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Polarizing energy transfer in photoluminescent materials for display applications

Nature volume 392, pages 261–264 (1998)Cite this article

Abstract

Combinations of sheet polarizers and colour filters form the basis of numerous products1,2,3,4 — most notably colour liquid-crystal displays2,4 — that require polarized chromatic light. But this combination of elements does not make efficient use of light, as a substantial fraction of the incident light is converted into thermal energy3,4, limiting the brightness and energy efficiency of the resulting devices. Here we show that these limitations can be overcome by using polymer-based photoluminescent polarizers. Our polarizers operate on a two-step principle: randomly orientated ‘sensitizer’ molecules harvest the incident light by isotropic absorption and then efficiently transfer the energy to a uniaxially orientated photoluminescent polymer, from which coloured light with a high degree of linear polarization is emitted. In principle, isotropic-to-polarized conversion efficiencies approaching unity could be attainable by this approach.

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Figure 1: Molecular structures of compounds used.
Figure 2: Polarized absorption spectra of orientated films.
Figure 3: Emission spectra of orientated films obtained under isotropic excitation at 365 nm.
Figure 4: Emission spectra of orientated films.
Figure 5: Photophysical processes and optical emission.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Ir. J. Visjager for help in preparing the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials, Institute of Polymers, ETH Zürich, CH-8092, Zürich, Switzerland

    Andrea Montali, Cees Bastiaansen, Paul Smith & Christoph Weder

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  1. Andrea Montali
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  2. Cees Bastiaansen
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  4. Christoph Weder
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Correspondence to Christoph Weder.

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Montali, A., Bastiaansen, C., Smith, P. et al. Polarizing energy transfer in photoluminescent materials for display applications. Nature 392, 261–264 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/32616

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