Article comprising microcavity light sources

Abstract

Apparatus according to the invention comprises at least two optical microcavity light emitters. Each one of the at least two light emitters comprises spaced apart reflectors that define a microcavity, and further comprises organic material that is capable of electro-luminescence (e.g., tris (8-hydroxyquinolinol) aluminum, commonly referred to as 'Alq'), and means for applying an electric field across the organic material. One of the at least two microcavities has effective optical length L.sub.1, and the other microcavity has effective optical length L.sub.2 .noteq.L.sub.1, with the optical lengths selected such that one of the microcavities emits radiation of a first color (e.g., red), and the other microcavity emits radiation of a second color (e.g., green). In many cases there will be present also a third microcavity that emits radiation of a third color (e.g., blue). In preferred embodiments there is present within the microcavities a filler layer, of thickness selected to provide to a given microcavity the desired optical length. A preferred embodiment of the invention is a full color flat panel display that comprises many pixels, each pixel comprising at least three different microcavity emitters. Other contemplated embodiments are a LED printer, an optical interconnect and an optical fiber communication system.