Light Manipulation of Nanostructured OLEDs

OLEDs are widely used today for displays and lighting. Most OLEDs are currently fabricated on planar substrates such as glass or plastic. OLED stacks on planar substrates function like asymmetric waveguides, with a significant portion of light trapped within the waveguide and substrate. By fabricating OLEDs on nanostructured substrates and controlling cavity modes, emitted light can be manipulated for various applications. For lighting purposes, the nanostructure can be tailored to suppress waveguide modes, maximizing light output. Additionally, by suppressing the air mode and selectively out-coupling waveguide modes, we can manipulate emitted light to achieve a narrow emission spectrum and control light polarization. This presentation will provide an overview of different strategies for optimizing light output from an OLED.