Organic thin films which are based on Van der Waals-bonded molecular organic compounds can be deposited onto a
variety of substrates including scanning probe cantilevers without the lattice-matching constraints of conventional
covalently-bonded semiconductors. Here we demonstrate organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) fabricated on scanning
probe cantilevers using thermal evaporation of molecular organic compounds and metallic electrodes. Ion beam
lithography was used to define the emissive region in the shape of a ring having a diameter of 5 micrometers. The width
of the ring emission was less than a micron as measured in the far field. Stable light emission was observed from the
device at forward bias, with a current-voltage response similar to that of archetypal OLEDs. Such a probe can enable a
new form of electrically-pumped SNOM compatible with existing atomic force microscopy tools and techniques. The
emission wavelength can be tuned across the entire visible spectrum, including white light emission, by altering the
composition of the emissive layer with a wide range of luminescent dyes. Should the ring-shaped light emission be used
for imaging, the sample image can be deconvolved using a ring filter to achieve high resolution. The OLED probe can
also be used to transfer excitons through the cathode to a sample via plasmon-assisted energy transfer; such a probe
would be valuable for studying exciton dynamics in organic or organic/inorganic hybrid photovoltaic devices. By
demonstrating the first active organic device on a scanning probe cantilever, this work opens the door to a wide range of
new scanning probe techniques based on this class of materials for areas such as biological imaging.
Access to the requested content is limited to institutions that have purchased or subscribe to SPIE eBooks.
You are receiving this notice because your organization may not have SPIE eBooks access.*
*Shibboleth/Open Athens users─please
sign in
to access your institution's subscriptions.
To obtain this item, you may purchase the complete book in print or electronic format on
SPIE.org.
INSTITUTIONAL Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.
PERSONAL Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.