Increased OLED radiative efficiency using a directive optical antenna

We investigate the improvement in efficiency of organic light emitting diodes/displays (OLEDs) by embedding a typical OLED structure within a metallic patch grating resonator. A patch grating resonator is similar to the more familiar Fabry-Perot resonator, except that one mirror of the resonator is a metallic patch grating with a pitch ~ λ /2 that reduces lateral propagation of radiative emission. FDTD simulations of the proposed structure indicate a potential 71% increase in emitted power over that of a reference OLED structure, and an additional 5% gain from adding an ITO spacer adjacent to the metallic electrode layer (for a total 76% increase). Implementation of this structure requires little to no modification of the OLED manufacturing process.