The Polymer Society of Korea

Abstract

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been widely adopted for their low operating voltage and excellent color reproduction. Top-emitting OLED offer distinct advantages for high-resolution displays by mitigating aperture ratio losses. This is critical for micro-OLEDs in near-eye and high-resolution applications. As pixel dimensions shrink to the micrometer scale, 3D optical effects—including edge scattering, lateral mode leakage, and near-field coupling—become non-negligible, and planar approximations fail. Although transfer-matrix formalism is standard for planar OLEDs, its lateral symmetry assumption limits its use for micro-OLED configurations. In this work, we use 3D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations to investigate top-emitting micro-OLEDs and compare results with TMF calculations. By linking planar analysis with realistic pixel geometries, this study elucidates loss mechanisms and provides design guidelines for optimizing micro-OLED performance.