Solution-processable organic fluorescent dyes for multicolor emission in organic light emitting diodes

Abstract

Four novel fluorescent dyes, bis(difluorenyl)amino-substituted carbazole 1, pyrene 2, perylene 3, and benzothiadiazole 4, were synthesized by C–N cross-coupling with a palladium catalyst. These dyes are soluble in common organic solvents, and their uniform films were formed by spin-coating from their solutions. Their glass transition temperatures were sufficiently high (120–181 °C) to form amorphous films for organic light emitting diodes. These solution processable dyes exhibited strong photoluminescence (PL) in the film form (1: sky blue, 2: blue-green, 3: yellow, and 4: deep red). Optical and electrochemical properties of the compounds were investigated with photoelectron spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The energy levels obtained from both measurements were in good agreement, and those levels were related to the electronic properties of the central core; the electron-donating carbazole compound showed the lowest ionization potential and the electron-withdrawing benzothiadiazole compound showed the largest electron affinity. Simple double layer devices were prepared with these fluorescent dyes as emitting layer and bis(2-methyl-8-quinolinolato)(4-phenylphenolato)aluminium(III) (BAlq) as a common hole blocking layer for each color. Electroluminescence colors were the same as those of the PL spectra in each compound. These multicolor electroluminescences show that these conjugated oligomers can be candidates for solution processable light emitting materials for OLEDs as well as conjugated polymers or dendrimers.