Interfacial TADF Exciplex as a Tool to Localize Excitons, Improve Efficiency, and Increase OLED Lifetime

In this work, we employ a thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) exciplex formed between the emissive layer (EML) host, 26DCzPPy, and the electron transport layer (ETL) 2,4,6-tris[3-(diphenylphosphinyl)phenyl]-1,3,5-triazine at the interface between the EML and the ETL to improve the stability and efficiency of a phosphorescence organic light-emitting diode based on Ir(dmpq)₂acac. We show that the presence of the TADF exciplex at the EML-ETL interface induces an efficient localization of the recombination zone, which is confined within the 5 nm thick EML. Furthermore, the TADF exciplex allows harvesting of the holes and electrons that piled up at the EML-ETL interface and transfers the resultant excited state energy to the phosphorescent emitter through Förster and/or Dexter energy transfer. This approach effectively improves the LT90 of devices from <1 min to 6 h by limiting recombination processes outside of the 5 nm EML.