Multi-parameter and multi-objective optimization of stratified OLEDs over wide field-of-view considering thickness tolerance.

Poor wide field-of-view (FOV) performances and low production yields are major factors that restrict the application of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in large-size panels. In this paper, we propose an optimization and analysis method to improve optical performances of stratified OLEDs over wide FOV with consideration of the thickness tolerance in the practical production process. With key optical performance parameters defined using the angle-dependent luminescence spectra, including the external quantum efficiency (EQE), current efficiency (CE), just noticeable color difference (JNCD), and the color coordinates, the optimization of OLEDs over wide FOV is described as a multi-parameter and multi-objective optimization problem which is accomplished by the genetic algorithms (GAs). Further, the thickness tolerance is introduced to improve the structure stability considering thickness fluctuations in the practical production process. Appropriate thickness tolerances can be determined to achieve stable structures for the OLED device by defining and analyzing the distributions of preference regions of the GA output noninferior solutions and the correlation coefficients between the layer thicknesses. Based on the proposed methods, high-throughput simulations are carried out on a typical Green Bottom-emitting OLED (G-BOLED) to design a stable device structure with high-performances. Experimental results demonstrate that compared with the initial device, the performances of the optimized device have been significantly improved, with the CE improved by over 30% in the normal direction, the EQE improved by over 20%, and the JNCD reduced from 4.45 to 1.36 over the whole FOV of 0-60°. In addition, within the thickness fluctuation in the practical process, optimized devices can strictly satisfy the "Best" preferred region, indicating that the structure is more stable against thickness fluctuations in the practical production process. The proposed optimization method can simultaneously improve optical performances over wide FOV and provide a stable structure for stratified OLEDs, and it therefore can be expected to improve the production yields and promote the OLEDs applied to large-size panels.

Optical Model and Optimization for Coherent-Incoherent Hybrid Organic Solar Cells with Nanostructures.

Embedding nanostructures in organic solar cells (OSCs) is a well-known method to improve the absorption efficiency of the device by introducing the plasma resonance and scattering effects without increasing the active layer thickness. The introduction of nanostructures imposes greater demands on the optical analysis method for OSCs. In this paper, the generalized rigorous coupled-wave analysis (GRCWA) is presented to analyze and optimize the performance of coherent-incoherent hybrid organic solar cells (OSCs) with nanostructures. Considering the multiple reflections of light scattered within the glass substrate by the device, the correction vector g is derived, then the modified expressions for the field and absorption distribution in OSCs are provided. The proposed method is validated by comparing the simulated results of various structures with results obtained by the generalized transfer matrix method (GTMM) and the "equispaced thickness method" (ETM). The results demonstrate that the proposed method can reduce the number of simulations by at least half compared to the ETM while maintaining accuracy. With the proposed method, we discussed the device performance depending on the geometrical parameters of nanostructures, and the optimization and analysis are accomplished for single and tandem OSCs. After optimization based on the proposed method, the performance of OSCs are significantly improved, which further demonstrates the practicality of the method.

Multi-objective collaborative optimization strategy for efficiency and chromaticity of stratified OLEDs based on an optical simulation method and sensitivity analysis.

The low efficiency and dissatisfactory chromaticity remain as important challenges on the road to the OLED commercialization. In this paper, we propose a multi-objective collaborative optimization strategy to simultaneously improve the efficiency and ameliorate the chromaticity of the stratified OLED devices. Based on the formulations derived for the current efficiency and the chromaticity Commission International de L'Eclairage (CIE) of OLEDs, an optical sensitivity model is presented to quantitatively analyze the influence of the layer thickness on the current efficiency and the CIE. Subsequently, an evaluation function is defined to effectively balance the current efficiency as well as the CIE, and a collaborative optimization strategy is further proposed to simultaneously improve both of them. Simulations are comprehensively performed on a typical top-emitting blue OLED to demonstrate the necessity and the effectivity of the proposed strategy. The influences of the layer thickness incorporated in the blue OLED are ranked based on the sensitivity analysis method, and by optimizing the relative sensitive layer thicknesses in the optical views, a 16% improvement can be achieved for the current efficiency of the OLED with desired CIE meantime. Hence, the proposed multi-objective collaborative optimization strategy can be well applied to design high-performance OLED devices by improving the efficiency without chromaticity quality degradation.

Performance optimization of tandem organic solar cells at varying incident angles based on optical analysis method.

Tandem organic solar cells (OSCs) show great potential due to advantages such as the utilization of wide-spectrum light and low thermalization loss. The current mismatch between sub-cells is one of the major issues reducing the final output efficiency of a tandem device. In this paper, we focus on the current mismatch of tandem OSCs at oblique incidence and aim to reduce its adverse effect on the performances of realistic devices working at varying incident angle. Firstly, we propose an optical analysis method based on the 4×4 matrix formalism to analyze and optimize the performance of tandem solar cells at arbitrary incident angles. Compared with those optimal designs via matching the currents of sub-cells only at normal incidence, the proposed method chooses the optimal structure of the tandem device by maximizing the generated energy density per day with considering the current match at different incident angles during daytime. With the proposed method, a typical tandem organic solar cell is optimized as an example, and the optimized tandem device has a balanced current match at all incident angles during a whole day. Experimental results demonstrate that the generated energy density per day of the optimized tandem device has increased by 4.9% compared to the conventional device optimized only at normal incidence. The proposed method and results are expected to provide some new insights for the performance analysis and optimization of tandem or multi-junction solar cells, especially those devices exhibiting serious current mismatch between sub-cells at varying incident angles in practical applications.

Simulation method for study on outcoupling characteristics of stratified anisotropic OLEDs.

We derive explicit power dissipation functions for stratified anisotropic OLEDs based on a radiation model of dipole antennas inside anisotropic microcavity. The dipole field expressed by vector potential is expanded into plane waves whose coefficients are determined by scattering matrix method, and then an explicit expression is derived to calculate the energy flux through arbitrary interfaces. Taking advantage of the formulation, we can easily perform quantitative analysis on outcoupling characteristics of stratified anisotropic OLEDs, including outcoupling efficiency, normalized decay rate and angular emission profile. Simulations are carried out on a prototypic stratified OLED structure to verify the validity and capability of the proposed model. The dependencies of the outcoupling characteristics on various emission feature parameters, including dipole position, dipole orientation, and the intrinsic radiative quantum efficiency, are comprehensively evaluated and discussed. Results demonstrate that the optical anisotropy in different organic layers has nonnegligible influences on the far-field angular emission profile as well as outcoupling efficiency, and thereby highlight the necessity of our method. The proposed model can be expected to guide the optimal design of stratified anisotropic OLED devices, and help to solve the inverse outcoupling problem for determining the emission feature parameters.