High light extraction performance using evanescent waves for top emission OLED applications with thin film encapsulation.

We report high light extraction from the top emission OLED (TEOLED) device structure by improving mainly the waveguide mode loss in the atomic layer deposition processed thin film encapsulation (TFE) layer. A novel structure incorporating the light extraction concept using evanescent waves and the hermetic encapsulation of a TEOLED device is presented here. When the TEOLED device is fabricated using the TFE layer, a substantial amount of generated light is trapped inside the device due to the difference in refractive index (RI) between the capping layer (CPL) and the aluminum oxide (Al2O3) layer. By inserting a low RI layer at the interface between the CPL and Al2O3, the direction of the internal reflected light is changed by the evanescent waves. The high light extraction with the low RI layer is attributed to the presence of evanescent waves and an electric field in the low RI layer. The novel fabricated TFE structure, CPL/ low RI layer/ Al2O3/ polymer/ Al2O3, is reported here. The current efficiency of the fabricated blue TEOLED device using this low RI layer is improved by about 23% and the blue index value is enhanced by about 26%. This new approach for light extraction will be applicable to future encapsulation technology for flexible optoelectronic devices.

Tailoring Extremely Narrow FWHM in Hypsochromic and Bathochromic Shift of Polycyclo-Heteraborin MR-TADF Materials for High-Performance OLEDs.

Developing double boron-based emitters with extremely narrow band spectrum and high efficiency in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) is crucial and challenging. Herein, we report two materials, NO-DBMR and Cz-DBMR, hinge on polycyclic heteraborin skeletons based on role-play of the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. The NO-DBMR contains an oxygen atom, whereas the Cz-DBMR has a carbazole core in the double boron-embedded ν-DABNA structure. The synthesized materials resulted in an unsymmetrical pattern for NO-DBMR and surprisingly a symmetrical pattern for Cz-DBMR. Consequently, both materials showed extremely narrow full width at half maximum (FWHM) of 14 nm in hypsochromic (pure blue) and bathochromic (Bluish green) shifted emission without losing their high color fidelity. Furthermore, both materials show high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of over 82 %, and an extremely small singlet-triplet energy gap (ΔEST ) of 0.04 eV, resulting in high reverse intersystem crossing process (kRISC ) of 105  s-1 . Due to the efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) characteristics, the fabricated OLEDs based on these heteraborins manifested maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax ) of 33.7 and 29.8 % for NO-DBMR and Cz-DBMR, respectively. This is the first work reported with this type of strategy for achieving an extremely narrow emission spectrum in hypsochromic and bathochromic shifted emissions with a similar molecular skeleton.

Asymmetric Host Molecule Bearing Pyridine Core for Highly Efficient Blue Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence OLEDs.

In this study, two host materials, pCzBzbCz and pCzPybCz, are synthesized to achieve a high efficiency and long lifetime of blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (TADF-OLEDs). The molecular design strategy involves the introduction of a pyridine group into the core structure of pCzPybCz as an electron-withdrawing unit, and an electron-donating phenyl group into the structure of pCzBzbCz. These host materials demonstrate good thermal stability and high triplet energy (T1 =3.07 eV for pCzBzbCz and 3.06 eV for pCzPybCz) for the fabrication of blue TADF-OLEDs. In particular, pCzPybCz-based OLED devices demonstrate an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 22.7 % and an operational lifetime of 24 h (LT90 , time to attain 90 % of initial luminance) at an initial luminance of 1000 cd m-2 . This superior lifetime could be explained by the C-N bond dissociation energy (BDE) in the host molecular structure. Furthermore, a mixed-host system using the electron-deficient 2,4-bis(dibenzo[b,d]furan-2-yl)-6-phenyl-1,3,5-triazine (DDBFT) is proposed to inhibit the formation of the anion state of our host materials. In short, the device operational lifetime is further improved by applying DDBFT. The carbazole-based asymmetric host molecule containing a pyridine core realizes a high-efficiency blue TADF-OLED showing a positive effect on the operating lifetime, and can provide useful strategies for designing new host materials.

High transmittance and deep RGB primary electrochromic color filter for high light out-coupling electro-optical devices.

