A MO L E D

ACTIVE-MATRIX ORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE

SEMINAR REPORT 2012 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT DTU

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A S H WA N I R A N A 2K10/EE/017

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION OLED COMPONENTS HOW DO OLEDS EMIT LIGHT? TYPES OF OLEDS PASSIVE -MATRIX ORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE ACTIVE MATRIX ORGANIC LIGHT-EMITTING DIODE SUPER AMOLED HD SUPER AMOLED COMPARISON TO OTHER TECHNOLOGIES ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES

INTRODUCTION
AMOLED is a display technology for use in mobile devices and televisions. OLED describes a specific type of thin-film display technology in which organic compounds form the electroluminescent material, and active matrix refers to the technology behind the addressing of pixels. OLEDs are solid-state devices composed of thin films of organic molecules that create light with the application of electricity. OLEDs can provide brighter, crisper displays on electronic devices and use less power than conventional light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or liquid crystal displays (LCDs) used today. Currently, OLEDs are used in small-screen devices such as cell phones, PDAs and digital cameras. In September 2004, Sony Corporation announced that it was beginning mass production of OLED screens for its CLIE PEG-VZ90 model of personal-entertainment handhelds.

OLED display for Sony Clie Kodak was the first to release a digital camera with an OLED display in March 2003, the EasyShare LS633

Kodak LS633 EasyShare with OLED display

In May 2005, Samsung Electronics announced that it had developed a prototype 40-inch, OLED-based, ultra-slim TV, the first of its size. And in October 2007, Sony announced that it would be the first to market with an OLED television. The XEL-1 was available in December 2007 for customers in Japan

The Sony 11-inch XEL-1 OLED TV.

As of 2012, AMOLED technology is used in mobile phones, media players and digital cameras, and continues to make progress toward low-power, low-cost and large-size (for example, 40inch) applications Research and development in the field of OLEDs is proceeding rapidly and may lead to future applications in heads-up displays, automotive dashboards, billboard-type displays, home and office lighting and flexible displays. Because OLEDs refresh faster than LCDs almost 1,000 times faster -- a device with an OLED display could change information almost in real time. Video images could be much more realistic and constantly updated. The newspaper of the future might be an OLED display that refreshes with breaking news and like a regular newspaper, you could fold it up when you're done reading it and stick it in your backpack or briefcase.

OLED COMPONENTS
Like an LED, an OLED is a solid-state semiconductor device that is 100 to 500 nanometers thick or about 200 times smaller than a human hair. OLEDs can have either two layers or three layers of organic material; in the latter design, the third layer helps transport electrons from the cathode to the emissive layer. In this article, we'll be focusing on the two-layer design.

An OLED consists of the following parts: Substrate (clear plastic, glass, foil) - The substrate supports the OLED. Anode (transparent) - The anode removes electrons (adds electron "holes") when a current flows through the device. Organic layers - These layers are made of organic molecules or polymers. Molecules commonly used in OLEDs include organometallic chelates. Conducting layer - This layer is made of organic plastic molecules that transport "holes" from the anode. One conducting polymer used in OLEDs is polyaniline. Emissive layer - This layer is made of organic plastic molecules (different ones from the conducting layer) that transport electrons from the cathode; this is where light is made. One polymer used in the emissive layer is polyfluorene. Cathode (may or may not be transparent depending on the type of OLED) - The cathode injects electrons when a current flows through the device.

The biggest part of manufacturing OLEDs is applying the organic layers to the substrate. This can be done in three ways:

Vacuum deposition or vacuum thermal evaporation (VTE) - In a vacuum chamber, the organic molecules are gently heated (evaporated) and allowed to condense as thin films onto cooled substrates. This process is expensive and inefficient. Organic vapor phase deposition (OVPD) - In a low-pressure, hot-walled reactor chamber, a carrier gas transports evaporated organic molecules onto cooled substrates, where they condense into thin films. Using a carrier gas increases the efficiency and reduces the cost of making OLEDs. Inkjet printing - With inkjet technology, OLEDs are sprayed onto substrates just like inks are sprayed onto paper during printing. Inkjet technology greatly reduces the cost of OLED manufacturing and allows OLEDs to be printed onto very large films for large displays like 80-inch TV screens or electronic billboards.

