Study on the O2 Plasma Treatment of Indium Tin Oxide for Organic Light Emitting Diodes Using Inductively Coupled Plasma

Abstract

In this study, the effect of O2 inductively coupled plasma (ICP) conditions for the indium tin oxide (ITO) surface treatment on the organic light emitting diode (OLED) device performances were investigated. By the O2 plasma treatment of ITO glass, better OLED device performances such as a lower turn-on voltage, a higher luminescence, and a higher power efficiency could be obtained and the use of lower oxygen pressure and higher ICP power improved the device properties further. DC-biasing of the ITO glass substrate degraded the device properties. The use of lower oxygen pressure and higher ICP power increased the densities of O2+ and O* in the plasma, and the plasma-treated ITO surface showed a lower carbon, a higher O/(Sn+In), and a higher Sn4+/In for the condition of lower oxygen pressure and higher ICP power. The improved OLED device properties with the ITO treated at the higher ICP power and the lower pressure appear to be from the increased hole injection to the OLED materials by decreasing the resistance of ITO and by increasing the work function of the ITO.