Preparations and Characterizations of Thin Film Encapsulation for Organic Light-Emitting Devices

This project aims to develop advanced thin film encapsulation technologies for ultra-thin, ultra-light, and flexible organic light-emitting devices (OLED) and study how the chemical compositions, mechanical properties, molecular structures, morphologies, and preparation conditions of the encapsulated films determine the storage and operational stability, optical transparency, and flexibility of the OLEDs. Thin film packaging in the form of multilayered fluorocarbon (CFx) and silicon nitride (SiNx) are the key focus. The methods involve chemical vapour deposition and magnetron sputtering techniques. With optimization of the deposition processes, the researchers target at delivering thin-film encapsulated OLED with a lifetime greater than 90% of the conventional glass encapsulated device. The results will increase understanding of the film structures and degradation mechanisms, leading to thin-film encapsulated OLEDs that are thinner with longer lifetime and better flexibility. Thin film encapsulation is a targeted area of high-technology development. The knowledge generated from this research will be of practical interest for worldwide OLED and flexible OLED researchers.