Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K50/00—Organic light-emitting devices
  • H10K50/10—OLEDs or polymer light-emitting diodes [PLED]
  • H10K50/11—OLEDs or polymer light-emitting diodes [PLED] characterised by the electroluminescent [EL] layers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K85/00—Organic materials used in the body or electrodes of devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K85/10—Organic polymers or oligomers
  • H10K85/111—Organic polymers or oligomers comprising aromatic, heteroaromatic, or aryl chains, e.g. polyaniline, polyphenylene or polyphenylene vinylene
  • H10K85/115—Polyfluorene; Derivatives thereof
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K85/00—Organic materials used in the body or electrodes of devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K85/10—Organic polymers or oligomers
  • H10K85/151—Copolymers
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K85/00—Organic materials used in the body or electrodes of devices covered by this subclass
  • H10K85/30—Coordination compounds
  • H10K85/341—Transition metal complexes, e.g. Ru(II)polypyridine complexes
  • H10K85/342—Transition metal complexes, e.g. Ru(II)polypyridine complexes comprising iridium
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H10—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES; ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • H10K—ORGANIC ELECTRIC SOLID-STATE DEVICES
  • H10K2101/00—Properties of the organic materials covered by group H10K85/00
  • H10K2101/10—Triplet emission
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y02—TECHNOLOGIES OR APPLICATIONS FOR MITIGATION OR ADAPTATION AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Y02E—REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION
  • Y02E60/00—Enabling technologies; Technologies with a potential or indirect contribution to GHG emissions mitigation
  • Y02E60/30—Hydrogen technology
  • Y02E60/36—Hydrogen production from non-carbon containing sources, e.g. by water electrolysis
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10S—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10S428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10S428/917—Electroluminescent

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a novel organic light emitting device (OLED) ; to novel materials that are capable of phosphorescence and to methods of making the device and novel materials .
• OLED organic light emitting device
• Luminescent conjugated polymers are a new technologically important class of materials that will be used in light emitting display devices for the next generation of information technology based consumer products.
• Blends incorporate a phosphorescent dopant and a small molecule or a non-conjugated polymer host.
• the host material is required to transport charge to the dopant.
• Typical examples of good charge transport materials are polymers with extended conjugation lengths.
• Conjugated polymers have also been disclosed as hosts, for example a blend of Eu(dnm) 3 phen in CN-PPP with a quantum efficiency of 1.1%. [Adv. Mater., 1999, 11, 1349.]. Similarly, Phys. Rev.
• WO 03/091355 discloses a material capable of luminescence comprising a polymer or oligomer; and an organometallic characterised in that the organometallic is covalently bound to the polymer or oligomer and the nature, location and/or proportion of the polymer or oligomer and of the organometallic in the material are selected so that the luminescence predominantly is phosphorescence.
• this material generally is superior to a polymer blend incorporating a phosphorescent dopant. This is because problems relating to morphology changes such as aggregation and phase separation are avoided.
• the controlled structure of the material means that the location and mobility of the organometallic in the material is spatially controlled. This spatial control enables control of the interaction between the polymer or oligomer and the organometallic.
• the host material must have a sufficiently- high Tl energy level (the energy level of the lowest triplet excited state) to avoid quenching of the dopant.
• quenching can occur when the Tl level of the host material is lower than the Tl of the dopant so that non-radiative transfer of the triplet exciton from the dopant to the host material is more favourable than radiative decay.
• This is a problem because a typical good host material with good charge transport properties will typically have relatively low Tl level due to extended regions of conjugation, as discussed above.
• polyvinylcarbazole has been disclosed as a host material with a sufficiently high Tl level to render it suitable for use with green dopants.
• polyvinylcarbazole has inferior charge transport properties as compared with conjugated polymers, which leads to poor lifetimes when used in a device.
• Carbazole compounds as hosts for triplet emitters are the subject of J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 7718 to 7727.
• a material with good charge transport properties can be characterised by:
• a first aspect of the present invention provides an organic light emitting device having a phase-separated light- emissive layer comprising: a charge transport phase comprising a charge transport material; and an emitting phase, the emitting phase comprising a plurality of discrete emissive domains dispersed in the charge transport phase, each emitting domain comprising a host material and one or more metal complexes for emitting light by- phosphorescence; wherein the charge transport material has a Tl energy level lower than the Tl energy level of the metal complexes and the host material has a Tl energy level higher than the Tl energy level of the metal complexes.
