Module 2

Materials for Memory and

Display Systems

1
 Memory Devices

➢ Conventional memory devices are implemented on semiconductor-based integrated circuits, such as

transistors and capacitors.

➢ With the advancement of technology, there is an increase in the demand for high performance

digital gadgets.

➢ To improve the performance of gadget, capacity of data storage device needs to be improved.

➢ In order to achieve greater density of data storage and faster access to information, more

components are deliberately packed onto a single chip.

➢ The size of transistors has decreased from 130 nm in the year 2000 to 32 nm at present.

➢ Silicon-based semiconductor devices become less stable below 22 nm.

2
➢ Reduction in the size of transistor below this level, reduces their reliability to store and read

individual bits of information and increases power consumption and results in unwanted heat

generation.

➢ Therefore, the currently used silicon-based semiconductor memory devices cannot fulfil the

requirements of information storage of the near future.

➢ Research in progress to look for alternative memory device.

➢ Ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), Magneto resistive random access memory

(MRAM), Phase change memory (PCM), and organic/polymer memory devices have shown the

potential to be the new data storage technologies.

➢ Among them organic/ polymer memory devices have evinced more interest due to their

advantageous properties.

3
 Electronic memory device

An electronic memory device is a form of semiconductor storage which is fast in

response and compact in size, and can be read and written when coupled with a central

processing unit (CPU, a processor).

An electronic memory is a component, device or recording medium used to store data for

retrieval on a temporary or permanent basis for use in a computer or other digital electronic

devices. It is one of the fundamental components of all modern computers and electronic

systems.

4
 Basic concepts of electronic memory
For a material to show memory effect, the main essential requirement are

1) The individual memory cells, must possess at least two stable states. In silicon based electronic

memory devices used today, data are stored based on the amount of charge stored in the memory

cells. Memory cells exhibit two charge states which are coded as “0” and “1”. These states are

also referred to as ON state and OFF state.

2) These states must be stable for a period appropriate for the data storage.

3) They can be switched between two states by an external stimulus. This is called as the writing

process.

4) The states can be distinguished by applying a further external signal. This is called as the reading

process.
5
 Organic Electronic Memory Devices

➢ New organic/polymeric materials exhibit two electrical stable states known as electrical bi-stability.

➢ They can shift from one state (ON state) to other state (OFF state) when an external electric field is

applied.

➢ In these devices information is stored and retrieved by encoding these two states.

➢ Therefore, these materials store information in the form of change in their properties under applied

electric field.

➢ Hence, these are different from silicon based electronic memory devices used today, which store

data in two charge states which are coded as 0 and 1.

6
 Advantage of organic and polymer electronic memory devices

➢ Dimension of the device can be decreased(miniaturized).

➢ Data storage capacity can be increased to very large extent.

➢ They can be processed easily.

➢ Structure of the molecule used can be designed through chemical synthesis.

➢ Device structure is very simple.

➢ Cost of production is less.

➢ Power consumption during operation is low.

➢ They exhibit multiple state properties.

7
8
 History of organic/Polymer electronic memory devices

• During 1968-70, bistable electrical conductivity and resistivity phenomenon was observed in

Pb/polydivinylbenzene, tetracene, phthalocyanines and polystyrene polymer materials. All these

materials showed bistable switching and memory switching effects. But the performance was not

satisfactory for practical applications.

• During same period, controlled polymer chain ordering and disordering with respect to electric

field was discovered in Polymethacrylate, polystyrene polyethylmethacrylate and

polybutylmethacrylate polymer films.

• In 1980s, two stable ferroelectric polarization states were discovered in polymers. Thin films of

ferroelectric polymer materials can be repeatedly switched between two stable, and are capable of

exhibiting non-volatile memory effects. But they required very high operating voltage of 30V.

9
• In 1995, ferroelectric polymer films as thin as 1nm were fabricated. These required just 1V to

switch between two states. Since, then Polymer ferro- electric random access memory (FeRAM)

was developed as a promising memory technology.

• In 2001, an organic field- effect transistors (OFETs) memory device was demonstrated using a

sexithiophene oligomer as the conductor and a ferroelectric organic polymer material as gate

insulator.

• In 2003, a WORM type memory device was developed consisting of a thin film p-i-n silicon diode

and a mixture of two conductive polymers, poly(ethylene dioxythiophene) and poly(strene

sulfonic acid).

• During same time, bistable electrical switching and memory effect was discovered in involving

charge transfer (CT) complexes with an electron donor and an electron acceptor.

