Pressure-induced white light emission based on a single-component organic molecule

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Organic Electronics
• Photophysics

Background:

• White light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are crucial for energy-efficient lighting.
• Developing organic molecules for efficient white light emission remains challenging.
• Current methods often require complex molecular designs or multi-component systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a simple and efficient method for inducing white light emission in organic molecules.
• To investigate the effect of compression on the luminescence properties of a specific organic molecule.
• To demonstrate a new strategy for fabricating white light sources using organic materials.

Main Methods:

• Application of external pressure (compression) on organic molecules.
• Spectroscopic measurements including steady-state absorption and fluorescence.
• Transient-state spectra analysis.
• Density functional theory (DFT) simulations.

Main Results:

• A non-luminescent organic molecule was induced to emit brilliant white light under 0.8 GPa pressure.
• The emitted light intensity increased by over tenfold.
• Commission Internationale de I'Éclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.31, 0.32) were achieved.
• DFT simulations revealed pressure-induced molecular structure changes responsible for luminescence.

Conclusions:

• Compression is a viable and effective tool for fabricating white light-emitting organic materials.
• Molecular structure manipulation via pressure can optimize luminescent properties.
• This approach offers a novel pathway for developing single-component organic white light emitters.