Hole-injection enhancement of top-emissive polymer light-emitting diodes by P3HT/FNAB modification of Ag anode

Based on the hole-transport characteristic of poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), self-assembled thin layer of P3HT was employed to modify the Ag anode of a top-emissive polymer light-emitting diodes (T-PLEDs) to enhance the hole-injection from the Ag anode. The experimental results show that introduction of a P3HT thin layer significantly decreases the threshold voltage of a T-PLED. However, only slightly increase of the work function was achieved due to this modification. To increase the work function of the P3HT modified Ag anode (Ag/P3HT), 1-fluoro-2-nitro-4-azidobenzene (FNAB) was introduced into the terminal tail (–C6H13) of P3HT thin layer, which leads to a work function increment of 0.23 eV and a further enhancement in the hole-injection. The luminous efficiency achieved by this modified anode (Ag/P3HT/FNAB) is about fourfold higher than the efficiency obtained from the base device.