We report a transmittance controllable electrochromic color filter (TCECF) by incorporating new electrochromic leuco dyes and their optimized composition. Each primary color red (R), green (G), and blue (B) electrochromic filter has an excellent transmittance of more than 84% at 650 nm, 540 nm, 450 nm, and the color coordinates are controllable from white (0.332, 0.347) to deep-red (0.621, 0.344), deep-green (0.327, 0.646), and deep-blue (0.179, 0.085), respectively. Also, each TCECF has good coloration efficiencies of 188.7 cm2 C-1 (R), 189.3 cm2 C-1 (G), and 147.8 cm2 C-1 (B) with high optical density change. A full color producible electrochromic color filter (ECF) is designed and fabricated by integrating primary RGB color filters with a refractive index matching adhesive layer. The fabricated three-stack full color producible ECF enables high transmittance of about 61% for clear white light extraction, and it can produce various colors including RGB. This TCECF technology will be very useful for high light out-coupling electro-optical applications, such as smart lighting, smart window, and display.

An accurate measurement of the dipole orientation in various organic semiconductor films using photoluminescence exciton decay analysis.

In this study, we report an accurate and more reliable approach to estimate the dipole orientation of emitters especially phosphorescence, fluorescence and even thermally activated delayed fluorescence. The dipole orientation measurements are performed by examining the variation of the photoluminescence (PL) exciton decay rate from time-resolved PL and optical analysis. Our anisotropic dipole orientation results are consistent with those of previous reports. The studied measurement approach is very reliable and accurate to estimate the dipole orientation of any organic semiconductor materials regardless of whether they are doped or neat films.

Next generation smart window display using transparent organic display and light blocking screen.

Transparent organic light emitting diodes (TOLED) have widespread applications in the next-generation display devices particularly in the large size transparent window and interactive displays. Herein, we report high performance and stable attractive smart window displays using facile process. Advanced smart window display is realized by integrating the high performance light blocking screen and highly transparent white OLED panel. The full smart window display reveals a maximum transmittance as high as 64.2% at the wavelength of 600 nm and extremely good along with tunable ambient contrast ratio (171.94:1) compared to that of normal TOLED (4.54:1). Furthermore, the performance decisive light blocking screen has demonstrated an excellent optical and electrical characteristics such as i) high transmittance (85.56% at 562nm) at light-penetrating state, ii) superior absorbance (2.30 at 562nm) in light interrupting mode, iii) high optical contrast (85.50 at 562 nm), iv) high optical stability for more than 25,000 cycle of driving, v) fast switching time of 1.9 sec, and vi) low driving voltage of 1.7 V. The experimental results of smart window display are also validated using optical simulation. The proposed smart window display technology allows us to adjust the intensity of daylight entering the system quickly and conveniently.

Efficient micro-cavity top emission OLED with optimized Mg:Ag ratio cathode.

Micro-cavity top-emitting organic light emitting diodes (TEOLEDs) are now receiving prominence as a technology for the active matrix display applications. The semi-transparent metal cathode plays the crucial role in realizing TEOLEDs structure. Here, we report the optimization results on Mg:Ag ratio as the semitransparent cathode deposited by vacuum thermal evaporation. The optimized Mg:Ag cathode with 1:10 ratio (wt %) shows a sheet resistance value as low as 5.2 Ω/□, an average transmittance of 49.7%, reflectance of 41.4%, and absorbance of 8.9% over the visible spectral region (400~700 nm). The fabricated red TEOLEDs device implemented using LiF (1nm)/Mg:Ag (1:10) cathode shows the voltage value of 4.17 V at a current density of 10.00 mA/cm2, and current efficiencies variation from 55.3 to 50.1 cd/A over the brightness range 2,000 - 12,000 cd/m2. The electroluminescence (EL) spectrum displays the light emission at 608 nm wavelength with a half width of 29.5 nm. The narrow half-width of red light emission is attributed to the micro-cavity effects due to the semitransparent cathode.

Spirobifluorene Core-Based Novel Hole Transporting Materials for Red Phosphorescence OLEDs.

Two new hole transporting materials, named HTM 1A and HTM 1B, were designed and synthesized in significant yields using the well-known Buchwald Hartwig and Suzuki cross- coupling reactions. Both materials showed higher decomposition temperatures (over 450 °C) at 5% weight reduction and HTM 1B exhibited a higher glass transition temperature of 180 °C. Red phosphorescence-based OLED devices were fabricated to analyze the device performances compared to Spiro-NPB and NPB as reference hole transporting materials. Devices consist of hole transporting material as HTM 1B showed better maximum current and power efficiencies of 16.16 cd/A and 11.17 lm/W, at the same time it revealed an improved external quantum efficiency of 13.64%. This efficiency is considerably higher than that of Spiro-NPB and NPB-based reference devices.

