A New Lridium(III) Complex as a Deep-Red Phosphorescent Emitter in Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

We synthesized a novel red-emitting iridium(III) complex, bis[2-(5-(9H-carbazole-9-yl)thiophene-2-yl)benzo[d]thiazole]iridium(III)acetylacetonate ([(CTBT)21 r(acac)]), for use in phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of [(CTBT)2Ir(acac)] were characterized using photoluminescence (PL) and cyclic voltammetry. The photophysical properties of [(CTBT)2Ir(acac)] included PL emission at 630 nm. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of [(CTBT)2Ir(acac)] were calculated to be -5.14 and -2.83 eV, respectively. Phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS (30 nm)/TAPC (30 nm)/TPBi (12.5 nm):TCTA (12.5 nm):dopant (3%, 5%, 10%)/TSPO1 (35 nm)/LiF (1 nm)/Al (100 nm) were fabricated and characterized. The fabricated device doped with 5% [(CTBT)2Ir(acac)] showed a high luminous efficiency of 2.06 cd/A, maximum external quantum efficiency of 4.32% at 4 V, maximum outstanding luminance of 398.8 cd/m2, and maximum power efficiency of 1.79 lm/W with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.69, 0.31).