JP2007250716A - Organic electroluminescence element, display and illuminator - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an organic electroluminecence element in which luminescent color balance is stabilized even if a drive current varies. <P>SOLUTION: In the organic electroluminecence element containing at least two kinds of phosphorescence light emissive material having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one light emitting layer contains two kinds or more phosphorescence light emissive materials, a phosphorescence light emissive material having an emission maximum wavelength of a short wave is contained more than other phosphorescence light emissive materials in the entire light emitting layer, and the concentration ratio of two main phosphorescence light emissive materials in the light emitting layer is different on the anode side and the cathode side of the light emitting layer in the thickness direction thereof. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescence element having stable chromaticity even when a drive current varies.

  As a light-emitting electronic display device, there is an electroluminescence display (ELD). As a constituent element of ELD, an inorganic electroluminescence element (hereinafter also referred to as an inorganic EL element) and an organic electroluminescence element (hereinafter also referred to as an organic EL element) can be given. Inorganic EL elements have been used as planar light sources, but an alternating high voltage is required to drive the light emitting elements.

  An organic EL device has a structure in which a light emitting layer containing a compound that emits light is sandwiched between a cathode and an anode, and injects electrons and holes into the light emitting layer and recombines them to generate excitons. This is an element that emits light by utilizing light emission (fluorescence / phosphorescence) when the exciton is deactivated, and can emit light at a voltage of several volts to several tens of volts, and is self-luminous. In addition, it is attracting attention from the viewpoints of space saving, portability and the like because it is a thin film type complete solid element with a wide viewing angle and high visibility.

  Another major feature of the organic EL element is that it is a surface light source, unlike main light sources that have been conventionally used in practice, such as light-emitting diodes and cold-cathode tubes. Applications that can make effective use of this characteristic include illumination light sources and backlights for various displays. In particular, it can be suitably used as a backlight of a liquid crystal full-color display whose demand has been increasing in recent years.

  When used as a backlight of such a full color display, it is used as a white light source. In order to obtain white light with an organic EL element, there are a method of obtaining white using two colors of light emitting materials having complementary colors, and a method of obtaining white using three colors of light emitting materials of blue, green, and red. . From the standpoint of color reproducibility and reducing light loss in the color filter, a method using a light emitting material of three colors of blue, green and red is preferable. To obtain light emission of three colors of blue, green and red, for example, It is known that white organic EL elements can be obtained by doping high-efficiency phosphors of blue, green, and red as light emitting materials.

  In addition, since a brighter organic EL element can be obtained, in recent years, phosphorescent materials have been developed. This is because the emission from the conventional phosphor is emission from the excited singlet, and the generation ratio of the singlet exciton and triplet exciton is 1: 3, so the generation probability of the luminescent excited species is 25%. On the other hand, in the case of a phosphorescent material using light emission from an excited triplet, the upper limit of internal quantum efficiency is 100% due to the exciton generation ratio and internal conversion from singlet excitons to triplet excitons. Therefore, in principle, the luminous efficiency is up to four times that of a fluorescent material.

  Furthermore, in a white light emitting organic EL device, energy transfer from a light emitting material having higher light emission energy is achieved by making two or more light emitting layers coexist in one layer, instead of making each B / G / R a separate layer. A method of emitting two colors is known. However, in the case of this method, a change in the emission color balance accompanying a change in the drive current, that is, a change in the emission intensity ratio of the coexisting light emitting materials occurs, which is a problem in practical use.

  Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 include an example in which a light emitting material of an adjacent layer is doped as an auxiliary light emitting material in an element that obtains white with three light emitting layers of blue, green, and red. Correction of the luminescent color accompanying the fluctuation of the current is the same as in the present invention. However, there is no description regarding the importance of changing the light emitting material concentration ratio in the light emitting layer containing two or more kinds of light emitting materials, which is an essential constituent element of the present invention, in the thickness direction of the light emitting layer.

  Patent Document 3 states that one light emitting layer contains two or more light emitting materials, at least one is a phosphorescent light emitting material, and the light emitting material emitting the shortest wavelength has the shortest excitation lifetime. Examples of characteristic organic EL elements are mentioned, but there is no description about the stability of the luminescent color balance versus driving current, which is a problem of the present invention, and two or more types of light emission which are essential constituent elements of the present invention There is no description regarding the importance of changing the concentration ratio of the light emitting material in the light emitting layer containing the material. Further, as apparent from the limitation of the excitation lifetime of the luminescent material in the claims and the subclaims, the luminescent material on the short wavelength side is narrowed down to the fluorescent material, which is different from the present invention.

  Patent Document 4 gives an example in which the content of the light-emitting material in the light-emitting layer is changed. This is intended to improve the lifetime reduction due to the outflow of electrons and holes from the light-emitting layer. However, there is no description about the stability of the luminescent color balance with respect to driving current, which is a problem of the present invention, and there is no coexistence of luminescent materials, which is different from the present invention.

The present invention relates to a technique for improving the stability of light emission color balance without impairing light emission efficiency by allowing two or more light emitting materials to coexist in one light emitting layer, and contains light emitting materials of two or more colors. The present invention relates to a structure that improves the stability of the emission color balance by changing the mixing ratio of the light emitting materials in the light emitting layer.
JP 2004-6165 A JP 2004-235168 A JP 2004-14155 A JP 2005-38672 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an organic electroluminescence element having a stable luminescent color balance even when a drive current varies.

  The above object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.

  1. In an organic electroluminescence device containing at least two types of phosphorescent materials having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one light emitting layer contains two or more types of phosphorescent materials, and the whole emission layer has a larger emission maximum wavelength. The phosphorescent material having a short wave is contained in a larger amount than the other phosphorescent materials, and the concentration ratio of two main phosphorescent materials in the light emitting layer is the anode side of the light emitting layer in the thickness direction of the light emitting layer. And an organic electroluminescence element characterized by being different on the cathode side.

  2. In an organic electroluminescence device containing at least two types of phosphorescent light emitting materials having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one type of phosphorescent light emitting material is contained in at least one light emitting layer, and the entire emission layer has a maximum emission maximum wavelength. 2. The organic electroluminescence according to 1 above, wherein a phosphorescent material having a short wave is contained in a larger amount than other phosphorescent materials, and the concentration ratio of the phosphorescent material having a longer wavelength is higher on the cathode side of the light emitting layer. Luminescence element.

  3. In an organic electroluminescence device containing at least two types of phosphorescent light emitting materials having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one type of phosphorescent light emitting material is contained in at least one light emitting layer, and the entire emission layer has a maximum emission maximum wavelength. 2. The organic electroluminescence according to 1 above, wherein a phosphorescent material having a short wave is contained in a larger amount than other phosphorescent materials, and the concentration ratio of the longwave light emitting material is higher on the anode side of the light emitting layer. element.

  4). 4. The organic electroluminescent element according to any one of 1 to 3 above, wherein the phosphorescent light emitting material is different in energy giving a light emission maximum of two main light emitting materials by 0.2 eV or more.

  5. 5. The organic electroluminescence element according to any one of 1 to 4, wherein the emission color is white.

