Patent ID: 8487299

Claim:
An organic EL device, comprising: a. a substrate; b. an organic EL element formed on the substrate and including, in order: a lower electrode; an organic EL layer; an upper electrode, and a protective layer that is a laminated body including a first layer through an nth layer, in order, from a side close to the upper electrode, where n is an integer equal to or greater than 3, wherein each layer in the protective layer is comprised of silicon oxynitride or silicon nitride, and two adjacent layers in the protective layer have different chemical compositions, wherein the first layer of the protective layer has a refractive index that is smaller than that of the upper electrode, and the nth layer of the protective layer has a refractive index that is larger than that of the adhesive layer, and wherein, for each integer, k, from 2 to n, the refractive index (k) of the kth layer of the protective layer satisfies a relationship: refractive index (k−1)> refractive index (k); and c. a protective substrate laminated onto the organic EL element via an adhesive layer.