Polymer-Based White-Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells with Very High Color-Rendering Index Based on Blue-Green Fluorescent Polyfluorenes and Red-Phosphorescent Iridium Complexes.

Application of the concept of three-color (red (R), green (G), and blue (B)) light-mixing to obtain white light is the most suitable way to realize white-light-emitting devices with very high color-rendering indices (CRI). White-light-emitting devices based on the three-color-mixing method could be used to create lighting and display technologies. Here, white-light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) with very high CRIs are reported, which were fabricated by using blend films composed of a fluorescent π-conjugated polymer (FCP), poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole) (PFBT), and a phosphorescent iridium complex, [Ir(ppy)2 (biq)]+ (PF6 )- (where (ppy)- =2-phenylpyridinate and biq=2,2'-biquinoline). The LECs fabricated with PFBT, the benzothiadiazole content of which is 0.01 mol %, showed blue electroluminescence (EL) emission originating from the fluorene segments and green EL emission from the benzothiadiazole units simultaneously. White LECs were then realized by adding red-emitting Ir complexes as guest molecules to the blue-green-emitting PFBT. By optimizing the proportions of the PFBT and Ir complexes in the active layers (PFBT/[Ir(ppy)2 (biq)]+ (PF6 )- =1:0.2 (mass ratio)), white-light emission with Commission Internationale de l'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.29, 0.34) and a very high CRI value of 91.5 was achieved through RGB color-mixing. It was noted that the emission mechanism was based on Förster resonance energy transfer and Dexter energy transfer from excited PFBT to [Ir(ppy)2 (biq)]+ (PF6 )- . The utilization of LECs based on blue-green FCPs and red Ir complexes looks very promising for the prospect of realizing white-light-emitting devices with very high CRIs.

Fabrication of White Light-emitting Electrochemical Cells with Stable Emission from Exciplexes.

The authors present an approach for fabricating stable white light emission from polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (PLECs) having an active layer which consists of blue-fluorescent poly(9,9-di-n-dodecylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl) (PFD) and π-conjugated triphenylamine molecules. This white light emission originates from exciplexes formed between PFD and amines in electronically excited states. A device containing PFD, 4,4',4''-tris[2-naphthyl(phenyl)amino]triphenylamine (2-TNATA), Poly(ethylene oxide) and K2CF3SO3 showed white light emission with Commission internationale de l'éclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33, 0.43) and a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of Ra = 73 at an applied voltage of 3.5 V. Constant voltage measurements showed that the CIE coordinates of (0.27, 0.37), Ra of 67, and the emission color observed immediately after application of a voltage of 5 V were nearly unchanged and stable after 300 sec.

Color-temperature tunable white reflector using bichiral liquid crystal films.

We have demonstrated multicolored reflections showing various whitish colors from a bichiral liquid crystal (LC) film. The bichiral LC film was fabricated by using left-handed and right-handed polymeric cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) films with two different helical pitches and an isotropic polymer film in between. Color temperatures of the multiple reflections are controlled from ~4000 K to ~10000 K by changing linear polarization directions of normally incident and reflected lights. This characteristic can extend practical applications of CLCs to illuminant devices.

Low threshold lasing from dye-doped cholesteric liquid crystal multi-layered structures.

We fabricated novel hybrid structures composed of a dye-doped low-molecular-weight cholesteric liquid crystal sandwiched by multi-layered polymer cholesteric liquid crystal films and evaluated their lasing characteristics. Lasing was observed with an extremely reduced threshold (12 nJ/pulse) by a factor of 10 compared with that in a simple dye-doped low-molecular-weight cholesteric liquid crystal cell. Lasing characteristics experimentally obtained were discussed by comparing them with the simulated photonic density of states spectra.

Fabrication of a simultaneous red-green-blue reflector using single-pitched cholesteric liquid crystals.

A cholesteric liquid crystal (CLC) is a self-assembled photonic crystal formed by rodlike molecules, including chiral molecules, that arrange themselves in a helical fashion. The CLC has a single photonic bandgap and an associated one-colour reflection band for circularly polarized light with the same handedness as the CLC helix (selective reflection). These optical characteristics, particularly the circular polarization of the reflected light, are attractive for applications in reflective colour displays without using a backlight, for use as polarizers or colour filters and for mirrorless lasing. Recently, we showed by numerical simulation that simultaneous multicolour reflection is possible by introducing fibonaccian phase defects. Here, we design and fabricate a CLC system consisting of thin isotropic films and of polymeric CLC films, and demonstrate experimentally simultaneous red, green and blue reflections (multiple photonic bandgaps) using the single-pitched polymeric CLC films. The experimental reflection spectra are well simulated by calculations. The presented system can extend applications of CLCs to a wide-band region and could give rise to new photonic devices, in which white or multicolour light is manipulated.

Photoinduced circular anisotropy in a photochromic W-shaped-molecule-doped polymeric liquid crystal film.

Photoinduced circular anisotropy has been demonstrated in thin films of a main-chain polymeric liquid crystal (PLC) system doped with photochromic W-shaped molecules containing two azobenzene groups by irradiating with circularly polarized light (CPL). Reversible photoinduced circular dichroism (CD) was observed with sign relevant to the handedness of the CPL. The experimentally observed CD spectra were analyzed using the DeVoe polarizability model associated with the coupled oscillator method. We also propose a mechanism for the photoinduced circular anisotropy in our system; nucleating the W-shaped molecules with preferential twisted conformation by CPL irradiation, and triggering the local formation of a chiral structure in the W-shaped-molecule-doped main-chain PLC medium.

Electro-tunable optical diode based on photonic bandgap liquid-crystal heterojunctions.

Manipulation of light is in strong demand in information technologies. Among the wide range of linear and nonlinear optical devices that have been used, growing attention has been paid to photonic crystals that possess a periodic modulation of dielectric function. Among many photonic bandgap (PBG) structures, liquid crystals with periodic structures are very attractive as self-assembled photonic crystals, leading to optical devices such as dye lasers. Here we report a new hetero-PBG structure consisting of an anisotropic nematic layer sandwiched between two cholesteric liquid-crystal layers with different helical pitches. We optically visualized the dispersion relation of this structure, displaying the optical diode performance: that is, the non-reciprocal transmission of circular polarized light at the photonic-bandgap regions. Transmittance spectra with circularly polarized light also reveal the diode performance, which is well simulated in calculations that include an electro-tunable diode effect. Lasing action was also confirmed to show the diode effect with a particular directionality.

Standing wave enhancement of red absorbance and photocurrent in dye-sensitized titanium dioxide photoelectrodes coupled to photonic crystals.

The light harvesting efficiency of dye-sensitized photoelectrodes was enhanced by coupling a TiO(2) photonic crystal layer to a conventional film of TiO(2) nanoparticles. In addition to acting as a dielectric mirror, the inverse opal photonic crystal caused a significant change in dye absorbance which depended on the position of the stop band. Absorbance was suppressed at wavelengths shorter than the stop band maximum and was enhanced at longer wavelengths. This effect arises from the slow group velocity of light in the vicinity of the stop band, and the consequent localization of light intensity in the voids (to the blue) or in the dye-sensitized TiO(2) (to the red) portions of the photonic crystal. By coupling a photonic crystal to a film of TiO(2) nanoparticles, the short circuit photocurrent efficiency across the visible spectrum (400-750 nm) could be increased by about 26%, relative to an ordinary dye-sensitized nanocrystalline TiO(2) photoelectrode.