極小OLED画素をマイクロチップのように製造可能に(Tiny OLED pixels could soon be manufactured like microchips)

2026-09-24 ロイヤルメルボルン工科大学(RMIT)

RMIT大学が紹介した研究では、OLEDを半導体チップのような微細なスケールでフォトリソグラフィー加工するための新しい発光材料が開発された。ETH Zurichを中心とする国際チームは、発光分子を中心部に置き、その周囲に紫外線で架橋する分子鎖を配置した「コア・シェル型」の高分子を設計。外側の分子が加工時の薬品から発光分子を保護することで、従来は有機分子が化学薬品で劣化するため困難だった高精度パターニングを可能にした。実証では、0.3×0.43 mmの領域に250×350画素の多色蛍光画像を形成し、フォトリソグラフィーによる蛍光材料の高解像度パターニングを実現した。今後は画素のさらなる微細化と電気的駆動を目指し、超小型ディスプレーだけでなく、細胞観察、神経刺激、顕微鏡、センサーなどへの応用が期待されている。

極小OLED画素をマイクロチップのように製造可能に(Tiny OLED pixels could soon be manufactured like microchips)
A record: the highest-resolution multicolour image using fluorescent dyes. Microscopic image. The image is 0.3 by 0.43 millimetres in size. Credit: Lo SW et al., Nature 2026.

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エレクトロルミネッセンスフォトレジストにより、リソグラフィのスケーリングをOLEDに拡張 Electroluminescent photoresists extending lithographic scaling to OLEDs

Shao-Wei Lo, Sunil B. Shivarudraiah, Zhan-Hong Lin, Patrick Helbling, Lifei Song, Jiachen Wang, Miguel Nouman, Fuze Jiang, Gerrit Stemmler, Donato Maria Carretta, Mei-Nung Chen, Jiayi Zhu, Sudhir Kumar, Hua Wang, Andrew J. Christofferson, Yinyin Bao & Chih-Jen Shih
Nature  Published:16 September 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11042-0

Abstract

The miniaturization of organic light-emitting diodes is critical for next-generation ultrahigh-resolution displays and integrated photonics1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8. However, traditional vacuum evaporation and inkjet printing methods are incompatible with the lithographic scaling processes that underpin silicon electronics9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16, hindering true monolithic integration with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor circuits. Here we present electroluminescent photoresists synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization that can be directly patterned by ultraviolet and electron-beam lithography. These multi-arm star polymers feature a core–shell architecture designed to embed the thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters within a protective host shell, segregating them from the reactive photocrosslinking moieties on the surface. The site-specific isolation ensures that crosslinking reactions occur at the periphery, leaving the emissive cores intact and preserving high electroluminescence. We demonstrate robust processing orthogonality in sequential multilayer electroluminescent photoresist photolithography, enabling subdiffraction fluorescence nanopatterns with critical dimensions down to 110 nm. We validate their device performance with multicolour, ultraviolet-patterned organic light-emitting diodes exhibiting external quantum efficiencies exceeding 13%. These results not only pave the way for extending Moore’s law to organic optoelectronics but also unlock their potential for monolithic optoelectronic integration.

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