Magnified image of the AMOLED screen on the Nexus One smart phone using the RGBG system of the PenTile Matrix Family

HOW DO OLEDS EMIT LIGHT?

OLEDs emit light in a similar manner to LEDs, through a process called electro phosphorescence.

The process is as follows: 1. The battery or power supply of the device containing the OLED applies a voltage across the OLED. 2. An electrical current flows from the cathode to the anode through the organic layers (an electrical current is a flow of electrons). The cathode gives electrons to the emissive layer of organic molecules. The anode removes electrons from the conductive layer of organic molecules. (This is the equivalent to giving electron holes to the conductive layer.) 3. At the boundary between the emissive and the conductive layers, electrons find electron holes. When an electron finds an electron hole, the electron fills the hole (it falls into an

energy level of the atom that's missing an electron). When this happens, the electron gives up energy in the form of a photon of light.

4. The OLED emits light. 5. The color of the light depends on the type of organic molecule in the emissive layer. Manufacturers place several types of organic films on the same OLED to make color displays. 6. The intensity or brightness of the light depends on the amount of electrical current applied: the more current, the brighter the light.

TYPES OF OLEDS: PASSIVE AND ACTIVE MATRIX

Passive-matrix OLED (PMOLED) PMOLEDs have strips of cathode, organic layers and strips of anode. The anode strips are arranged perpendicular to the cathode strips. The intersections of the cathode and anode make up the pixels where light is emitted. External circuitry applies current to selected strips of anode and cathode, determining which pixels get turned on and which pixels remain off. Again, the brightness of each pixel is proportional to the amount of applied current.

PMOLEDs are easy to make, but they consume more power than other types of OLED, mainly due to the power needed for the external circuitry. PMOLEDs are most efficient for text and icons and are best suited for small screens (2- to 3-inch diagonal) such as those you find in cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players. Even with the external circuitry, passive-matrix OLEDs consume less battery power than the LCDs that currently power these devices. Active-matrix OLED (AMOLED) AMOLEDs have full layers of cathode, organic molecules and anode, but the anode layer overlays a thin film transistor (TFT) array that forms a matrix. The TFT array itself is the circuitry that determines which pixels get turned on to form an image.

AMOLEDs consume less power than PMOLEDs because the TFT array requires less power than external circuitry, so they are efficient for large displays. AMOLEDs also have faster refresh rates suitable for video. The best uses for AMOLEDs are computer monitors, large-screen TVs and electronic signs or billboards.

SUPER AMOLED
Super Active-Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode or Super AMOLED is a display technology (variant from AMOLED) mainly for use in mobile devices such as mobile phones (see the list below for examples). One of the main differences from other display technologies is that the layer that detects touch is integrated into the screen rather than being overlaid on top. Compared with the first-generation AMOLED, some of the Super AMOLED advantages are brighter screens, less sunlight reflection and reduced power consumption. As with AMOLED and OLED displays, a main disadvantage for mobile users is the increased battery consumption when displaying an image that is primarily white, such as an all white background. This can lead to reduced real-world battery life in mobile devices but third party solutions, such as Black Google Mobile, have surfaced to help alleviate this behavior.

SUPER AMOLED PLUS

Super AMOLED Plus, first introduced with the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Droid Charge smart phones, is a branding where the Pen Tile RGBG pixel matrix (2 sub pixels) is replaced with a traditional RGB sub pixel arrangement, improving detail. The screen technology is also brighter, thinner with AMOLED Plus displays being 18% more energy efficient than the old Super AMOLED displays.

1. Samsung Galaxy S II, with a Super AMOLED Plus screen

2. Galaxy Nexus, with a HD Super AMOLED screen

HD SUPER AMOLED
HD Super AMOLED is a new Super AMOLED type display from Samsung. The first device to use it is the Galaxy Note: an Android v2.3 phone with a 5.3" 1280x800 display. The phone (and the display) was announced in September 2011. The second device to use it is Samsung's Galaxy Nexus phone - with a 4.65" display with 1280x720 resolution. The higher resolution and dpi were made possible due to a change in materials and new manufacturing process, though still using shadow mask (or fine metal mask (FMM)) technology. However this required a change back to pentile RGBG subpixels. Samsung is expected to introduce a new screen using "Real Stripe" RGB subpixels with the move to the laser-induced thermal imaging (LITI) process. This may be called "HD Super AMOLED Plus". The change to LITI is also said to be an important step toward commercializing OLED TVs.

