Scalable nanopatterning of organic light-emitting diodes beyond the diffraction limit

Miniaturization of light-emitting diodes below the diffraction limit of the emission wavelength can enable super-resolution imaging and on-chip light sources for ultrabroadband chiplet communication. Organic light-emitting diodes, although suitable for miniaturization due to their emission from localized excitons, suffer from the limited compatibility of organic materials with traditional photolithographic patterning. Here we develop a method for the scalable fabrication of nanoscale organic light-emitting diodes with pixel densities up to 100,000 pixels per inch, periodicity of 250 nm and the smallest pixel size in the order of 100 nm. We realize the direct nanoscale patterning of organic semiconductors by self-aligned nanostencil etching and lithography. The process is resist-free and involves etching and evaporation through nanoapertures in a free-standing film adhering to the substrate. A nanoscale organic light-emitting diode surface with over 1 megapixel exhibits an average external quantum efficiency of 13.1%. We also demonstrate electroluminescent metasurfaces with subwavelength-scale meta-atoms that can electrically modulate the emitted light. The diffractive coupling between nanopixels enables control over the far-field emission properties of light, including directionality and polarization. These results pave the way for hybrid integrated photonics technologies, including visible-light communication, lasing and high-resolution displays.