Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Rochester. Department of Chemical Engineering, 2014.
Phosphorescent emitters have played a critical role in the advance of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. Among the phosphorescent emitters, the cyclometalated complexes with iridium (III) as the central atom are the most well developed and successfully commercialized. They are also among the most efficient. With chelating ligands specifically designed for color tuning, RGB (red, green and blue) emitters with nearly 100% (internal) quantum efficiency, defined as photons generated per injected electron, have been demonstrated. The operating lifetime of the phosphorescent OLED devices, however, remains an issue, particularly for the blue devices.
This thesis focuses on two phosphorescent blue dopants based on iridium; bis(4,6-difluorophenyl-pyridinato-N,C2) picolinate iridium (III) (FIrpic), and tris[1-(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-2-phenyl-1H-imidazole] iridium (III) (Ir(iprpmi)3). FIrpic is perhaps the most well-known blue phosphorescent dopant that has demonstrated high quantum efficiency, but it has been found to produce short operational lifetimes. Ir(iprpmi)3 was chosen for this study because there were claims in patent literature that it provides excellent stability in OLED devices.
Using FIrpic as the blue dopant in the emitter layer, we have investigated the dependence of OLED performance, including device lifetime, on the compositions of the emitter layer (host-dopant) and the adjacent electron/hole transport layers. Regardless of the choice of the host materials in the emitter layer, or the materials in the transport layers, it is shown that the stability of OLED devices is poor (<12 hours) for devices using FIrpic as the blue phosphorescent dopant. Recombination that occurs on the host or transport materials is also found to be detrimental to device lifetime.
By tracking voltage and efficiency during operation for model devices with well known tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato) aluminum (Alq) as the emitter, it is shown that in addition to its instability in charge recombination processes, FIrpic is also unstable with respect to hole-transport processes. This indicates that the FIrpic radical cation itself is unstable. It is also found that the host 3,3'-bis(N-carbazolyl)biphenyl (mCBP) is unstable to electron-hole recombination processes.
The photophysical properties of Ir(iprpmi)3 were studied. This material has a low ionization potential of 4.8 eV, which is indicative of a material possessing strong electron donor characteristics. Electron donating materials are typically associated with hole injecting or hole transporting materials. By adjusting the concentration of Ir(iprpmi)3 within the host mCBP, we show that Ir(iprpmi)3 is capable of trapping (at low concentration) and transporting (at high concentration) holes. In this way, the location of the recombination zone (RZ) is modulated. At low concentrations the RZ is confined near the hole-transport layer whereas at high concentration the RZ is shifted towards the electron-transport layer. The external quantum efficiency, EQE, defined as photons exiting the device per injected electron, can reach >20% as long as the RZ is adjacent a charge transport material that has a higher triplet energy than Ir(iprpmi)3. Due to molecular structural differences, device lifetime using Ir(iprpmi)3 as the emitting dopant is significantly improved compared to FIrpic. However, the lifetime is also highly dependent on the choice of material for the host and charge transport layers.
