RSM2011 Proc.

, 2011, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

Fabrication of MEH-PPV Based Organic Light Emitting Diode and Transistor

S Suppiah1,*, M Mohamad Shahimin1 and N Juhari1
1

School of Microelectronic Engineering, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), P.O Box 77, d/a Pejabat Pos Besar, 01000 Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia *Corresponding email: mukhzeer@unimap.edu.my

Abstract The potential of organic semiconductor based devices for light generation is demonstrated by the commercialisation of display technologies based on organic light emitting diode (OLED). In OLED, organic materials plays the role of emitting light once the current is passed through. However OLED have drawbacks whereby it suffers from photon loss and exciton quenching. Organic light emitting transistor (OLET) emerged as a new technology to compensate the efficiency and brightness loss encountered in OLED. The structure has combinational capability to switch the electronic signal such as the field effect transistor (FET) as well as to generate light. Different colours of light could be generated by using different types of organic material. The light emission could also be tuned and scanned in OLET. The studies carried out fabricated and analysed the current voltage and luminescence characteristics of both organic light emitting diode (OLED) and also organic light emitting transistor (OLET). The proposed light emitting layer in this study is poly [2 methoxy 5 - ( 2- ethyl hexyloxy ) 1 , 4 - phenylene vinylene] (MEH-PPV). Keywords: organic polymer, OLED, OLET, MEH-PPV

A. Working Principle of OLED The working principles of OLED can be explained from the electron-hole behaviour. The electrons are injected from the cathode whereas the holes are injected from the anode when a specified voltage driven in between the anode and cathode. Electrons and holes transport layers acts as a medium for the electrons and holes to travel. The difference between highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO) and electrode work function initialise the injection process. Electrons and holes recombine in the emissive layer whereby the excited molecules or exciton are created. The recombination zone can be altered to achieve balance in electronhole pair. The exciton diffuses from high to low concentration as it recombines to give light. The propagation of photons do have two possibilities whereby a part of the photons do move towards the cathode and reflect back while the remaining photons will move out of the device through the glass substrate [4]. B. Working Principle of OLET The principle of charge carrier transport and electroluminescence properties of OLET is similar to organic light emitting field effect transistor (OLEFET). The organic active layer is placed in contact with only the source and drain electrode. The gate dielectric isolates the gate electrode from the organic layer. The holes and electrons are injected into the channel from source and drain electrode as a result of appropriate gate electrode bias, VG. The movement of holes and electrons is also influenced by drain source bias, VDS. The amount of current that flows between the source and drain electrode is controlled by the gate electrode bias. The device is changed from off to on state by using this amount of current [4]. The electroluminescence properties of OLETs are mainly influenced by the type of organic materials used. The holes and electrons will form exciton which in contrast will recombine radiatively to generate light in the transistor channel. The location of light emission within the channel could be altered by changing the value of gate bias between hole injecting and electron injecting electrodes [4]. II. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS

I. INTRODUCTION

rganic electronics are seen to be gearing up to the second phase as a new and emerging technology. H.J.Round was the first individual to discover electroluminescence (EL) phenomenon in a piece of carborundum (SiC) crystal. Tang and Steven Van Slyke were the first individuals to invent the first organic light emitting diode (OLED) at Eastman Kodak [1]. The proposed structured gave surprisingly high light output and low operating voltage. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) can be explained as thin-film devices which could actively emit light with the presence of conjugated polymer semiconductor or an organic small molecule [2]. Basically, OLED consist of two charged electrode: transparent and reflecting electrode which are placed in sandwiched position on top of some light emitting materials that are made of organic components. The major limitation of OLED is that it suffers from photon loss and exciton quenching. Recently a team comprising researchers from Italy and United States came up with organic light emitting transistors (OLET) [3]. The proposed organic light emitting transistor (OLET) has combinational capability to switch the electronic signal such as the field effect transistor (FET) as well as generate light. Due to different driving structures, the new OLET promises better efficiency and lifetime of the used organic light emitting materials [3].

