Near independence of OLED operating voltage on transport layer thickness

We report organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) with weak drive voltage dependence on the thickness of the hole transport layer (HTL) for thicknesses up to 1150 Å using the N,N′-Bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N,N′-bis(phenyl)-benzidine (α-NPD) and N,N′-bis(3-methyl phenyl)-N,N′-diphenyl-[1,1′-biphenyl]-4,4′diamine (TPD), both of which have hole mobilities in the range of 2 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1. Lower mobility HTL materials show larger operating voltage dependence on thickness. The near independence of the operating voltage for high mobility transport material thickness was only observed when the energy barrier for charge injection into the transport material was minimized. To ensure low injection barriers, a thin film of 2-(3-(adamantan-1-yl)propyl)-3,5,6-trifluorotetracyanoquinodimethane (F3TCNQ-Adl) was cast from solution onto the ITO surface. These results indicate that thick transport layers can be integrated into OLED stacks without the need for bulk conductivity doping, potentially reducing device and material complexity and lowering overall cost.

► OLEDs with weak drive voltage dependence on the thickness of the HTL up to 1150 Å.
► Observed when energy barrier for charge injection was minimized.
► Thick transport layers can be used without bulk conductivity doping.
► Serve to simplify the material set and the device architecture.
► Amenable to high volume and low cost manufacturing.