Search

The most attractive aspect of perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) for optoelectronic applications is their widely tunable emission wavelength, but it has been quite challenging to tune it without sacrificing the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). In this work, we report a facile ligand-optimized ion-exchange (LOIE) method to convert room-temperature spray-synthesized, perovskite parent NCs that emit a saturated green color to NCs capable of emitting colors across the entire visible spectrum. These NCs exhibited exceptionally stable and high PLQYs, particularly for the pure blue (96%) and red (93%) primary colors that are indispensable for display applications. Surprisingly, the blue- and red-emissive NCs obtained using the LOIE method preserved the cubic shape and cubic phase structure that they inherited from their parent NCs, while exhibiting high crystallinity and high color-purity. Together with the parent green-emissive NCs, the obtained blue- and red-emissive NCs provided a very wide color gamut, corresponding to a Digital Cinema Initiatives-P3 of 140% or an International Telecommunication Union Recommendation BT.2020 of 102%. With the superior optical merits of these LOIE-manipulated NCs, a corresponding color conversion luminescence device provided a high external quantum efficiency (10.5%) and extremely high brightness (970 000 cd/m2). This study provides a valid route toward highly stable, extremely emissive, and panchromatic perovskite NCs with potential use in a variety of future optoelectronic applications.

Although colloidal lead halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) exhibit desirable emitter characteristics with high quantum yields and narrow bandwidths, instability has limited their applications in devices. In this paper, we describe spray-synthesized CsPbI3 PQD quantum emitters displaying strong photon antibunching and high brightness at room temperature and stable performance under continuous excitation with a high-intensity laser for more than 24 h. Our PQDs provided high single-photon emission rates, exceeding 9 × 106 count/s, after excluding multiexciton emissions and strong photon antibunching, as confirmed by low values of the second-order correlation function g(2)(0) (reaching 0.021 and 0.061 for the best and average PQD performance, respectively). With such high brightness and stability, we applied our PQDs as quantum random number generators, which demonstrably passed all of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's randomness tests. Intriguingly, all of the PQDs exhibited self-healing behavior and restored their PL intensities to greater than half of their initial values after excitation at extremely high intensity. Half of the PQDs even recovered almost all of their initial PL intensity. The robust properties of these spray-synthesized PQDs resulted from high crystallinity and good ligand encapsulation. Our results suggest that spray-synthesized PQDs have great potential for use in future quantum technologies (e.g., quantum communication, quantum cryptography, and quantum computing).

In recent years, perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) with the incorporation of transition-metal ions for reducing toxicity and enhancing stability have been in a research hotspot. However, the PQDs cont...

Recently, extracting hot electrons from plasmonic nanostructures and utilizing them to enhance the optical quantum yield of two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been topics ...

A sensitive and fast ultraviolet (UV) photodetector is strongly desirable because of its wide range of applications in chemical/biological sensing and imaging. CsPbCl3-based thin film photodetectors have not been constructed previously owing to their extremely poor precursor solubility; however, vapor deposition allows for thin film fabrication without the limitation of solubility. Therefore, this work is the first to demonstrate the optoelectronic properties of inorganic CsPbCl3 perovskite thin films and UV photodiodes using all-vacuum deposition. The perovskites annealed at 120 °C exhibited outstanding performance, including a notable external quantum efficiency value of 797.1% with an applied bias of -2 V, an outstanding detectivity of 1.4 × 1013 Jones, a short response time as low as ∼ 50 μs, and a large linear dynamic range of up to 136 dB. CsPbCl3 thin films manufactured by this vacuum-deposited approach were also found to be moisture-resistant and demonstrated high durability. The devices maintained excellent performance and demonstrated less than 10% degradation after 30 days. Thus, thin film visible-blind UV detectors can potentially be used in transparent smart displays, window-integrated electronic circuits, and sensor applications.

