Patent · US Expired

Article comprising a microcavity light source

US5478658A · kind A · utility

87Cited by
3References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 20, 1994
Grant dateDec 26, 1995
Priority date
Expiry dateMay 20, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S428/917
  • WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Optical microcavities are potentially useful as light emitters for, e.g., flat panel displays. Such microcavities comprise a layer structure, including two spaced apart reflectors that define the cavity, with a layer of organic (electroluminescent) material disposed between the reflectors. We have discovered that a microcavity can simultaneously emit radiation of two or more predetermined colors such that the emission has a desired apparent color, exemplarily white. Emission of two or more colors requires that the effective optical length of the cavity is selected such that the cavity is a multimode cavity, with the wavelengths of two or more of the standing wave modes that are supported by the cavity lying within the emission region of the electroluminescence spectrum of the active material.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.