Electrothermal Tristability Causes Sudden Burn-In Phenomena in Organic LEDs

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been established as a mature display pixel technology. While introducing the same technology in a large-area form factor to general lighting and signage applications, some key questions remain unanswered. Under high-brightness conditions, OLED panels were reported to exhibit nonlinear electrothermal behavior causing lateral brightness inhomogeneities and even regions of switched-back luminance. Also, the physical understanding of sudden device failure and burn-ins is still rudimentary. A safe and stable operation of lighting tiles, therefore, requires an in-depth understanding of these physical phenomena. Here, it is shown that the electrothermal treatment of thin-film devices allows grasping the underlying physics. Configurations of OLEDs with different lateral dimensions are studied as a role model and it is reported that devices exceeding a certain panel size develop three stable, self heating-induced operating branches. Switching between them causes the sudden formation of dark spots in devices without any preexisting inhomogeneities. A current-stabilized operation mode is commonly used in the lighting industry, as it ensures degradation-induced voltage adjustments. Here, it is demonstrated that a tristable operation always leads to destructive switching, independent of applying constant currents or voltages. With this new understanding of the effects at high operation brightness, it will be possible to adjust driving schemes accordingly, design more resilient system integrations, and develop additional failure mitigation strategies. © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH Gmb