CU researchers shed light on light-emitting ...(Essential to the effort was the ability ...)

The patterning worked by laying down a gold electrode and a polymer called parylene. By depositing the ruthenium complex on top of the parylene layer and filling in an etched gap between the gold electrodes, the researchers were then able to peel the parylene material off mechanically, leaving a perfect device.

Ruthenium tris-bipyridine has energy levels well suited for efficient light emission of about 600 nanometers, said Hctor D. Abrua, the E.M. Chamot Professor of Chemistry, and a principal co-investigator. The material, which has interested scientists for many years, is ideal for its stability in multiple states of oxidation, which, in turn, allows it to serve as a good electron and hole transporter. This means that a single-layer device can be made, simplifying the manufacturing process.

"It's not fabulous, but it has a reasonable emission efficiency," Abrua said. "One of the drawbacks is it has certain instabilities, but we have managed to mitigate most of them."

Among the other authors were co-principal investigators Harold G. Craighead, the C.W. Lake Jr. Professor of Engineering, and John A. Marohn, associate professor of chemistry and chemical biology.