Synthesis, Photo- and Electro-Luminescence of 3-Benzoxazol-2-yl-Coumarin Derivatives

Two coumarin derivatives containing electron-transporting benzoxazolyl moiety, 7-(diethylamino)-3-(benzoxazol-2-yl)coumarin (DABOC) and 3-(benzoxazol-2-yl)benzo[5,6]coumarin (BOBC), were synthesized and characterized. The photoluminescence and electroluminescence of the compounds were investigated detailedly. The compounds exhibited strong blue-green emissions in both solution and solid states, but the devices with DABOC as the emitting layer exhibited orange emission and maximum luminous efficiency of 2.8 cd/A and maximum luminance of 8,800 cd/m², and the devices with BOBC displayed orange-white emission and maximum luminous efficiency of 0.13 cd/A and maximum luminance of 540 cd/m².     

High-performance organic red-light-emitting device based on DCJTB and a new host material

An efficient red-light-emitting device using a new host material (DPF) and a red dopant (DCJTB) with a configuration of ITO/NPB (50 nm)/DCJTB:DPF (2%, 10 nm)/TPBI (30 nm)/LiF (0.5 nm)/Mg:Ag has been fabricated and investigated. The red OLED yields a brightness of 9270 cd/m² at 10 V, a maximum current efficiency of 4.2 cd/A and a maximum power efficiency of 3.9 lm/W. Using DPF as host material, the performance is much better than that of a prototypical Alq₃-based device, which has a maximum efficiency of 1.9 cd/A and 0.6 lm/W. The performance is even comparable with red OLEDs using an assist dopant or a cohost emitter system. Results of this work indicate that DPF is a promising host material for red OLEDs with high efficiency and simple device structure.     

Improving the color purity and efficiency of blue organic light-emitting diodes (BOLED) by adding hole-blocking layer

This work demonstrates the fabrication of a bright blue organic light-emitting diode (BOLED) with good color purity using 4,4′-bis(2,2-diphenylvinyl)-1,1′-biphenyl (DPVBi) and bathocuproine (BCP) as the emitting layer (EML) and the hole-blocking layer (HBL), respectively. Devices were prepared by vacuum deposition on indium tin oxide (ITO)-glass substrates. The thickness of DPVBi used in the OLED has an important effect on color and efficiency. The blue luminescence is maximal at 7670 cd/m² when 13 V is applied and the BCP thickness is 2 nm. The CIE coordinate at a luminance of 7670 cd/m² is (0.165, 0.173). Furthermore, the current efficiency is maximum at 4.25 cd/A when 9 V is applied.     

White organic light-emitting diodes based on benzothiazole derivative

This paper describes the white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) made from a benzothiazole derivative, N-(4-(benzo[d]thiazol-2-yl)phenyl)-N-phenylnaphthalen-1-amine (BPNA). The bright yellowish-white emission was obtained from a non-doped triple-layer device: ITO/NPB (40 nm)/BPNA (50 nm)/Alq₃ (40 nm)/LiF/Al. The Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of the device were (0.24, 0.36) at 10 V. The maximum brightness of the device was 9225 cd/m² at 14.4 V. A current efficiency of 3.08 cd/A, a power efficiency of 1.21 lm/W and an external quantum efficiency of 1.18% at a driving current density of 20 mA/cm² were achieved. WOLED with a DCJTB-doped structure of ITO/TcTa/BPNA/BPNA: DCJTB (0.5%)/BPNA/BCP/Alq₃/LiF/Al was fabricated in comparison with the non-doped device. The device emitted bright white light with the CIE coordinates of (0.33, 0.29) at 10 V and a maximum luminance of 7723 cd/m² at 14.8 V.     

All-in-one-type organic light-emitting diodes for color tuning using phosphor in glasses with Pb-free silicate powders

We demonstrate all-in-one-type organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that are fabricated using a color converting plate as a substrate. The color converting plate is Pb-free phosphor-in-glass (PiG), which is prepared by mixing Y₃Al₅O₁₂:Ce³⁺ (YAG:Ce³⁺) and SiO₂–B₂O₃–RO (R = Ba, Zn) glass frit by sintering at 750 °C for 30 min. The maximum luminance, luminance efficiency, and power efficiency of blue OLEDs fabricated on commercial glass are measured as 10500 cd/m², 10.18 cd/A, and 2.95 lm/W, respectively. The Commission Internationale de l'Eclairge (CIE) coordinates of blue OLEDs is (0.167, 0.325). Our obtained results show that the luminance value decreased as the PiG thickness increased, and the glass to phosphor (GTP) ratio decreased. The OLED devices fabricated on the PiG substrate (GTP ratio = 9:1, thickness: 150 μm) showed a maximum luminance, luminance efficiency, and power efficiency of 7600 cd/m², 8.76 cd/A, and 2.85 lm/W, respectively. The CIE color coordinates changed to (0.286, 0.504) at 200 mA/cm². These results proved that color coordination can be easily adjusted by varying the GTP ratio and the thickness of the PiG.     

