Light emission from semiconducting polymers: Light-emitting diodes, light-emitting electrochemical cells, lasers and white light for the future

Abstract

High performance photonic devices fabricated from conjugated polymers have been demonstrated, including diodes, light emitting diodes, photodiodes, field-effect transistors, polymer grid triodes, light emitting electrochemical cells, optocouplers and lasers, i.e. essentially all the categories which characterize the field of photonic devices. In many cases, semiconducting polymer-based devices have reached performance levels comparable to their inorganic counterparts. This short review focuses on recent progress in the area of light emission from semiconducting polymers.