10
 Cu, Gold, Carbon Nano Tube were used as electron acceptors. 8-hydroxyquinoline(8HQ),

tetrathiafulvalene (TTF), polyaniline (PANI), poly-3-hexylthiophene(P3HT), were used as

electron donors. these were used in several polymer electronic memory devices, including flash

memory, WORM memory and DRAM.

• In 2004, ultrathin film organic materials were discovered with multilevel conductivity states.

Poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)- 1,4-phenylene vinylene polymer showed one low- and

three high-conducting states. All four accessible states have associated memory effects for data-

storage applications. In order to achieve ultrahigh density memory devices, organic materials

with multilevel stable states are highly desirable.

11
• In 2005, multilevel conductance switching films with a continuum of conductance states was

reported in ITO/MEH-PPV/Al device with poly[2-methoxy-5-(2-ethyl-hexyloxy)- 1,4-phenylene

vinylene] (MEH-PPV) films.

• Devices demonstrating multistability where more than two conducting states can be programmed

into a single switching element will dramatically increase the amount of data stored per area or

volume. Further progress in the development of multilevel organic polymer memory has been

made in recent years.

• The international Technology Roadmap for semiconductors (ITRS) has identified polymer

memory as an emerging memory technology since the year 2005.

12
 Classification of electronic memory devices

According to the device structure, electronic memory devices can be divided into

four primary categories: transistor-type, capacitor type, resistor-type and charge

transfer-type.

13
 Transistor-type electronic memory

➢ In order to store data in a memory device, it must have minimum two distinct electronic states.

These states are assigned as “0” and “1” or “ON’ and “OFF”, respectively.

➢ A transistor-type semiconducting electronic memory device contains a fine electronic circuit,

including a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) transistor and capacitor(C). This

device has a minute and complicated electric circuit. In this circuit “0” and “1” corresponds to the

“discharged” and “charged” states of the capacitor, respectively.

➢ Organic transistor memory device stores data in a completely different fashion. It stores data based

on two conductivity states. The “low conductivity state” and “high conductivity state” are assigned

the “0” and “1” or “ON” and “OFF” respectively.

14
➢ Therefore, in this organic transistor memory device, the organic material itself is the

memory element.

➢ Therefore, organic transistor memory device structure can be simplified and the device

can be fabricated in simple steps.

15
 What Does Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Mean?

A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) is an integrated circuit design on

a printed circuit board (PCB) that uses semiconductor technology. The PCB has
microchips and a layout of electric circuits that connect the chips. All circuit boards are
typically either CMOS chips, N-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS) logic, or
transistor-transistor logic (TTL) chips. The CMOS chip is most commonly used, as it
produces less heat and requires less electricity than the others.
CMOS is used in static RAM, digital logic circuits, microprocessors, microcontrollers,
image sensors, and the conversion of computer data from one file format to another. Most
configuration information on newer CPUs is stored on one CMOS chip. The
configuration information on a CMOS chip is called the real-time clock/nonvolatile
RAM (RTC/NVRAM) chip, which works to retain data when the computer is shut off.

16
 Capacitor -type electronic memory device

➢ Organic and polymeric ferroelectric materials can be used in capacitor- type electronic
memory device.

➢ Capacitors have two parallel plate electrodes and charges are stored in these electrodes
under an applied electric field.

➢ Bistable states of capacitor is based on the amount of charge stored in the cell.

➢ Data can be stored in these devices based on different charge stored in the cell.

➢ Charges stored in the cell maintain electric polarization that can be switched between
two stable states by an external electric field.

17
 Resistor -type electronic memory device

➢ This type of memory device uses switchable resistive materials to store data.

➢ It is based on the change of the electrical resistivity of materials in response to an

applied voltage(electric field).

➢ Electrical bistability arises in these materials due to different electrical resistivity

which are assigned ON and OFF states.

18
 Charge Transfer type electronic memory device
➢ This type of electronic device is based on the charge transfer effects of a charge transfer

complex.

➢ A charge transfer (CT) complex consists of two parts, one electron donor and other an

electron acceptor. It is also called as a donor-acceptor(D-A) complex.

➢ The conductivity of a CT complex is dependent on the ionic binding between the D-A

components.

➢ In CT complex, a partial transfer of charge occurs from donor part to the acceptor part.

This results in difference in conductivity.

19
➢ CT complexes exhibit bistable states due to difference in conductivity.

