US6551727B2
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electroluminescent device
Assignee: Cambridge Display Technology Ltd
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Filing: 2001-10-15
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Granted: 2003-04-22
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Expires: 2021-10-15
Abstract
Abstract An electroluminescent device comprising: a first charge-carrier injecting layer for injecting positive charge carriers and a second charge-carrier injecting layer for injecting negative charge carriers, at least one of the charge-carrier injecting layers being patterned so as to comprise spaced-apart charge-injecting regions; an organic light-emitting layer located between the first and second charge-carrier injecting layers; and an unpatterned conductive polymer layer located between the organic light-emitting layer and the patterned charge-carrier injecting layer, the resistivity of the conductive polymer layer being sufficiently low to allow charge carriers to flow through it from the charge-injecting regions to generate light in the organic light-emitting layer but sufficiently high to resist lateral spreading of charge carriers beyond the charge-injecting regions.
Inventors
- 👤 Carl Robert Towns
- 👤 Stephen Karl Heeks
- 👤 Julian Charles Carter
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 15:42
CPC Classifications
H; H10; H10K; H10K50/00; H10K50/10; H10K50/17; H10K50/11; H10K50/80; H10K50/805; H10K59/00; H10K59/10; H10K59/12; H10K59/17; H10K85/00; H10K85/10; H10K85/111; H10K85/113; H10K85/1135; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S428/00; Y10S428/917; Y10T; Y10T428/00; Y10T428/24; Y10T428/24802; Y10T428/24851; Y10T428/24917
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
117 words
An electroluminescent device comprising: a first charge-carrier injecting layer for injecting positive charge carriers and a second charge-carrier injecting layer for injecting negative charge carriers, at least one of the charge-carrier injecting layers being patterned so as to comprise spaced-apart charge-injecting regions; an organic light-emitting layer located between the first and second charge-carrier injecting layers; and an unpatterned conductive polymer layer located between the organic light-emitting layer and the patterned charge-carrier injecting layer, the resistivity of the conductive polymer layer being sufficiently low to allow charge carriers to flow through it from the charge-injecting regions to generate light in the organic light-emitting layer but sufficiently high to resist lateral spreading of charge carriers beyond the charge-injecting regions.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
117 words
An electroluminescent device comprising: a first charge-carrier injecting layer for injecting positive charge carriers and a second charge-carrier injecting layer for injecting negative charge carriers, at least one of the charge-carrier injecting layers being patterned so as to comprise spaced-apart charge-injecting regions; an organic light-emitting layer located between the first and second charge-carrier injecting layers; and an unpatterned conductive polymer layer located between the organic light-emitting layer and the patterned charge-carrier injecting layer, the resistivity of the conductive polymer layer being sufficiently low to allow charge carriers to flow through it from the charge-injecting regions to generate light in the organic light-emitting layer but sufficiently high to resist lateral spreading of charge carriers beyond the charge-injecting regions.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
18 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting layer comprises a light-emitting conductive polymer.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the light-emitting layer comprises a semiconductive conjugated polymer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
20 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the conductive polymer layer comprises polyaniline, polypyrrole or a poly-thiophene.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the conductive polymer layer comprises polyethylene dioxythiophene.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
29 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the conductive polymer layer comprises a dopant, the presence of which affects the resistivity of the conductive polymer layer.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
16 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the dopant is polystyrene sulphonic acid.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
19 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the conductive polymer layer contains greater than 50% dopant.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
24 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the conductive polymer layer comprises a component which reduces the solubility of the layer.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
14 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the component is epoxy-silane.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
23 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the conductive polymer layer contains greater than 50 wt % of the component.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
24 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the sheet resistance of the conductive polymer layer is greater than 10 6 Ohms/square.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
44 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the regions of the light emitting layer capable of emitting light in use do not extend laterally beyond the charge injecting regions by more than 10% of the width of the charge injecting regions.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
22 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each charge-injecting region defines one or more pixel regions of the device.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein each charge-injecting region is independent of the other charge-injecting region.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
21 words
An electroluminescent device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the first charge-carrier injecting layer is the patterned charge-carrier injecting layer.
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