Improvement in luminance efficiency of organic light emitting diodes by suppression of secondary electron bombardment of substrate during sputter deposition of top electrode films

In this study, we investigated the degradation mechanisms of the luminance performance of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) when their top electrode films were deposited by sputter deposition process. During the sputter deposition of the top electrode films, the suppression of the incidence of high-energy electrons on the substrate was attempted using various methods. As a result, we found that during electrode deposition, the incidence of the high-energy secondary electrons, which were emitted from the target surface, on the substrate was the main cause of the significant degradation of the luminance performance. It was also found that the application of a magnetic field by setting permanent magnets near the substrate holder and the insertion of a shield plate near the target cathode were effective in suppressing the incidence of secondary electrons on the substrate.