➢ This behavior is used to design molecular electronic devices. Many organic CT

systems, including organometallic complexes, carbon allotrope (fullerene, carbon

nanotubes and graphene)-based polymer complexes, gold nanoparticle-polymer

complexes, and single polymers with intra-molecular D-A structure are used for

memory applications.

20
 Classification of Electronic memories
A computer system contains several kinds of storage. Each type of storage is used for
different purpose.

According to the storage type of the device, electronic memory can be divided into two
primary categories:

❑ Volatile memory

❑ Non-volatile memory

21
Classification of Electronic memories

22
 Volatile memory

Volatile memory eventually loses the stored information unless it is provided with a

constant power supply or refreshed periodically with a pulse. The most widely used form of

primary storage today is volatile memory.

Random access memory (RAM): It is volatile memory. RAM requires the stored

information to be periodically read and re-written, or refreshed, otherwise the data will be

lost. It is further divided into SRAM and DRAM.

23
 Static random access memory (SRAM)

➢ SRAM is another type of volatile memory.

➢ The term “static” differentiates it from “dynamic” RAM (DRAM) which must be
periodically refreshed.

➢ SRAM exhibits data remanence, but it is still volatile and the stored data are eventually
lost when the memory remains in the power-off state.

➢ SRAM is faster and more reliable than the more common DRAM. Due to its high cost,
SRAM is often used only as a memory cache.

24
 Dynamic random access memory (DRAM)

➢ DRAM is a type of volatile random access memory that stores each bit of data in a

separate capacitor within an integrated circuit.

➢ Since real-world capacitors have charge-leaking tendencies, the stored data eventually

fade unless the device is refreshed periodically.

➢ Because of this periodical refresh requirement, it is a volatile and dynamic memory.

➢ The volatility, ultrafast data access time and structural simplicity hold great promise for

high density and fast responding performance, making DRAM memory the main

memory for most computers.

25
 Non-volatile memory

Read only memory (ROM)

ROM is factory programmable only; data is physically encoded in the circuit and cannot be
programmed after fabrication.
ROM is further classified into WORM and EPROM.

• WORM, write-once read-many-times (WORM) memory: A WORM memory device

can be used to store archival standards, data-bases and other massive data where
information has to be reliably preserved for a long period of time. Conventional CD-RS,
DVD+RS or programmable-read-only-memory (PROM) devices are examples of
WORM memory.

26
• EPROM- erasable programmable read-only memory, form of computer memory

that does not lose its content when the power supply is cut off and that can be erased

and reused. EPROMs are generally employed for programs designed for repeated use

but that can be upgraded with a later version of a program.

27
b) Hybrid memory: Hybrid memory allows data to be read and re-written at any time. It

is further classified in to flash and EEPROM memory.

• Flash, hybrid non-volatile electronic memory: Flash memory is another type of non-

volatile electronic memory. Different from WORM memory, its stored state can be

electrically reprogrammed and it has the ability to write, read, erase and retain the

stored state. Thus, it is mutable or rewritable in nature. Due to its non-volatility, no

power is needed to maintain the information stored in flash memory.

• EEPROM - Electrically erasable programmable read-only memory, is a user-

modifiable ROM. It can be erased and reprogrammed (written to) repeatedly by

applying an electrical voltage that is higher than normal.

28
 Types of organic memory materials

There are 3 classes of materials which can exhibit bistable states and are used in organic

memory devices. They are:

1) Organic molecules

2) Polymeric materials

3) Organic-inorganic hybrid materials

Under each category, lot of different types of molecules exhibiting memory effect are

available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7in7KAZgvgQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3q5zWCw8J4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2KaVfSH884

29
 Organic Molecules

There are different category of organic molecules which show bistable or multistable

states when external field is applied. When a threshold voltage is applied they undergo a

transition from the OFF state to, the ON state, or from the ON state to the OFF state. All

these materials can be used in organic electronic memory devices.

30
 1. Acene derivatives

➢ Acenes are the polycyclic aromatic compounds consisting of linearly fused benzene
rings.

➢ They are the very first discovered organic memory devices because of their high charge
carrier mobility.

➢ Examples for acenes are pentacene, perfluoropentacene, naphthalene, anthracene,

tetracene.

➢ The most important member of the acene family is pentacene.

➢ It is a linearly-fused aromatic compound with five benzene rings.

➢ It can be obtained in crystal and thin film form. Both forms exhibits a very good hole
mobility and hence it behaves as a p-type semiconductor.

