Article comprising microcavity light sources
First Claim
1. An article comprising a layer structure on a major surface of a substrate body, said layer structure comprisinga) spaced apart first and second reflector means and an active layer that comprises organic material capable of electroluminescence, with at least a first portion of the active layer between said reflector means, said first and second reflector means defining a first microcavity of effective optical length L1 ;
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CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the layer structure further comprisesc) spaced apart third and fourth reflector means, with a second portion of the active layer between said third and fourth reflector means, said third and fourth reflector means defining a second microcavity of effective optical length L2 different from L1 and spaced apart from the first microcavity; and
d) means that facilitate application of an electric field across the second portion of the active layer, such that the second microcavity can be caused to emit radiation of a second color different from the first color.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus according to the invention comprises at least two optical microcavity light emitters. Each one of the at least two light emitters comprises spaced apart reflectors that define a microcavity, and further comprises organic material that is capable of electro-luminescence (e.g., tris (8-hydroxyquinolinol) aluminum, commonly referred to as "Alq"), and means for applying an electric field across the organic material. One of the at least two microcavities has effective optical length L1, and the other microcavity has effective optical length L2 ≠L1, with the optical lengths selected such that one of the microcavities emits radiation of a first color (e.g., red), and the other microcavity emits radiation of a second color (e.g., green). In many cases there will be present also a third microcavity that emits radiation of a third color (e.g., blue). In preferred embodiments there is present within the microcavities a filler layer, of thickness selected to provide to a given microcavity the desired optical length. A preferred embodiment of the invention is a full color flat panel display that comprises many pixels, each pixel comprising at least three different microcavity emitters. Other contemplated embodiments are a LED printer, an optical interconnect and an optical fiber communication system.
176 Citations
13 Claims
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1. An article comprising a layer structure on a major surface of a substrate body, said layer structure comprising
a) spaced apart first and second reflector means and an active layer that comprises organic material capable of electroluminescence, with at least a first portion of the active layer between said reflector means, said first and second reflector means defining a first microcavity of effective optical length L1 ; - and
b) means that facilitate application of an electric field across the first portion of the active layer such that the first microcavity can be caused to emit radiation of a first color; CHARACTERIZED IN THAT the layer structure further comprises c) spaced apart third and fourth reflector means, with a second portion of the active layer between said third and fourth reflector means, said third and fourth reflector means defining a second microcavity of effective optical length L2 different from L1 and spaced apart from the first microcavity; and d) means that facilitate application of an electric field across the second portion of the active layer, such that the second microcavity can be caused to emit radiation of a second color different from the first color. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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Specification