Cool white light-emitting three stack OLED structures for AMOLED display applications.

This paper demonstrates 2-stack and 3-stack white organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) with fluorescent blue and phosphorescent yellow emissive units. The 2-stack and 3-stack WOLED comprises blue-yellow and blue-blue-yellow (blue-yellow-blue) combinations. The position of the yellow emitter and possible cavity lengths in different stack architectures are theoretically and experimentally investigated to reach Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of near (0.333/0.333). Here, a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 23.6% and current efficiency of 62.2 cd/A at 1000 cd/m2 as well as suitable CIE color coordinates of (0.335/0.313) for the blue-blue-yellow 3-stack hybrid WOLED structure is reported. In addition, the blue-yellow-blue 3-stack architecture exhibits an improved angular dependence compared to the blue-blue-yellow structure at a decreased EQE of 19.1%.

Luminance uniformity study of OLED lighting panels depending on OLED device structures.

This paper describes the luminance uniformity of OLED lighting panels depending on OLED device structures of single emission layer (single-EML), 2-tandem, and 3-tandem. The luminance distribution is evaluated through the circuit simulation and the fabricated panel measurement. In the simulation results with yellow-green color panels of 30 × 80 mm2 emission area, a 3-tandem structure shows the lowest non-uniformity (1.34% at 7.5V), compared to single-EML (5.67% at 2.8V) and 2-tandem (2.78% at 5.3 V) structures at 1,000 cd/m2. The luminance non-uniformity is germane to the OLED conductance showing that the high luminance-current efficiency is of the most importance to achieve the uniform voltage and luminance distribution. In measurement, a 3-tandem structure also achieves the most uniform luminance distribution with non-uniformity of 4.1% while single EML and 2-tandem structures accomplish 9.6%, and 6.4%, respectively, at ~1,000 cd/m2. In addition, the simulation results ensure that a 3-tandem structure panel is allowed to be enlarged the panel size up to about 5,000 mm2 for lower luminance non-uniformity than 10% without any auxiliary metal electrodes.

High efficiency red top-emitting micro-cavity organic light emitting diodes.

In this study, we present optical simulation versus real fabricated device results in the micro-cavity red top-emitting organic light emitting diodes (TEOLEDs). The optical simulation results indicate that the two kinds of possible emissive layer (EML) positions exist in the second order micro-cavity effect and each EMLs could emit the similar radiance with near National Television System Committee (NTSC) color coordinate. Expected current efficiency and external quantum efficiency by the optical simulation toward the surface normal in the red tandem TEOLED are 98.8 cd/A and 22.6% for two EMLs, while fabricated device shows 95.8 cd/A and 26.5%, respectively.

Novel hole transporting materials based on 4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine derivatives for OLEDs.

During the past few years, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been increasingly studied due to their emerging applicability. However, some of the properties of existing OLEDs could be improved, such as their overall efficiency and durability; these aspects have been addressed in the current study. A series of novel hole-transporting materials (HTMs) 3a-c based on 4-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine conjugated with different carbazole or triphenylamine derivatives have been readily synthesized by Suzuki coupling reactions. The resulting compounds showed good thermal stabilities with high glass transition temperatures between 148 and 165 °C. The introduction of HTMs 3b and 3c into the standard devices ITO/HATCN/NPB/HTMs 3 (indium tin oxide/dipyrazino(2,3-f:2',3'-h)quinoxaline 2,3,6,7,10,11-hexacarbonitrile/N,N'-bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N,N'-bis(phenyl)-benzidine/HTMs)/CBP (4,4'-Bis(N-carbazolyl)-1,1'-biphenyl): 5% Ir(ppy)3/Bphen/LiF/Al (tris[2-phenylpyridinato-C2,N]iridium(III)/4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline/LiF/Al) resulted in significantly enhanced current, power, and external quantum efficiencies (EQE) as compared to the reference device without any layers of HTMs 3.

Structural Optimization of BODIPY Derivatives: Achieving Stable and Long-Lived Green Emission in Hyperfluorescent OLEDs.

Boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) derivatives are widely studied as terminal emitters in organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) due to their narrow emission and high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). However, the strategy for precisely tuning their emission toward a high color purity is still challenging. Herein, we developed a new design strategy to regulate the emission of BODIPY derivatives by modifying the electronic and steric dominance using functionalities, such as nitrile, pentafluorophenyl, diethyl, and monobenzyl. These rational modifications yielded a series of four novel green BODIPY emitters, namely, tPN-BODIPY, tPPP-BODIPY, tPBn-BODIPY, and tPEN-BODIPY, each benefited with a tuned emissions range of 517 to 542 nm with a narrow fwhm of 25 nm and high photoluminescence quantum yield up to 96%. Among these synthesized BODIPYs, an unsymmetrical tPBn-BODIPY was chosen as a final dopant (FD) to explore its application in OLED devices. The fabricated TADF sensitized fluorescence-OLED (TSF-OLED) exhibits a narrow band pure green emission at 531 nm with corresponding CIE coordinates of (x, y) = (0.27, 0.68) and a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 20%. Furthermore, the TSF-OLED displayed an exceptionally prolonged device operational lifetime (LT90) of 210 h at an initial luminescence of 3000 cd m-2.

Modified t-butyl in tetradentate platinum (II) complexes enables exceptional lifetime for blue-phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.

In blue phosphorescent dopants, the tetradentate platinum(II) complex is a promising material showing high efficiency and stability in devices. However, metal-metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MMLCT) formation leads to low photo-luminescence quantum yields (PLQYs), wide spectra, and intermolecular interaction. To suppress MMLCT, PtON-tb-TTB and PtON-tb-DTB are designed using theoretical simulation by modifying t-butyl in PtON-TBBI. Both materials effectively suppress MMLCT and exhibit high PLQYs of 99% and 78% in 5 wt% doped film, respectively. The PtON-tb-TTB and PtON-tb-DTB devices have maximum external quantum efficiencies of 26.3% and 20.9%, respectively. Additionally, the PtON-tb-DTB device has an extended lifetime of 169.3 h with an initial luminescence of 1200 nit, which is 8.5 times greater than the PtON-TBBI device. Extended lifetime because of suppressed MMLCT and smaller displacement between the lowest triplet and triplet metal-centered states compared to other dopants. The study provides an effective approach to designing platinum(II) complexes for long device lifetimes.

Forthcoming hyperfluorescence display technology: relevant factors to achieve high-performance stable organic light emitting diodes.

Over the decade, there have been developments in purely organic thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) materials for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, achieving narrow full width at half maximum (FWHM) and high external quantum efficiency (EQE) is crucial for real display industries. To overcome these hurdles, hyperfluorescence (HF) technology was proposed for next-generation OLEDs. In this technology, the TADF material was considered a sensitizing host, the so-called TADF sensitized host (TSH), for use of triplet excitons via the reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) pathway. Since most of the TADF materials show bipolar characteristics, electrically generated singlet and triplet exciton energies can be transported to the final fluorescent emitter (FE) through Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) rather than Dexter energy transfer (DET). This mechanism is possible from the S1 state of the TSH to the S1 state of the final fluorescent dopant (FD) as a long-range energy transfer. Considering this, some reports are available based on hyperfluorescence OLEDs, but the detailed analysis for highly efficient and stable devices for commercialization was unclear. So herein, we reviewed the relevant factors based on recent advancements to build a highly efficient and stable hyperfluorescence system. The factors include an energy transfer mechanism based on spectral overlapping, TSH requirements, electroluminescence study based on exciplex and polarity system, shielding effect, DET suppression, and FD orientation. Furthermore, the outlook and future positives with new directions were discussed to build high-performance OLEDs.

Multiresonant TADF materials: triggering the reverse intersystem crossing to alleviate the efficiency roll-off in OLEDs.