Lead halide perovskite materials have recently received considerable attention for achieving an economic and tunable laser owing to their solution-processable feature and promising optical properties. However, most reported perovskite-based lasers operate with a large lasing-mode volume, resulting in a high lasing threshold due to the inefficient coupling between the optical gain medium and cavity. Here, we demonstrate a continuous-wave nanolasing from a single lead halide perovskite (CsPbBr3) quantum dot (PQD) in a plasmonic gap-mode nanocavity with an ultralow threshold of 1.9 Wcm-2 under 120 K. The calculated ultrasmall mode volume (∼0.002 λ3) with a z-polarized dipole and the significantly large Purcell enhancement at the corner of the nanocavity inside the gap dramatically enhance the light-matter interaction in the nanocavity, thus facilitating lasing. The demonstration of PQD nanolasing with an ultralow-threshold provides an approach for realizing on-chip electrically driven lasing and integration into on-chip plasmonic circuitry for ultrafast optical communication and quantum information processing.

The performance of vacuum-deposited organometal halide perovskite devices under low-intensity illumination was investigated. The low defect density of the vacuum-deposited perovskite thin film facilitates the development of a high performance device with low-cost C60 as the electron transporting layer, which is superior to solution-processed cells made by a 2-step spin-casting method with expensive fullerene derivatives. The small-area vacuum-deposited devices exhibited high power conversion efficiencies and output power densities of up to 30.1% and 94.9 μW cm−2 at 1000 lux and 28.5% and 18.1 μW cm−2 at 200 lux, respectively. The large-area vacuum-deposited devices with an active area of 5.68 cm2 showed high reproducibility and exhibited high power conversion efficiencies and output power densities up to 24.9% and 77.6 μW cm−2 at 1000 lux and 21.9% and 13.8 μW cm−2 at 200 lux, respectively. Moreover, the small- and large-area devices also showed good stability and a negligible efficiency decrease in one year. The high performance and high stability results indicate that vacuum-deposited perovskite photovoltaics are one of the most promising energy harvesters for low-power electronics in the future.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) based on thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials are promising for the realization of highly efficient light emitters. However, such devices have so far suffered from efficiency roll-off at high luminance. Here, we report the design and synthesis of two diboron-based molecules, CzDBA and tBuCzDBA, which show excellent TADF properties and yield efficient OLEDs with very low efficiency roll-off. These donor–acceptor–donor (D–A–D) type and rod-like compounds concurrently generate TADF with a photoluminescence quantum yield of ~100% and an 84% horizontal dipole ratio in the thin film. A green OLED based on CzDBA exhibits a high external quantum efficiency of 37.8 ± 0.6%, a current efficiency of 139.6 ± 2.8 cd A−1 and a power efficiency of 121.6 ± 3.1 lm W−1 with an efficiency roll-off of only 0.3% at 1,000 cd m−2. The device has a peak emission wavelength of 528 nm and colour coordinates of the Commission International de l´Eclairage (CIE) of (0.31, 0.61), making it attractive for colour-display applications.

In this work, a sequential vacuum deposition process of bright, highly crystalline, and smooth methylammonium lead bromide and phenethylammonium lead bromide perovskite thin films are investigated and the first vacuum-deposited organometallic halide perovskite light-emitting devices (PeLEDs) are demonstrated. Exceptionally low refractive indices and extinction coefficients in the emission wavelength range are obtained for these films, which contributed to a high light out-coupling efficiency of the PeLEDs. By utilizing these perovskite thin films as emission layers, the vacuum-deposited PeLEDs exhibit a very narrow saturated green electroluminescence at 531 nm, with a spectral full width at half-maximum bandwidth of 18.6 nm, a promising brightness of up to 6200 cd/m2, a current efficiency of 1.3 cd/A, and an external quantum efficiency of 0.36%.

Inorganic–organic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs) are promising devices for providing future clean energy because of their low cost, ease of fabrication, and high efficiencies, similar to those of silicon solar cells. These materials have been investigated for their potential use in bifacial PSCs, which can absorb light from both sides of the electrodes. Here, we fabricated bifacial PSCs featuring transparent BCP/Ag/MoO3 rear electrodes, which we formed through low-temperature processing using thermal evaporation methods. We employed a comprehensive optical distribution program to calculate the distributions of the optical field intensities with constant thicknesses of the absorbing layer in the top electrode configuration. The best PSC having a transparent BCP/Ag/MoO3 electrode achieved PCEs of 13.49% and 9.61% when illuminated from the sides of the indium tin oxide and BCP/Ag/MoO3 electrodes, respectively. We observed significant power enhancement when operating this PSC using mirror reflectors and...