Efficient fluorescent white organic light-emitting devices with a reduced efficiency roll-off based on a blue ambipolar fluorescent emitter

White organic light-emitting devices (WOLEDs) with fluorescent donor-acceptor-substituted spirobifluorene compounds (red 2-diphenylamino-7-(2,2-dicyanovinyl)-9,9′-spirobifluorene and blue 2-diphenylamino-7-(2,2-diphenylvinyl)-9,9′-spirobifluorene) have been fabricated. The optimized WOLEDs shows a maximum current efficiency 5.9 cd/A and very low efficiency roll-off. From the brightness at maximum current efficiency to high brightness of 10000 cd/m², the current efficiency roll-off is only 0.4%. It can be attributed to the ambipolar blue fluorescent emitter with voltage-independnet mobility which makes the device having a broader charge recombination zone and balance of carrier transport.     

Effect of thickness variation of hole injection and hole blocking layers on the performance of fluorescent green organic light emitting diodes

In this paper we present the effect of thickness variation of hole injection and hole blocking layers on the performance of fluorescent green organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). A number of OLED devices have been fabricated with combinations of hole injecting and hole blocking layers of varying thicknesses. Even though hole blocking and hole injection layers have opposite functions, yet there is a particular combination of their thicknesses when they function in conjunction and luminous efficiency and power efficiency are maximized. The optimum thickness of CuPc (Copper(II) phthalocyanine) layer, used as hole injection layer and BCP (2,9 dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) used as hole blocking layer were found to be 18 nm and 10 nm respectively. It is with this delicate adjustment of thicknesses, charge balancing is achieved and luminous efficiency and power efficiency were optimized. The maximum luminous efficiency of 3.82 cd/A at a current density of 24.45 mA/cm² and maximum power efficiency of 2.61 lm/W at a current density of 5.3 mA/cm² were achieved. We obtained luminance of 5993 cd/m² when current density was 140 mA/cm². The EL spectra was obtained for the LEDs and found that it has a peaking at 524 nm of wavelength.     

Tetraalkoxylated-PPV derivative: An efficient and pure green electroluminescent polymer with good solution processability

A new solution-processable tetraalkoxy-substituted poly(1,4-phenylenevinylene) derivative, poly{[2-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-3,5,6-trimethoxy]-1,4-phenylenevinylene} (TALK-PPV), was synthesized through a dehydrohalogenation polymerization route, and its light-emitting properties were investigated. The TALK-PPV showed highly blue-shifted UV–visible absorption and PL emission spectra compared to the dialkoxy-substituted PPV derivatives. This is because of the disturbance to the π-conjugation caused by a steric hindered structure. The TALK-PPV thin film exhibited an absorption peak at 446 nm, with an onset at 515 nm. Its PL emission maximum was at 554 nm. Cyclic voltammetric analysis showed the HOMO and LUMO energy levels of the TALK-PPV to be 5.77 and 3.36 eV, respectively. Light-emitting devices were fabricated with an ITO (indium-tin oxide)/PEDOT/polymer/Ca/Al configuration. The TALK-PPV component leads to pure green light emission with a CIE 1931 chromaticity of (0.20, 0.74) at 100 cd/m² brightness, which is very close to the standard green (0.21, 0.71) demanded by the NTSC (National Television System Committee). The maximum brightness of this device was 24,900 cd/m² with an efficiency of 1.45 cd/A.     

Small-molecular white organic light-emitting devices employing 2, 5, 2′, 5′-tetra (<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-trifluoromethylstyryl)-biphenyl as single-emitting component

We demonstrate a promising single layer white light-emitting device using a dimeric trimeric phenylenvinylene derivative as emitting layer. The broad electroluminescence emission band is composed of blue component from singlet excited state of individual 2, 5, 2′, 5′-tetra (p-trifluoromethylstyryl)-biphenyl molecule and long-wavelength electromer emission in electroluminescence. Therefore, white-light emission can also be obtained with a typical three-layer structure of ITO/NPB (50 nm)/TFM-TSB (50 nm)/Alq₃ (30 nm)/LiF/Al device. The maximum brightness of this device is 809 cd/m² at 217 mA/cm² and 13 V, and the maximum luminous efficiency is 1.49 cd/A at 11 mA/cm² and 8 V.      

