Simulations of emission from microcavity tandem organic light-emitting diodes

Microcavity tandem organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are simulated and compared to experimental results. The simulations are based on two complementary techniques: rigorous finite element solutions of Maxwell's equations and Fourier space scattering matrix solutions. A narrowing and blue shift of the emission spectrum relative to the noncavity single unit OLED is obtained both theoretically and experimentally. In the simulations, a distribution of emitting sources is placed near the interface of the electron transport layer tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) Al (Alq(3)) and the hole transport layer (N,N'-bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N,N'-bis(phenyl)benzidine (alpha-NPB). Far-field electric field intensities are simulated. The simulated widths of the emission peaks also agree with the experimental results. The simulations of the 2-unit tandem OLEDs shifted the emission to shorter wavelength, in agreement with experimental measurements. The emission spectra's dependence on individual layer thicknesses also agreed well with measurements. Approaches to simulate and improve the light emission intensity from these OLEDs, in particular for white OLEDs, are discussed. (C) 2011 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). [DOI: 10.1117/1.3552947]