31
 Acene derivatives

➢ The linear acene molecules are made up of fused benzene rings.

➢ These molecules easily form relatively high quality semiconducting crystals.

➢ The acene molecules have sp2 hybridized carbons in which carbon is bonded to its

neighbors by σ bonds. 2s, 2px and 2py orbitals of a carbon atom are hybridized and form

the three σ bonds.

➢ The remaining 2pz orbital contributes to the formation of a π bond. The delocalization of

electrons occurs through the overlap between π orbitals along the molecular chains

within a molecule.

32
 Pentacene
Pentacene (from penta = five, and acenes = polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with fused
benzene rings) is a flat-like molecule made of five linearly fused benzene rings. Interest in
pentacene has grown dramatically in recent years as a result of both its crystals and thin
films behaving as a p-type organic semiconductor which can be employed to manufacture
electronic devices such as the organic field-effect transistor (OFET).

33
 Perfluoropentacene

When all the hydrogen atoms of pentacene are replaced by fluorine atoms the resulting

molecules is perfluoropentacene. Strongly electron withdrawing nature of fluorine atoms

converts this molecule into n-type semiconductor.

Pentacene and Perfluoropentacene, both have similar structure and similar crystal packing
but former behaves as p-type semiconductor and latter behaves as an n-type semiconductor.
Therefore, these molecules exhibit charge- transfer processes that are useful for memory
applications. 34
 Perfluoropentacene

Perfluoropentacene which contains fluorine atoms in place of hydrogen. This molecule

behaves like an n-type semiconductor while retaining almost the same molecular size as

that of pentacene. Theoretical calculations indicate that fully replacing H with F atoms has

the effect of decreasing the HOMO-LUMO energy gap from 2.21 eV (pentacene) to 2.02

eV (perfluoropentacene).

35
 Polymeric Molecules

There are five classes of polymers which exhibit memory effect and are used in electronic
memory devices.

1) Functional polyimides (PIs):

➢ Functional polyimides (PIs) are one of the most commonly used polymeric materials for
organic electrical memory applications.

➢ They have high thermal stability and mechanical strength and can be easily processed
from solution, in functional PIs, phthalimide acts as the electron acceptor, and
triphenylamine acts as an electron donor to form a Donor-Acceptor structure.

➢ They exhibit two stable charge states under applied electric field.

➢ These states arise due to transfer of electrons from donor to acceptor. This bistability is
used to store data in memory device.

36
 Polymeric Molecules

Triphenylamine Phthalimide

37
38
Functional polyimides (PIs)

39
 Optoelectronics

Optoelectronics is the communication between optics and electronics which includes the

study, design and manufacture of a hardware device that converts electrical energy into

light and light into energy through semiconductors.

Optoelectronic devices

A hardware device that converts electrical energy into light and light into energy

through semiconductors. Optoelectronic devices are primarily transducers i.e. they can

convert one energy form to another. They can also detect light and transform light signals

to electrical signals for processing by a computer.

40
 Working principle
Optoelectronic devices are special types of semiconductor devices that are able to

convert light energy to electrical energy or electrical energy to light energy

If the photon has an energy larger than the energy gap, the photon will be absorbed by the

semiconductor, exciting an electron from the valence band into the conduction band,

where it is free to move. A free hole is left behind in the valence band. When the excited

electron returns to valence band, extra photon energy is emitted in the form a light. This

principle is used in Optoelectronic devices.

41
 Examples of optoelectronic devices consist of:
•Telecommunication laser
•Optical fibre
•Blue laser
•LED traffic lights
•Photodiodes
•Solar cells

The most common optoelectronic devices that feature direct conversion between electrons
and photons are LEDs, photo and laser diodes, and solar cells.

42
 Optoelectronic devices

Optoelectronic devices are special types of semiconductor devices that are able to convert
light energy to electrical energy or electrical energy to light energy.

Solid crystalline minerals, which are heavier than insulators but lighter than metals, are
used to make this device. An optoelectronic device is an electrical gadget that uses light.
Numerous optoelectronics applications, including those in the military,
telecommunications, automatic access control systems, and medical equipment, use this
technology.

43
 Properties of Optoelectronic Devices

•Such devices have a longer wavelength.

•They can be easily fabricated.
•They are cost-effective.
•They have the size of a nanometer.
•Such devices use high-power light sources.
•Optoelectronic junction devices are the p-n junction devices in
which the carriers are generated by the photons.

