Method for Estimating Life of Organic EL Element, Method for Producing Life Estimation Device, and Light-Emitting Device

A method for estimating a lifetime of an organic EL element comprising a pair of electrodes and an organic layer disposed between the pair of electrodes, the method comprising:

• a data acquiring step of acquiring degradation data of characteristics of the organic EL element when a current density applied to the organic EL element and/or an atmosphere temperature of the organic EL element are/is changed;
• a parameter extracting step of calculating a fitting function of the degradation data and extracting a degradation parameter characterizing a degradation in the characteristics at the applied current density and/or the atmosphere temperature from the fitting function;
• an estimation formula setting step of calculating a temperature dependence of the degradation parameter based on a temperature rise value of the organic layer upon light emission at the applied current density and/or the atmosphere temperature and setting a lifetime estimation formula of the organic EL element;
• and
• a lifetime estimating step of estimating the lifetime of the organic EL element based on the lifetime estimation formula.