Effects of Energy-Level Alignment on Characteristics of Inverted Organic Light-Emitting Diodes

Inverted organic light-emitting diodes (iOLEDs) without the use of alkali metals have attracted extensive attention owing to the demand for the realization of flexible OLEDs that do not require stringent encapsulation. In this paper, we discuss the correlation between the characteristics of iOLEDs and the energy-level alignment at cathode/organic layer interfaces examined by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. Two similar electron-transporting materials having different orbital energies, 2,8-bis(diphenylphosphoryl)dibenzo[ b, d]thiophene (PPT) and 2,8-bis(diphenylphosphoryl)dibenzo[ b, d]thiophene sulfone (PPT-S), are inserted between the cathode/polyethyleneimine and the emitting layer in the iOLED. The iOLED employing PPT-S exhibits a lower driving voltage and a higher efficiency than that employing PPT, which is consistent with the orbital energies of the two molecules. Although the stabilities of these two molecules are expected to be similar, the iOLED employing PPT-S exhibits an operational lifetime that is more than 100 times longer than that of the iOLED employing PPT. It was found that the difference in operational lifetime is caused by the difference in the energy-level alignment at the cathode/organic layer interfaces. Our results are expected to promote the development of promising materials and device configurations for fabricating efficient and operationally stable iOLEDs.