COMPARISON TO OTHER TECHNOLOGIES

AMOLED displays provide higher refresh rates than their passive-matrix OLED counterparts, improving response time often to under a millisecond, and they consume significantly less power. This advantage makes active-matrix OLEDs well suited for portable electronics, where power consumption is critical to battery life. The amount of power the display consumes varies significantly depending on the color and brightness shown. As an example, one commercial QVGA OLED display consumes 3 watts while showing black text on a white background, but only 0.7 watts showing white text on a black background. Because the black pixels actually turn off, AMOLED also has contrast ratios that are significantly better than LCD. AMOLED mobile phone users can save battery power by avoiding white backgrounds and many methods exist to achieve this, such as using Black Google Mobile to search with a black background. The Windows Phone 7 platform takes advantage of this characteristic, as it instructs the user to maintain the "white text on black background" theme to have a better battery autonomy. AMOLED displays may be difficult to view in direct sunlight compared to LCDs because of their reduced maximum brightness. Samsung's Super AMOLED technology addresses this issue by reducing the size of gaps between layers of the screen. Additionally, PenTile technology is sometimes used, rearranging the subpixels for each color and in the case of PenTile RGBW, adding a white subpixel, which emits more light due to a lack of a R/G/B filter, thereby increasing brightness, albeit while introducing graininess.

The organic materials used in AMOLED displays are prone to degradation over a period of time. However, technology has been developed to compensate for material degradation. Current demand for AMOLED screens is high and, due to supply shortages of the Samsungproduced displays, certain models of HTC smartphones have been changed to use nextgeneration LCD displays from the Samsung and Sony joint-venture SLCD in the future. Construction of new production facilities in 2011 will increase the production of AMOLED screens to cope with demand.

ADVANTAGES
The different manufacturing process of OLEDs lends itself to several advantages over flat panel displays made with LCD technology. Lower cost in the future: OLEDs can be printed onto any suitable substrate by an inkjet printer or even by screen printing, theoretically making them cheaper to produce than LCD or plasma displays. However, fabrication of the OLED substrate is more costly than that of a TFT LCD, until mass production methods lower cost through scalability. Rollroll vapor-deposition methods for organic devices do allow mass production of thousands of devices per minute for minimal cost, although this technique also induces problems in that multi-layer devices can be challenging to make due to registration issues, lining up the different printed layers to the required degree of accuracy. Light weight & flexible plastic substrates: OLED displays can be fabricated on flexible plastic substrates leading to the possibility of flexible organic light-emitting diodes being fabricated or other new applications such as roll-up displays embedded in fabrics or clothing. As the substrate used can be flexible such as PET, the displays may be produced inexpensively.

Wider viewing angles & improved brightness: OLEDs can enable a greater artificial contrast ratio (both dynamic range and static, measured in purely dark conditions) and viewing angle compared to LCDs because OLED pixels directly emit light. OLED pixel colours appear correct and unshifted, even as the viewing angle approaches 90 from normal. Better power efficiency: LCDs filter the light emitted from a backlight, allowing a small fraction of light through so they cannot show true black, while an inactive OLED element does not produce light or consume power. Response time: OLEDs can also have a faster response time than standard LCD screens. Whereas LCD displays are capable of between 2 and 16 ms response time offering a refresh rate of 60 to 480 Hz, an OLED can theoretically have less than 0.01 ms response time, enabling up to 100,000 Hz refresh rate.

