Triplet exciton confinement and unconfinement by adjacent hole-transport layers

To understand confinement of the triplet exciton of Ir(ppy)(3) by hole-transport layers, we compared energy-dissipative processes of the triplet exciton of Ir(ppy)(3) which is doped into 4,4'-bis[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenyl-amino]biphenyl (alpha-NPD), 4,4'-bis [N-(p-tolyl)-N- phenyl-amino]biphenyl (TPD), 1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC), and 4,4'-N,N'-dicarbazole-biphenyl hosts. Significant energy transfer from Ir(ppy)(3) into the triplet levels of alpha-NPD was observed. In the case of the TPD host, however, partial confinement of the Ir(ppy)(3) triplet exciton was observed. This result suggests both forward and backward energy transfer from Ir(ppy)(3) to the TPD triplet levels. Furthermore, employing TAPC as a hole-transport layer achieved strong confinement of the Ir(ppy)(3) triplet exciton. One conclusion from these results is that electrophosphorescence efficiency is well correlated with the triplet energy level of the hole-transport layer host materials. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.