Some examples of optoelectronic devices are light-emitting diodes (LED), Solar cells,
and Photodiodes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L2i9YCHWLQ&ab_channel=AgaynaSansara
44
 Display Systems
Photoactive materials

➢ Photoactive materials are those that can absorb light and convert it into an electrical

signal.

➢ These materials are used in photosensors and photovoltaic cells, which are commonly

found in solar panels.

➢ When light falls on a photoactive material, it releases electrons, which generate an

electric current.

➢ In display technology, photoactive materials are used in LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)

panels, where they are used as a backlight or to control the pixels in the display.

45
 Electroactive materials

➢ Electroactive materials, are those that can change their physical properties, such as

shape, size, or refractive index, when exposed to an electric field.

➢ These materials are used in electroluminescent displays, which are commonly found in

watches, calculators, and other portable electronic devices.

➢ When an electric field is applied to an electroactive material, it emits light, which is used

to create the image on the display.

46
 Photoactive and Electroactive materials

➢ The working principle of display systems using these materials depends on their

properties.

➢ In LCD panels, photoactive materials are used to control the pixels by allowing or

blocking the light.

➢ A backlight is placed behind the LCD panel, which emits light that passes through a

polarizing filter.

➢ The photoactive material is placed in front of the polarizing filter, and the orientation of

the molecules of the material can be changed by applying an electric field.

➢ This changes the amount of light that is allowed to pass through the material, thus

controlling the brightness of the pixel.

47
 Principle
Functioning principle is based on the generation of electrical current as a consequence of sunlight

absorption, and specifically on the jump of electrons from the valence band to the conduction band

when the photoactive material is irradiated with light having energy equal or higher the material

bandgap.

48
 Nanomaterials
➢ Materials with at least one external dimension less than 100 nanometer

➢ Nano – derived from a Greek word Nanos meaning DWARF or small

➢ Norio Taniguchi, 1974 – coined the term nanotechnology

➢ A nanometer is one billionth of a meter (10-9 m)

 Nanomaterials

▪ Nanoscience: is the study of nano-materials, their properties and related

phenomena

▪ Nanotechnology: is the application of nanoscience to produce devices and

products

▪ What makes nanotechnology interesting is the fact that properties of a material

change with the change in size at a nanoscale. The changes take place at the
atomic and molecular level of a material.
 Nanomaterials (Silicon Nanocrystals)

Any substance in which at least one dimension is less than 100nm is called Nano materials.

The properties of nanomaterials are different from bulk materials due to:

1. Quantum Confinement effect

2. Increased surface area to volume ratio

The improved electronic properties yielded for nanostructured silicon in comparison to its

bulk, which led the use of Silicon Nanocrystals in electronics and optoelectronics fields

51
 Special properties of Silicon Nanocrystals for optoelectronics

1. Silicon Nano crystal has wider bandgap energy due to quantum confinement.

2. Si NCs shows higher light emission property (Photoluminescence).

3. Si NCs exhibit quantum yield of more than 60%.

4. Si-NCs exhibit tunable electronic structure.

5. Larger surface area-volume ration.

52
 Organic materials

➢ Organic materials are considered to be one of the competent candidates for the

application of nonlinear optical phenomena.

➢ Organic (opto)electronic materials have received considerable attention due to their

applications in thin-film-transistors, light-emitting diodes, solar cells, sensors,

photorefractive devices, and many others.

➢ The technological promises include low cost of these materials and the possibility of their

room-temperature deposition from solution on large-area and/or flexible substrates.

53
➢ The field of organic electronics has been heavily impacted by the discovery and development of π-

conjugated conducting polymers.

➢ These polymers show great potential for integration into future optical and electronic devices due to

their capacity to transition between semiconducting and conducting states as well as the ability

to alter mechanical properties by controlled doping, chemical modification, and stacking or

creating composites with other materials.

➢ Among π-conjugated polymers, polythiophene and its derivatives has been one of the most

extensively studied and is widely investigated computationally and experimentally for use in

electronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, water purification devices, hydrogen storage, and

biosensors.

54
 Light absorbing materials
Polythiophenes

Polythiophenes are an important class of conjugated polymers, environmentally and

thermally stable material.
The chemical structure of P3HT Poly(3-hexylthiophene) is a polymer with chemical
formula (C10H14S)n.
It is a polythiophene with a short alkyl group on each repeat unit. Highly ordered (P3HT)
are composed of closely packed, p–p stacked (p–p distance of 0.33 nm) fully extended
chains which are oriented perpendicular to the substrate.

