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Despite the rapid development of high-efficiency perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs) via material design and morphology control, a comprehensive evaluation of the power loss among various optical modes has seldom been conducted for the precise design of device architectures. Here, a quantitative analysis of light outcoupling efficiency (η out ) of PeLEDs is presented with the theoretical simulations by taking into account the key factors of refractive index and film thickness of various functional layers, and the emitter dipole orientation. For a planar PeLED, a rational design to enhance the η out is predicted by constructing multilayer stack in series of transparent electrode/high-index transport layer/perovskite emitter/low-index transport layer/reflective electrode. Furthermore, the role of photonic structures on the outcoupling management is explored, and the potential of a substantial increase in η out is demonstrated with an enhancement factor of over 1.75 by implementing a moth-eye nanostructure into the emitter. We anticipate that the findings shown here will provide the design guidelines for the optical optimization of PeLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphology optimization of donor–acceptor bulk heterojunctions at microscopic scale is critical for improving performance of organic photovoltaic devices. Here, effects of thermal annealing on phase separation processes in small-molecular bulk heterojunctions with different geometrical structures (i.e., PTCDA, TiOPc, CuPc and C 60 ) are investigated with ultraviolet and X-ray photoemission spectroscopies. It was identified that post-annealing treatment caused the different degrees of vertical diffusions at the bulk heterojunctions, leading to non-uniform composition distributions. Variations in phase separations are mainly due to the differences in surface energy of the involved materials, which play a crucial role in the intermolecular interactions and the molecular diffusion. Low-surface-energy materials were found to segregate preferentially on the surface for minimizing total energy of the systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The doping effects of cesium compounds on device characteristics of OLEDs are studied. [•] The charge transport property is highly dependent on doping constituent materials. [•] The operational stability of OLEDs replies on the doping mechanism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] An efficient inverted polymer solar cell is demonstrated. [•] The electron collection layer consists of a small molecular layer of Cs2CO3:Alq3. [•] Efficient electron extraction is achieved due to favorable energy level alignment. [•] The Cs2CO3:Alq3 layer can act as an optical spacer to modulate the incident light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the effect of gap states on energy level alignment in a typical organic charge generation interface of N,N-bis(1-naphthyl)-N,N-diphenyl-1,1-biphenyl-4,4-diamine (α-NPD)/hexaazatriphenylene−hexacarbonitrile [HAT(CN) 6 ] by using ultraviolet and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. The gap states tailed from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) onset of α-NPD dominate the Fermi level pinning at the α-NPD(<1.6 nm)/HAT(CN) 6 interface, which is favorable for charges generation upon bias operation and facilitates the electron injection from the HOMO-tail region of α-NPD to the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) region of HAT(CN) 6 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract While metal halide hybrid perovskite solar cells (PeSCs) are remarkably efficient, the rapid and undesirable degradation limit their practical applications for renewable energy sources. Herein, the evolution of perovskite decomposition under white light illumination has been investigated under the ultrahigh vacuum conditions, which can effectively rule out the influence of other factors such as oxygen or moisture. The chemical composition, electronic structure, surface morphology, and crystal structure of CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite films have been systematically characterized by X-ray and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS and UPS), scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction techniques. The surface roughening with cracks and defects occurs in CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite films after a short-time white-light illumination in ultrahigh vacuum. In situ compositional analysis reveals the decomposition of the perovskite films with the appearance of metallic Pb feature, which is accompanied with the energy level shift towards higher binding energy during the illumination process. However, the decomposition rate is decreased and becomes saturated after exposed to light illumination for 24 h. These findings provide a direct evidence that CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 perovskite is photosensitive, and a light-induced degradation mechanism is proposed. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • The perovskite decomposition under white light illumination is explored under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. • In-situ compositional analysis reveals the perovskite decomposition with the appearance of metallic Pb. • A light-induced degradation mechanism is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract An electron-rich moiety, pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole, has been used as a new donor block in organic lighting-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Combined with a strong electron-withdrawing group of 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, a novel red fluorophore BTZPP was synthesized. The solution-processed red-emitting device based on BTZPP showed encouraging performances with external quantum efficiency of up to 3.4%. This evidently indicates that the pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole group can be a promising electron-donating moiety for enriching the material types and promoting the development of OLEDs. