Z. Valy Vardeny

Abstract Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been established as a premium display technology for consumer electronics and offer much promise for flexible, large-screen electronics and wearable devices. Despite their commercial success, OLED displays still face major bottlenecks in performance, including limited efficiency, operational lifetime (stability), and efficiency roll-off at high brightness.

Abstract Spin accumulation in semiconductor structures at room temperature and without magnetic fields is key to enable a broader range of optoelectronic functionality1. Current efforts are limited owing to inherent inefficiencies associated with spin injection across semiconductor interfaces2.

The next generation of information technology could take advantage of spintronics—electronics that use the minuscule magnetic fields emanating from spinning electrons as well as the electric charges of the electrons themselves—for faster, smaller electronic devices that use less energy. Newly published work by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the University of Utah may figure into the future success of spin-based electronics.