Novel polymer light-emitting diode designs using poly(thiophenes)

During the past few years, a number of different types of polymer light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have been developed by the author"s group in Linköping. Most of these are described in this overview of the activities in the area of polymer LEDs, and common to all of them is that they are based on poly(thiophene) derivatives. By the use of different substituents and combinations thereof, the whole visible spectrum is covered, even extending into the UV and near-IR regions. Other examples of the novel diode designs are the polarized LED, sub-wavelength size LEDs, voltage-controlled colors and a white light-emitting diode.