55
 Properties

1. P3HT is a semiconducting polymer with high stability and exhibits conductivity due to
holes therefore considered as p-type semiconductor.
2. Poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) have great capability as light-absorbing materials in
organic electronic devices.
3. P3HT has a crystalline structure and good charge-transport properties required for
Optoelectronics.
4. P3HT has a direct-allowed optical transition with a fundamental energy gap of 2.14 eV.
5. Fundamental bandgap of P3HT is 490nm visible region, corresponding to π →π*
transition, giving electron-hole pair.
6. P3HT indicate that an increase in the conductivity is associated with an increase in the
degree of Crystallinity.

56
 Applications

1. P3HT-ITO forms a p-n junction permit the charge carriers to move in opposite direction

and hence, used in Photovoltaic devices.

2. It can be used as a positive electrode in Lithium batteries.

3. Used in the construction of Organic Solar Cells.

4. Manufacture of smart windows .

5. Used in the fabrication new types of memory devices.

57
 Polythiophenes

Polythiophene exhibits high chemical and environmental stability, high capacitance,

low cost, high conductivity, excellent mechanical stability, and redox properties. Due

to these properties and ease in scaling up the synthesis process, PTh has been employed in

various applications.

58
Polythiophenes

59
 Poly[9-vinylcarbazole]
Poly (N-vinyl carbazole) (PVK) is one of the highly processable polymers as hole
conducting material and therefore used as an efficient hole transport material to prepare
highly efficient and stable planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells.
Applications
1. PVK has been commonly used in OLEDs, light harvesting applications, photorefractive
polymer composites and memory devices.
2. Used in the fabrication of light-emitting diodes and laser printers.
3. Used in the fabrication of organic solar cells when combined with TIO on glass
substrate.
4. Used in the fabrication of solar cells when combined with Perovskite materials.
5. PVK-Perovskite junction is used in Light-Emitting Diodes with Enhanced Efficiency
and Stability.

60
 Poly[9-vinylcarbazole]

Poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) is a polymeric semiconductor that is widely used as a hole

transport and electron blocking layer in various optoelectronic devices.

Poly(9-vinylcarbazole) (PVK) is a conductive polymer which is mainly used as a hole

transporting medium at high efficiencies with low driving voltage. It can also be used as an
anode for hole injection and can act as an effective charge transferring gate by co-doping it
with organic dyes.

61
 Liquid crystals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAJgchCI3kg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx-JVoOFYhs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxygknX1AiE 62
 Liquid crystals

The study of liquid crystals began in 1888 when an Austrian botanist named Friedrich

Reinitzer observed that a material known as cholesteryl benzoate had two distinct melting

points. In his experiments, Reinitzer increased the temperature of a solid sample and

watched the crystal change into a hazy liquid. As he increased the temperature further, the

material changed again into a clear, transparent liquid. Because of this early work,

Reinitzer is often credited with discovering a new phase of matter - the liquid crystal

phase.

63
64
65
 Liquid crystals

A liquid crystal is a thermodynamically stable phase characterized by anisotropy of

properties without the existence of a three-dimensional crystal lattice, generally lying in
the temperature range between the solid and isotropic liquid phase, hence the term
mesophase. Liquid crystal materials are unique in their properties and uses. As research
into this field continues and as new applications are developed, liquid crystals will play an
important role in modern technology.

The liquid crystalline phase exists between the state of a crystalline solid and that of the

isotropic liquid. The LC-phase (liquid crystal) is also called mesophase (Greek: mésos

= center), and the molecules that can form such mesophases are called mesogens.

66
67
68
 THERMOTROPIC LIQUID CRYSTALS

Liquid crystals are said to be thermotropic if there

liquid crystalline properties depend on the
temperature.
 NEMATIC LIQUID CRYSTALS

One of the most common LC phases is the nematic,

where the molecules (mesogens) have no positional order,
but they have long-range orientational order. (Most
nematics are uniaxial: they have one axis that is longer and preferred, with
the other two being equivalent (can be approximated as cylinders)
 ii. SMECTIC LIQUID CRYSTALS

In the case of
Smectic type LC,
the mesogens have
both positional order
and orientational
order. The smectic
phases, which are found at
lower temperatures than the
nematic, form well-defined
layers that can slide over
one another like soap.