• phase separated morphology of the light-emissive layer allows efficient triplet emission to occur from a domain "rich” in high triplet energy material, whilst maintaining efficient charge transport within a phase "rich” in low triplet energy material.
• the phase-separated structure of the light-emissive layer enables high efficiency phosphorescent emission with little or no quenching of the triplet states by the low triplet energy charge transport material. Phase separation can be observed by AFM microscopy.
• the device according to the first aspect presents particular advantages when the metal complexes have relatively high triplet energy, in particular green emitters i.e. a phosphorescent material wherein the metal complexes are capable of emitting green light having a wavelength in the range of from 510 to 580 nrti, preferably 510 to 570 nm.
• green emitters i.e. a phosphorescent material wherein the metal complexes are capable of emitting green light having a wavelength in the range of from 510 to 580 nrti, preferably 510 to 570 nm.
• known host materials suitable for use with green dopants do not have good charge transport properties.
• the present device represents a significant advantage over prior art devices because it combines the desirable properties of charge transport polymers, with high efficiency triplet emission from the metal complexes, without the associated quenching.
• the LED will have an anode, a cathode and a light emissive layer located between the anode and the cathode.
• the anode may be, for example, a layer of transparent indium tin oxide.
• the cathode may be, for example, LiAl. Holes and electrons that are injected into the device recombine radiatively in the light emissive layer.
• a hole transport layer optionally is located between the anode and the light emissive layer.
• a hole injection layer such as a layer of doped polyethylene dioxythiophene (PEDOT), in particular PEDOT doped with polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSS), may be present between the hole transport layer and the anode. This provides an energy level which helps the holes injected from the anode to reach the hole transport layer and the light emissive layer.
• PEDOT polyethylene dioxythiophene
• PSS polystyrene sulfonic acid
• the LED also may have an electron transport layer situated between the cathode and a light emissive layer. This provides an energy level which helps the electrons injected from the cathode to reach the light emissive layer.
• the light emissive layer can itself comprise a laminate, effectively made up of sub-layers.
• the LED may have further layers in addition to those mentioned above.
• the LED may have one or more charge or exciton blocking layers.
• the charge transport material, the host material, and the metal complexes generally are solution processable since solution processing enables the phase separation. To this end, it is preferred that they are soluble in a common organic solvent such as benzene and mono-or poly- alkylated benzene, in particular xylene and toluene.
• a solution processable charge transport material comprises solubilising substituent groups such as C 1 -C2 0 alkyl and alkoxy groups.
• the charge transport phase is a continuous phase.
• the charge transport phase may consist of the charge transport material.
• this phase can transport holes and/or electrons.
• the precise charge transport requirements for the charge transport phase will depend on the other components of the light emitting device and, in particular the relative energy levels of those components.
• the charge transport phase comprises a charge transport polymer.
• the invention is not so limited and any suitable charge transport material (such as a small molecule or dendrimer) may be used provided that it is capable of forming a charge transport phase.
• the charge transport polymer is conjugated; containing partial, full or cross-conjugation. More preferably, the charge transport polymer is conjugated along all or substantially all of the polymer backbone.
• an increase in the extent of conjugation in a material can be said to lower the triplet energy level of that material.
• controlling the extent of conjugation can be a useful method of controlling at least partially the triplet energy level.
• Conjugated charge transport polymers are well-known in this art and the skilled person will know suitable repeat units to be present in the polymer.
• the polymer comprises one or more optionally substituted aryl or heteroaryl repeat units.
• substituents include: solubilising groups such as a branched, linear or cyclic C 1 -C 2O alkyl group; a branched, linear or cyclic Ci-C 2O alkoxy group; a perfluoroalkyl group; a thioalkyl group; an aryl group; an alkylaryl group; an alkoxyaryl group; a heteroaryl group, or a heteroarylalkyl group.
• C 4 -C 20 alkyl groups and aryl groups are preferred.
• C 1 to C 10 alkyl groups are most preferred; electron withdrawing groups such as fluorine, nitro or cyano; and substituents for increasing glass transition temperature (Tg) of the polymer.
