Electroluminescent light-emitting device comprising an arrangement of organic layers, and method for its production

• US 8,502,200 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2007
• Issued: 08/06/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Novaled AG
• Original Assignee: Novaled AG
• Inventors: Schwartz, Gregor, Harada, Kentaro, Walzer, Karsten, Pfeiffer, Martin, Leo, Karl
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Anthony
• Application Number:
  US12/160,503
• Publication Number:
  US 20110186864A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,399 Days
• Field of Search: 257/40, 257/88, 257/E51.001
• US Class Current: 257/40
• CPC Class Codes: B82Y 10/00 Nanotechnology for information processing, storage or transmission, e.g. quantum computing or single electron logic
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/155 comprising dopants
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/165 comprising dopants
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/814 combined with auxiliary electrodes, e.g. ITO layer combined with metal lines
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/824 combined with auxiliary electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/80516 combined with auxiliary electrodes, e.g. ITO layer combined with metal lines
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/80521 characterised by their shape
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/80522 combined with auxiliary electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 71/30 Doping active layers, e.g. electron transporting layers
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/211 Fullerenes, e.g. C60
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/324 comprising aluminium, e.g. Alq3
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/342 comprising iridium
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/344 comprising ruthenium
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/631 Amine compounds having at least two aryl rest on at least one amine-nitrogen atom, e.g. triphenylamine
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 85/6572 comprising only nitrogen in the heteroaromatic polycondensed ring system, e.g. phenanthroline or carbazole

Abstract

The invention relates to an electroluminescent light-emitting device comprising an arrangement of organic layers which are applied to a substrate, and also to a method for its production. The arrangement of organic layers comprises the following layers: at least one charge carrier transport layer consisting of organic material, and at least one light-emitting layer consisting of organic material. The arrangement of organic layers furthermore comprises at least one doped fullerene layer which has a doping that increases the electrical conductivity.

Claims

1. An electroluminescent light-emitting device comprising at least one structured metal layer and an arrangement of organic layers which are arranged on a substrate, the arrangement of organic layers comprising the following layers:

at least one charge carrier transport layer consisting of organic material,

at least one light-emitting layer consisting of organic material, and

at least one doped fullerene layer which has a doping that increases the electrical conductivity;

wherein the at least one structured metal layer is in direct contact with the at least one doped fullerene layer, and is part of an electrode that is configured to distribute a current across an area in the at least one doped fullerene layer.

2. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is doped with organic molecules.

3. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one metal layer is structured by a printing process.

4. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is a flat electrode.

5. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one charge carrier transport layer is the at least one doped fullerene layer.

6. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 5, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is an electron transport layer.

7. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein arranged between the at least one charge carrier transport layer and the at least one light-emitting layer is a layer which has an exciton energy that is greater than an exciton energy of the at least one light-emitting layer, so that excitons from the at least one light-emitting layer are blocked by the layer arranged between the at least one charge carrier transport layer and the at least one light-emitting layer.

8. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement of organic layers comprises an injection layer.

9. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 8, wherein the injection layer consists of a salt of Cs or a salt of Li.

10. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 9, wherein the salt of Cs is CsF, or the salt of Li is LiF.

11. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one charge carrier transport layer is doped.

12. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 11, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is in direct contact with the at least one charge carrier transport layer, wherein the at least one charge carrier transport layer comprises a host material different than fullerene.

13. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the electroluminescent light-emitting device comprises a vertically stacked arrangement of a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes, wherein the vertically stacked arrangement of a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes comprises at least one transparent intermediate electrode formed by the at least one doped fullerene layer.

14. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 13, wherein the at least one transparent intermediate electrode is at an electric potential that can be selected from outside.

15. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 13, comprising a plurality of transparent intermediate electrodes which are in each case guided out of a different side of the vertically stacked arrangement of organic light-emitting diodes.

16. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is formed by vapor co-deposition of a fullerene with a doping substance.

17. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is a current distribution layer which transports charge carriers from an electrode, optionally embodied as a cathode or as an anode, to regions of the at least one light-emitting layer which do not to overlap with the electrode.

18. The electroluminescent light-emitting device according to claim 17, wherein the regions of the at least one light-emitting layer which are formed so as not to overlap with the electrode are arranged at least partially below cutouts in the electrode.

19. A method for producing an electroluminescent light-emitting device, the method comprising:

forming an arrangement of organic layers comprising at least one charge carrier transport layer consisting of organic material, at least one light-emitting layer consisting of organic material, at least one doped fullerene layer which has a doping that increases the electrical conductivity;

forming at least one structured metal layer in direct contact with the at least one doped fullerene layer; and

applying the arrangement of organic layers and the at least one structured metal layer to a substrate,

wherein the at least one structured metal layer is part of an electrode that is configured to distribute a current across an area in the at least one doped fullerene layer.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is doped with organic molecules.

21. The method according to claim 19, wherein the at least one metal layer is structured by means of a printing process.

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises forming a flat electrode with the at least one doped fullerene layer.

23. The method according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises forming the at least one charge carrier transport layer with the at least one doped fullerene layer.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is an electron transport layer.

25. The method according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises arranging, between the at least one charge carrier transport layer and the at least one light-emitting layer, a layer which has an exciton energy that is greater than an exciton energy of the at least one light-emitting layer, so that excitons from the at least one light-emitting layer are blocked by the layer arranged between the at least one charge carrier transport layer and the at least one light-emitting layer.

26. The method according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises forming an injection layer in the arrangement of organic layers.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein the injection layer is formed from a salt of Cs or a salt of Li.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein the salt is LiF or CsF.

29. The method according to claim 19, wherein the at least one charge carrier transport layer is doped, the at least one charge carrier transport being formed of a host material different than fullerene.

30. The method according to claim 19, wherein the method further comprises forming a vertically stacked arrangement of a plurality of organic light-emitting diodes, and forming at least one transparent intermediate electrode in the vertically stacked arrangement with the at least one doped fullerene layer.

31. The method according to claim 30, wherein the method further comprises forming a plurality of transparent intermediate electrodes, which are in each case guided out of a different side of the vertically stacked arrangement of organic light-emitting diodes.

32. The method according to claim 19, wherein the at least one doped fullerene layer is applied by means of vapor co-deposition of a fullerene with a doping substance.

33. The method according to claim 19, wherein the substrate, when forming the at least one doped fullerene layer, is maintained at a temperature of >

30°

C.

34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the substrate is maintained at a temperature of >

80°

C.