  6). 6. A display device comprising the organic electroluminescent element according to any one of 1 to 5 as a backlight.

  7). The organic electroluminescent element of any one of said 1-5 is used as a light source, The illuminating device characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, since two or more types of phosphorescent light emitting materials are contained in one light emitting layer, and the concentration ratio of the light emitting material in the light emitting layer changes in the light emitting layer, the light emission color balance can be obtained even when the driving current varies. It is possible to provide a stable organic electroluminescence element, display device or lighting device.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below.

  In the present invention, by adopting the configuration defined in any one of claims 1 to 7, it is possible to provide an organic electroluminescence element, a display device, and an illumination device that have a stable luminescent color balance even when the drive current varies. .

  Hereinafter, details of each component according to the present invention will be sequentially described.

<< Organic EL element >>
An organic EL element has a structure in which a light emitting layer containing a light emitting compound (light emitting material) is sandwiched between a cathode and an anode, and excitons are formed by injecting electrons and holes into the light emitting layer and recombining them. It is an element that emits light by utilizing light emission (fluorescence / phosphorescence) when the exciton is generated and deactivated.

  Although the preferable specific example of the layer structure of the organic EL element of this invention is shown below, this invention is not limited to these.

(I) Anode / light emitting layer / electron transport layer / cathode (ii) Anode / hole transport layer / light emitting layer / electron transport layer / cathode (iii) Anode / hole transport layer / light emitting layer / hole blocking layer / electron Transport layer / cathode (iv) Anode / hole transport layer / light emitting layer / hole blocking layer / electron transport layer / cathode buffer layer / cathode (v) Anode / anode buffer layer / hole transport layer / light emitting layer / hole Blocking layer / electron transport layer / cathode buffer layer / cathode Here, the light emitting layer preferably contains at least two kinds of light emitting materials having different emission colors, and a single layer or a light emitting layer comprising a plurality of light emitting layers A unit may be formed. The hole transport layer also includes a hole injection layer and an electron blocking layer.

<Light emitting layer>
The light emitting layer according to the present invention is a layer that emits light by recombination of electrons and holes injected from the electrode, the electron transport layer, or the hole transport layer, and the light emitting portion is in the layer of the light emitting layer. May be the interface between the light emitting layer and the adjacent layer.

  The light emitting layer according to the present invention is not particularly limited in its configuration as long as the contained light emitting material satisfies the above requirements.

  In addition, when the number of light emitting layers is more than four, there may be a plurality of layers having the same emission spectrum or emission maximum wavelength.

  It is preferable to have a non-light emitting intermediate layer between each light emitting layer.

  The total thickness of the light emitting layers in the present invention is preferably in the range of 1 to 100 nm, and more preferably 30 nm or less because a lower driving voltage can be obtained. In addition, the sum total of the film thickness of the light emitting layer said by this invention is a film thickness also including this intermediate | middle layer, when a nonluminous intermediate | middle layer exists between light emitting layers.

  The thickness of each light emitting layer is preferably adjusted to a range of 1 to 50 nm, more preferably adjusted to a range of 1 to 20 nm. There is no particular limitation on the relationship between the film thicknesses of the blue, green and red light emitting layers.

  For the production of the light emitting layer, a light emitting material or a host compound, which will be described later, is formed by forming a film by a known thinning method such as a vacuum deposition method, a spin coating method, a casting method, an LB method, an ink jet method, or the like. it can.

  In the present invention, a plurality of light emitting materials may be mixed in each light emitting layer, and a phosphorescent light emitting material and a fluorescent light emitting material may be mixed and used in the same light emitting layer.

  In the present invention, the structure of the light-emitting layer preferably contains a host compound and a light-emitting material (also referred to as a light-emitting dopant compound) and emits light from the light-emitting material.

  As a host compound contained in the light emitting layer of the organic EL device of the present invention, a compound having a phosphorescence quantum yield of phosphorescence emission at room temperature (25 ° C.) of less than 0.1 is preferable. More preferably, the phosphorescence quantum yield is less than 0.01. Moreover, it is preferable that the volume ratio in the layer is 50% or more among the compounds contained in a light emitting layer.

  As the host compound, known host compounds may be used alone or in combination of two or more. By using a plurality of types of host compounds, it is possible to adjust the movement of charges, and the organic EL element can be made highly efficient. Moreover, it becomes possible to mix different light emission by using multiple types of luminescent material mentioned later, and can thereby obtain arbitrary luminescent colors.

  The host compound used in the present invention may be a conventionally known low molecular compound or a high molecular compound having a repeating unit, and a low molecular compound having a polymerizable group such as a vinyl group or an epoxy group (evaporation polymerizable light emitting host). )But it is good.

  As the known host compound, a compound that has a hole transporting ability and an electron transporting ability, prevents the emission of light from being increased in wavelength, and has a high Tg (glass transition temperature) is preferable. Here, the glass transition point (Tg) is a value obtained by a method based on JIS-K-7121 using DSC (Differential Scanning Colorimetry).

  Specific examples of known host compounds include compounds described in the following documents. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2001-257076, 2002-308855, 2001-313179, 2002-319491, 2001-357777, 2002-334786, 2002-8860 Gazette, 2002-334787 gazette, 2002-15871 gazette, 2002-334788 gazette, 2002-43056 gazette, 2002-334789 gazette, 2002-75645 gazette, 2002-338579 gazette. No. 2002-105445, No. 2002-343568, No. 2002-141173, No. 2002-352957, No. 2002-203683, No. 2002-363227, No. 2002-231453. No. 2003-3165, No. 2002-234888, No. 2003-27048, No. 2002-255934, No. 2002-286061, No. 2002-280183, No. 2002-299060. 2002-302516, 2002-305083, 2002-305084, 2002-308837, and the like.

  Next, the light emitting material according to the present invention will be described.

  As the light-emitting material according to the present invention, a fluorescent compound or a phosphorescent material (also referred to as a phosphorescent compound or a phosphorescent compound) is used.

  The phosphorescent material according to the present invention is a compound in which light emission from an excited triplet is observed. Specifically, it is a compound that emits phosphorescence at room temperature (25 ° C.). Although defined as being a compound of 01 or more, the preferred phosphorescence quantum yield is 0.1 or more.

  The phosphorescent quantum yield can be measured by the method described in Spectroscopic II, page 398 (1992 edition, Maruzen) of Experimental Chemistry Course 4 of the 4th edition. Although the phosphorescence quantum yield in a solution can be measured using various solvents, the phosphorescence emitting material according to the present invention can achieve the phosphorescence quantum yield (0.01 or more) in any solvent. That's fine.

  There are two types of light emission of the phosphorescent material. In principle, the carrier recombination occurs on the host compound to which the carrier is transported to generate an excited state of the host compound, and this energy is transferred to the phosphorescent material. Energy transfer type to obtain light emission from the phosphorescent light emitting material, and another one is that the phosphorescent light emitting material becomes a carrier trap, and recombination of carriers occurs on the phosphorescent light emitting material, and light emission from the phosphorescent light emitting material is obtained. Although it is a trap type, in any case, the excited state energy of the phosphorescent material is required to be lower than the excited state energy of the host compound.

