Electron-injecting cathode, efficient

PPV and its alkoxy derivatives are /j-type conductors and, as a consequence, hole injection is more facile than electron injection in these materials. Efficient injection of both types of charge is a prerequisite for efficient LED operation. One approach to lowering the barrier for electron injection is the use of a low work function metal such as calcium. Encapsulation is necessary in this instance, however, as calcium is degraded by oxygen and moisture. An alternative approach is to match the LUMO of the polymer to the work function of the cathode. The use of copolymers may serve to redress this issue. 

Due to the relatively high mobility of holes compared with the mobility of electrons in organic materials, holes are often the major charge carriers in OLED devices. To better balance holes and electrons, one approach is to use low WF metals, such as Ca or Ba, protected by a stable metal, such as Al or Ag, overcoated to increase the electron injection efficiency. The problem with such an approach is that the long-term stability of the device is poor due to its tendency to create detrimental quenching sites at areas near the EML-cathode interface. Another approach is to lower the electron injection barrier by introducing a cathode interfacial material (CIM) layer between the cathode material and the organic layer. The optimized thickness of the CIM layer is usually about 0.3-1.0 nm. The function of the CIM is to lower... 

Bilayered polysilane LEDs have been obtained by inserting a SiOx thin layer between the cathode and a Wurtz synthesized PMPS emitter film.94 The SiOx layers were prepared by 02 plasma treatment of the PMPS film surfaces. It was found that the external quantum efficiency was significantly enhanced by this treatment. This enhancement has been attributed to an increased electron injection via tunneling, resulting in a reduced hole current caused by the blocking effect of the thin SiOx layer. The weak visible emission observed from single-layer polysilane LEDs is almost completely eliminated. It was concluded that the visible emission is caused by the erosion of the PMPS surfaces due to the collision with hot metal particles during the vacuum deposition of the cathode, and this erosion process is avoided by the SiOx layer. 

Here, we mention the structure design of ETL. We have to form double ETLs (ETL-E/ETL-C), which are very similar to the double HTLs, for low electron injection from a cathode and the confinement of molecular excitons and hole carriers (Fig. 2.8b. For the efficient electron injection from a cathode into the ETL, the electron affinity (Ea) of ETL should be close to the level of the cathode s workfunction. The large Ea, however, mostly results in a small bandgap and insufficient exciton confinement. A typical example of the efficient combination of double ETLs is the OXD/Alq, in which OXD works well to confine excitons and the hole effect while the Alq layer injects and transports electrons from a cathode to an OXD layer. 

Although the current density at a given bias is reduced by blending, the luminous efficiency of the devices sharply increases. The inset to Fig. 10.34 plots the EL intensity versus current density for all four devices. All three doped LEDs show much higher EL output at a given current density. Both of these phenomena can be attributed to better current balance. It has been proposed that trapping of holes will cause a space-charge field to develop under bias, which reduces the total electric field at the anode and increases the field at the cathode.69 This additional field will block hole injection and facilitate electron injection. As holes are the majority carrier, the overall current density will decrease, but the carrier balance is much improved. The device efficiency (Cd/A) consequently increases from 0.04 for the PF2/6 LED to 0.08 for ST 755, 0.15 for ST 16/7, and 0.87 for TPTE. Thus, a 22-fold improvement of device efficiency was obtained. The color purity of the blend LEDs was also observed to improve with a reduction of the polyfluorene excimer band at 560 nm. 

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