Turn-on voltage reduction of organic light-emitting diode using a nickel-doped indium tin oxide anode prepared by single target sputtering

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a nickel (Ni)-doped indium tin oxide (ITO) anode were fabricated. The Ni-doped ITO anode was prepared using sputter deposition of Ni–ITO single targets consisting of 1, 3 and 5 wt% of nickel. Turn-on voltage of OLED devices with the Ni-doped ITO anode was reduced by 2.5, 4 and 3.8 V for 1, 3 and 5 wt% targets, respectively. Half-luminance lifetime was improved by 2.5 times with a Ni(3 wt%)-ITO single target. The successful development in preparing Ni-doped ITO films by Ni–ITO single target sputtering allows this approach to be adopted for OLED manufacturing.