Investigation of triplet harvesting and outcoupling efficiency in highly efficient two-color hybrid white organic light-emitting diodes

Abstract

We investigate singlet and triplet transfer processes in white triplet harvesting (TH) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), comprising fluorescent and phosphorescent emitter molecules. By analyzing electroluminescence spectra and performing time-resolved measurements, we prove direct TH from the blue fluorescent emitter N,N′-di-1-naphthalenyl-N,N′-diphenyl-[1,1′:4′,1″:4″,1′′′-quaterphenyl]-4,4′′′-diamine (4P-NPD) to the yellow phosphorescent emitter bis(2-(9,9-dihexyluorenyl)-1-pyridine)(acetylacetonate)iridium(III) (Ir(dhfpy)2(acac)). Singlet transfer is identified as a second exciton transfer mechanism in the TH OLEDs under investigation. The CIE coordinates of these devices can be adjusted over a wide range by varying the distance between exciton generation and TH zone. For an OLED with CIE color coordinates of (0.42/0.40), close to the warm white color point A, we obtain nearly perfect Lambertian emission characteristics. This device achieves an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 9.4% and a luminous efficacy (LE) of 27.1 lm W−1 (at 1000 cd m−2) which can be further increased to 46 lm W−1 using outcoupling enhancement techniques. Optical modeling of the electromagnetic field inside the TH OLED and a comparison to the position of the emitters within the device confirms that the devices operate close to the optical optimum and yields an estimated internal quantum efficiency (IQE) of 48.7% and a singlet/(harvested) triplet ratio of 0.28/0.72 = 0.39.