Simultaneous enhancement of out-coupling efficiency, internal quantum efficiency, and color purity in thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters is highly desired for the practical application of these materials. We designed and synthesized two isomeric TADF emitters, 2DPyM-mDTC and 3DPyM-pDTC, based on di(pyridinyl)methanone (DPyM) cores as the new electron-accepting units and di(tert-butyl)carbazole (DTC) as the electron-donating units. 3DPyM-pDTC, which is structurally nearly planar with a very small ΔEST, shows higher color purity, horizontal ratio, and quantum yield than 2DPyM-mDTC, which has a more flexible structure. An electroluminescence device based on 3DPyM-pDTC as the dopant emitter can reach an extremely high external quantum efficiency of 31.9% with a pure blue emission. This work also demonstrates a way to design materials with a high portion of horizontal molecular orientation to realize a highly efficient pure-blue device based on TADF emitters.

In this paper, we demonstrate that the performance of perovskite solar cells can be largely boosted with sub-nm pyridine-containing small-molecule electron interfacial layers. These vacuum-deposited sub-nm layers between perovskites and electron transport layers create a permanent dipole moment that improves the interfacial energy level alignment and facilitates a fast electron sweep-out. With these interfacial layers, the devices exhibit exceptional power conversion efficiencies up to 18.8%, a 25% increase compared to that of the one without the interfacial layer.

We demonstrate a simple but effective method to control the orientation of silver nanowires (AgNWs). Shear-flow-induced AgNW preferable orientation is realized by judiciously controlling the process parameters in the bar-coating method. This controllability of the NW direction enables the formation of AgNW cross-linking networks for transparent conductive electrode (TCE) applications. We experimentally demonstrate that the orthogonally weaved AgNW networks possess predominant advantages of lower percolation limit, higher transmission, and lower sheet resistance compared with the randomly orientated AgNW counterparts. The phenomenon is also confirmed with theoretical calculation by the Monte Carlo method. These high-quality AgNW TCEs exhibit a high transmittance of ∼94% with a sheet resistance of ∼20 Ω/sq, which meet the requirements of modern optoelectronic devices. Very efficient organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic solar cells (OSCs) prepared by these AgNW TCEs are demonstrated. The OLED exhibits exceptionally high luminance efficiency, power efficacy, and external quantum efficiency of 92 cd/A, 111 lm/W, and 26.8%, respectively. The OSCs also deliver a high power conversion efficiency of up to 7.5%.

The search for stable alternative lead-free perovskites has identified all-inorganic antimony/bismuth halide derivatives as promising materials. Despite attractive optoelectronic properties, their wider band gaps and poor morphological control have greatly limited their solar device performance. In this study, we used the indacenodithiophene-based organic acceptor (ITIC) as a Lewis base to improve the morphology of Cs3Sb2I9 films and also as an electron transport layer to form a complimentary heterojunction, and, thereby, enhance the performance of Cs3Sb2I9 solar cells. The presence of cyano and carbonyl groups in ITIC modulated the rate of crystallization of Cs3Sb2I9 and improved its optoelectronic properties. The panchromatic absorption of the Cs3Sb2I9/ITIC heterostructure provided a power conversion efficiency of 3.25% in inverted solar cell structure under 1-sun irradiation. This enhanced performance when using a complimentary absorption strategy suggests a new pathway for developing wider-band-gap lead-free perovskite derivatives for solar cell applications. Moreover, the optimized Cs3Sb2I9/ITIC heterostructure–based solar cell achieved a PCE of 9.2% under indoor illumination at 1000 lx, highlighting the potential use of such devices in indoor applications.