• Preferred aryl or heteroaryl repeat units comprise a group selected from the group consisting of carbazole; 2,7-linked 9,9 disubstituted fluorene; spirofluorene; indenofluorene; p- linked dialkyl phenylene; p-linked disubstituted phenylene; phenylene vinylene; 2,5-linked benzothiadiazole; 2,5-linked substituted benzothiadiazole; 2,5-linked disubstituted benzothiadiazole; 2,5-linked substituted or unsubstituted thiophene; or a triarylamine.
• the present material preferably comprises a polyfluorene or polyphenylene, most preferably a polyfluorene homopolymer/oligomer or higher order polymer/ oligomer such as a copolymer/oligomer.
• a preferred aryl repeat unit comprises a substituted or unsubstituted 2,7-linked fluorene group, for example a repeat unit comprising general formula I:
• R and R' may be the same or different and R and R' each represents H or a substituent group.
• R and R' comprises a solubilising group or an electron withdrawing group as discussed above.
• Preferred charge transport polymers comprise a first repeat unit selected from arylene repeat units, in particular: 1,4- phenylene repeat units as disclosed in J. Appl. Phys. 1996, 79, 934; fluorene repeat units as disclosed in EP 0842208; indenofluorene repeat units as disclosed in, for example, Macromolecules 2000, 33(6), 2016-2020; and spirofluorene repeat units as disclosed in, for example EP 0707020. Each of these repeat units is optionally substituted.
• a homopolymer of the first repeat unit such as a homopolymer of 9, 9-dialkylfluorene-2, 7-diyl, may be utilised to provide electron transport.
• a copolymer comprising a carbazole repeat unit and a first repeat unit may be utilised to provide hole transport.
• a copolymer comprising a first repeat unit and a triarylamine repeat unit, in particular a repeat unit selected from formulae 1-6, may be utilised to provide hole transport.
• X, Y, A, B, C and D are independently selected from H or a substituent group. More preferably, one or more of X, Y, A, B, C and D is independently selected from the group consisting of solubilising groups and electron withdrawing groups as discussed above.
• Particularly preferred hole transporting polymers of this type are AB copolymers of the first repeat unit and one of the aforementioned triarylamine or carbazole repeat units.
• a copolymer comprising a first repeat unit and heteroarylene repeat unit may be utilised for charge transport.
• Preferred heteroarylene repeat units are selected from formulae 7-21:
• R 6 and R 7 are the same or different and are each independently hydrogen or a substituent group.
• Preferred substituent groups are solubilising groups and electron withdrawing groups as discussed above.
• R 6 and R 7 are preferably the same. More preferably, they are the same and are each a phenyl group.
• the emitting phase may consist of the host material and the metal complexes. It is preferred that the or each metal complex in an emissive domain is covalently bound to the host material.
• the host material is a polymer in which case the or each metal complex may be bound to a polymeric host material in the same manner as described in WO 03/091355. This ensures that each metal complex resides in a discrete emissive domain in the phase- separated layer, which is essential to avoid quenching by the charge transport phase.
• the metal complex may be pendent from the host polymer or may form a part of the backbone of the host polymer. This is discussed in more detail below in relation to the material according to the third aspect of the present invention.
• Residence of a metal complex in a discrete emissive domain alternatively can be achieved by selecting materials appropriately so that the metal complex has poor solubility in the charge transport material and good solubility in the host material.
• the host material effectively is acting as a solvent to the metal complex.
• Suitable materials for the charge transport material and the host material in this embodiment would be where one of the charge transport material and the host material is polar and the other is non-polar, which can be achieved by provision of polar and non-polar substituents.
• a non-polar charge transport material can be used in combination with a polar host material, which would act as a solvent to a polar metal complex.
• this is preferably a polymer and may be a conjugated polymer containing partial, full or cross conjugation.
• extended conjugation tends to lower the Tl energy level, which may render the polymer unsuitable for use as a host if the Tl level falls below the Tl energy level of the metal complexes.
• a preferred host polymer comprises a repeat unit comprising a group which provides a break in conjugation along the polymer backbone.
• a break in conjugation will be provided by a twisted arylene group such as a twisted biphenyl group.
• a break in conjugation serves to limit the conjugation length, thus maintaining a high Tl energy level.
