A dinuclear aluminum 8-hydroxyquinoline complex with high electron mobility for organic light-emitting diodes

A dinuclear aluminum 8-hydroxyquinoline complex (DAlq(3)) with improved electron mobility was designed for organic light-emitting diodes. The electron mobility in DAlq(3) was determined via transient electroluminescence (EL) from bilayer devices with structure of indium tin oxide (ITO)/N,N-'-di(naphthalene-1-yl)-N,N-'-diphenyl-benzidine (NPB)/DAlq(3)/Mg:Ag. It was found that the electron mobility in DAlq(3) is between 3.7-8.4x10(-6) cm(2)/Vs at electric fields ranging between 1.2x10(6) and 4.0x10(6) V/cm, which is a factor of two higher than that in Alq(3). The DAlq(3) also shows a higher EL efficiency of 2.2 cd/A (1.2 Lm/W), as compared to Alq(3) with an EL efficiency of 2.0 cd/A (1.0 Lm/W), which is attributed to more balanced electron and hole recombination due to the improved electron mobility of DAlq(3).

Polymer light-emitting diodes based on a bipolar transporting luminescent polymer

A soluble electroluminescent polymer containing hole-deficient triphenylamine and electron-deficient oxadiazole units in the main chains has been designed and studied. The design is based on the consideration that the triphenylamine group possesses good hole-transporting property and the oxadiazole unit is known to be of electron-transporting character. Because of the good bipolar transporting performance, the brightness and electroluminescent efficiency are significantly improved and the turn-on voltage is reduced compared with a similar polymer without the electron-deficient oxadiazole units in the main chains. For a device with configuration ITO/PEDOT/polymer/CsF/Al, a maximum brightness of 3600 cd m(-2) and a maximum luminescent efficiency of 0.65 cd A(-1) (quantum efficiency of 0.3%) were obtained in the polymer with oxadiazole units, about 15 times brighter and 15 times more efficient than the corresponding polymer without oxadiazole units.

Blue organic light-emitting diodes based on an oxadiazole-containing organic molecule exhibiting excited state intramolecular proton transfer

A blue organic light-emitting device based on an emissive layer of 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole (HOXD), which exhibits excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT), was presented. The device had a luminance efficiency of 0.8 cd/A and a maximum brightness of 870 cd/m(2). Our studies indicate that some EL may originate from the triplet excitation state of the enol form of HOXD.

A hydroxyphenyloxadiazole lithium complex as a highly efficient blue emitter and interface material in organic light-emitting diodes

We synthesized a hydroxyphenyloxadiazole lithium complex (LiOXD) as a blue light-emitting and electron injection/transport material to be used in double-layer organic electroluminescent devices. Devices with the concise configuration of ITO/TPD/LiOXD/Al showed bright blue EL emission centered at 468 nm with a maximum luminance of 2900 cd m(-2). A current efficiency of 3.9 cd A(-1) and power efficiency of 1.1 lm W-1 were obtained. LiOXD was also examined as an interface material. The efficiency of an ITO/NPB/Alq(3)/Al device increased considerably when LiOXD was inserted between Alq(3) and aluminium. The improvement of the device characteristics with LiOXD approached that observed with the dielectric LiF salt.

Red light-emitting diodes based on rare earth complex Eu (TTA)(4)C5H5NC16H33

A thin film electroluminescence cell with the structure of ITO/PPV/PVK:Eu(TTA)(4)C5H5NC16H33:PBD/Alq(3)/Al has been fabricated. Red emission with a very sharp spectral band at 614nm was observed and a maximum luminance of 20cd . m(-2) at 36V was obtained from the spin-coated device. The full width at half maximum of luminescent spectrum is less than 10nm.

Novel bis(8-hydroxyquinoline)phenolato-aluminum complexes for organic light-emitting diodes

A novel series of emitting aluminum complexes containing two 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands (q) and a phenolato ligand (p) were synthesized and characterized. Double layer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) were fabricated using these complexes as luminescent layers, and strong electroluminescence (EL) was observed. It was found that their emitting wavelengths were mainly determined by the first ligands (q). Cyclic voltammograms revealed a partially irreversible n-doping process and indicated that these complexes show excellent electron-transporting ability.

Oxadiazole-containing material with intense blue phosphorescence emission for organic light-emitting diodes

2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenyl-1, 3, 4-oxadiazole (HOXD), characteristic of excited state intramolecular proton-transfer (ESIPT), was synthesized and found to emit strong blue phosphorescence in the solid state at room temperature and at low temperature (77 K). The photoluminescent spectrum measurement in solution showed that there are two kinds of emission: fluorescence originated from the singlet state and phosphorescence derived from the triplet state in HOXD formed by ESIPT. For the photoluminescent spectrum in the solid state, only phosphorescence emission with the lifetime of 66 mus was observed. Multiple-layer light-emitting diodes with the configuration of ITO/NPB/HOXD/BCP/Alq(3)/Mg:Ag were fabricated using HOXD as emitter and the maximum brightness of 656 cd/m(2) and the luminous efficiency of 0.14 lm/W was obtained.

New PPV oligomers containing 8-substituted quinoline for light-emitting diodes

Two new poly(phenylenevinylene) (PPV) oligomers, 2,2'-(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-8-acetoxy quinolines were synthesized via a Knoevenagel condensation reaction. The single-crystal X-ray diffraction study shows that there are intermolecular pi...pi interactions in the solid state of 2,2'(1,4-phenylenedivinylene)bis-8-acetoxyquinoline. Electroluminescent properties using these compounds as emitters have been investigated.

