Exciton formation and light emission near the organic–organic interface in small-molecule based double-layer OLEDs

We investigate the efficiency and emission color of small-molecule based double-layer organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on 4,4′-bis[1-naphthyl (phenyl) amino]-1,1′-biphenyl (α-NPD) and aluminum (III) bis (2-methyl-8-quinolinato)4-phenylphenolato (BAlq) by studying the charge transport and photophysics near the organic–organic interface between the emitting layers. For that purpose, the light-emission profile is reconstructed from full angle, wavelength and polarization dependent electroluminescence spectra. By increasing the thickness of the BAlq layer from 100 to 300 nm, at a fixed 160 nm α-NPD layer thickness, the emission color is found to vary from deep blue to green, yellow-green, white and back to blue. We demonstrate that this is due to a gradual emission profile shift, in combination with a wavelength and layer thickness dependent light outcoupling efficiency. The emission profile shift, from an approximately 20 nm-wide zone on the α-NPD-side of the interface to a very narrow zone on the BAlq-side of the interface, gives rise to a changing balance between the contributions from BAlq excitons, α-NPD excitons and charge-transfer excitons. It also contributes to a pronounced layer thickness dependence of the external quantum efficiency. The shift of the emission profile is explained by a charge transport and recombination model.

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► Nanometer-scale reconstruction of the light-emission profile in bilayer OLEDs.
► Layer thickness-dependent shift of the profile across the internal interface.
► Exciton and charge-transfer state contributions are discriminated.
► The shift explains the strong measured colour-point variation.
► It is explained by a charge transport and recombination model.