  The phosphorescent light emitting material can be appropriately selected from known materials used for the light emitting layer of the organic EL element.

  The phosphorescent material according to the present invention is preferably a complex compound containing a group 8-10 metal in the periodic table of elements, more preferably an iridium compound, an osmium compound, or a platinum compound (platinum complex compound). Rare earth complexes, most preferably iridium compounds.

  Specific examples of the compound used as the phosphorescent material are shown below, but the present invention is not limited to these. These compounds are described, for example, in Inorg. Chem. 40, 1704-1711, and the like.

  A fluorescent substance can also be used for the organic electroluminescent element of the present invention.

  Representative examples of fluorescent emitters (fluorescent dopants) include coumarin dyes, pyran dyes, cyanine dyes, croconium dyes, squalium dyes, oxobenzanthracene dyes, fluorescein dyes, rhodamine dyes, pyrylium dyes. Examples thereof include dyes, perylene dyes, stilbene dyes, polythiophene dyes, and rare earth complex phosphors.

  Conventionally known dopants can also be used in the present invention. For example, International Publication No. 00/70655 pamphlet, JP-A Nos. 2002-280178, 2001-181616, 2002-280179, 2001 181617, 2002-280180, 2001-247859, 2002-299060, 2001-313178, 2002-302671, 2001-345183, 2002. No. 324679, International Publication No. 02/15645, JP 2002-332291 A, 2002-50484, 2002-332292, 2002-83684, JP 2002-540572, JP 2 No. 02-117978, No. 2002-338588, No. 2002-170684, No. 2002-352960, Pamphlet of International Publication No. 01/93642, JP 2002-50483, No. 2002-1000047. No. 2002-173684, No. 2002-359082, No. 2002-17584, No. 2002-363552, No. 2002-184582, No. 2003-7469, No. 2002-525808. JP-A 2003-7471, JP-T 2002-525833, JP-A 2003-31366, JP-A 2002-226495, JP-A 2002-234894, JP-A 2002-2335076, JP-A 2002-24175 Gazette, 2001-319779, 2001-319780, 2002-62824, 2002-1000047, 2002-203679, 2002-343572, 2002-203678. A gazette etc. are mentioned.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that at least one light emitting layer contains two or more kinds of light emitting materials having different light emission maximum wavelengths, and the concentration ratio of the light emitting materials in the light emitting layer varies in the thickness direction of the light emitting layer. It is preferable.

That is,
(1) A region where the concentration ratio of a long wave light emitting material having a maximum light emission wavelength is higher or a concentration gradient of the light emitting material contained in the light emitting layer in the cathode side portion with respect to the central portion of the light emitting layer. A lean configuration.
(2) A region where the concentration ratio of a long wave light emitting material having a maximum light emission wavelength is higher or a concentration gradient of the light emitting material in which the anode side portion is included in the light emitting layer with respect to the central portion of the light emitting layer. Lean structure,
Thus, the effect of the present invention is achieved.
The selection of the configuration of (1) and (2) is based on the configuration before and after the light emitting layer, that is, whether the exciton generation region is on the cathode side (configuration in which the hole blocking layer is effectively acting) or on the anode side. It is determined whether it is (configuration in which the electron blocking layer works effectively).

  In order to change the concentration ratio of the luminescent material in the luminescent layer, there are methods such as changing the deposition rate of each luminescent material when the luminescent layer is formed by co-evaporation, or performing each deposition intermittently. .

  There is also a method of forming a light emitting layer by laminating solutions having different light emitting material concentration ratios by wet methods such as printing, ink jetting, and spin coating.

  The concentration ratio change of the light emitting material in the light emitting layer may be any state as long as the conditions of the present invention are satisfied, and may be stepped, linear, or curved.

  1 and 2, when there are a plurality of light emitting materials in the light emitting layer, some concentration profiles of the light emitting material 1 when the concentration ratio of the light emitting material 1 to other light emitting materials changes in the light emitting layer thickness direction. An example is shown.

  FIG. 1 shows the case where the concentration of the luminescent material 1 is increased on the anode side, and FIG. 2 shows the case where the concentration of the luminescent material 1 is increased on the cathode side.

  The energy giving the light emission maximum of each light emitting material can be obtained from the light emission spectrum of the light emitting layer. The emission spectrum of the light emitting layer has a light emission wavelength peak derived from each light emitting material, and this is defined as the light emission maximum wavelength of each light emitting material. The energy (E [eV]) giving the light emission maximum can be obtained from the light emission maximum wavelength (λmax [nm]) according to the following formula 1.

Formula 1
E [eV] = 1240 / λmax [nm]
A spectral radiance meter CS-1000 (manufactured by Konica Minolta Sensing) was used for measurement of the emission spectrum.

  In the present invention, the energy that gives the light emission maximum of the main light-emitting material among the two or more light-emitting materials having different light emission maximum wavelengths is preferably separated by 0.2 [eV] or more. In the present invention, the two main light emitting materials are light emitting materials that give two kinds of light emission with strong light emission intensity.

《Middle layer》
A non-light emitting intermediate layer (also referred to as an undoped region or the like) used in the present invention will be described.

  The non-light emitting intermediate layer is a layer provided between the light emitting layers in the case of having a plurality of light emitting layers.

  The film thickness of the non-light emitting intermediate layer is preferably in the range of 1 to 20 nm, and further in the range of 3 to 10 nm suppresses interaction such as energy transfer between adjacent light emitting layers, and the current of the device This is preferable because a large load is not applied to the voltage characteristics.

  The material used for the non-light emitting intermediate layer may be the same as or different from the host compound of the light emitting layer, but may be the same as the host material of at least one of the adjacent light emitting layers. preferable.

  The non-light-emitting intermediate layer may contain a non-light-emitting layer, a compound common to each light-emitting layer (for example, a host compound), and each common host material (where a common host material is used) In the case where the physicochemical characteristics such as phosphorescence emission energy and glass transition point are the same, or the molecular structure of the host compound is the same, etc.) The barrier is reduced, and the effect of easily maintaining the injection balance of holes and electrons even when the voltage (current) is changed can be obtained. Furthermore, by using a host material having the same physical characteristics or the same molecular structure as the host compound contained in each light-emitting layer in the undoped light-emitting layer, device fabrication, which is a major problem in conventional organic EL device fabrication, is achieved. Complexity can also be eliminated.

  In the organic EL device of the present invention, since the host material is responsible for carrier transport, a material having carrier transport capability is preferable. Carrier mobility is used as a physical property representing carrier transport ability, but the carrier mobility of an organic material generally depends on the electric field strength. Since a material having a high electric field strength dependency easily breaks the balance between injection and transport of holes and electrons, it is preferable to use a material having a low electric field strength dependency of mobility for the intermediate layer material and the host material.

  On the other hand, in order to optimally adjust the injection balance of holes and electrons, it is also preferable that the non-light emitting intermediate layer functions as a blocking layer described later, that is, a hole blocking layer and an electron blocking layer. It is done.

