The new measuring method has been developed by dr. Siebe van Mensfoort (who obtained his PhD at TU/e last year) and PhD candidate Marco Carvelli from the Molecular Materials and Nanosystems group led by prof.dr.ir. René Janssen and prof.dr. Reinder Coehoorn. They constructed a measuring device that enables them to analyze the light made in the thin active film in the OLEDs down to the smallest detail. Not all the light that is generated reaches our eyes: a portion of it remains locked up in the OLED. In order to understand the exact workings of this phenomenon, detailed measurements in the active film are required. Carvelli states that the researchers have now developed the microscope, as it were, that makes it possible for this knowledge to be gathered.

OLEDs (Organic Light-Emitting Diodes) consist of a thin plastic film that emits light when you send an electric current through it. You can use them to make light-emitting foils which may be folded in random forms. The technology involved is relatively energy-saving and has the added bonus that it allows the combination of various films, each of which emits a certain color of light, in order to make natural ‘white’ light, for example. The researchers indicate that the new measuring method also enables them to attain a better understanding of the working of these multi-layered OLEDs. (TJ)/.