Smectic A Smectic C
CHOLESTRIC LIQUID CRYSTALS

The cholestric phase can be defined

as a special type of nematic LC in
which the thin layers of the parallel
mesogens have their longitudinal
axes rotated in adjacent layers at
certain angle.
 II. LYOTROPIC LIQUID CRYSTALS
Hydrophobic end
of the mesogen

Liquid crystals which are

prepared by mixing two or
more substances, of which one
Hydrophilic end is a polar molecule, are known
of the mesogen as lyotropic liquid crystals.

Eg. Soap in water.

74
 Used in display devices (LCDs) such as
1. Liquid Crystal Displays:
Laptops, watches, calculators, clocks, etc.
2. Liquid Crystal Thermometers: Chiral
nematic (cholesteric) liquid
crystals reflect light and the color reflected also is dependent upon
temperature.

3. Optical Imaging: An
application of liquid crystals that is only now
being explored is optical imaging and recording.

3. Some of the liquid crystals are used in hydraulic break/clutch system

due to their high viscosity values.
76
Applications:
•Clocks: Used in displays in digital wall clocks
•Cameras: Used in digital cameras for displaying images
•Television: Has a major application in LCD TFT screens
•Computer monitors: Most of the modern world computer monitors are made
of LCDs
•Instrument panels: All the lab instuments uses LCDscreens for display
•Aircraft cockpit displays: Cockpit display panels of pilots are usually LCDs
•Video players: Such screens are very popular in video game parlours and
consoles
•Watches: All the digital wrist watches uses LCD screen for displaying time
•Calculators: Calculator display screens are LCD screens

77
•The LCDs are commonly used in all the digital wrist watches for
displaying time.
•The LCD (liquid crystal display) is used in aircraft cockpit displays.
•It is used for displaying images used in digital cameras.
•It is used in instruments panel where all the lab instruments uses
LCD screens for display.
•It is used as a display screen in calculators.
•The television is main applications of LCD.
•Mostly the computer monitor is made up of LCDs.
•The LCDs are used in mobile screens.
•It is also used in video players.

78
 Construction of Liquid Crystal Display

➢ LCD consists of two polarized glass pieces.

➢ Two electrodes are used, one is positive and the other one is negative.
➢ External potential is applied to LCD through this electrodes and it is made up of
indium-tin-oxide.
➢ Liquid crystal layer of about 10µm- 20µm is placed between two glass sheets.
➢ The light is passed or blocked by changing the polarization.

79
 Working of Liquid Crystal Display

➢ The basic working principle of LCD is blocking of light.

➢ It does not produce light on its own. So external light source is used.

➢ When the external light passes from one polarizer to the next polarizer, external supply

is given to the liquid crystal, the polarized light aligns itself so that the image is

produced in the screen.

80
The indium oxide conducting surface is a
transparent layer which is placed on both the sides
of the sealed thick layer of liquid crystal . When
no external bias is applied the molecular
arrangement is not disturbed.

When the external bias is applied the molecular

arrangement is disturbed and that area looks dark
and the other area looks clear.

81
 In the segment arrangement, the conducting segment looks dark and the other segment
looks clear. To display number 2 , the segments A,B,G,E,D are energized.

A pixel is the smallest unit of a digital image or graphic that can be displayed and
represented on a digital display device.
82
83
84
 Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED’s)

➢ Organic light emitting diodes (devices) or OLEDs are monolithic, solid-state devices

that typically consist of a series of organic thin films sandwiched between two thin-

film conductive electrodes.

➢ When electricity is applied to an OLED, under the influence of an electrical field,

charge carriers (holes and electrons) migrate from the electrodes into the organic thin

films until they recombine in the emissive zone forming excitons.

➢ Once formed, these excitons, or excited states, relax to a lower energy level by giving

off light (electroluminescence) and/or unwanted heat.

85
 OLED cell structure

Consists of a stack of thin organic layers sandwiched between a conducting anode and a
conducting cathode.

➢ Substrate (can be plastic, glass, or metal foil) – Foundation of the OLED

➢ Anode (may or may not be transparent depending on the type of OLED) – Positively
charged to inject holes (absence of electrons) into the organic layers that make up the
OLED device
➢ Hole Injection Layer (HIL) – Deposited on top of the anode this layer receives holes
from the anode and injects them deeper into the device
➢ Hole Transport Layer (HTL) – This layer supports the transport of holes across it so
they can reach the emissive layer
➢ Emissive Layer – The heart of the device and where light is made, the emissive layer
consists of a color defining emitter doped into a host. This is the layer where the
electrical energy is directly converted into light.
86
 OLED cell structure

➢ Blocking layer (BL) – Commonly used to improve OLED technology by confining

electrons (charge carriers) to the emissive layer
➢ Electron Transport Layer (ETL) – Supports the transport of electrons across it so they can
reach the emissive layer.
➢ Cathode (may or may not be transparent depending on the type of OLED) – Negatively
charged to inject electrons into the organic layers that make up the OLED device.

