A polymer light-emitting diode as an optical communication light source

We demonstrate improvements in the electroluminescence switching rate of polymer light-emitting diodes by reducing their active area. We explore the frequency response of devices having a range of sizes and show that LED’s having an active area of 0.02 mm2 can be modulated at 16 MHz. The emission from our devices peaks at around 540 nm and thus falls within a transmission window of plastic optical fibers, suggesting possible applications of polymer LED’s as low cost optical communication sources.