Photochemical Upconversion Light Emitting Diode (LED): Theory of Triplet Annihilation Enhanced by a Cavity

Abstract

Artificial lighting is a widespread technology which consumes large amounts of energy. Triplet–triplet annihilation photochemical upconversion is a method of converting light to a higher frequency. Here, it is shown theoretically that photochemical upconversion can be applied to Watt-scale lighting, with performance closely approaching the 50% quantum yield upper limit. The dynamic equilibrium of an efficient device consisting of an LED, an upconverting material, and an optical cavity is described from optical and thermal perspectives.