<< Injection layer: electron injection layer, hole injection layer >>
The injection layer is provided as necessary, and there are an electron injection layer and a hole injection layer, and as described above, it exists between the anode and the light emitting layer or the hole transport layer and between the cathode and the light emitting layer or the electron transport layer. May be.

  An injection layer is a layer provided between an electrode and an organic layer in order to reduce drive voltage and improve light emission luminance. “Organic EL element and its forefront of industrialization (issued by NTT Corporation on November 30, 1998) 2), Chapter 2, “Electrode Materials” (pages 123 to 166) in detail, and includes a hole injection layer (anode buffer layer) and an electron injection layer (cathode buffer layer).

  The details of the anode buffer layer (hole injection layer) are described in JP-A-9-45479, JP-A-9-260062, JP-A-8-288069 and the like. As a specific example, copper phthalocyanine is used. Examples thereof include a phthalocyanine buffer layer represented by an oxide, an oxide buffer layer represented by vanadium oxide, an amorphous carbon buffer layer, and a polymer buffer layer using a conductive polymer such as polyaniline (emeraldine) or polythiophene.

  The details of the cathode buffer layer (electron injection layer) are described in JP-A-6-325871, JP-A-9-17574, JP-A-10-74586, and the like. Specifically, strontium, aluminum, etc. Metal buffer layer typified by lithium, alkali metal compound buffer layer typified by lithium fluoride, alkaline earth metal compound buffer layer typified by magnesium fluoride, oxide buffer layer typified by aluminum oxide, etc. . The buffer layer (injection layer) is preferably a very thin film, and the film thickness is preferably in the range of 0.1 nm to 5 μm although it depends on the material.

<Blocking layer: hole blocking layer, electron blocking layer>
The blocking layer is provided as necessary in addition to the basic constituent layer of the organic compound thin film as described above. For example, it is described in JP-A Nos. 11-204258, 11-204359, and “Organic EL elements and their forefront of industrialization” (issued by NTT, Inc. on November 30, 1998). There is a hole blocking (hole blocking) layer.

  The hole blocking layer has a function of an electron transport layer in a broad sense, and is composed of a hole blocking material that has a function of transporting electrons and has a very small ability to transport holes, and transports holes while transporting electrons. By blocking this, the recombination probability of electrons and holes can be improved. Moreover, the structure of the electron carrying layer mentioned later can be used as a hole-blocking layer concerning this invention as needed.

  The hole blocking layer of the organic EL device of the present invention is preferably provided adjacent to the light emitting layer.

  On the other hand, the electron blocking layer has a function of a hole transport layer in a broad sense, and is made of a material that has a function of transporting holes and has an extremely small ability to transport electrons, and transports electrons while transporting holes. By blocking, the recombination probability of electrons and holes can be improved. Moreover, the structure of the positive hole transport layer mentioned later can be used as an electron blocking layer as needed. The film thickness of the hole blocking layer and the electron transport layer according to the present invention is preferably 3 to 100 nm, and more preferably 5 to 30 nm.

《Hole transport layer》
The hole transport layer is made of a hole transport material having a function of transporting holes, and in a broad sense, a hole injection layer and an electron blocking layer are also included in the hole transport layer. The hole transport layer can be provided as a single layer or a plurality of layers.

  The hole transport material has any one of hole injection or transport and electron barrier properties, and may be either organic or inorganic. For example, triazole derivatives, oxadiazole derivatives, imidazole derivatives, polyarylalkane derivatives, pyrazoline derivatives and pyrazolone derivatives, phenylenediamine derivatives, arylamine derivatives, amino-substituted chalcone derivatives, oxazole derivatives, styrylanthracene derivatives, fluorenone derivatives, hydrazone derivatives, Examples thereof include stilbene derivatives, silazane derivatives, aniline copolymers, and conductive polymer oligomers, particularly thiophene oligomers.

  The above-mentioned materials can be used as the hole transport material, but it is preferable to use a porphyrin compound, an aromatic tertiary amine compound and a styrylamine compound, particularly an aromatic tertiary amine compound.

  Representative examples of aromatic tertiary amine compounds and styrylamine compounds include N, N, N ', N'-tetraphenyl-4,4'-diaminophenyl; N, N'-diphenyl-N, N'- Bis (3-methylphenyl)-[1,1′-biphenyl] -4,4′-diamine (TPD); 2,2-bis (4-di-p-tolylaminophenyl) propane; 1,1-bis (4-di-p-tolylaminophenyl) cyclohexane; N, N, N ′, N′-tetra-p-tolyl-4,4′-diaminobiphenyl; 1,1-bis (4-di-p-tolyl) Aminophenyl) -4-phenylcyclohexane; bis (4-dimethylamino-2-methylphenyl) phenylmethane; bis (4-di-p-tolylaminophenyl) phenylmethane; N, N'-diphenyl-N, N ' − (4-methoxyphenyl) -4,4'-diaminobiphenyl; N, N, N ', N'-tetraphenyl-4,4'-diaminodiphenyl ether; 4,4'-bis (diphenylamino) quadriphenyl; N, N, N-tri (p-tolyl) amine; 4- (di-p-tolylamino) -4 '-[4- (di-p-tolylamino) styryl] stilbene; 4-N, N-diphenylamino- (2-diphenylvinyl) benzene; 3-methoxy-4′-N, N-diphenylaminostilbenzene; N-phenylcarbazole, and also two of those described in US Pat. No. 5,061,569. Having a condensed aromatic ring in the molecule, for example, 4,4'-bis [N- (1-naphthyl) -N-phenylamino] biphenyl (NPD), JP-A-4-3086 4,4 ', 4 "-tris [N- (3-methylphenyl) -N-phenylamino] triphenylamine in which three triphenylamine units described in Japanese Patent No. 8 are linked in a starburst type ( MTDATA) and the like.

  Furthermore, a polymer material in which these materials are introduced into a polymer chain or these materials are used as a polymer main chain can also be used. In addition, inorganic compounds such as p-type-Si and p-type-SiC can also be used as the hole injection material and the hole transport material.

  JP-A-11-251067, J. Org. Huang et. al. A so-called p-type hole transport material described in a book (Applied Physics Letters 80 (2002), p. 139) can also be used. In the present invention, it is preferable to use these materials because a light-emitting element with higher efficiency can be obtained.

  The hole transport layer can be formed by thinning the hole transport material by a known method such as a vacuum deposition method, a spin coating method, a casting method, a printing method including an ink jet method, or an LB method. it can. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the film thickness of a positive hole transport layer, Usually, 5 nm-about 5 micrometers, Preferably it is 5-200 nm. The hole transport layer may have a single layer structure composed of one or more of the above materials.

  Alternatively, a hole transport layer having a high p property doped with impurities can be used. Examples thereof include JP-A-4-297076, JP-A-2000-196140, 2001-102175, J.A. Appl. Phys. 95, 5773 (2004), and the like.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to use a hole transport layer having such a high p property because a device with lower power consumption can be produced.

《Electron transport layer》
The electron transport layer is made of a material having a function of transporting electrons, and in a broad sense, an electron injection layer and a hole blocking layer are also included in the electron transport layer. The electron transport layer can be provided as a single layer or a plurality of layers.