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole was used as a new donor block in OLEDs. • A novel red fluorophore BTZPP was synthesized basing on pyrrolo[3,2-b]pyrrole. • Using BTZPP, a simple OLED device was realized by an economical wet process. • The red emitting device demonstrated a high external quantum efficiency of 3.4%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report computational and experimental studies (i) on the Fermi level (E F ) pinning phenomena in weakly interacting electrode-organic semiconductor systems with pentacene, N, N-Di(naphthalene-l-yl)-N, N’-diphenyl-benzidine (α-NPD) and Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) (F8BT)], and (ii) to elucidate a common reason of the pinning phenomena which have been widely observed for various organic materials on inert electrode surfaces. For (i), the computed results on the electrode-dependence of E F -HOMO and E F -LUMO distance agreed excellently with UPS and Kelvin-probe results. For (ii) we found theoretically that the pinning phenomena occur at systems even without any electronic states in the HOMO-LUMO gap, and thereby indicate that this is a universal Fermi-level pinning-like phenomena for various band gap materials, even if specific interface states do not exist upon contact. We further obtained for Gaussian-distributed HOMO and LUMO that the minimal hole and electron injection barriers are quantitatively determined by degree of standard deviations of HOMO and LUMO bands, which are in excellent agreement with the experimental results. Furthermore, our results provide a guideline for approaching the “zero” injection barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of transition metal oxides (TMOs) based intermediate connectors in tandem organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) has been studied via capacitance-voltage and current-voltage characteristics, in order to elucidate the dynamic processes of charges generation and transport within externally applied voltages. The TMO-based intermediate connectors are composed of molybdenum trioxide (MoO 3 ) and cesium azide (CsN 3 )-doped-4, 7–diphenyl-1, 10-phenanthroline (BPhen) layers, where MoO 3 and CsN 3 are used due to low deposition temperatures. From the obtained results of capacitance and current density, charges generation in CsN 3 :BPhen/MoO 3 /NPB is proposed to the defect states in thermally evaporated MoO 3 , which offers a minimal energy offset for charges generation. Moreover, our results clearly indicate that charges generation efficiency is not only relying on the MoO 3 -NPB interface, but also influenced by CsN 3 :BPhen-MoO 3 interface. CsN 3 doped BPhen layer further improves charges separation efficiency, which finally results in favorable charges transport into the adjacent layers and ensure to function efficiently for tandem OLEDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocomposite buffer layer based on metal oxide and polymer is merging as a novel buffer layer for organic solar cells, which combines the high charge carrier mobility of metal oxide and good film formation properties of polymer. In this work, a nanocomposite of zinc oxide and a commercialized available polyethylenimine (PEI) was developed and used as the cathode buffer layer (CBL) for the inverted organic solar cells and p-i-n heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The cooperation of PEI in nano ZnO offers a good film forming ability of the composite material, which is an advantage in device fabrication. In addition, power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the ZnO:PEI CBL based device was also improved when compared to that of ZnO-only and PEI-only devices. The highest PCE of P3HT:PC 61 BM and PTB7-Th:PC 61 BM devices reached to 3.57% and 8.16%, respectively. More importantly, there is no obvious device performance loss with the increase of the layer thickness of ZnO:PEI CBL to 60 nm in organic solar cells, which is in contrast to the PEI based devices, whose device performance decreases dramatically when the PEI layer thickness is higher than 6 nm. Such a nano composite material is also applicable in inverted heterojunction perovskite solar cells. A PCE of 11.76% was achieved for the perovskite solar cell with a thick ZnO:PEI CBL (150 nm) CBL, which is around 1.71% higher than that of the reference cell without CBL, or with ZnO CBL. In addition, stability of the organic and perovskite solar cells having ZnO:PEI CBL was also found to be improved in comparison with that of PEI based device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Solution-processed Au nanoparticles (NPs):MoO X was used as an inter-layer in OLEDs. [•] The interface properties and good device stability were investigated. [•] The improved electrical properties were achieved due to modification of interface. [•] Localized surface plasmon induced efficiency enhancement was realized due to Au NPs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights: [•] Efficient polymer solar cell is demonstrated with a nanostructured scattering rear electrode. [•] Enhanced light harvesting is realized through efficient backscattering-induced light trapping. [•] An enhanced power conversion efficiency of 7.21% is obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We report on the role of cesium fluoride (CsF) doping on the enhanced electron transport properties of tris-(8-hydroxyquinolin) aluminum (Alq3) for organic light-emitting diodes. The electronic structures of CsF-doped Alq3 layers with various doping concentration are characterized by in situ ultraviolet and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies, showing an n-type electrical doping effect with Fermi level shift towards unoccupied molecular orbital and the formation of chemistry-induced gap-states. The increase in conductivity and reduction in electron injection barrier in CsF-doped Alq3 layer with optimal doping concentration lead to the enhanced electron injection and transport, which are consistent with the improved electrical characteristics of OLEDs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We report on a high-quality hybrid intermediate connector (IC) used in tandem organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), which is composed of an ultrathin MoO3 interlayer sandwiched between a n-type Cs2CO3-doped 