• An example of a suitable repeat unit has general formula II:
• Twisted biphenyls of the type shown in general formula II are disclosed in WO 02/26856, for example:
• a further preferred host polymer comprises a repeat unit comprising vinyl carbazole (shown below) ; or cyclodextrin (C 42 H 70 O 35 ) or a derivative thereof where one or more of the H atoms has been replaced by a substituent group.
• the metal complex group will include a carbon-metal bond. However this is not essential in the present invention. Any suitable metal complex dopant can be used.
• a metal complex can be considered as a metal (M) surrounded by an appropriate number of ligands.
• Heavy elements M induce strong spin-orbit coupling to allow rapid intersystem crossing and emission from triplet states (phosphorescence) .
• Suitable heavy metals M include: lanthanide metals such as cerium, samarium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, thulium, erbium and neodymium; and d-block metals, in particular those in rows 2 and 3 i.e. elements 39 to 48 and 72 to 80, in particular ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, rhenium, osmium, iridium, platinum and gold.
• each metal complex contains a lanthanide, actinide or transition metal. Most preferably, each metal complex contains a transition metal.
• the nature of the ligands in a metal complex may be selected in order to optimise compatibility of the metal complex with the polymers or oligomers further.
• the ligands in the metal complexes can be monodentate, bidentate or tridentate.
• a preferred metal complex contains a ligand selected from the group consisting of a cyclometalating, beta-diketonates; phenylpyridine; and 2- (2-pyridyl) -benzo (b) thiophene (btp) .
• a preferred metal complex contains a bidentate ligand.
• a preferred metal complex contains a ligand comprising at least one nitrogen atom for coordination with the metal.
• Suitable coordinating groups for the f-block metals include oxygen or nitrogen donor systems such as carboxylic acids, 1, 3-diketonates, hydroxy carboxylic acids, Schiff bases including acyl phenols and iminoacyl groups.
• oxygen or nitrogen donor systems such as carboxylic acids, 1, 3-diketonates, hydroxy carboxylic acids, Schiff bases including acyl phenols and iminoacyl groups.
• luminescent lanthanide metal complexes require sensitizing group (s) which have the triplet excited energy level higher than the first excited state of the metal ion. Emission is from an f-f transition of the metal and so the emission colour is determined by the choice of the metal. The sharp emission is generally narrow, resulting in a pure colour emission useful for display applications.
• the d-block metals form complexes with carbon or nitrogen donors such as porphyrin or bidentate ligands of formula (IX) :
• Each of Ar 4 and Ar 5 may carry one or more substituents.
• Particularly preferred substituents include fluorine or trifluoromethyl which may be used to blue-shift the emission of the complex as disclosed in WO 02/45466, WO 02/44189, US 2002-117662 and US 2002-182441; alkyl or alkoxy groups as disclosed in JP 2002-324679; carbazole which may be used to assist hole transport to the complex when used as an emissive material as disclosed in WO 02/81448; bromine, chlorine or iodine which can serve to functionalise the ligand for attachment of further groups as disclosed in WO 02/68435 and EP 1245659; and dendrons which may be used to obtain or enhance solution processability of the metal complex as disclosed in WO 02/66552.
• Other ligands suitable for use with d-block elements include diketonates, in particular acetylacetonate (acac) ; triarylphosphines and pyridine, each of which
• each host material is covalently bound to the charge transport material, which preferably is a charge transport polymer.
• the host material may instead simply be physically mixed with the charge transport material.
• a solution comprising the charge transport material, host material and metal complexes is deposited and allowed to phase separate over time to form a charge transport phase and an emitting phase comprising a plurality of discrete emissive domains.
• the method according to the second aspect comprises the step of depositing a layer of a solution comprising the charge transport material, host material and metal complexes and allowing the layer to phase separate over time to form a charge transport phase and an emitting phase comprising a plurality of discrete emissive domains.
• the method according to the second aspect optionally includes a step of annealing the layer at a temperature below the Tg of the or each polymer in the layer.
• the light emissive layer is deposited by solution processing.
• Ink-jet printing and spin-coating are preferred solution processing techniques.
• Spin-coating is particularly suitable for devices wherein patterning of the electroluminescent material is unnecessary - for example for lighting applications or simple monochrome segmented displays.