  Conventionally, in the case of a single electron transport layer and a plurality of layers, an electron transport material (also serving as a hole blocking material) used for an electron transport layer adjacent to the light emitting layer on the cathode side is injected from the cathode. As long as it has a function of transferring electrons to the light-emitting layer, any material can be selected and used from among conventionally known compounds. For example, nitro-substituted fluorene derivatives, diphenylquinone derivatives Thiopyrandioxide derivatives, carbodiimides, fluorenylidenemethane derivatives, anthraquinodimethane and anthrone derivatives, oxadiazole derivatives and the like. Furthermore, in the above oxadiazole derivative, a thiadiazole derivative in which the oxygen atom of the oxadiazole ring is substituted with a sulfur atom, and a quinoxaline derivative having a quinoxaline ring known as an electron withdrawing group can also be used as an electron transport material. Furthermore, a polymer material in which these materials are introduced into a polymer chain or these materials are used as a polymer main chain can also be used.

In addition, metal complexes of 8-quinolinol derivatives such as tris (8-quinolinol) aluminum (Alq ₃ ), tris (5,7-dichloro-8-quinolinol) aluminum, tris (5,7-dibromo-8-quinolinol) Aluminum, tris (2-methyl-8-quinolinol) aluminum, tris (5-methyl-8-quinolinol) aluminum, bis (8-quinolinol) zinc (Znq), etc., and the central metals of these metal complexes are In, Mg Metal complexes replaced with Cu, Ca, Sn, Ga, or Pb can also be used as the electron transport material. In addition, metal-free or metal phthalocyanine, or those having terminal ends substituted with an alkyl group or a sulfonic acid group can be preferably used as the electron transporting material. Further, the distyrylpyrazine derivatives exemplified as the material of the light emitting layer can also be used as the electron transport material, and inorganic semiconductors such as n-type-Si and n-type-SiC can be used as well as the hole injection layer and the hole transport layer. It can be used as an electron transport material.

  The electron transport layer can be formed by thinning the electron transport material by a known method such as a vacuum deposition method, a spin coating method, a casting method, a printing method including an ink jet method, or an LB method. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the film thickness of an electron carrying layer, Usually, 5 nm-about 5 micrometers, Preferably it is 5-200 nm. The electron transport layer may have a single layer structure composed of one or more of the above materials.

  Further, an electron transport layer having a high n property doped with impurities can also be used. Examples thereof include JP-A-4-297076, JP-A-10-270172, JP-A-2000-196140, 2001-102175, J.A. Appl. Phys. 95, 5773 (2004), and the like.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to use an electron transport layer having such a high n property because an element with lower power consumption can be manufactured.

《Support substrate》
There are no particular limitations on the type of glass, plastic, etc., as the support substrate (hereinafter also referred to as a substrate, substrate, substrate, support, etc.) according to the organic EL device of the present invention. It may be. When extracting light from the support substrate side, the support substrate is preferably transparent. Examples of the transparent support substrate preferably used include glass, quartz, and a transparent resin film. A particularly preferable support substrate is a resin film capable of giving flexibility to the organic EL element.

  Examples of the resin film include polyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyethylene, polypropylene, cellophane, cellulose diacetate, cellulose triacetate, cellulose acetate butyrate, cellulose acetate propionate (CAP), Cellulose esters such as cellulose acetate phthalate and cellulose nitrate or their derivatives, polyvinylidene chloride, polyvinyl alcohol, polyethylene vinyl alcohol, syndiotactic polystyrene, polycarbonate, norbornene resin, polymethylpentene, polyether ketone, polyimide, polyether Sulfone (PES), polyphenylene sulfide, polysulfones, polyether Examples include cycloolefin resins such as luimide, polyether ketone imide, polyamide, fluororesin, nylon, polymethyl methacrylate, acrylic or polyarylate, Arton (trade name, manufactured by JSR) or Apel (trade name, manufactured by Mitsui Chemicals). It is done.

On the surface of the resin film, an inorganic film, an organic film, or a hybrid film of both may be formed. Water vapor permeability measured by a method in accordance with JIS K 7129-1992 (40 ° C., 90% RH) Is preferably a barrier film of 0.01 g / m ² · day · atm or less, and further has an oxygen permeability (20 ° C., 100% RH) of 10 measured by a method according to JIS K 7126-1992. ⁻³ g / m ² / day or less and a water vapor transmission rate of 10 ⁻³ g / m ² / day or less are preferable, and both the water vapor transmission rate and the oxygen transmission rate are 10 ^−5. More preferably, it is below g / m < ² > / day.

  As a material for forming the barrier film, any material may be used as long as it has a function of suppressing entry of elements that cause deterioration of elements such as moisture and oxygen. For example, silicon oxide, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or the like can be used. Further, in order to improve the brittleness of the film, it is more preferable to have a laminated structure of these inorganic layers and layers made of organic materials. Although there is no restriction | limiting in particular about the lamination | stacking order of an inorganic layer and an organic layer, It is preferable to laminate | stack both alternately several times.

<Method for forming barrier film>
The method for forming the barrier film is not particularly limited. For example, the vacuum deposition method, sputtering method, reactive sputtering method, molecular beam epitaxy method, cluster ion beam method, ion plating method, plasma polymerization method, atmospheric pressure plasma weight A combination method, a plasma CVD method, a laser CVD method, a thermal CVD method, a coating method, and the like can be used, but an atmospheric pressure plasma polymerization method as described in JP-A-2004-68143 is particularly preferable.

  Examples of the opaque support substrate include metal plates / films such as aluminum and stainless steel, opaque resin substrates, ceramic substrates, and the like.

<Sealing>
Examples of the sealing means used for sealing the organic EL element of the present invention include a method of bonding a sealing member, an electrode, and a support substrate with an adhesive.

  The sealing member may be disposed so as to cover the display area of the organic EL element, and may be concave or flat. Moreover, transparency and electrical insulation are not particularly limited.

  Specifically, a glass plate, a polymer plate, a film, a metal plate, a film, etc. are mentioned. Examples of the glass plate include soda-lime glass, barium / strontium-containing glass, lead glass, aluminosilicate glass, borosilicate glass, barium borosilicate glass, and quartz. Examples of the polymer plate include polycarbonate, acrylic, polyethylene terephthalate, polyether sulfide, and polysulfone. Examples of the metal plate include those made of one or more metals or alloys selected from the group consisting of stainless steel, iron, copper, aluminum, magnesium, nickel, zinc, chromium, titanium, molybdenum, silicon, germanium, and tantalum.

In the present invention, a polymer film and a metal film can be preferably used because the element can be thinned. Furthermore, the polymer film preferably has an oxygen permeability of 10 ⁻³ g / m ² / day or less and a water vapor permeability of 10 ⁻³ g / m ² / day or less. The water vapor permeability and oxygen permeability are more preferably 10 ⁻⁵ g / m ² / day or less.