Recently, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials have become the most promising hosts for realizing high-performance phosphorescent and fluorescent organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) because of their ability to upconvert triplet excitons to singlet excitons. However, despite a few TADF hosts having been introduced for low energy phosphorescent and fluorescent dopants, developing host materials with TADF properties for blue phosphorescent and TADF OLEDs is still a great challenge to date. In this study, bipolar hosts exhibiting TADF behavior and high triplet energy, consisting of the carbazole group as the donor, diphenylsulphone moiety as the acceptor, and m-bitolyl as the π-conjugated bridge, are synthesized and applied for the first time to blue devices. The ΔEST value of the TADF host is tuned via the introduction of a cyano group in the carbazole moiety due to the increase of the LE contribution in the CT excited state. Detailed photophysical studies confirm the efficient TADF pr...

New design of Pt(II) phosphors yield near-infrared organic light-emitting diodes with high efficiency and brightness.

Two D-π-A-A molecules (MIDTP and TIDTP) composed of an electron-rich ditolylamino group (D) and an electron-deficient 5-dicyanovinylenylpyrimidine (A-A) fragment bridged together with indeno[1,2-b]thiophene (IDT) were synthesized. These molecules provide an opportunity to examine in-depth the impact of side-chain variations (methyl vs p-tolyl) on the crystallization behaviors, solid-state morphology, physical properties, and optoelectronic characteristics relevant for practical applications. X-ray analyses on single-crystal structures indicate that methyl-substituted MIDTP forms "coplanar antiparallel dimers" via C-H···S interactions and organizes into an ordered slip-staircase arrays. In contrast, p-tolyl-bearing TIDTP shows "cofacial centrosymmetric dimers" via π-π interactions and packs into a less-ordered layered structures. The X-ray diffraction analyses upon thermal treatment are consistent with a superior crystallinity of MIDTP, as compared to that of TIDTP. This difference indicates a greater propensity to organization by introduction of the smaller methyl group versus the bulkier p-tolyl group. The increased propensity for order by MIDTP facilitates the crystallization of MIDTP in both solution-processed and vacuum-deposited thin films. MIDTP forms solution-processed single-crystal arrays that deliver OFET hole mobility of 6.56 × 10(-4) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), whereas TIDTP only forms amorhpous films that gave lower hole mobility of 1.34 × 10(-5) cm(2) V(-1) s(-1). MIDTP and TIDTP were utilized to serve as donors together with C70 as acceptor in the fabrication of small-molecule organic solar cells (SMOSCs) with planar heterojunction (PHJ) or planar-mixed heterojunction (PMHJ) device architectures. OPV devices based on higher crystalline MIDTP delivered power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 2.5% and 4.3% for PHJ and PMHJ device, respectively, which are higher than those of TIDTP-based cells. The improved PCEs of MIDTP-based devices are attributed to better hole-transport character.

Further technological development of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) will require improvements in power conversion efficiency and stability, while maintaining low material costs and simple fabrication. In this Research Article, we describe top-illuminated ITO-free, stable PSCs featuring microcavity structures, wherein metal layers on both sides on the active layers exerted light interference effects in the active layer, potentially increasing the light path length inside the active layer. The optical constants (refractive index and extinction coefficient) of each layer in the PSC devices were measured, while the optical field intensity distribution was simulated using the transfer matrix method. The photocurrent densities of perovskite layers of various thicknesses were also simulated; these results mimic our experimental values exceptionally well. To modify the cavity electrode surface, we deposited a few nanometers of ultrathin MoO3 (2, 4, and 6 nm) in between the Ag and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):polystyrenesulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) layers provide hydrophobicity to the Ag surface and elevate the work function of Ag to match that of the hole transport layer. We achieved a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 13.54% without hysteresis in the device containing a 4 nm-thick layer of MoO3. In addition, we fabricated these devices on various cavity electrodes (Al, Ag, Au, Cu); those prepared using Cu and Au anodes displayed improved device stability of up to 72 days. Furthermore, we prepared flexible PSCs having a PCE of 12.81% after incorporating the microcavity structures onto poly(ethylene terephthalate) as the substrate. These flexible solar cells displayed excellent stability against bending deformation, maintaining greater than 94% stability after 1000 bending cycles and greater than 85% after 2500 bending cycles performed with a bending radius of 5 mm.