The OLET have structures similar to OLED and the schematic illustrations are shown in Figure 1 a) and b). All fabrication steps are performed in normal laboratory condition. ITO- coated glass from Sigma Aldrich is used as anode material. Prior to film deposition, the substrate was cleaned using acetone, isopropanol, deionised (DI) water

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RSM2011 Proc., 2011, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

and ultrasonic-bathed in isopropanol. The ITO glass was first spin coated with PEDOT:PSS at 3000rpm for 20seconds. The sample is placed on hot plate for 15 minutes at 100OC to ensure the solvent totally evaporated. 4 mg/mL of MEH-PPV is diluted using chloroform and stirred at 75OC on a hot plate for 10 minutes until the polymer is fully dissolved. The MEH-PPV solution is then spin coated with three different spin speeds; (spin speed:1000rpm, 2000rpm , 3000rpm time:20s). After that, the device is placed on a hot plate for 15 minutes at 100OC. Finally aluminium (Al) as a cathode contact is deposited on top of the MEH-PPV layer. The device is then applied voltage in the range of -5V to 5V to measure its I-V characteristics. Electrical data is obtained using Keithley 4200-SCS semiconductor parameter analyser (SPA) tool. Atomic force microscope (AFM) is used to analyze the surface morphology. OLET structures have additional LiF layer deposition after the deposition of active layer.

(b)

III RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

(c) Figure 2: Graph of average current value of 3 different points for a) 1000rpm b) 2000rpm c) 3000rpm spin speed of MEH-PPV layer (b)

(a)

Figure 1: Schematic illustration of a) OLED and b) OLET

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION A. I-V characteristics of OLED The thickness of MEH-PPV which acts as an active layer is varied in order to see the effect on the electrical properties. Three different spin speeds are used in this study: 1000rpm, 2000rpm and 3000rpm while the time is constant at 20 seconds. The uneven surfaces of deposited materials did affect the I-V graph. At some points, smooth graph of a diode could be obtained. Hence the position of the probes on both electrodes (ITO and Al) plays a vital part in obtaining smoother and better graphs. The probe acts as a medium to transfer the varied amount of voltage to the device. Resultant current flow as a result to the voltage is then represented by a graph.

Figure 2 summarizes the average current value for three different thicknesses (using different spin speed) of active layer as the voltage varied from -5V to 5V. The fabricated OLED devices do exhibit similar I-V characteristics of conventional diode. Error bars of standard deviation can be observed in all the average current values. Error bars visual device is generally used to convey uncertainty. Rather than depicting actual errors, these error bars indicate how widely the sepal lengths are spread around the mean. For 1000rpm and 200rpm the sepal lengths are spread largely at the beginning and ending of voltage values. From -3V to 2V the sepal lengths are very narrow whereby the values are within the average values. But in 3000 rpm spin speed the very narrow compared to ending values of voltage. The widest sepal lengths can be observed at -5V and 5V. B. I-V characteristics of OLET

(a)

(a)

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RSM2011 Proc., 2011, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

(a)

(b)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 4 : AFM surface morphology images of ITO a) before cleaning and after cleaning b)10s c) 30s d) 60s

(c)
Figure 3: I-V graph obtained for MEH-PPV at a) 1000rpm b) 2000rpm and c) 3000rpm

VGS (V) 1 2 3 4 5 6

Maximum current (Imax) 1000rpm 2000rpm 3000rpm -0.58 -0.65 -0.56 -0.57 -0.67 -0.51 -0.57 -0.58 -0.52 -0.55 -0.55 -0.52 -0.59 -0.58 -0.52 -0.57 -0.56 -0.53

It can be observed that surface of ITO appeared to be rougher before the cleaning process carried out as shown in Figure 4 (a). At the same time particles could be present on the surface as this study is conducted in laboratory condition rather than clean room condition. Many peaks on the ITO surface can be observed in Figure 4 (b) and (c). The height of each peak should be reduced in order to enhance the stability as well as efficiency of devices. As the cleaning time increased, smoother surface of ITO can be observed as shown in Figure 4 (d). Further increase in cleaning time beyond 60 seconds could yield better surface morphology of ITO layer. D. SURFACE MORPHOLOGY OF MEH-PPV

Table 1: Values of maximum current for different spin speeds as VGS varied.

Figure 3 shows I-V graphs for different thickness of MEH-PPV layer. The fabricated transistor illustrates function well according to the normal NMOS transistor. The curve splits nicely as the step value of VGS is inserted. The start and end value of VDS is set. For OLET testing, it is set to 0V and -1.00E+1V respectively. The maximum current obtained for each value of VGS is shown in Table 1. It can be concluded the maximum current for all spin speeds are in the range of 0.51 to -0.67.

