Instability origin and improvement scheme of facial Alq₃ for blue OLED application

Abstract

Degradation phenomenon and poor stability of tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum(III)(Alq₃)-based organic light-emitting diodes(OLEDs) have attracted much attention. In this paper, we discussed the origin of instability of the facial Alq₃-based blue luminescent OLEDs with the help of first-principles calculation. The results show that environmental humidity seriously affects the luminescence stability of Alq₃-based OLEDs. H₂O molecules in environment can be firmly bound to the oxygen atoms of the facial Alq₃, which then act as starting points for further degradation of Alq₃. Moreover, the interactions between facial Alq₃ and different cathode metal layers were investigated to explain the experiment phenomenon. A design guideline for diminishing the strong attraction from oxygen atoms can be proposed to protect Alq₃ and improve the stability of materials applied in OLEDs.

Keywords

Organic light-emitting diode(OLED) / Facial tris(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum(III)(Alq₃) / First-principle calculation / Degradation mechanism

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