Semitransparent Thin-Film Dual-Metal Anode for Red-Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

Semitransparent dual-metal electrodes comprising several thin layers of metals, such as Ni, Ag, Cu, and Al, were developed for designing flexible red-phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). The said diodes were fabricated by first depositing a Ni layer on four glass and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates each to facilitate adhesion with glass and a flexible PET substrate. Subsequently, a conductive layer of Ni, Ag, Cu, and Al was stacked atop the first Ni layer on the four glass and PET substrates each, respectively. The proof of principles has been employed to demonstrate the performance potential via optical, physical, and electrical analyses of dual-as well as single-metal layers prior to device realization. In addition, their electrical and optical characteristics were compared against those of In-Sn-oxide-based OLEDs to demonstrate their potential with regard to application flexibility.