Energy landscape of vertically anisotropic polymer blend films toward highly efficient Polymer Light-Emitting Diodes (PLEDs)

A blend of two hole-dominant polymers is created and used as the light emissive layer in light-emitting diodes to achieve high luminous efficiency up to 22 cd A⁻¹. The polymer blend F8_{1− x}SY_x is based on poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (F8) and poly(para-phenylene vinylene) derivative superyellow (SY). The blend system exhibits a preferential vertical concentration distribution. The resulting energy landscape modifies the overall charge transport behavior of the blend emissive layer. The large difference between the highest unoccupied molecular orbital levels of F8 (5.8 eV) and SY (5.3 eV) introduces hole traps at SY sites within the F8 polymer matrix. This slows down the hole mobility and facilitates a balance between the transport behavior of both the charge carriers. The balance due to such energy landscape facilitates efficient formation of excitons within the emission zone well away from the cathode and minimizes the surface quenching effects. By bringing the light-emission zone in the middle of the F8_{1− x}SY_x film, the bulk of the film is exploited for the light emission. Due to the charge trapping nature of SY molecules in F8 matrix and pushing the emission zone in the center, the radiative recombination rate also increases, resulting in excellent device performance.