Improved efficiency by a graded emissive region in organic light-emitting diodes

Electrical and optical properties of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a stepwise graded bipolar transport emissive layer for a better control of charge transport and recombination are presented. The graded bipolar transport layer was formed by co-evaporating a hole-transporting material N,N-'-diphenyl-N,N-'-bis(1,1(')-biphenyl)-4,4(')-diamine (NPB) and an electron-transporting/emissive material tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq(3)) in steps, where each step has a different concentration ratio of NPB to Alq(3). Compared to a conventional heterojunction OLED, electroluminescence efficiency was enhanced by a factor of more than 1.5, whereas the turn-on voltage remained unchanged in the graded structure.

Synthesis of novel nitrogen- and sulfur-containing conjugated polymers used as hole-transporting materials for organic light-emitting diodes

Two series of highly soluble novel nitrogen- and sulfur-containing conjugated polymers were synthesized via an acid-induced self-polycondensation of functional monomers with methyl sulfinyl and aromatic groups. The well-defined structures of synthesized polymers were confirmed by their NMR and IR spectra. The highest occupied molecular orbital energy values for these materials, estimated by cyclic voltammetry, showed a broad range of values from about 5.0 to 5.2 eV used as hole-transport layers (HTL) in two-layer light-emitting diodes ITO/HTL/Alq(3)/Mg:Ag [ITO = indium tin oxide, and Alq(3) = tris(8-quinolinato) aluminum]. The typical turn-on voltage of these diodes was about 4-5 V. The maximum brightness of the device was about 3440 cd/m(2) at 20 V. The maximum efficiency was estimated to be 0.15 1m/W at 10 V.

Improvement of luminescence efficiency by electrical annealing in single-layer organic light-emitting diodes based on a conjugated dendrimer

In this paper, we study the effects of electrical annealing at different voltages on the performance of organic light-emitting diodes. The light-emitting diodes studied here are single-layer devices based on a conjugated dendrimer doped with 2-(4-biphenylyl)-5-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazole as the emissive layer. We find that these devices can be annealed electrically by applying a voltage. This process reduces the turn-on voltage and enhances the brightness and efficiency. We obtained an external electroluminescence quantum efficiency of 0.07% photon/electron and a brightness of 2900 cd m(-2) after 12.4 V electrical annealing, which are about 6 times and 9 times higher than un-annealing devices, respectively. The improved luminance and efficiency are attributed to the presence of a space charge field near the electrodes caused by charging of traps.

Blue-light emitting diodes and flat display based on poly(p-phenylenevinylene) copolymers

Copolymers containing alternating flexible aliphatic blocks and rigid poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) blocks were synthesized and characterized. It was found that the fluorescent intensity increases with increasing length of the flexible blocks. Bright blue-light emitting diodes were fabricated using PPV copolymers as electroluminescent layers. The devices show 190 cd/m(2) light-emitting brightness at 460 nm and 15 V rum-on voltage. The effects of oxadiazole derivative PBD and tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum Alq(3) electron-transporting layers on the luminance and stability of the devices are discussed.

Effect of surface treatment of GaN based light emitting diode wafers on the leakage current of light emitting diode devices

To form low-resistance Ohmic contact to p-type GaN, InGaN/GaN multiple quantum well light emitting diode wafers are treated with boiled aqua regia prior to Ni/Au (5 nm/5 nm) film deposition. The surface morphology of wafers and the current-voltage characteristics of fabricated light emitting diode devices are investigated. It is shown that surface treatment with boiled aqua regia could effectively remove oxide from the surface of the p-GaN layer, and reveal defect-pits whose density is almost the same as the screw dislocation density estimated by x-ray rocking curve measurement. It suggests that the metal atoms of the Ni/Au transparent electrode of light emitting diode devices may diffuse into the p-GaN layer along threading dislocation lines and form additional leakage current channels. Therefore, the surface treatment time with boiled aqua regia should not be too long so as to avoid the increase of threading dislocation-induced leakage current and the degradation of electrical properties of light emitting diodes

Improved light extraction of GaN-based LEDs with nano-roughened p-GaN surfaces

p-GaN surfaces are nano-roughened by plasma etching to improve the optical performance of GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs). The nano-roughened GaN present a relaxation of stress. The light extraction of the LEDs with nano-roughened surfaces is greatly improved when compared with that of the conventional LEDs without nano-roughening. PL-mapping intensities of the nano-roughened LED epi-wafers for different roughening times present two to ten orders of enhancement. The light output powers are also higher for the nano-roughened LED devices. This improvement is attributed to that nano-roughened surfaces can provide photons multiple chances to escape from the LED surfaces.

The performance enhancement in organic light-emitting diode using a semicrystalline composite for hole injection

A semicrystalline composite, 3, 4, 9, 10 perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) doped N,N'-di(1-naphthyl)-N,N'-diphenylbenzidine (NPB), has been fabricated and characterized. An organic light-emitting diode using such a composite in hole injection exhibits the improved performance as compared with the reference device using neat NPB in hole injection. For example, at a luminance of 2000 cd/m(2), the former device gives a current efficiency of 2.0cd/A, higher than 1.6cd/A obtained from the latter device. Furthermore, the semicrystalline composite has been shown thermally to be more stable than the neat NPB thin film, which is useful for making organic light emitting diodes with a prolonged lifetime.