Bifacial Color-Tunable Electroluminescent Devices

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jun 23;13(24):28514-28520. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c08360. Epub 2021 Jun 10.

Abstract

Alternate current electroluminescent (ACEL) devices provide a range of interesting properties, such as facile large-area processability, mechanical flexibility, and outstanding resilience, when compared with other large-area light-emitting technologies. To widen the scope of possible applications for ACEL devices, color tunability and white light emission are desirable. Here, we introduce a novel three-terminal device architecture based on two monolithically stacked ACEL devices (e.g., orange and blue) that allows for color tunability via independent operation of the subdevices. The tandem devices comprise semitransparent bottom and top electrodes based on networks of silver nanowires, which endow the tandem ACEL device with bifacial Janus-type emission. We provide a detailed analysis of the sources of optical losses in single and tandem ACEL devices. Our novel device concept enables novel facets of applications for ACEL in signage and lighting.

Keywords: alternate current electroluminescent device; flexible device; light-emitting device; multicolor device; tandem device; white emission.