Dye-doped submicron fiber waveguides composed of hole- and electron-transport materials

•Single aligned submicron fibers composed of hole- and electron-transport materials and an organic dye were fabricated.•The fibers demonstrated optical waveguiding with the loss coefficient of 1.2 × 10−3-3.9 × 10−3 μm−1 at 540-nm wavelength.•The loss coefficient was lower than those previously reported for optically active polymer submicron fibers.•A method to couple the fibers with counter electrodes was presented using phase segregation of an insulating polymer.

Dye-doped, submicron fiber waveguides composed of hole- and electron-transport materials, with a mean diameter of 480-660 nm were fabricated and their waveguiding properties studied. Dye emitted photoluminescence was guided in the fibers and the loss coefficient was calculated to be 1.2 × 10−3-3.9 × 10−3 μm−1 at a wavelength of 540 nm, which is lower than previously reported for optically active polymer submicron fibers. Finally, a feasible method to couple the fibers with counter electrodes is presented using phase segregation of an insulating polymer. These submicron fiber waveguides, composed of optically and electrically active materials, can be used to produce OLED-waveguides, which are applicable in the fields of textile optoelectronics, lab-on-a-chip, and optogenetics.

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