Vertical Light-emitting Transistor Research Articles

High-Performance Vertical Light-Emitting Transistors Based on ZnO Transistor/Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diode Integration and Electron Injection Layer Modification.

Vertical light-emitting transistors (VLETs) consisting of vertically stacked unipolar transistors and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been proposed as a prospective building block for display technologies. In addition to OLEDs, quantum-dot (QD) LEDs (QLEDs) with high brightness and high color purity have also become attractive light-emitting devices for display applications. However, few studies have attempted to integrate QLEDs into VLETs, as this not only involves technical issues such as compatible solution process of QDs and fine patterning of electrodes in multilayer stacked geometries but also requires a high driving current that is demanding on transistor design. Here we show that these integration issues of QLEDs can be addressed by using inorganic transistors with robust processability and high mobility, such as the studied ZnO transistor, which facilitates simple fabrication of QD VLETs (QVLETs) with efficient emission in the patterned channel area, suitable for high-resolution display applications. We perform a detailed optimization of QVLET by modifying ZnO:polyethylenimine nanocomposite as the electron injection layer (EIL) between the integrated ZnO transistor/QLED, and achieve the highest external quantum efficiency of ~3% and uniform emission in the patterned transistor channel. Furthermore, combined with a systematic study of corresponding QLEDs, electron-only diodes, and electroluminescence images, we provide a deeper understanding of the effect of EIL modification on current balance and distribution, and thus on QVLET performance.

Ultrastrong coupling in Super Yellow polymer microcavities and development of highly efficient polariton light-emitting diodes and light-emitting transistors.

We present detailed studies on exciton-photon coupling and polariton emission based on a poly(1,4-phenylenevinylene) copolymer, Super Yellow (SY), in a series of optical microcavities and optoelectronic devices, including light-emitting diode (LED) and light-emitting transistor (LET). We show that sufficiently thick SY microcavities can generate ultrastrong coupling with Rabi splitting energies exceeding 1 eV and exhibit spectrally narrow, nearly angle-independent photoluminescence following lower polariton (LP) mode dispersion. When the microcavity is designed with matched LP low-energy state and exciton emission peak for radiative pumping, the conversion efficiency from exciton to polariton emission can reach up to 80%. By introducing appropriate injection layers in a SY microcavity and optimizing the cavity design, we further demonstrate a high-performance ultrastrongly coupled SY LED with weakly dispersive electroluminescence along LP mode and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 2.8%. Finally, we realize an ultrastrongly coupled LET based on vertical integration of a high-mobility ZnO transistor and a SY LED in a microcavity, which enables a large switching ratio, uniform emission in the ZnO pattern, and LP mode emission with a maximum EQE of 2.4%. This vertical LET addresses the difficulties of achieving high emission performance and precisely defining the emission area in typical planar LETs, and opens up the possibility of applying various strongly coupled emitters for advanced polariton devices and high-resolution applications.

High Efficiency and Uniform Emission in Micropixelated Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Vertical Light-Emitting Transistors and Displays

Vertical light-emitting transistors (VLETs) fabricated by integrating organic vertical transistors and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been proposed as a prospective building block for display technologies. However, organic vertical transistors normally have non-ohmic injection and a low-mobility channel, resulting in low VLET performance compared to the pristine OLED. The difficulty of fine patterning the source electrode and organic layer in a stacked VLET geometry has also been a technical issue limiting industrial applications. This paper reports on a simple approach to realize a high-performance, miniaturized VLET by using a highly conductive, well-designed inorganic transistor. Here, we investigate the ZnO transistor configured with an insulator-encapsulated source electrode to confine the current pathway in the VLET, which can be easily fabricated and integrated with various solution-processed or vacuum-sublimed inverted OLEDs (IOLEDs). This ZnO transistor exhibits ohmic contact and a high electron mobility of >10 cm2/(V s) that enables effective electron injection and lateral transport in the VLET, forming a millimeter-scale density gradient (channel depth) for strong surface emission. Furthermore, the high mobility of ZnO facilitates the design of a simple source pattern with a large aperture ratio on the ZnO area to control the current density and distribution and thus the VLET output. From a systematic study of the source design, we show that the ZnO transistor can be optimized to achieve homogeneously high conductivity in the ON state and yield the best VLET performance with maximum emission intensity and efficiency close to those of the IOLED, while the emission can be spatially uniform and precisely defined by the ZnO pattern. Finally, we implement a micropixelated VLET-based active matrix panel to demonstrate the prospect of high-resolution display applications.

Recent Advances in Multi-Layer Light-Emitting Heterostructure Transistors.

Light-emitting transistors (LETs) have attracted tremendous academic and industrial interest due to their dual functions of electrical switching and light emission in a single device, which can considerably reduce system complexity and manufacturing costs, especially in the area of flat panel and flexible displays as well as lighting and lasers. In recent years, enhanced LET performance has been achieved by introducing multiple-layer heterostructures in the charge-carrying/light-emitting LET channel versus the best-reported performance in single active layer LETs, rendering multi-layer LETs promising candidates for next-generation display technologies. In this review, the fundamental structures and working principles of multi-layer heterostructure LETs are introduced. Next, developments in multi-layer LETs are discussed based on co-planar LETs, non-planar LETs, and vertical LETs including organic, quantum dot, and perovskite light emitters. Finally, this review concludes with a summary and a perspective on the future of this research field.

Optoelectronic characteristics of NPB-based vertical organic light-emitting transistors

Vertical light-emitting transistor is a kind of optoelectronic devices combining characteristics of light-emitting and the “on/off” function of transistor, and its channel length can be reduced to nanometers to make it operate at low voltages and high speeds. Holes and electrons injected from source and drain electrodes form excitons in the emissive layer and radiate light. The amount of charge carriers can be controlled by the gate voltage, consequently to control the intensity of light emission. In this paper, by inserting a thin hole-transporting BCP layer at different locations in the device ITO/NPB（40nm）/Al（30nm）/NPB（20nm）/Alq3（55nm）/Al, we explored the reasons of large drain current and the detailed carriers processes in the device by studying the variation of their optoelectronic characteristics. Our experimental data confirmed that holes injected from central Al gate contribute to the current in the channel. Further, LiF thin film was used as a buffer layer to modify the drain electrode, in this way to improve electron injection and reduce drain current. As a result, relatively stable light-emitting transistors were obtained with significant enhancement in light emission, and the emission intensity can be controlled by the gate voltage. The color of the emission light can easily be tuned by using different luminescent materials.