  For processing the sealing member into a concave shape, sandblasting, chemical etching, or the like is used. Specific examples of the adhesive include photocuring and thermosetting adhesives having reactive vinyl groups such as acrylic acid oligomers and methacrylic acid oligomers, and moisture curing adhesives such as 2-cyanoacrylates. be able to. Moreover, heat | fever and chemical curing types (two-component mixing), such as an epoxy type, can be mentioned. Moreover, hot-melt type polyamide, polyester, and polyolefin can be mentioned. Moreover, a cationic curing type ultraviolet curing epoxy resin adhesive can be mentioned.

  In addition, since an organic EL element may deteriorate by heat processing, what can be adhesive-hardened from room temperature to 80 degreeC is preferable. A desiccant may be dispersed in the adhesive. Application | coating of the adhesive agent to a sealing part may use commercially available dispenser, and may print it like screen printing.

  In addition, it is also preferable to coat the electrode and the organic layer on the outside of the electrode facing the support substrate with the organic layer interposed therebetween, and form an inorganic or organic layer in contact with the support substrate to form a sealing film. it can. In this case, the material for forming the film may be any material that has a function of suppressing intrusion of elements that cause deterioration of elements such as moisture and oxygen. For example, silicon oxide, silicon dioxide, silicon nitride, or the like may be used. it can. Further, in order to improve the brittleness of the film, it is preferable to have a laminated structure of these inorganic layers and layers made of organic materials. The method for forming these films is not particularly limited. For example, vacuum deposition, sputtering, reactive sputtering, molecular beam epitaxy, cluster ion beam method, ion plating method, plasma polymerization method, atmospheric pressure A plasma polymerization method, a plasma CVD method, a laser CVD method, a thermal CVD method, a coating method, or the like can be used.

  In the gap between the sealing member and the display area of the organic EL element, it is preferable to inject an inert gas such as nitrogen or argon, or an inert liquid such as fluorinated hydrocarbon or silicon oil in the gas phase and the liquid phase. . A vacuum can also be used. Moreover, a hygroscopic compound can also be enclosed inside.

  Examples of the hygroscopic compound include metal oxides (for example, sodium oxide, potassium oxide, calcium oxide, barium oxide, magnesium oxide, aluminum oxide) and sulfates (for example, sodium sulfate, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, cobalt sulfate). Etc.), metal halides (eg calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, cesium fluoride, tantalum fluoride, cerium bromide, magnesium bromide, barium iodide, magnesium iodide etc.), perchloric acids (eg perchloric acid) Barium, magnesium perchlorate, and the like), and anhydrous salts are preferably used in sulfates, metal halides, and perchloric acids.

《Protective film, protective plate》
In order to increase the mechanical strength of the element, a protective film or a protective plate may be provided on the outer side of the sealing film on the side facing the support substrate with the organic layer interposed therebetween or on the sealing film. In particular, when the sealing is performed by the sealing film, the mechanical strength is not necessarily high, and thus it is preferable to provide such a protective film and a protective plate. As a material that can be used for this, the same glass plate, polymer plate / film, metal plate / film, and the like used for the sealing can be used, but the polymer film is light and thin. Is preferably used.

"anode"
As the anode in the organic EL element, an electrode material made of a metal, an alloy, an electrically conductive compound, or a mixture thereof having a high work function (4 eV or more) is preferably used. Specific examples of such electrode materials include metals such as Au, and conductive transparent materials such as CuI, indium tin oxide (ITO), SnO ² and ZnO. Alternatively, an amorphous material such as IDIXO (In ₂ O ₃ —ZnO) capable of forming a transparent conductive film may be used. For the anode, these electrode materials may be formed into a thin film by a method such as vapor deposition or sputtering, and a pattern having a desired shape may be formed by a photolithography method, or when the pattern accuracy is not required (about 100 μm or more) ), A pattern may be formed through a mask having a desired shape when the electrode material is deposited or sputtered. Or when using the substance which can be apply | coated like an organic electroconductivity compound, wet film forming methods, such as a printing system and a coating system, can also be used. When light emission is extracted from the anode, it is desirable that the transmittance be greater than 10%, and the sheet resistance as the anode is preferably several hundred Ω / □ or less. Further, although the film thickness depends on the material, it is usually selected in the range of 10 to 1000 nm, preferably 10 to 200 nm.

"cathode"
On the other hand, as the cathode, a material having a low work function (4 eV or less) metal (referred to as an electron injecting metal), an alloy, an electrically conductive compound, and a mixture thereof as an electrode material is used. Specific examples of such electrode materials include sodium, sodium-potassium alloy, magnesium, lithium, magnesium / copper mixture, magnesium / silver mixture, magnesium / aluminum mixture, magnesium / indium mixture, aluminum / aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) Mixtures, indium, lithium / aluminum mixtures, rare earth metals and the like.

Among these, from the point of durability against electron injection and oxidation, etc., a mixture of an electron injecting metal and a second metal which is a stable metal having a larger work function than this, for example, a magnesium / silver mixture, Suitable are a magnesium / aluminum mixture, a magnesium / indium mixture, an aluminum / aluminum oxide (Al ₂ O ₃ ) mixture, a lithium / aluminum mixture, aluminum and the like. The cathode can be produced by forming a thin film of these electrode materials by a method such as vapor deposition or sputtering. The sheet resistance as the cathode is preferably several hundred Ω / □ or less, and the film thickness is usually selected in the range of 10 nm to 5 μm, preferably 50 to 200 nm. In order to transmit the emitted light, if either one of the anode or the cathode of the organic EL element is transparent or translucent, the emission luminance is advantageously improved.

  Moreover, after producing the said metal with a film thickness of 1-20 nm on a cathode, a transparent or semi-transparent cathode can be produced by producing the electroconductive transparent material quoted by description of the anode on it, By applying this, an element in which both the anode and the cathode are transmissive can be manufactured.

<< Method for producing organic EL element >>
As an example of the method for producing the organic EL device of the present invention, a method for producing an organic EL device comprising an anode / hole injection layer / hole transport layer / light emitting layer / hole blocking layer / electron transport layer / cathode will be described.

  First, a thin film made of a desired electrode material, for example, a material for an anode is formed on a suitable support substrate by a method such as vapor deposition or sputtering so as to have a film thickness of 1 μm or less, preferably 10 to 200 nm to produce an anode. . Next, an organic compound thin film of a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a light emitting layer, a hole blocking layer, and an electron transport layer, which are organic EL element materials, is formed thereon.

As a method for thinning the organic compound thin film, there are a vapor deposition method and a wet process (spin coating method, casting method, ink jet method, printing method) as described above, but it is easy to obtain a uniform film and a pinhole. From the point of being difficult to form, a vacuum deposition method, a spin coating method, an ink jet method, and a printing method are particularly preferable. Further, different film forming methods may be applied for each layer. When employing a vapor deposition method for film formation, the vapor deposition conditions vary depending on the type of compound used, but generally a boat heating temperature of 50 to 450 ° C., a degree of vacuum of 10 ⁻⁶ to 10 ⁻² Pa, and a vapor deposition rate of 0.01 to It is desirable to select appropriately within the range of 50 nm / second, substrate temperature −50 to 300 ° C., film thickness 0.1 nm to 5 μm, preferably 5 to 200 nm.

