| Abstract: | Metal/polymer interfaces play an important role in polymeric light emitting diodes (LEDs). In typical organic light-emitting devices, metallic electrodes are used to inject charged carriers into the organic electroluminescent (EL) medium. However, what other effects the metals have on the organic medium is not well known. In this work, we report severe photoluminescence (PL) quenching of organic thin films comprising of one of the most useful materials, namely 1,4-bis4-(3,5-di-tert-butylstyryl)styryl]benzene (4PV), upon sub-monolayer deposition of Al, Ag, and Ca in an ultra high vacuum environment. The severity of the luminescence quenching may greatly affect the EL device performance. Gap states at the Ca/4PV interface are shown to be responsible for the PL quenching. The oxidation of Ca resulted in the removal of the gap states and the recovery of the quenched PL. |
