Nanosecond transient electroluminescence from polymer light-emitting diodes

The transient electroluminescence from polymer light-emitting diodes is reported. When the devices are mounted on a microstrip transmission line, the temporal response is limited by the electrode geometry, with rise and fall times below 50 ns. With low duty-cycle pulses (0.5%) the electroluminescence intensity remains proportional to the current at values up to 10 A/cm2, two orders of magnitude greater than possible under direct current operation. Since the spectral blue-shift observed at high current levels (with power dissipation above 1 W/cm2) indicates significant sample heating, still higher levels should be possible with proper thermal management.