  After these layers are formed, a thin film made of a cathode material is formed thereon by a method such as vapor deposition or sputtering so as to have a thickness of 1 μm or less, preferably in the range of 50 to 200 nm, and a cathode is provided. Thus, a desired organic EL element can be obtained. The organic EL element is preferably produced from the hole injection layer to the cathode consistently by a single evacuation, but may be taken out halfway and subjected to different film forming methods. At that time, it is necessary to consider that the work is performed in a dry inert gas atmosphere.

  In addition, it is also possible to reverse the production order and produce the cathode, the electron injection layer, the electron transport layer, the light emitting layer, the hole transport layer, the hole injection layer, and the anode in this order. When a DC voltage is applied to the multicolor liquid crystal display device thus obtained, light emission can be observed by applying a voltage of about 2 to 40 V with the positive polarity of the anode and the negative polarity of the cathode. An alternating voltage may be applied. The alternating current waveform to be applied may be arbitrary.

  An organic EL element generally emits light within a layer having a refractive index higher than that of air (refractive index of about 1.6 to 2.1) and can extract only about 15 to 20% of light generated in the light emitting layer. It has been said. This is because light incident on the interface (interface between the transparent substrate and air) at an angle θ greater than the critical angle causes total reflection and cannot be extracted outside the device, or between the transparent electrode or light emitting layer and the transparent substrate. This is because the light is totally reflected between the light and the light is guided through the transparent electrode or the light emitting layer, and as a result, the light escapes in the direction of the element side surface.

  As a method for improving the light extraction efficiency, for example, a method of forming irregularities on the surface of the transparent substrate to prevent total reflection at the interface between the transparent substrate and the air (for example, US Pat. No. 4,774,435). ), A method of improving the efficiency by giving the substrate a light condensing property (for example, JP-A-63-314795), a method of forming a reflective surface on the side surface of the element (for example, JP-A-1-220394) Gazette), a method of forming an antireflection film by introducing a flat layer having an intermediate refractive index between the substrate and the light emitter (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-172691), and a substrate between the substrate and the light emitter. A method of introducing a flat layer having a lower refractive index than that (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-202827), a diffraction grating between any one of the substrate, the transparent electrode layer and the light emitting layer (including between the substrate and the outside). Method of forming There is 1-283751 JP), and the like.

  In the present invention, these methods can be used in combination with the organic EL device of the present invention. However, a method of introducing a flat layer having a lower refractive index than the substrate between the substrate and the light emitter, or a substrate, transparent A method of forming a diffraction grating between any layers of the electrode layer and the light emitting layer (including between the substrate and the outside) can be suitably used. In the present invention, by combining these means, it is possible to obtain an element having higher luminance or durability.

  When a medium having a low refractive index is formed between the transparent electrode and the transparent substrate with a thickness longer than the wavelength of light, the light extracted from the transparent electrode has a higher extraction efficiency to the outside as the refractive index of the medium is lower.

  Examples of the low refractive index layer include aerogel, porous silica, magnesium fluoride, and a fluorine-based polymer. Since the refractive index of the transparent substrate is generally about 1.5 to 1.7, the low refractive index layer preferably has a refractive index of about 1.5 or less. Furthermore, it is preferable that it is 1.35 or less.

  The thickness of the low refractive index medium is preferably at least twice the wavelength in the medium. This is because the effect of the low-refractive index layer is reduced when the thickness of the low-refractive index medium is about the wavelength of light and the electromagnetic wave exuded by evanescent enters the substrate.

  The method of introducing a diffraction grating into an interface or any medium that causes total reflection is characterized by a high effect of improving light extraction efficiency. This method uses the property that the diffraction grating can change the direction of light to a specific direction different from refraction by so-called Bragg diffraction, such as first-order diffraction and second-order diffraction. Among them, light that cannot be emitted due to total reflection between layers, etc. is diffracted by introducing a diffraction grating into any layer or medium (in a transparent substrate or transparent electrode), and the light is emitted outside. I want to take it out.

  It is desirable that the diffraction grating to be introduced has a two-dimensional periodic refractive index. This is because light emitted from the light-emitting layer is randomly generated in all directions, so in a general one-dimensional diffraction grating having a periodic refractive index distribution only in a certain direction, only light traveling in a specific direction is diffracted. The light extraction efficiency does not increase so much. However, by making the refractive index distribution a two-dimensional distribution, light traveling in all directions is diffracted, and light extraction efficiency is increased.

  The position where the diffraction grating is introduced may be in any one of the layers or in the medium (in the transparent substrate or the transparent electrode) as described above, but is preferably in the vicinity of the organic light emitting layer where light is generated.

  At this time, the period of the diffraction grating is preferably about 1/2 to 3 times the wavelength of light in the medium. The arrangement of the diffraction grating is preferably two-dimensionally repeated, such as a square lattice, a triangular lattice, or a honeycomb lattice.

  The organic EL device of the present invention is processed on the light extraction side of the support substrate to provide, for example, a structure on a microlens array, or in combination with a so-called condensing sheet, for example, with respect to a specific direction, for example, the device light emitting surface. By condensing in the front direction, the luminance in a specific direction can be increased.

  As an example of the microlens array, quadrangular pyramids having a side of 30 μm and an apex angle of 90 degrees are two-dimensionally arranged on the light extraction side of the substrate. One side is preferably 10 to 100 μm. If it becomes smaller than this, the effect of diffraction will generate | occur | produce and color, and if too large, thickness will become thick and is not preferable.

  As the condensing sheet, for example, a sheet that has been put into practical use for an LED backlight of a liquid crystal display device can be used. As such a sheet, for example, a brightness enhancement film (BEF) manufactured by Sumitomo 3M Limited can be used. As the shape of the prism sheet, for example, the base material may be formed by forming a △ -shaped stripe having a vertex angle of 90 degrees and a pitch of 50 μm, or the vertex angle is rounded and the pitch is changed randomly. Other shapes may be used.

  Moreover, in order to control the light emission angle from a light emitting element, you may use together a light diffusing plate and a film with a condensing sheet. For example, a diffusion film (light-up) manufactured by Kimoto Co., Ltd. can be used.

<Application>
The organic EL element of the present invention can be used as a display device, a display, and various light emission sources. Examples of light sources include home lighting, interior lighting, clock and liquid crystal backlights, billboard advertisements, traffic lights, light sources for optical storage media, light sources for electrophotographic copying machines, light sources for optical communication processors, and light sources for optical sensors. Although it is not limited to this, it can be effectively used particularly as a backlight of a liquid crystal liquid crystal display device combined with a color filter and a light source for illumination.

  When used as a backlight of a display in combination with a color filter, it is preferably used in combination with a light collecting sheet in order to further increase the luminance.

  EXAMPLES Hereinafter, although an Example demonstrates this invention, this invention is not limited to these.

