode, polymer light emitting diode, organic light emitting electrochemical cell, laser, or UV lamp.

41. A method for the generation of white light by down conversion through irradiating the array of claim 23 with blue or ultraviolet light.

42. A method for the preparation of the array of claim 23, said method comprising employing a printing technique.

43. The method of claim 42, wherein said printing technique is screen printing, ink-jet printing, flexo printing, gravure printing, or offset printing.

44. A composition comprising at least 2 quantum dots and at least one photoluminescent compound.

45. The composition of claim 44, wherein said photoluminescent compound is an organic fluorescent compound, organic phosphorescent compound, or inorganic phosphor.

46. The composition of claim 44 further comprising at least one organic functional material selected from a host material, hole transport material, hole injection material, hole blocking material, electron transport material, electron injection material, electron blocking material, and emitter material, wherein said at least one organic functional material is selected from the group consisting of small organic molecules, conjugated polymers, non-conjugated polymers, oligomers, and dendrimers.