Proceedings of nanoGe Spring Meeting 2022 (NSM22)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29363/nanoge.nsm.2022.308
Publication date: 7th February 2022
Organic radicals have emerged as the basis of more efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with higher performance limits than typical molecular emitters. This is achieved by doublet fluorescence with nanosecond emission in contrast to standard singlet-triplet photophysics found in organic optoelectronics. Here direct charge recombination at radical sites is considered the primary emission process. However, due to the low-energy radical orbitals, severe electron trapping occurs in devices with narrow emission zones at the interface of emitting layers and electron transport layers, causing significant efficiency roll-off, low radiance and poor stability. To improve the optoelectronic performance of organic radical electroluminescence (EL) devices, the device structure is optimised by tuning charge transport layers and utilising an ambipolar host. The concept is tested by transient EL measurements and single-carrier device analysis that show the limiting emission process. We demonstrate highly efficient organic radical light-emitting diodes using tris(2,4,6-trichlorophenyl)methyl (TTM)-based radicals with higher than 15% EQE at 700 nm, including substantially improved efficiency roll-off and maximum radiance over 100,000 mW sr-1 m-2 in an important step to practical organic radical light-emitting diodes.