(a)

(b)

(c)
Figure 5: AFM surface morphology images of MEH-PPV deposited at a) 1000rpm b)2000rpm and c)3000rpm

C. SURFACE MORPHOLOGY OF ITO LAYER

As observed in Figure 5, the surface morphology of MEHPPV with 1000rpm spin speed appeared to be smooth compared to other spin speed. However there is a huge

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RSM2011 Proc., 2011, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

valley which suggests that MEH-PPV layer has not been coated evenly. At that particular region, the thickness of MEH-PPV is very low compared to other region. Figure 5 (b) and (c) suggest that there are many particles that are found on the surface which attributed to the round small hollow on the surface. It can be concluded that the powdered MEH-PPV could be prone to contamination during the dilution with chloroform process. Furthermore, uneven surface of ITO could be one of the reasons in the formation of such small hollows. Peak to valley roughness as shown in figure 9 can be explained as the vertical distance between highest and lowest points within the overall measuring length. The roughness value for 1000rpm increased from 2.20E+02nm at 20000m to 2.45E+02 at 10000m while at 5000m the value decreases to 1.06E+02.As the scan areas reduced, the roughness value also should decrease. The increase in peak to valley roughness in 1000rpm can be attributed to the huge valley as shown in 8(a). The value increases as a result of increase in the distance between highest and lowest point within the scanning area. Root mean square roughness can be defined as root mean square value of the surface roughness profile from the middle line within the measuring length. From graph 10, it can be concluded that the values of root mean square roughness do decrease as the scan area reduced. In scan areas of 2000m and 15000m, the value of roughness for 1000rpm is very large compared to the other spin speeds. However at 5000m scan area, 2000rpm do have larger value of root mean square roughness which is 1.50E+01. IV. CONCLUSION
Figure 9 : Average roughness (Ra) of different spin speeds

The fabricated OLED and OLET devices can be regarded as successful from the electrical characteristics perspective. Better electrical characteristic can be observed in OLED device that uses MEH-PPV layer that being deposited at 3000rpm of spin speed. The value of current obtained in response to voltage input (-5V to 5V) is slightly lower compared to devices that being deposited with 2000rpm and 3000rpm of MEH-PPV. Increase in spin speed does help to spread the active layer evenly on the glass substrate. As a result, the recombination process could take place effectively as more holes and electrons will be transported to the active area. V. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors thank all technicians and teaching engineers in the MicroFab Cleanroom, UniMAP for helpful advice and discussions, provision of training and support for the OLED and OLET fabrication. VI. REFERENCES
[1] [2] Tang, C. W., Vanslyke, S. A. "Organic electroluminescent diodes". Applied Physics Letters 51 (12),pp 913, 1987 S. B. Wolfgang Brutting, Anton G. Muckl, "Device physics of organic light -emitting diodes based on molecular materials," Organic Electronics 2, vol. 1, 2001. S. T. Raffaella Capelli, Michele Muccini. (June 2010) Organic light-emitting transistors with an efficiency that outperforms the equivalent light -emitting diodes. Nature Materials. M.-K. Wei, et al., "Emission Characteristics of Organic LightEmitting Diodes and Organic Thin-Films with Planar and Corrugated Structures," International Journal of Molecular Sciences, vol. 11, pp. 1527-1545, 2010. C. S. Fabio Cicoira, Organic Light Emitting Field Effect Transistors:Advances and Perspectives. Advanced Functional Materials 17, pp. 3421-3434, 2007.

Figure 10 : Peak to valley roughness (Rpv) of different spin speeds

[3]

Figure 11 : Root mean square roughness (Rrms) of different spin speeds

[4]

Average roughness is the arithmetic mean of the surface roughness profile from the middle line within the measuring length. The bar graph in figure 8 shows average roughness value with respect to the scan areas and spin speeds. It can be concluded that 1000rpm do have larger values of average roughness for the first three scans area. At 5000m scan area, 2000rpm do have the highest average roughness value which is 1.20E+01nm. Overall, the value of average roughness decreases as the scan area reduced from 20000m to 5000m. However the value of average roughness at 5000m for 2000rpm is slightly higher compared to 10000m.

[5]

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