Wen-Yi Hung

A new benzimidazole/carbazole hybrid bipolar material for highly efficient deep-blue electrofluorescence, yellow–green electrophosphorescence, and two-color-based white OLEDs

The bipolar molecule CPhBzIm exhibits an excellent solid state photoluminescence quantum yield (ΦPL = 69%), triplet energy (ET = 2.48 eV), and bipolar charge transport ability (μh ≈ μe ≈ 10−6–10−5 cm2 V−1 s−1). We have used it to fabricate a non-doped deep-blue organic light emitting diode (OLED) exhibiting promising performance [ηext = 3%; CIE = (0.16, 0.05)] and to serve as host material for a yellow–green phosphorescent OLED [ηext = 19.2%; CIE = (0.42, 0.56)]. Exploiting these dual roles, we used CPhBzIm in a simple singly doped, two-color-based white OLED (ηext = 7%; CIE = 0.31, 0.33).

1,3,5-Triazine derivatives as new electron transport–type host materials for highly efficient green phosphorescent OLEDs

We have synthesized three star-shaped 1,3,5-triazine derivatives—2,4,6-tris(biphenyl-3-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (T2T), 2,4,6-tris(triphenyl-3-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (T3T), and 2,4,6-tris(9,9′-spirobifluorene-2-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (TST)—as new electron transport (ET)-type host materials for green phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices. The morphological, thermal, and photophysical properties and the electron mobilities of these ET-type host materials are influenced by the nature of the aryl substituents attached to the triazene core. The meta–meta linkage between the 1,3,5-triazine core and the peripheral aryl moieties in T2T and T3T limited the effective extension of their π conjugation, leading to high triplet energies of 2.80 and 2.69 eV, respectively. Time-of-flight mobility measurements revealed the good electron mobilities for these compounds (each > 10−4 cm2V−1 s−1), following the order T3T > TST > T2T. The device incorporating T2T as the host, doped with (PPy)2Ir(acac) and 1,3,5-tris(N-phenylbenzimidizol-2-yl)benzene (TBPI) as the ET layer, achieved a high external quantum efficiency (ηext) of 17.5% and a power efficiency (ηp) of 59.0 lm W−1. For the same device configuration, the T3T-based device provided values of ηext and ηp of 14.4% and 50.6 lm W−1, respectively; the TST-based device provided values of 5.1% and 12.3 lm W−1, respectively. We ascribe the superior performance of the T2T-based devices to balanced charge recombination; we ascribe the poor efficiencies of the TST-based devices to its relatively low triplet energy (2.54 eV), which did not allow efficient confinement of the triplet excitons on the green phosphorescent emitter (PPy)2Ir(acac).

Employing ambipolar oligofluorene as the charge-generation layer in time-of-flight mobility measurements of organic thin films

Strong absorption of oligofluorenes at wavelengths of a few commonly used nanosecond pulsed lasers, their bipolar transport characteristics, and high mobilities for both holes and electrons make them useful as the general and effective charge-generation material for the time-of-flight mobility measurement of organic materials. In this letter, we demonstrate the use of the terfluorene as the charge-generation material for measuring hole and electron mobilities of various organic materials. Such a scheme has the advantages of simplifying the instrumentation and reducing material consumption in the measurements.

The First Tandem, All-exciplex-based WOLED

Exploiting our recently developed bilayer interface methodology, together with a new wide energy-gap, low LUMO acceptor (A) and the designated donor (D) layers, we succeeded in fabricating an exciplex-based organic light-emitting diode (OLED) systematically tuned from blue to red. Further optimization rendered a record-high blue exciplex OLED with ηext of 8%. We then constructed a device structure configured by two parallel blend layers of mCP/PO-T2T and DTAF/PO-T2T, generating blue and yellow exciplex emission, respectively. The resulting device demonstrates for the first time a tandem, all-exciplex-based white-light OLED (WOLED) with excellent efficiencies ηext: 11.6%, ηc: 27.7 cd A−1, and ηp: 15.8 ml W−1 with CIE(0.29, 0.35) and CRI 70.6 that are nearly independent of EL intensity. The tandem architecture and blend-layer D/A (1:1) configuration are two key elements that fully utilize the exciplex delay fluorescence, providing a paragon for the use of low-cost, abundant organic compounds en route to commercial WOLEDs.

Highly Efficient Bilayer Interface Exciplex For Yellow Organic Light-Emitting Diode

A simple three-layer interfacial-type yellow emission exciplex device with an external quantum efficiency as high as 7.7% has been successfully achieved by combining conformation compatible C3-symmetric hole-transporting TCTA and electron-transporting 3P-T2T. The excellent and balanced charge-transporting properties of TCTA and 3P-T2T and the large energy-levels offset (0.8 eV) of TCTA/3P-T2T interface play important roles for the efficient exciplexes formation, which are effectively confined around the interfacial region due to the high triplet energies (2.85 eV) of TCTA and 3P-T2T. The high-performance OLED was believed to be from the effective harvest of exciplex triplet excitons via reverse intersystem crossing process.

Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer molecules bearing o-hydroxy analogues of green fluorescent protein chromophore.

o-Hydroxy analogues, 1a-g, of the green fluorescent protein chromophore have been synthesized. Their structures and electronic properties were investigated by X-ray single-crystal analyses, electrochemistry, and luminescence properties. In solid and nonpolar solvents 1a-g exist mainly as Z conformers that possess a seven-membered-ring hydrogen bond and undergo excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) reactions, resulting in a proton-transfer tautomer emission. Fluorescence upconversion dynamics have revealed a coherent type of ESIPT, followed by a fast vibrational/solvent relaxation (<1 ps) to a twisted (regarding exo-C(5)-C(4)-C(3) bonds) conformation, from which a fast population decay of a few to several tens of picoseconds was resolved in cyclohexane. Accordingly, the proton-transfer tautomer emission intensity is moderate (0.08 in 1e) to weak (∼10(-4) in 1a) in cyclohexane. The stronger intramolecular hydrogen bonding in 1g suppresses the rotation of the aryl-alkene bond, resulting in a high yield of tautomer emission (Φ(f) ≈ 0.2). In the solid state, due to the inhibition of exo-C(5)-C(4)-C(3) rotation, intense tautomer emission with a quantum yield of 0.1-0.9 was obtained for 1a-g. Depending on the electronic donor or acceptor strength of the substituent in either the HOMO or LUMO site, a broad tuning range of the emission from 560 (1g) to 670 nm (1a) has been achieved.

Carbazole–benzimidazole hybrid bipolar host materials for highly efficient green and blue phosphorescent OLEDs

In this study, we synthesized a series of bipolar hosts (CbzCBI, mCPCBI, CbzNBI, and mCPNBI) containing hole-transporting carbazole and electron-transporting benzimidazole moieties and then examined the morphological, thermal, and photophysical properties and carrier mobilities of these bipolar host materials. Altering the linking topology (C- or N-connectivity of the benzimidazole) changed the effective conjugation length and led to different excited-state solvent relaxation behavior. The N-connected compounds (CbzNBI, mCPNBI) possessed higher triplet energies (ET) than those of their C-connected analogues (CbzCBI, mCPCBI) by 0.23 eV. The higher values of ET of CbzNBI and mCPNBI endowed them with the ability to confine triplet excitons on the blue-emitting guest. A blue PhOLED device incorporating mCPNBI achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency, current efficiency, and power efficiency of 16.3%, 35.7 cd A−1, and 23.3 lm W−1, respectively; confirming the suitability of using N-connected bipolar hosts for the blue phosphor. The donor/acceptor interactions of the C-connected analogue resulted in a lower triplet energy, making it a suitable bipolar host for green phosphors. A green-phosphorescent device incorporating CbzCBI as the host doped with (PBi)2Ir(acac) achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency, current efficiency, and power efficiency of 20.1%, 70.4 cd A−1, and 63.2 lm W−1, respectively.

Hole-transport properties of a furan-containing oligoaryl

We report the carrier transport properties of a furan-containing oligoaryl PF6, which contains no arylamine moiety in the molecular structure but exhibits competitive hole-transport capability in comparison with conventional arylamine-based hole-transport materials often used in organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and xerography. Thin films of this compound exhibit both morphological stability and appropriate energy levels for OLED applications. OLEDs using PF6 as the hole-transport layer show low turn-on voltage, high efficiency, and high brightness competitive with those using conventional hole-transport materials, strongly indicating superior hole-transport properties of PF6. The carrier mobility of PF6 was directly measured by the time-of-flight transient photocurrent technique under various temperatures and electric fields. Nondispersive hole transport was observed and a room-temperature hole mobility in excess of 10−3 cm2/V s was obtained under high fields. The field and temperature dependence of...

High-luminescence non-doped green OLEDs based on a 9,9-diarylfluorene-terminated 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole derivative

We have prepared a highly efficient non-doped green organic light-emitting diode (OLED) incorporating a novel 9,9-diarylfluorene-terminated 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole green emitter (DFBTA), which exhibits an excellent solid state photoluminescence quantum yield (81%), and new triaryldiamines (DPAInT2, DPAInF) with high hole mobility derived from rigid and coplanar cores. The optimal device: ITO/DPAInT2/DPAInF/TCTA/DFBTA/Alq3/LiF/Al displayed impressive device characteristics, including a maximum external quantum efficiency (ηext) of 3.7% (12.9 cd A−1) and a maximum brightness at 168 000 cd m−2.

Indolo[3,2-b]carbazole/benzimidazole hybrid bipolar host materials for highly efficient red, yellow, and green phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes

By incorporating electron-accepting benzimidazole and electron-donating indolo[3,2-b]carbazole into one molecule, two novel donor–acceptor bipolar host materials, TICCBI and TICNBI, have been synthesized. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of the hybrids can be tuned through the different linkages (C- or N-connectivity) between the electronic donor and acceptor components. The promising physical properties of these two new compounds made them suitable for use as hosts doped with various Ir or Os-based phosphors for realizing highly efficient phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). PhOLEDs using TICCBI and TICNBI as hosts incorporated with Ir-based emitters such as green (PPy)2Ir(acac), yellow (Bt)2Ir(acac), and two new red emitters (35dmPh-6Fiq)2Ir(acac) (i3) and (4tBuPh-6Fiq)2Ir(acac) (i6) accomplished high external quantum efficiencies ranging from 14 to 16.2%. Nevertheless, the red PhOLED device incorporating TICNBI doped with the red emitter osmium(II) bis[3-(trifluoromethyl)-5-(4-tert-butylpyridyl)-1,2,4-triazolate]dimethylphenylphosphine [Os(bpftz)2(PPhMe2)2] achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency, current efficiency, and power efficiency of 22%, 28 cd A−1, and 22.1 lm W−1, respectively, with CIE coordinates of (0.65,0.35). The external quantum efficiency remained high (20%) as the brightness reached to 1000 cd m−2, suggesting balanced charge fluxes within the emitting layer, rendering devices with limited efficiency roll-off.