Tunnel thin film electroluminescent device
US5796120A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 28, 1995 |
| Grant date | Aug 18, 1998 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 28, 2015 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH05B33/12
- WIPO fieldElectrical machinery, apparatus, energy
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A low voltage tunnel thin film electroluminescent device (10) that comprises a conductive layer (13) that acts as a source of electrons, a first thin barrier layer (14) deposited on the conductive layer, a luminescent layer (16) deposited on the barrier layer a second thin barrier layer (14) deposited on said luminescent layer, and an electrode (18) deposited on the second barrier layer. Electrons from the source layer tunnel through the thin tunnel barrier layer into the luminescent layer which is doped with luminescent centers. The electrons that tunnel through the thin tunnel barrier layer into the luminescent layer have kinetic energy that is within a narrow energy distribution. The material comprising the first barrier layer is preferably chosen to have a positive conduction band off-set (22) with respect to the conductive layer and the material comprising the luminescent layer is chosen to have a negative conduction band off-set (24) with respect to said first barrier layer, wherein the negative conduction band off-set is greater than the positive conduction band off-set. Further, the different material layers are preferably lattice-matched and epitaxially grown in order to m…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.