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BPhen) layer and a p-type MoO3-doped N,N′-diphenyl-N,N′-bis(1-naphthyl)-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine (NPB) layer. The charge generation characteristics for light emission in tandem OLEDs have been identified by studying the interfaces and the corresponding devices. The hybrid IC structure exhibits superior charge generation capability, and its interfacial electronic structures are beneficial to the generation and injection of electrons and holes into bottom and top emission units, respectively. Compared to the organic-TMO bilayer and doped p–n junction structures, the hybrid IC structure combining MoO3-based interlayer and p-type doping can effectively decrease the driving voltage and improve the current efficiency of tandem devices due to the increased bulk heterojunction-like charge generation interfaces. Our results indicate that the TMO-based hybrid IC structure can be a good structure in the fabrication of high-efficiency tandem OLEDs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An efficient inverted polymer solar cell is enabled by incorporating an n-type doped wide-gap organic electron transporting layer (ETL) between the indium tin oxide cathode and the photoactive layer for electron extraction. The ETL is formed by a thermal-deposited cesium carbonate-doped 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (Cs2CO3:BPhen) layer. The cell response parameters critically depended on the doping concentration and film thickness of the Cs2CO3:BPhen ETL. Inverted polymer solar cell with an optimized Cs2CO3:BPhen ETL exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 4.12% as compared to 1.34% for the device with a pristine BPhen ETL. The enhanced performance in the inverted device is associated with the favorable energy level alignment between Cs2CO3:BPhen and the electron-acceptor material, as well as increased conductivity in the doped organic ETL for electron extraction. The method reported here provides a facile approach to optimize the performance of inverted polymer solar cells in terms of easy control of film morphology, chemical composition, conductivity at low processing temperature, as well as compatibility with fabrication on flexible substrates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An efficient inverted polymer solar cell (PSC) is reported by employing an atomic layer deposited (ALD) cadmium sulfide (CdS) film between the indium tin oxide (ITO) cathode and the photoactive layer as the electron collection layer (ECL), on which a active layer is composed of a blended poly(3-hexylthiophene) and [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) bulk heterojunction. As determined by photoelectron spectroscopy, the sulfur vacancy induces an n-type semiconducting property in the ALD-grown CdS films, and suitable energy level alignment at the ITO/CdS/PCBM interface is favorable to electron extraction through CdS to the ITO electrode. With the optimized CdS film thickness, the power conversion efficiency increases to 3.33%, with short-circuit current of 8.94mA/cm2, open-circuit voltage of 0.61V, and fill factor of 61.1% under AM1.5G 100mW/cm2 irradiation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Three D-σ-A type thermally activated delayed fluorescent materials (TADF), AQ-S-Cz, AQ-S-DPA and AQ-S-DMAC, with sulfur atom connect donors and acceptor, were designed and synthesized. All of the emitters exhibit small ΔE ST (<0.2 eV) and the limited overlap of the molecular frontier orbitals because of the C–S σ bond and the distorted molecular structure. AQ-S-Cz and AQ-S-DMAC with rigid donor obtained higher photoluminescence quantum yields than AQ-S-DPA. The three emitters have excellent TADF performance and short delayed fluorescence lifetimes (0.32 μs for AQ-S-Cz, 0.15 μs for AQ-S-DPA, 0.28 μs for AQ-S-DMAC). The experiment results show that the three emitters have intra-molecular charge transition (intra-CT), especially inter-molecular charge transition (inter-CT) effect. The luminescence of these emitters can be efficiently regulated by intra-CT, especially inter-CT and realize prominent red shift from yellow (556 nm) to red emission (657 nm). Compared with that of AQ-S-Cz and AQ-S-DPA, the device based on AQ-S-DMAC obtained maximum external quantum efficiencies of 7.17% with turn-on voltage of 3.5 V. This work enriches the D-σ-A type orange-red TADF materials and provides a perspective approach of developing long wavelength TADF emitters. [Display omitted] • Three D-σ-A type TADF materials with C–S σ bond were designed and synthesized. • The luminescence of three emitters can be efficiently adjusted by intra-CT, especially inter-CT, and realize obvious red shift from yellow to red emission. • The smaller ΔE ST s can be obtained by C–S bond blocking the conjugate between donor and acceptor, meanwhile the rigid donor suppress the non-radiation process to achieve higher PLQYs. • The AQ-S-DMAC-based TADF-OLED emits orange-red fluorescence and obtains EQE max of 7.17%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskites light emitting diodes (PeLEDs) are promising candidates for next-generation display devices because of their attractive properties of low-cost, solution processability and excellent color purity. For metal halide perovskite materials, the emission tuning can be easily achieved by altering halide composition. However, blue PeLEDs with chlorine incorporation usually suffer from the severe phase segregation and ion migration, resulting in the red-shifted electroluminescence and the efficiency degradation. Here, the partial substitution of Pb2+ ions with non-toxic Sr2+ is adopted to enhance the formation energy of Sr-alloyed perovskite films, leading to the negligible electroluminescence in electrically driven blue PeLEDs. The maximum brightness and efficiency are optimized simultaneously. Further, such a substitution can greatly enhance the thermal and operational stabilities of PeLEDs. Image 1 • Nontoxic strontium was adopted to partly substitute Pb in perovskites for blue emission. • Spectral and thermal stabilities of PeLEDs are improved by inhibiting ion migrations. • The stability enhancement arises from the increase in the formation energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]