Screen-printed white OLED based on polystyrene as a host polymer

We demonstrate the use of screen printing in the fabrication of single-layer organic-light-emitting devices (OLEDs). The organic layer is a single-layer of polystyrene, in which we incorporate rubrene for orange emission and α-NPD, DPVBi for blue emission. An appropriate mixing of the two colors produced white emission by incomplete Förster energy transfer. We showed the role of each constituent, α-NPD, DPVBi and rubrene in the emission characteristics of OLEDs. The turn-on voltage of screen-printed white OLEDs was about 10 V with maximum brightness and luminous efficiency up to 1300 cd/m² and 9 cd/A, respectively.     

Highly efficient flexible organic light-emitting devices utilizing F4-TCNQ/m-MTDATA multiple quantum well structures

Flexible organic light-emitting devices (FOLEDs) based on multiple quantum well (MQW) structures, which consist of alternate layers of 2,3,5,6-Tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8,-tetracyano-quinodimethane (F4-TCNQ) and 4,4′,4″-tris-(3-methylphenylphe-nylamino)tripheny-lamine (m-MTDATA) have been fabricated. The Alq₃-based device with double quantum well (DQW) structure exhibits the remarkable electroluminescent (EL) performances for the brightness of 23,500 cd/m² at 14 V and the maximum current efficiency of 7.0 cd/A at 300.3 mA/cm², respectively, which are greatly improved by 114% and 56% compared with the brightness of 10,958 cd/m² at 14 V and the maximum current efficiency of 4.5 cd/A at 174.0 mA/cm² for the conventional device without MQW structures. These results demonstrate that the EL performances of FOLEDs could be greatly improved by utilizing the novel MQW structures, and the reason for this improvement has also been explained by the effect of interfacial dipole and interfacial doping between F4-TCNQ and m-MTDATA in this article.     

Deep blue organic light emitting diode based on anthracene derivative as a dopant

This letter presents a deep blue organic light emitting diode which was fabricated by using 9,10-di(2-naphthyl)anthracene as a dopant and 4,4′-N,N′-dicarbazole-biphenyl as a host. The Commission Internationale de l’Eclairage coordinates of (0.1516, 0.0836) were achieved in the cell, which is very close to the National Television Standards Committee standard of (0.14, 0.08). Meanwhile, maximum luminance over 6500 cd/cm² and maximum current efficiency of 3.5 cd/A were also obtained.     

Synthesis and characterization of PPV-based light-emitting copolymer with alkylsilylphenyloxy pendant group for light-emitting diode applications

A novel light-emitting copolymer with high brightness and luminance efficiency was synthesized using the Gilch polymerization method, and its electro-optical properties were investigated. A polymer light-emitting diode (PLED) was fabricated in ITO/PEDOT/light-emitting copolymer/Ca/Al configuration. The turn-on voltage of the PLED was about 5.0 V with maximum brightness and luminance efficiency up to 1420 cd/m² at 16.2 V and 0.5 cd/A at 6.8 V, respectively.     

High performance Europium(III) based emitters for electroluminescence: Synthesis,crystal structures,photophysical and electroluminescent properties

In this paper, we synthesize two 1,10-phenanline derived ligands, along with their corresponding Eu(III) complexes. Their crystal structures, photophysical characteristics, including UV–vis absorption, photoluminescence (PL), quantum yields, excited state lifetimes, and thermal stability, are discussed in detail. In addition, we also investigate their potential application in electroluminescence (EL) devices. Experimental data suggest that the two Eu(III) complexes are promising emitters for EL application: pure red emissions with a maximum EL brightness of 850 cd/m² and a maximum current efficiency of 3.67 cd/A are achieved. It is found that the elimination of active hydrogen in ligand favors most PL and EL factors, including PL quantum efficiency, thermal stability, and current efficiency, but not for maximum EL brightness. An emitter with shorter excited state lifetime leads to a higher EL brightness, regardless of its relatively lower device efficiency.     