• InkJet printing is particularly suitable for high information content displays, in particular full colour displays. InkJet printing of OLEDs is described in, for example, EP 0880303.
• a third aspect of the present invention provides novel phosphorescent materials, in particular a phosphorescent material comprising: a polymer; and metal complexes for emitting light; and characterised in that the polymer comprises host regions and charge transport regions, each metal complex being covalently attached to a host region, each charge transport region having a Tl energy level lower than the Tl energy level of the metal complexes and each host region having a Tl energy level higher than the Tl energy level of the metal complexes.
• the charge transport regions in the polymer correspond to the charge transport phase after phase separation. Together, the host regions in the polymer and the metal complexes correspond to the emissive domains after phase separation.
• each region in the polymer In order for each region in the polymer to have a distinct Tl level, typically, there will be a break in conjugation between successive host regions and charge transport regions.
• each host polymer is covalently bound to a charge transport polymer. It will be understood that in the material according to the third aspect, typically, each host region will comprise a host polymer and each charge transport region will comprise a charge transport polymer.
• the phosphorescent material according to the third aspect can be considered to be a block copolymer of charge transport blocks (the charge transport regions) and host blocks (the host regions) .
• the charge transport regions present typically will have a distribution of lengths and thus molecular weights.
• the host regions present typically will have a distribution of lengths and thus molecular weights. Phase separation, and the shape and size of the discrete host domains would likely be dependent on the relative lengths and molecular weights of the regions, the flexibility and relative polarity of the regions, the chemical structure of the regions, and the solvent. Micelle morphology is preferred.
• the molecular weight of each region should be relatively high, for example in the range of from 30,000-50,000.
• each metal complex may be pendent from a host region or may form a part of the backbone of the polymer in a host region.
• the metal complex is conjugatively linked to the host polymer.
• the host region may have a structure as shown in general formula III below:
• the spacer group may be used to interrupt conjugation in the material. Accordingly, in one embodiment there is provided a non-conjugated spacer group.
• the length of the spacer group can be used to control to some extent the separation of the metal complex from the polymer backbone. Optimising the distance between the host polymer and the metal complex can improve charge trapping.
• a, b, c and d are all selected so as to obtain phase separation when the polymer is deposited as a layer from solution.
• the host region may have a structure as shown in general formula IV or general formula V below: -4 — host polymer/oligomer — metal complex host polymer/oligomer— J- JV
• the metal complex will be joined to the backbone of the polymer or oligomer through only one of its ligands. However, there may be a preferred embodiment where the metal complex is joined to the backbone of the polymer or oligomer through two of its ligands.
• the metal complex repeat unit in the material shown in general formulas IV and V may have the structure XIV:
• L and Li are ligands. Suitable ligands are discussed above. Preferably L is a bidentate ligand. The L and Li ligands may be the same or different from one another. In one embodiment it is preferred that L is not the same as the Li ligand (or at least one of the Li ligands, where more than one Li ligand is present) .
• Ligands Li (which may the same or different from one another) are incorporated to satisfy the valency of the metal.
• Li can be a bidentate or monodentate ligand.
• "q" is a number that is chosen accordingly so that the valency of the metal is satisfied.
• preferred Li groups include cyclometalating, beta-diketonates.
• L and L x may be selected such that L has a higher Ti level than L x . Energy is thereby transferred from L to Li in order to obtain emission from Li.
• L may be phenylpyridine and Li may be 2- (2- pyridyl) -benzo (b) thiophene (btp) .
• ligands also are suitable for use in other embodiments of the invention where the metal complex does not form a part of the host polymer backbone.
• R and R' may be the same or different and R and R' each represents H or a substituent group; m, m' , n and n' are selected so as to obtain phase separation when the polymer is deposited as a layer from solution.
• Preferred R and R' groups are as defined above in relation to general formula I.
• the materials according to the third aspect are extremely useful in OLEDs, particularly, for large-area devices like matrix displays. Also, the present materials are of use in electrically pumped organic lasers.