DISADVANTAGES
Current costs: OLED manufacture currently requires process steps that make it extremely expensive. Specifically, it requires the use of Low-Temperature Polysilicon backplanes; LTPS backplanes in turn require laser annealing from an amorphous silicon start, so this part of the manufacturing process for AMOLEDs starts with the process costs of standard LCD, and then adds an expensive, time-consuming process that cannot currently be used on large-area glass substrates. Lifespan: The biggest technical problem for OLEDs was the limited lifetime of the organic materials. In particular, blue OLEDs historically have had a lifetime of around 14,000 hours to half original brightness (five years at 8 hours a day) when used for flatpanel displays. This is lower than the typical lifetime of LCD, LED or PDP technology

each currently rated for about 25,00040,000 hours to half brightness, depending on manufacturer and model. However, some manufacturers' displays aim to increase the lifespan of OLED displays, pushing their expected life past that of LCD displays by improving light out coupling, thus achieving the same brightness at a lower drive current. In 2007, experimental OLEDs were created which can sustain 400 cd/m2 of luminance for over 198,000 hours for green OLEDs and 62,000 hours for blue OLEDs.

Color balance issues: Additionally, as the OLED material used to produce blue light degrades significantly more rapidly than the materials that produce other colors; blue light output will decrease relative to the other colors of light. This variation in the differential color output will change the color balance of the display and is much more noticeable than a decrease in overall luminance. This can be partially avoided by adjusting color balance but this may require advanced control circuits and interaction with the user, which is unacceptable for some users. In order to delay the problem, manufacturers bias the color balance towards blue so that the display initially has an artificially blue tint, leading to complaints of artificial-looking, over-saturated colors. More commonly, though, manufacturers optimize the size of the R, G and B subpixels to reduce the current density through the subpixel in order to equalize lifetime at full luminance. For example, a blue subpixel may be 100% larger than the green subpixel. The red subpixel may be 10% smaller than the green. Efficiency of blue OLEDs: Improvements to the efficiency and lifetime of blue OLEDs is vital to the success of OLEDs as replacements for LCD technology. Considerable research has been invested in developing blue OLEDs with high external quantum efficiency as well as a deeper blue color. External quantum efficiency values of 20% and

19% have been reported for red (625 nm) and green (530 nm) diodes, respectively. However, blue diodes (430 nm) have only been able to achieve maximum external quantum efficiencies in the range of 4% to 6%. Water damage: Water can damage the organic materials of the displays. Therefore, improved sealing processes are important for practical manufacturing. Water damage may especially limit the longevity of more flexible displays. Outdoor performance: As an emissive display technology, OLEDs rely completely upon converting electricity to light, unlike most LCDs which are to some extent reflective; e-ink leads the way in efficiency with ~ 33% ambient light reflectivity, enabling the display to be used without any internal light source. The metallic cathode in OLED acts as a mirror, with reflectance approaching 80%, leading to poor readability in bright ambient light such as outdoors. However, with the proper application of a circular polarizer and anti-reflective coatings, the diffuse reflectance can be reduced to less than 0.1%. With 10,000 fc incident illumination (typical test condition for simulating outdoor illumination), that yields an approximate photopic contrast of 5:1. Power consumption: While an OLED will consume around 40% of the power of an LCD displaying an image which is primarily black, for the majority of images it will consume 6080% of the power of an LCD: however it can use over three times as much power to display an image with a white background such as a document or website. This can lead to reduced real-world battery life in mobile devices when white backgrounds are used. This disadvantage has led to alternative mobile platform solutions, such as Black Google Mobile, that provide black background alternatives when otherwise unavailable. UV sensitivity: OLED displays can be damaged by prolonged exposure to UV light. The most pronounced example of this can be seen with a near UV laser (such as a Bluray pointer) and can damage the display almost instantly with more than 20 mW leading to dim or dead spots where the beam is focused. This is usually avoided by installing a UV blocking filter over the panel and this can easily be seen as a clear plastic layer on the glass. Removal of this filter can lead to severe damage and an unusable display after only a few months of room light exposure.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/oled3.html

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMOLED#cite_note-0

3. http://www.oled-info.com/amoled

4. http://www.oled-info.com/oled-technology

5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_matrix_addressing

6. http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/cpmt/presentations/cpmt0401a.pdf

7. http://www.scribd.com/doc/54428625/Ppt-on-Amoled-Super-Amoled