Polymer LEDs and lasers for integrated optics

Summary form only given. Polymer LEDs and lasers are attractive for integrated optics because they can be easily deposited from solution by spin coating, inkjet printing or screen printing techniques onto just about any substrate. The best polymer LEDs now have high efficiencies (> 4 %), brightnesses of 100 Cd/m/sup 2/ at 3-4 V and lifetimes longer than 10,000 hours. Several companies are beginning to manufacture displays based on them. We are exploring the possibility of using polymer LEDs, or other polymer light-emitting devices for integrated optics. For this application, it is necessary to have light-emitting devices that emit over a narrow range of wavelengths. Since typical polymer LEDs have broad emission spectra, we have considered two possibilities for reducing the spectral width. These are making polymer distributed feedback diode lasers and transferring energy from polymers to rare earth complexes.