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with a low driving voltage and efficient blue fluorescence were fabricated through blade coating. Tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3) is a relatively stable electron-transporting material commonly used in evaporation. However, depositing Alq3 through a solution process is difficult because of its extremely low solubility organic solvents, a result of its symmetrical molecular structure. In this study, Alq3 was successfully deposited through blade coating at a very low concentration below 0.1wt%. The OLEDs contained co-dopants BUBD-1 and p-bis(p-N,N-diphenyl-aminostyryl)benzene (DSA-Ph), and a high-band-gap host 2-methyl-9,10-bis(naphthalen-2-yl)anthracene (MADN) as the emission layer with the following structure: ITO/PEDOT:PSS (40 nm)/VB-FNPD (30 nm)/MADN:2% BUBD-1:1% DSA-Ph (50 nm)/TPBI (30 nm)/LiF (0.8 nm)/Al (100 nm)or ITO/PEDOT:PSS (40 nm)/VB-FNPD (30 nm)/MADN:3% BUBD-1 (50 nm)tris(8-hydroxyquinolinato)aluminum (Alq3; 10 nm)/LiF (0.8 nm)/Al (100 nm). 2,7-disubstituted fluorene-based triaryldiamine(VB-FNPD)is the cross-linking transporting material. The device exhibited a peak current efficiency of 5.67 cd/A for Alq3 and 5.76 cd/A for TPBI. The device with Alq3 has operated lifetime seven times higher than the device with TPBI.

Correction for ‘Superior upconversion fluorescence dopants for highly efficient deep-blue electroluminescent devices’ by Yi-Hsiang Chen et al., Chem. Sci., 2016, DOI: 10.1039/c6sc00100a.

A thermally activated delayed fluorescent (TADF) material containing two meta carbazolyl groups on the phenyl ring of the benzoyl-4-pyridine moiety was prepared and its luminescence showed a colour change from blue to green by external stimuli. The organic-blue-light-emitting device using this TADF dopant provided a high external quantum efficiency of 18.4%.

The use of photovoltaic cells with an organometallic perovskite as the active layer for indoor dim-light energy harvesting is evaluated. By designing the electron-transporting materials and fabrication processes, the traps in the perovskite active layers and carrier dynamics can be controlled, and efficient devices are demonstrated. The best-performing small-area perovskite photovoltaics exhibit a promising high power conversion efficiency up to ≈27.4%, no hysteresis behavior, and an exceptionally low maximum power point voltage variation of ≈0.1 V under fluorescent lamp illumination at 100–1000 lux. The 5.44 cm2 large-area device also shows a high efficiency of 20.4% and a promising long-term stability. Compared with the most efficient inorganic and organic solar cells nowadays, the competitive efficiency, low fabrication cost, and low raw material costs make perovskite photovoltaics ideal for indoor light harvesting and as Internet of Things power provider.

Efficient solution-processed color-stable and color-tunable white organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have been realized by judicious selection of the host materials for the emission layers. The color-tunable OLED demonstrates the unique characteristic of modulating the electroluminescence by using the applied voltage of the device and displays color temperatures ranging from 1600 K to 4600 K around the daylight locus, with a peak external quantum efficiency of 13.6% and a peak current efficiency of 22.5 cd A−1. On the other hand, the chromaticity-stable device shows a negligible color change, from 300 to 2000 nits. The manipulation of chromaticity is attributed to the energy transfer dynamics of the hosts and dopants under different electric fields.

