Radiant energy – Photocells; circuits and apparatus – Signal isolator
Reexamination Certificate
2000-12-04
2003-01-21
Allen, Stephone B. (Department: 2878)
Radiant energy
Photocells; circuits and apparatus
Signal isolator
C250S214100, C257S444000, C313S507000, C438S609000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06509574
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related in general to the field of semiconductor devices and processes and more specifically to the use of organic light-emitting diodes for optocouplers.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Commercial light emitting diodes (LEDs) typically constitute a p-n junction of inorganic, doped semiconducting materials such as gallium arsenide (GaAs) or aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs). At these junctions between the doped layers, recombination of electrons and holes results in interband emission of light.
Heteroepitaxial growth of direct bandgap III-V compound semiconductors such as GaAs, InP, and GaP on silicon substrates, from which LEDs can be fabricated, yields highly defective material due to mismatches in lattice parameters and thermal expansion coefficients. These LEDs do not perform well, and the silicon circuits are affected during the heteroepitaxy due to the required high growth temperatures (typically>600° C.). Further, achieving good electrical isolation is not easy in these approaches.
As an alternative, III-V LEDs have been integrated with a silicon drive circuit at the package level; for instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,700, issued Oct. 27, 1992 (Reid, deceased et al., “Substrate with Optical Communication Systems between Chips Mounted thereon and Monolithic Integration of Optical I/O on Silicon Substrates”), based on U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,476, issued Apr. 23, 1991 (Reid et al., “Semiconductor Layer with Optical Communication between Chips Disposed therein”). But these approaches are expensive and not suitable for wafer-level integration.
Recently, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have drawn much attention, especially for emissive display applications. Since OLEDs can be fabricated on any smooth surface, such as silicon wafers, and at low (<100° C.) temperatures, they are also very promising for many optoelectronic applications. Electroluminescent devices have been constructed using multi-layer organic films. Basic structure and working are described in “Electroluminescence of Doped Organic Thin Films” (J. Appl. Phys., vol. 65, pp. 3610-3616, 1989) by C. W. Tang, S. A. VanSlyke, and C. H. Chen. The review article “Status of and Prospects for Organic Electroluminescence” (J. Materials Res., vol. 11, pp. 3174-3187. December 1996, by L. J. Rothberg and A. J. Lovinger) describes various OLED device structures in the form of stacks of thin layers with carrier injection and transverse current flow. For example, the stack may be a transparent substrate (for instance, glass), a transparent anode (for instance, indium-tin oxide, ITO), a hole transport layer (for instance, TPD), an emissive layer which also is an electron transport layer and in which electron-hole recombination and luminescence occur (for instance, Alq3), and a cathode (a metal with low work function, for instance, magnesium or a magnesium-containing alloy such as Mg:Ag). “TPD” is N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-1,1′biphenyl-4,4′diamine. “Alq3” is tris(8-hydroxy) quinoline aluminum.
A different approach using siloxane self-assembly techniques, has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,834,100, issued on Nov. 10, 1998 (Marks et al., “Organic Light-Emitting Diodes and Method for Assembly and Emission Control”).
In addition to the OLEDs, many related devices such as organic laser diodes, photodetectors, etc. may be realized using organic semiconductors. For many applications such as on-chip interconnects, laser diodes are preferred over LEDs. Laser action has been demonstrated in polymeric organic films, but only by employing optical pumping (for instance, “Laser Emission from Solutions and Films Containing Semiconducting Polymer and Titanium Dioxide Nanocrystals”, Chem. Phys. Lett., vol. 256, pp. 424-430, 1996, by F. Hide, B. J. Schwartz, M. A. Diaz-Garcia, and A. J. Heeger; “Lasing from Conjugated-Polymer Microcavities”, Nature, vol. 382, pp. 695-697, by N. Tessler, G. J. Denton, and R. H. Friend; “Semiconducting Polymers: a New Class of Solid-State Laser Materials”, Science, vol. 273, pp. 1833-1836, 1996, by F. Hide, M. A. Diaz-Garcia, B. J. Schwartz, M. R. Andersson, Q. Pei, and A. J. Heeger). Inadequate charge injection is the main roadblock in achieving an organic-based solid-state laser from electrically pumped organic films. The optical linking of OLEDs with light-sensitive devices has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,160, issued May 25, 1999 (Wilson et al., “Tin Film Organic Light Emitting Diode with Edge Emitter Waveguide”).
