By incorporating a 6-nm-thick layer of Teflon, a single-active-layer organic LED fabricated at Tsinghua University in Beijing displays a brightness of 16,000 cd/m² and a luminous efficiency of 0.85 lm/W. The university researchers suggest that the simplicity of the design and the promise of higher performance will lead to commercialization of the technique for the production of low-cost emitters.

As described in the Jan. 13 issue of Applied Physics Letters, the organic LEDs feature a polytetrafluoroethylene layer that separates an ITO anode and a 60-nm-thick Alq₃ active layer. The researchers suggest that the Teflon buffer layer prevents indium contamination from the anode while enhancing hole injection.