Unmodified small-molecule organic light-emitting diodes by blade coating

Blade coating with substrate heating and hot wind is demonstrated to be a general platform for multi-layer deposition of unmodified small-molecule organic semiconductors. Most unmodified small molecules, originally designed for vacuum evaporation, can be blade coated while the solubility is above 0.5 wt.%. High uniformity is achieved for scale over 5 cm. Orange devices by evaporation and blade coating are compared with 4,4′-bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl (CBP) as the host, iridium(III) bis(4-(4-t-butylphenyl)thieno[3,2-c]pyridinato-N,C2′)acetylacetonate (PO-01-TB) as the emitter. The efficiency difference is within 10%. When 2,6-bis(3-(9H-carbazol-9-yl)phenyl)pyridine (26DCzPPy) is used as the host, the current efficiencies are 40 cd/A for orange, 32 cd/A for green, and 20 cd/A for blue. The optimized organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) structure developed for vacuum deposition can therefore be exactly copied by the low cost blade coating method in solution.

Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights
► Deposition of unmodified small-molecule by blade coating is demonstrated.
► Small molecules, originally designed for vacuum evaporation, can be blade coated.
► High uniformity is achieved for scale over 5 cm.
► Blade coated OLED show similar efficacy compared to OLED made by vacuum deposition.