Ultrafast OLEDs enable visible light communication at a gigabit per second

OLEDs and other organic optoelectronic devices combine many attractive features. However, they are generally thought to be slow, limiting their range of possible applications. We demonstrate that by careful study of the factors limiting their bandwidth, and appropriate design in terms of device size, operating field and emitter lifetime exceptionally fast OLEDs can be made with modulation bandwidths up to 245 MHz, opening up new potential applications in communications, spectroscopy, sensing and ranging. In particular, we demonstrate visible light communication in which a single OLED transmits data at a rate exceeding 1 gigabit per second.