White Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells Employing Phosphor-Sensitized Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence to Approach All-Phosphorescent Device Efficiencies

Solid-state light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs) show promising advantages of simple device architecture, low operation voltage, and insensitivity to the electrode work functions such that they have high potential in low-cost display and lighting applications. In this work, novel white LECs based on phosphor-sensitized thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) are proposed. The emissive layer of these white LECs is composed of a blue-green phosphorescent host doped with a deep-red TADF guest. Efficient singlet-to-triplet intersystem crossing (ISC) on the phosphorescent host and the subsequent Forster energy transfer from the host triplet excitons to guest singlet excitons can make use of both singlet and triplet excitons on the host. With the good spectral overlap between the host emission and the guest absorption, 0.075 wt.% guest doping is sufficient to cause substantial energy transfer efficiency (ca. 40 %). In addition, such a low guest concentration also reduces the self-quenching effect and a high photoluminescence quantum yield of up to 84 % ensures high device efficiency. The phosphor-sensitized TADF white LECs indeed show a high external quantum efficiency of 9.6 %, which is comparable with all-phosphorescent white LECs. By employing diffusive substrates to extract the light trapped in the substrate, the device efficiency can be further improved by ca. 50 %. In the meantime, the intrinsic EL spectrum and device lifetime of the white LECs recover since the microcavity effect is destroyed. This work successfully demonstrates that the phosphor-sensitized TADF white LECs are potential candidates for efficient white light-emitting devices.

Automated summary

This work proposes novel white LECs based on phosphor-sensitized thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF), which have advantages of simple device architecture, low operation voltage, and insensitivity to the electrode work functions. The white LECs demonstrate efficient energy transfer efficiency and high device efficiency, with a high external quantum efficiency of 9.6%. By employing diffusive substrates to extract the light trapped in the substrate, the device efficiency can be further improved by approximately 50%. This work successfully demonstrates the potential of phosphor-sensitized TADF white LECs as efficient white light-emitting devices.