Example 1
<< Organic EL element No. Preparation of 1 >>
After patterning a support substrate in which 120 nm of ITO (indium tin oxide) was formed on a glass substrate having a thickness of 30 mm × 30 mm and a thickness of 0.7 mm as an anode, the transparent support substrate to which this ITO transparent electrode was attached was isopropyl alcohol. Was subjected to ultrasonic cleaning, dried with dry nitrogen gas, and UV ozone cleaning was performed for 5 minutes. This transparent support substrate was fixed to a substrate holder of a commercially available vacuum deposition apparatus.

  Each of the vapor deposition crucibles in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus was filled with an optimum amount of the constituent material of each layer for device fabrication. The evaporation crucible used was made of a resistance heating material made of molybdenum or tungsten.

Next, the pressure was reduced to 4 × 10 ⁻⁴ Pa, and the evaporation crucible containing m-MTDATA was energized and heated, and deposited on a transparent support substrate at a deposition rate of 0.1 nm / second. A hole injection layer was provided. Next, the evaporation crucible containing α-NPD was energized and heated to provide a 40 nm hole transport layer at a deposition rate of 0.1 nm / second. Next, the vapor deposition crucible filled with the compound 1, Ir-1, and Ir-14 was energized to form a co-evaporated light emitting layer so that the light emitting layer 1 was formed with the mixing ratio shown in Table 1. Next, BCP was deposited at a deposition rate of 0.1 nm / second to form a 10 nm hole blocking layer. Furthermore, Alq ₃ was deposited to 40 nm at a deposition rate of 0.1 nm / second to provide an electron transport layer. Subsequently, lithium fluoride was deposited at a deposition rate of 0.01 nm / second to 0.5 nm to form a cathode buffer layer.

  Furthermore, aluminum 110 nm was vapor-deposited to form a cathode. 1 was produced.

<< Organic EL element No. Preparation of 2, 3>
As described in Tables 1 and 2, except that the mixing ratio of the hole transport layer and the light emitting materials 1 and 2 (Ir-1 and Ir-14) in the light emitting layer 1 was changed from the anode side to the cathode side. , Organic EL element No. 1 and the organic EL element No. 2 and 3 were produced. In addition, when using several material for each layer, the mixing ratio described in Table 2, 5 is mass ratio (mass%).

<< Evaluation of organic EL elements >>
Organic EL element No. 1 to 3 are covered with a glass cover (in addition, the sealing operation with the glass cover is a glove box under a nitrogen atmosphere (purity of 99.999% or more without bringing the organic EL element into contact with the atmosphere). 3) After the device shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 was performed under a high-purity nitrogen gas atmosphere), the color shift of each organic EL element was measured using a spectral radiance meter CS-1000 (manufactured by Konica Minolta Sensing). Evaluated. The evaluation results are shown in Table 3.

In Table 3, color shift, and 300 cd / m ² brightness at the chromaticity coordinates (x _1, y ₁₎ in the CIE chromaticity diagram, the chromaticity coordinates when increasing the driving current was set to 5000 cd / m ² brightness This represents a deviation from (x ₂ , y ₂ ), and the color deviation ΔE can be obtained by the following equation 2.

Formula 2 ΔE = √ ((x ₁ −x ₂ ) ² + (y ₁ −y ₂ ) ² )

  From Table 3, organic EL element No. of this invention. Nos. 2 and 3 indicate that the chromaticity stability when the driving current fluctuates is organic EL element No. 1 is superior to 1.

Example 2
<< Organic EL element No. Preparation of 4, 5 >>
As described in Tables 4 and 5, organic EL except that the mixing ratio of the constituent materials of each layer and the light-emitting materials 1 and 2 in the light-emitting layer 1 was changed as shown in Tables 4 and 5 from the anode side to the cathode side. Element No. 1 and the organic EL element No. 4 and 5 were produced.

<< Evaluation of organic EL elements >>
In the same manner as in Example 1, the organic EL element No. Table 6 shows the results of evaluating the color shifts 4 and 5.

  From Table 6, organic EL element No. of this invention. 5 shows that the chromaticity stability when the drive current fluctuates is the organic EL element No. 5. 4 is superior to 4.

  In addition, the structure of the said use compound was shown below.

TPD; N, N′-diphenyl-N, N′-bis (3-methylphenyl)-[1,1′-biphenyl] -4,4′-diamine Example 3
<< Preparation of an image display device using a white light emitting organic EL element >>
When a color filter was attached to the light emitting surface of the white light emitting organic EL device (No. 5) produced in Example 2 and the non-light emitting surface was covered with a glass case, the image display device had good full color display performance. It was shown and could be used as an excellent image display device.

Example 4
<< Preparation of a lighting device using a white light emitting organic EL element >>
A white light-emitting organic EL element (No. 5) lighting device manufactured in Example 2 with a non-light-emitting surface covered with a glass case was obtained. This lighting device could be used as a thin lighting device that emits white light with high luminous efficiency.

It is a figure which shows the example of the density | concentration profile in the film thickness direction of the light emitting layer of the light emitting material of the organic EL element of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the density | concentration profile in the film thickness direction of the light emitting layer of the light emitting material of the organic EL element of this invention. It is the schematic of an example of the illuminating device using the organic EL element of this invention. It is sectional drawing of an example of the illuminating device using the organic EL element of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Organic EL element 102 Glass cover 105 Cathode 106 Organic EL layer 107 Glass substrate with a transparent electrode 108 Nitrogen gas 109 Water catching agent

Claims (7)

In an organic electroluminescence device containing at least two types of phosphorescent materials having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one light emitting layer contains two or more types of phosphorescent materials, and the whole emission layer has a larger emission maximum wavelength. The phosphorescent material having a short wave is contained in a larger amount than the other phosphorescent materials, and the concentration ratio of two main phosphorescent materials in the light emitting layer is the anode side of the light emitting layer in the thickness direction of the light emitting layer. And an organic electroluminescence element characterized by being different on the cathode side. In an organic electroluminescence device containing at least two types of phosphorescent light emitting materials having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one type of phosphorescent light emitting material is contained in at least one light emitting layer, and the entire emission layer has a maximum emission maximum wavelength. The organic phosphor according to claim 1, wherein the phosphorescent material having a short wave is contained in a larger amount than other phosphorescent materials, and the concentration ratio of the phosphorescent material having a longer wavelength is higher on the cathode side of the light emitting layer. Electroluminescence element. In an organic electroluminescence device containing at least two types of phosphorescent light emitting materials having different emission maximum wavelengths, at least one type of phosphorescent light emitting material is contained in at least one light emitting layer, and the entire emission layer has a maximum emission maximum wavelength. 2. The organic electroluminescence according to claim 1, wherein the phosphorescent light-emitting material having a short wave is contained in a larger amount than the other phosphorescent light-emitting materials, and the concentration ratio of the long-wave light-emitting material is higher on the anode side of the light-emitting layer. Luminescence element. The organic electroluminescent element according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein in the phosphorescent light emitting material, energy giving light emission maximums of two main light emitting materials is different by 0.2 eV or more. The organic electroluminescent element according to claim 1, wherein the emission color is white. A display device comprising the organic electroluminescence element according to claim 1 as a backlight. An illuminating device using the organic electroluminescence element according to claim 1 as a light source.

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