Developments in polymer materials for electroluminesence

In the last few years industrial research into materials fulfilling the needs of the fledgling OLED display industry have intensified considerably. At Covion we have developed a range of polymers based on phenyl-PPV derivatives which are now being commercially exploited in the first polymer LED applications. These materials have been developed systematically with the demanding requirements of the devices (e.g., high efficiency and lifetime) and the industrial applicability (e.g. processibility, reproducibility and reliability of supply) in mind. However due to market forces, such as the introduction of 3(rd) generation mobile communication technology, there will be an immediate demand or materials for full colour OLED displays. In this paper we will report on progress in the development of Red, Green and Blue (RGB) materials at Covion. The requirements for the different colours vary depending on band gap (amongst others) and therefore the challenges for each colour are different. The experience gained in understanding the important structure-property relationships in the phenyl-PPVs has been used to develop these new RGB materials.