Studies on the microstructure, optical and electrical properties of organic microcavity devices based on a porous silicon reflector

Abstract

A novel type of microcavity organic light-emitting diode based on a porous silicon distributed Bragg reflector (PS-DBR) has first been achieved and its microstructure, optical, and electrical properties have also been investigated in detail. The microcavity is made up of the central active organic multilayer sandwiched between a top silver film and a bottom PS-DBR, formed by electrochemical etching of p++-Si substrate. The fieldemission scanning electron microscopy cross-section images show the nanometer-scale layered structure and flat interfaces inside the microcavity. The reflectivity (relative to an Al mirror) of the PS-DBR is up to 99%, and the stopband is about 160 nm wide. Resonant cavity mode appears as a tip in the reflectivity spectrum of the Si-based organic multilayer films, which is a symbol that the Si-based organic multilayer structure is indeed a microcavity. The peak widths of the electroluminescence (EL) spectra from the cavities emitting green and red light are greatly reduced from 85 nm and 70 nm to 8 nm and 12 nm, respectively, as compared with those measured from non-cavity structures. Note that the EL emission from the cavity devices is single-mode, and the off-resonant optical modes are highly suppressed. Moreover, increases of a factor of about 6 and 4 of the resonant peak intensity from the cavities emitting green and red light are also observed, respectively. In addition, the current-brightness-voltage characteristics and effect parameters on the lifetime of the cavity devices are also discussed. The present technique for obtaining enhanced EL emission from Si-based organic microcavity may also be another novel effective method for realizing Si-based optoelectronics device integration.