• a fourth aspect of the present invention provides a method of making a phosphorescent material as defined in the third aspect, said method comprising the steps of:
• X and X' each represents reactive end group; p is greater than or equal to 0 and Ar represents an aryl or heteroaryl group, preferably Ar represents a twisted aryl or heteroaryl group; and
• step (ii) coupling the host polymer from step (i) with a charge transport monomer, charge transport oligomer, or charge transport polymer at each of the positions occupied by a reactive end group on the host polymer.
• the phosphorescent materials according to the third aspect can be prepared by using the well-known Suzuki coupling reaction, preferably using a ⁇ seeded' two-step approach.
• a Suzuki coupling reaction is described in US 5,777,070 and a derivative thereof is described in WO 00/53656.
• polymerising in step (i) and coupling in step (ii) is carried out using Suzuki coupling.
• the Suzuki coupling reaction involves polymerising monomers in the presence of a palladium catalyst and a base.
• the reaction involves a reactive group on one monomer and a reactive group on another monomer.
• Organic bases are preferred.
• One of the reactive groups involved in the Suzuki coupling reaction will be a boron derivative group selected from boronic acid, boronic acid ester (preferably C1-C6) ) , and borane (preferably C1-C6) . Boronic acid is preferred.
• the other reactive group involved in the Suzuki coupling reaction typically will be a halide or sulfonate.
• a preferred halide group is bromide.
• suitable sulfonate reactive groups include triflate, mesylate, phenyl sulfonate, and tosylate.
• Each monomer will have at least two reactive groups.
• Suzuki polymerisation may be used to prepare regioregular, block and random copolymers.
• homopolymers or random copolymers may be prepared when each monomer has one reactive halide or sulfonate group and one reactive boron derivative group.
• block or regioregular, in particular AB, copolymers may be prepared when both reactive groups of a first monomer are boron derivative groups and both reactive groups of a second monomer are halide or sulphonate.
• the nature of the reactive end groups on the charge transport polymers and the host polymers can be selected so that the polymers are combined together in the phosphorescent material to form charge transport regions and host regions in the desired order.
• the phosphorescent material comprises alternating charge transport regions and host regions.
• Figure 1 shows the structure of one OLED according to the present invention.
• Figure 2 shows schematically one suitable method for making a phosphorescent material according to the third aspect of the present invention.
• Figure 3 shows schematically another suitable method for making a phosphorescent material according to the third aspect of the present invention.
• the architecture of one LED according to the first aspect of the invention comprises a transparent glass or plastic substrate 1, an anode 2 of indium tin oxide and a cathode 4.
• a light-emissive layer 3 is provided between anode 2 and cathode 4.
• Further layers may be located between anode 2 and cathode 3, such as charge transporting, charge injecting or charge blocking layers.
• a conductive hole injection layer formed of a doped organic material located between the anode 2 and the light-emissive layer 3 to assist hole injection from the anode.
• doped organic hole injection materials include poly(ethylene dioxythiophene)
• PEDT polystyrene sulfonate
• a hole transporting layer located between anode 2 and light-emissive layer 3 preferably has a HOMO level of less than or equal to 5.5 eV, more preferably around 4.8-5.5 eV.
• an electron transporting layer located between light-emissive layer 3 and cathode 4 preferably has a LUMO level of around 3-3.5 eV.
• Cathode 4 is selected from materials that have a workfunction allowing injection of electrons into the electroluminescent layer. Other factors influence the selection of the cathode such as the possibility of adverse interactions between the cathode and the electroluminescent material.
• the cathode may consist of a single material such as a layer of aluminium. Alternatively, it may comprise a plurality of metals, for example a bilayer of calcium and aluminium as disclosed in WO 98/10621, elemental barium disclosed in WO 98/57381, Appl. Phys. Lett.
• the cathode preferably has a workfunction of less than 3.5 eV, more preferably less than 3.2 eV, most preferably less than 3 eV.
• the substrate preferably has good barrier properties for prevention of ingress of moisture and oxygen into the device.
• the substrate is commonly glass, however alternative substrates may be used, in particular where flexibility of the device is desirable.
• the substrate may comprise a plastic as in US 6268695 which discloses a substrate of alternating plastic and barrier layers or a laminate of thin glass and plastic as disclosed in EP 0949850.
• the device is preferably encapsulated with an encapsulant (not shown) to prevent ingress of moisture and oxygen.