87
OLED cell structure

88
To generate red, green and blue light to render full-color images, there are two main
approaches currently being used. The first is to pattern red, green and blue OLED sub-
pixels in each pixel of the display, as shown above. This is generally the preferred
approach for high-resolution mobile displays.
89
90
OLED displays including TVs, smartphones, wearables, IT and VR
91
 Properties

➢ Self-emission
➢ Wide viewing angle
➢ Fast response time
➢ Simple structure, and
➢ Low driving voltage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_YS3DZQIbI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAMhX3Drq14

92
 Properties

➢ OLED devices have solid and planar structure. Therefore, OLED display panels are very
thin, flat and lightweight.
➢ OLED devices have self-emission property and hence their devices have high contrast
rates and wide viewing angles, which are very significant factors for displays.
➢ The response time of OLEDs is as fast as micro- or nanosecond order. Therefore, OLED
displays can produce sharp moving images.
➢ These features are extremely attractive, compared with LCD, which is currently the major
display technology. Since LCDs are non-emissive displays and utilize molecular
orientational change, the levels of contrast ratio, viewing angle, response time, etc. are
limited by fluctuation of molecular orientation and the restricted speed of molecular
motion.
➢ In OLEDs, the emission is from organic materials. Using variety of different organic
materials various colors can be generated. Therefore, full-color images can be created.

93
➢ The driving voltage of OLED devices is low, just a few volts. Therefore, OLEDs can be
driven by thin film transistors (TFT). Hence, the power consumption of OLED displays
is very low.
➢ Due to use of TFTs, high information content is possible with OLED displays. This
means that large size TV with large information content such as full-high-vision, 4K and
high resolution 500ppi, are possible.

In OLED lighting applications:

❑ OLEDs have a solid and planar device structure. Therefore, the lighting units of OLEDs
are thin, planar and lightweight.
❑ The planar shape avoids heat concentration Hence, temperature elevation in OLEDs is
very low.
❑ OLEDs are self-emission devices, emission of light from OLED lightings is non-
directional
94
 Quantum Dot Light Emitting Diodes (QLED’s)

Quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) are a class of high-performance solution-

processed electroluminescent (EL) devices.

QD-LEDs are a form of light-emitting technology for creating large-area displays that
could have applications for TVs, cell phones, and digital cameras. QD-LEDs are going to
be the next generation’s display technology after OLED. But the difference is that the
light emitting is from the QDs, such as cadmium selenide (CdSe) nanocrystals.

95
 Quantum Light Emitting Diodes (QLED’s)

➢ QD-LED device consists of two electrodes, an anode and a cathode and a QD layer
placed between two electrodes.

➢ When a voltage is applied to an QD-LED device through anode and cathode, charge
carrier is injected from the electrodes to the QD layer.

➢ Anode injects holes (positive charges) and cathode injects electrons (negative charges) to
the system.

➢ The holes and electrons are transported to main emission site and recombined material in
the emission site is excited by recombination of holes and electrons.

➢ When the excited QD returns to its ground state, emitting photons.

➢ In QD-LED, for better recombination efficiency, a single layer of QDs in colloidal form
is used as an emissive layer.

96
(a) Schematic illustration of multi-layered QD-LEDs. (b) The cross-section TEM image
of the corresponding device. (c) The schematic energy levels of materials in the multi-
layered QD-LEDs.
97
 Properties

▪ High brightness,
▪ High efficiency with long lifetime,
▪ More flexibility,
▪ High-quality lighting with superior color gamut,
▪ High color rendering index
▪ Low-processing cost
▪ High quantum yields,
▪ High molar extinction coefficients,
▪ Large effective Stokes shifts,
▪ Broad excitation profiles,
▪ Narrow/ symmetric emission spectra,
▪ High resistance to reactive oxygen-mediated photobleaching, and
▪ High resistance to metabolic degradation.
98
 Applications

➢ Flat-panel TV screens,

➢ Digital cameras,

➢ Mobile phones,

➢ Personal gaming equipments

99