The hunt for narrow-band emissive pure organic molecules capable of harvesting both singlet and triplet excitons for light emission has garnered enormous attention to promote the advancement of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Over the past decade, organic thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials based on donor (D)/acceptor (A) combinations have been researched for OLEDs in wide color gamut (RGB) regions. However, due to the strong intramolecular charge-transfer (CT) state, they exhibit broad emission with full-width-at-half maximum (FWHM) > 70 nm, which deviates from being detrimental to achieving high color purity for future high-end display electronics such as high-definition TVs and ultra-high-definition TVs (UHDTVs). Recently, the new development in the sub-class of TADF emitters called multi-resonant TADF (MR-TADF) emitters based on boron/nitrogen atoms has attracted much interest in ultra-high definition OLEDs. Consequently, MR-TADF emitters are appeal to their potentiality as promising candidates in fabricating the high-efficient OLEDs due to their numerous advantages such as high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), unprecedented color purity, and narrow bandwidth (FWHM ≤ 40 nm). Until now many MR-TADF materials have been developed for ultra-gamut regions with different design concepts. However, most MR-TADF-OLEDs showed ruthless external quantum efficiency (EQE) roll-off characteristics at high brightness. Such EQE roll-off characteristics were derived mainly from the low reverse intersystem crossing (kRISC) rate values. This feature article primarily focuses on the design strategies to improve kRISC for MR-TADF materials with some supportive strategies including extending charge delocalization, heavy atom introduction, multi-donor/acceptor utilization, and a hyperfluorescence system approach. Furthermore, the outlook and prospects for future developments in MR-TADF skeletons are described.

Efficient pure blue hyperfluorescence devices utilizing quadrupolar donor-acceptor-donor type of thermally activated delayed fluorescence sensitizers.

The hyperfluorescence (HF) system has drawn great attention in display technology. However, the energy loss mechanism by low reverse intersystem crossing rate (kRISC) and the Dexter energy transfer (DET) channel is still challenging. Here, we demonstrate that this can be mitigated by the quadrupolar donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) type of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) sensitizer materials, DBA-DmICz and DBA-DTMCz. Further, the HF device with DBA-DTMCz and ν-DABNA exhibited 43.9% of high maximum external quantum efficiency (EQEmax) with the Commission Internationale de l'Éclairage coordinates of (0.12, 0.16). The efficiency values recorded for the device are among the highest reported for HF devices. Such high efficiency is assisted by hindered DET process through i) high kRISC, and ii) shielded lowest unoccupied molecular orbital with the presence of two donors in D-A-D type of skeleton. Our current study provides an effective way of designing TADF sensitizer for future HF technology.

New polymeric buffer materials with low driving voltage.

We present excellent polymeric buffer materials based on the poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-N, N-di(phenyl)-N,N-di(3-carboethoxyphenyl)benzidine) (BFE) for highly efficient solution processed organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). Doped BFE with 3,5-dinitrobenzonitrile (35DNBN), a strong electron acceptor results in significant improvement of current flow and driving voltage. Maximum current- and power-efficiency value of 7.2 cd/A and 5.5 lm/W are demonstrated from blue OLEDs with these doped polymeric anode buffer system. The 40 nm thick anode buffer material showed a similar current density-voltage (J-V) behavior to that of PEDOT:PSS based device. Results reveal a practical way to fabricate the highly efficient solution processed devices for low cost production of printing devices for the future.

Phosphorescent blue organic light-emitting diodes with new bipolar host materials.

We report narrow band gap bipolar host materials, CbPr-3 (9,9'-[(3,3'-Biphenyl-3.3'-yl-bipyridine)-1,3-biphenyl]bis-9H-carbazole) and Bim-4 (9,9'-[5-(1-phenyl-1H-benzimadazol-2yl)-1,3-phenylene] bis-9H-carbazole), for blue phosphorescent OLEDs application. These two bipolar hosts have high triplet energy of > 2.9 eV, capable of reducing the driving voltages and improving efficiencies. Significant low driving voltages of 7.4 and 6.6 V were obtained for CbPr-3 and Bim-4 hosts, compared with 9.0 V of the commonly used host, mCP (1,3-bis(9-carbazolyl)benzene). At a given constant luminance of 1000 cd/m2, the power efficiency of both the bipolar host devices was enhanced by 2.5 times.

Double boron-embedded multiresonant thermally activated delayed fluorescent materials for organic light-emitting diodes.

The subclass of multi resonant thermally activated delayed fluorescent emitters (MR-TADF) containing boron atoms has garnered significant attention in the field of organic light emitting diode (OLED) research. Among boron-based MR-TADF emitters, double boron-embedded MR-TADF (DB-MR-TADF) emitters show excellent electroluminescence performances with high photoluminescence quantum yields, narrow band emission, and beneficially small singlet-triplet energy levels in all the full-color gamut regions. This article reviews recent progress in DB-MR-TADF emitters, with particular attention to molecular design concepts, synthetic routes, optoelectronic properties, and OLED performance, giving future prospects for real-world applications.