Triphenylsilyl- and trityl-substituted carbazole-based host materials for blue electrophosphorescence

Carbazole-based materials adopting the nonconjugated substitution of triphenylsilyl (-SiPh(3)) and trityl (-CPh(3)) side groups are studied as high-triplet-energy, morphologically, and electrochemically stable host materials with tunable carrier-transport properties for organic blue electrophosphorescence. The developed host materials 9-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-3,6-bis(triphenylsilyl)-9H-carbazole (CzSi), 9-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-3,6-ditrityl-9H-carbazole (CzC), and 9-(4-tert-butylphenyl)-3-(triphenylsilyl)-6-trityl-9H-carbazole (CzCSi) all show high triplet energies of 2.97-3.02 eV, along with high glass transition temperatures of 131-163 degrees C and superior electrochemical stability. Nevertheless, the carrier-transport properties show rather significant dependence on different substitutions. Although three different host materials give similar peak electroluminescence efficiencies at low driving currents, the CzSi host, which has more suitable carrier-transport properties, renders broadened distributions of the triplet excitons in phosphorescent devices, reducing the quenching associated with triplet-triplet annihilation and giving larger resistance against efficiency roll-off at higher brightnesses.