• encapsulants include a sheet of glass, films having suitable barrier properties such as alternating stacks of polymer and dielectric as disclosed in, for example, WO 01/81649 or an airtight container as disclosed in, for example, WO 01/19142.
• a getter material for absorption of any atmospheric moisture and / or oxygen that may permeate through the substrate or encapsulant may be disposed between the substrate and the encapsulant.
• At least one of the electrodes is semi- transparent in order that light may be emitted.
• the anode typically comprises indium tin oxide.
• transparent cathodes are disclosed in, for example, GB 2348316.
• the embodiment of Figure 1 illustrates a device wherein the device is formed by firstly forming an anode on a substrate followed by deposition of an electroluminescent layer and a cathode, however it will be appreciated that the device of the invention could also be formed by firstly forming a cathode on a substrate followed by deposition of an electroluminescent layer and an anode.
• host polymers having a distribution of lengths are made, for example according to the method described in WO 03/091355.
• Each host polymer contains one or more metal complexes .
• No end capping reagent is used when the host polymers are made so as to retain a reactive group at each end of each host polymer.
• charge transport monomers are added to the products from the first step and the mixture undergoes Suzuki coupling to form the phosphorescent material.
• the first step can be repeated and the products thereof can undergo Suzuki coupling with the products of the second step.
• charge transport monomers can be added to the products from the third step and the mixture can undergo Suzuki coupling.
• An end capping reagent can be used in the third or the fourth step to end cap the polymer.
• the charge transport regions are made by polymerising monomers by Suzuki coupling to form charge transport polymers having a distribution of lengths and having a reactive end group at each end of each polymer.
• host polymers, each containing one or more metal complexes, having a distribution of lengths are made, for example according to the method described in WO 03/091355. No end capping reagent is used when the host polymers are made so as to retain a reactive group at each end of each host polymer.
• the products from the first step undergo Suzuki coupling to form the phosphorescent material.
• X and X' each represents reactive end group; p is greater than or equal to 0 and Ar represents an aryl or heteroaryl group.
• Ar represents a twisted aryl or heteroaryl group.
• Ar and Ar' each represent a group comprising an aryl or heteroaryl group.
• Monomer 2 was prepared according to the method of WO 02/068435.
• Monomers 1, 2 and 3 were polymerised by Suzuki coupling in a ratio of 43 wt% :5 wt%:52 wt%, respectively to form "host and emitter blocks" with boronic acid end groups.
• Monomer 4 and monomer 5 where polymerised by Suzuki coupling in a ratio of 52%: 48%, respectively to form charge transport "blocks" with bromide end groups.
• Example 3 preparation of phosphorescent polymer The products of Examples 1 and 2 were combined and reacted by Suzuki coupling. The products were end capped using an end capping reagent.
• Example 4 preparation of a phosphorescent polymer
• the product of Example 1 was combined with monomers 4 and 5. Suzuki coupling was carried out to form a B-A-B block copolymers, where A represents a "host and emitter block" and each B represents a charge transport block. The lengths of the host and emitter blocks were determined by Example 1.
• Example 4 The products of Example 4 were end capped using an end capping reagent.
• reactive end groups could be retained at both ends of the B-A-B block copolymers.
• Example 1 could be repeated and the products thereof combined with the products of Example 4. Suzuki coupling then could be carried out to form A-B-A-B-A block copolymers.
• the A-B-A-B-A block copolymers could be combined with monomers 4 and 5, and Suzuki coupling carried out to form B-A-B-A-B-A-B block copolymers.
• further A and B blocks could be added.

Landscapes

• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Crystallography & Structural Chemistry (AREA)
• Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Optics & Photonics (AREA)
• Electroluminescent Light Sources (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Related Child Applications (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=34073629

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (8)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (37)

• 2004
  • 2004-12-13 GB GBGB0427266.2A patent/GB0427266D0/en not_active Ceased
• 2005
  • 2005-12-12 WO PCT/GB2005/004768 patent/WO2006064194A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 2005-12-12 GB GB0710097A patent/GB2434695B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-12-12 US US11/721,321 patent/US8063554B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-12-12 DE DE112005003006.7T patent/DE112005003006B4/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-12-12 JP JP2007546164A patent/JP5183212B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2011
  • 2011-11-15 US US13/297,157 patent/US9172052B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events