Next generation organic polaritonics: ultralow threshold lasers and overcoming angular dispersion in thin film optics

We report on the tailoring strong-light matter coupling and polariton formation in organic semiconductors, with particular focus on the design of OLEDs with angle-independent emission and polariton lasers with reduced thresholds and fully metallic contacts. With ever more stringent colour requirements in the display industry, there is a need for OLEDs with more saturated-colour emission. The use of strong micro-cavities is a potential solution but can introduce undesired changes in colour with observation angle. By introducing an assistant absorber layer into microcavity OLEDs, we create exciton polaritons that inherit the angle insensitivity of molecular absorption and the narrow linewidth of the cavity mode. We also demonstrate that our approach can be generalized beyond OLEDs, e.g. to obtain optical filters with sharp and angle independent spectral features. In addition, we discuss work on polariton lasers that exploit conformation, molecular alignment, and the disorder introduced by micro-domains in liquid crystalline polymer films to enhance lasing performance. This then allows us to replace the dielectric mirrors of these lasers with electrically conducting metal mirrors.