In their paper “Enhanced Electron Injection in Organic Electroluminescence Devices using an Al/LiF Electrode” (Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 70, pp. 152-154, 1997), L. S. Hung, C. W. Tang, and M. G. Mason disclose the beneficial effects of inserting an inorganic dielectric layer (LiF, thin enough for electron tunneling, 0.5 to 1.0 nm) between the metal cathode (Al) and organic material. The energy bands of Alq3 are bent downwards by the contact with LiF, thus substantially lowering the electronic barrier height of the Alq3-Al interfaces and enhancing the electron injection. The operating voltage is reduced and cathode metals of higher work function can be used. Further, the devices employ a thin (15 nm) buffer layer at the anode (ITO), comprised of CuPc (copper phthalocyanine). The hole transport layer is NPB (N,N′-bis(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine). Alq3 is the emissive as well as electron transport layer.
Methods for fabrication and characterization (such as film thickness, and light intensity and wavelength) have been described in “Characterization of Organic Thin Films for OLEDs using Spectroscopic Ellipsometry” (F. G. Celii, T. B. Harton, and O. F. Phillips, J. Electronic Materials, vol. 26, pp. 366-371, 1997). The organic materials may be amorphous or polycrystalline discrete molecular, or may be polymeric. Polymer layers differ from discrete molecular layers because they are typically not fabricated by vacuum vapor deposition, but rather by spin coating from an appropriate solvent. The polymeric layers may also be deposited (either by vapor deposition or by spin coating) as pre-polymer layers and then converted either thermally or photochemically to the active form. Spin coating, spin casting, or melt techniques have the advantage of large area coverage and low fabrication cost.
The state of the art has been advanced by three recent patent applications to which the present invention is related. In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/156,166, filed on Sep. 17, 1998 (Celii et al., “Organic Light Emitting Diodes”), an OLED is provided with dielectric barriers at both the anode-organic and cathode-organic interfaces. Increased carrier injection efficiencies and increased overall OLED efficiency plus lower voltage operation are thus enabled. The subsequent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 60/165,060, filed on Nov. 12, 1999 (Jacobs et al., “Structure and Method of Electrically-Pumped Organic Laser Diodes using Charge-Injection Layers”) applies the high injection efficiency to organic lasers. The further U.S. patent application (TI-26315, Kim et al., “Photo-lithographic Method for Fabricating Organic Light-Emitting Diodes”) introduces mass-production techniques, compatible with silicon technology, to OLED fabrication.
A challenge has therefore arisen to conceive structures and fabrication methods for optocouplers having integrated organic light-emitting diodes suitable for miniaturization and high process yield. Preferably, this concept should be based on fundamental design solutions flexible enough to be applied for different diode, laser and integrated circuit product families and a wide spectrum of material and assembly variations. Manufacturing should be low cost and the devices stable and reliable. Preferably, the innovations should be accomplished using established fabrication techniques and the installed equipment base.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, an optocoupler is created by an integrated circuit which includes an opt
Celii Francis G.
Jacobs Simon J.
Kim Tae S.
Yuan Han-Tzong
Allen Stephone B.
Brady III W. James
Hill Bradford
Telecky , Jr. Frederick J.
Texas Instruments Incorporated
LandOfFree
Optocouplers having integrated organic light-emitting diodes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Optocouplers having integrated organic light-emitting diodes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Optocouplers having integrated organic light-emitting diodes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3030404