Highly efficient and stable organic light-emitting diodes employing MoO3-doped perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride as hole injection layer

We report highly efficient and stable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with MoO₃-doped perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) as hole injection layer (HIL). A green OLED with structure of ITO/20 wt% MoO₃: PTCDA/NPB/Alq₃/LiF/Al shows a long lifetime of 1012 h at the initial luminance of 2000 cd/m², which is 1.3 times more stable than that of the device with MoO₃ as HIL. The current efficiency of 4.7 cd/A and power efficiency of 3.7 lm/W at about 100 cd/m² have been obtained. The charge transfer complex between PTCDA and MoO₃ plays a decisive role in improving the performance of OLEDs.     

High power efficiency in single layer blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes

High efficiency single layer blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) without any charge transport layer were developed. A mixed host of spirobifluorene based phosphine oxide (SPPO13) and 1, 1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) was used as the host in the emitting layer. A high maximum external quantum efficiency of 15.8% and a quantum efficiency of 8.6% at 1000 cd/m² were achieved in the single-layer blue PHOLEDs without any charge transport layer. The maximum power efficiency and power efficiency at 1000 cd/m² were 31.4 and 16.9 lm/W, respectively.     

High-efficiency blue and white phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices

We have significantly improved the efficiency of blue and white phosphorescence from organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) based on phosphorescent iridium complexes. To improve the emission efficiency, 4,4^′-Bis(9-carbazolyl)-2,2^′-Dimethyl-biphenyl (CDBP), which has a high triplet energy, was used as the carrier-transporting host for the emissive layer. The blue phosphorescent OLED exhibited a maximum external quantum efficiency of 10.4%, which corresponds to a current efficiency of 20.4 cd/A. This result can be explained as due to the efficient confinement of triplet energy on blue phosphorescent molecules, which is consistent with the results of transient photoluminescence experiments. The white phosphorescent OLED with greenish-blue and red emissive layers exhibited a maximum external quantum efficiency of 12% and a luminous efficiency of 18 cd/A. This is primarily attributed to the improvement of greenish-blue emission efficiency as well as the emission efficiency of the blue phosphorescent OLED.     

Angle-stable top-emitting white organic light-emitting devices employing a down-conversion layer

Angle-stable white top-emitting organic light-emitting devices (WTEOLEDs) by the combination of a blue TEOLED with a down-conversion (DC) layer are demonstrated. The DC layer is composed of red fluorescent dye doped in a host of tris (8-hydroxy-quinolinato) aluminum. The TEWOLED shows a CIE coordinates of (0.240, 0.332) and a maximum current efficiency of 3.95 cd/A. Furthermore, the WTEOLED shows excellently angle-stable characteristic, the CIE coordinates at 20 mA/cm² only shift by (0.023, −0.007) from 0° to 60°. It can be attributed to the angle-stable blue TEOLED based on the Ag/Ge/Ag transparent cathode.     

Synthesis and electroluminescent characterization of a symmetric starburst orange-red light material

A new symmetric starburst orange-red light material, tris(4-(2-(N-butyl-1,8-naphthalimide)ethynyl)phenyl)amine (TNGT), was designed and synthesized. It shows a high fluorescence quantum yield and a slight concentration-quenching effect. A high brightness (6600 cd/m²) and a high current efficiency [4.57 cd/A (at 420 cd/m²)] with CIE (0.59, 0.40) were achieved at a relatively high doping concentration (20 wt%) in a TNGT-based OLED.     

Effect of different spacers for performance enhancement on white organic light-emitting devices based on double emissive layers with homogeneous p-/n-type host

White organic light-emitting devices (WOLEDs) based on phosphorescent blue and yellow emitters were fabricated, while p-type di-(4-(N,N-ditolyl-amino)-phenyl)cyclohexane (TAPC) and n-type 2,2′,2″-(1,3,5-benzenetriyl)-tris(1-phenyl-1-H-benzimidazole) (TPBi) were separately utilized as a homogeneous host for both blue and yellow emissive layers (EMLs). Then, various spacers were inserted between the two EMLs for performance characterization. The results showed that for the TAPC-host devices, a device using 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Bphen) as the spacer had a maximum current efficiency (CE) of 11.3 cd/A, while stable white light emission with Commission Internationale del’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.394, 0.435) at a bias of 5 V was observed. Similarly, among the TPBi-host devices, a device using 4,4′-bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl (CBP) as the spacer exhibited a maximum CE of 18.1 cd/A, accompanied by negligible color variation with the CIE coordinates of (0.284,0.333) at 5 V. For the double-EML devices, the improved device efficiency and color stability by introducing proper spacer was attributed to broadened recombination region and efficient energy transfer between the EMLs.