Electroluminescence from hybrid organic–inorganic LEDs based on thermally evaporated CdS thin films

Hybrid organic–inorganic light emitting devices combine the color purity and durability of inorganic light emitting diodes (LEDs) with high efficiency, flexibility and low processing cost of organic LEDs (OLEDs). A significant challenge is to incorporate inorganic nanocrystals inside the OLED structure. In the present work, thin films of CdS were successfully incorporated inside standard OLED structure using vacuum thermal evaporation technique. For the characterization of these films, they were deposited on plain glass plates at room temperature and studied using structural (XRD and TEM), morphological (SEM and AFM) and optical (UV and PL) techniques. The films were found to be composed of nanocrystals of CdS in which the size of the crystals increased with the increase in film thickness. The hybrid organic–inorganic LEDs showed improved luminance and efficiency as compared to the organic LED without CdS layers. ► CdS ultra-thin films—CdS ultra-thin film fabrication using vacuum thermal evaporation of bulk CdS powder. ► CdS nanocrystals—presence of CdS nanocrystals confirmed using various characterization techniques. ► Hybrid organic–inorganic OLED—CdS nanocrystals successfully embedded in standard OLED structure.