Straight-forward control of the degree of micro-cavity effects in organic light-emitting diodes based on a thin striped metal layer

• We investigate the micro-cavity effects in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a striped thin metal layer.
• The net current efficiency is determined by the area-weighted average of the cavity region.
• Trade-off between resonance enhancement in efficiency and angle-dependent color stability is observed.
• We report a straight-forward manner by changing the relative portion of the metal-covered area.

We investigated the control of micro-cavity (MC) effects in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with the introduction of a striped thin metal layer between the indium tin oxide (ITO) layer and the hole transporting layer (HTL). With an enhanced MC effect obtained through the inserted metal layer, the forward emission of the OLED became stronger and the angular distribution became more forward-directed, leading to a current efficiency (CE) that was nearly 1.45 times higher than that of the reference device without the inserted metal layer. The net CE of the OLEDs with a striped metal layer was found to be determined by the area-weighted average of the CE’s of full-cavity-enhanced OLEDs and non-cavity OLEDs. It was also observed that the trade-off between resonance enhancement in efficiency and angle-dependent color stability, often found problematic in MC-based OLEDs, could be mitigated in a straight-forward manner by changing the relative portion of the metal-covered area.

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