Abstract

Polymers carrying arylene vinylene units have recently met with great interest because of their potential use in light emitting diodes (LED). This contribution is concerned with the combination of the electroluminescence properties characteristic of arylene vinylene polymers with the peculiar order characteristic of the liquid crystalline state within one material. New possibilities for manufacturing and applications of such materials are envisioned to result. The concept is to exploit the self-organization taking place in liquid crystalline material and the strong coupling of the orientational order to substrate effects and external fields in order to control the state of orientation of the chromophores and thus the polarization of the emitted light as well as its spatial distribution. The arylene vinylene units are incorporated for this end into a chain backbone and they are separated along the backbone by flexible spacers. Such polymers can be expected to display a glassy state, good processing characteristics and a long term stability of films manufactured from it. Such films are not necessarily liquid crystalline and soluble.

© 1995 Optical Society of America