In this work, polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) as a superior mediate for the pressure welding of silver nanowires (Ag NWs) networks as transparent electrodes without any thermal treatment is demonstrated. After a pressing of 200 kg cm-2 , not only the sheet resistance but also the surface roughness of the PMMA-mediated Ag NWs networks decreases from 2.6 kΩ sq-1 to 34.3 Ω sq-1 and from 76.1 to 12.6 nm, respectively. On the other hand, high transparency of an average transmittance in the visible wavelengths of 93.5% together with a low haze value of 2.58% can be achieved. In terms of optoelectronic applications, the promising potential of the PMMA-mediated pressure-welded Ag NWs networks used as a transparent electrode in a green organic light-emitting diode (OLED) device is also demonstrated. In comparison with the OLED based on commercial tin-doped indium oxide electrode, the increments of power efficiency and external quantum efficiency (EQE) from 80.1 to 85.9 lm w-1 and 19.2% to 19.9% are demonstrated. In addition, the PMMA-mediated pressure welding succeeds in transferring Ag NWs networks to flexible polyethylene naphthalate and polyimide substrates with the sheet resistance of 42 and 91 Ω sq-1 after 10 000 times of bending, respectively.

Electromagnetic simulation and multiple light extraction concepts for solution-processed organic light-emitting diodes were explored in this report. Based on the optical simulation results, the device architecture was optimized for maximization of the light out-coupling efficiency. By utilizing a high refractive index substrate, a high light scattering electrode, and an external light extraction structure, trapped photons in the wave-guided and substrate modes were extracted effectively. The best solution-processed device exhibited a maximum external quantum efficiency of 42.9%, a current efficiency as high as 150.1 cd/A, and a power efficacy up to 125.1 lm/W.

Four carbazole-based bipolar host materials are utilized for solution-processed phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PhOLEDs). These bipolar materials consist of an electron-donor unit (carbazole) linking to a fluorene unit bearing various electron-acceptor units (oxadiazole, cyano, and benzimidazole) via a saturated carbon, giving sufficiently high triplet energies due to the lack of direct electronic coupling between the donor and acceptor(s). The resulting physical properties and bipolar characteristics render the realization of efficient solution-processed green and white OLEDs feasible. The best green light-emitting device based on bipolar host CzFCBI incorporating a stepwise hole-injection/transporting system exhibit a low drive voltage, a maximum external quantum efficiency of 14.0%, a current efficiency of 49.0 cd/A, and a power efficacy of 55.0 lm/W. Moreover, the CzFOXa-based two-component (blue–orange) white light-emitting device shows a warmish-white emission with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 6.9% and stable chromaticity coordinates at different luminance levels and yield a high color rendering index (CRI) reaching 76 at a luminance of 1000 cd/m2.

The optical constants of a CH3NH3PbI3−xClx perovskite thin film were acquired for the first time. With this optical constant information, detailed optical modelling and optimization were performed and the calculations suggest that power conversion efficiencies of up to 20% and 29% are feasible in planar-type single and tandem cells.

Indoor utilization of emerging photovoltaics is promising; however, efficiency characterization under room lighting is challenging. We report the first round-robin interlaboratory study of performance measurement for dye-sensitized photovoltaics (cells and mini-modules) and one silicon solar cell under a fluorescent dim light. Among 15 research groups, the relative deviation in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of the samples reaches an unprecedented 152%. On the basis of the comprehensive results, the gap between photometry and radiometry measurements and the response of devices to the dim illumination are identified as critical obstacles to the correct PCE. Therefore, we use an illuminometer as a prime standard with a spectroradiometer to quantify the intensity of indoor lighting and adopt the reverse-biased current-voltage (I-V) characteristics as an indicator to qualify the I-V sampling time for dye-sensitized photovoltaics. The recommendations can brighten the prospects of emerging photovoltaics for indoor applications.

A novel sequential layer-by-layer sub-100 °C vacuum-sublimation method to fabricate planar-type organometal halide perovskite solar cells is developed. Very uniform and highly crystalline perovskite thin films with 100% surface coverage are produced. The cells attain maximum and average efficiencies up to 15.4% and 14%, respectively. This low- temperature, all-vacuum process is suitable for a wide variety of rigid and flexible applications.

Two different types of vacuum-deposited interconnection layers (ICLs) were investigated for tandem solar cells: (1) a pure metal oxide and (2) an organic matrix doped with conductive dopants. The optical and electrical properties of these ICLs were systematically studied and compared. Taking the characteristics of ICLs into consideration, optical design methodology for balancing the photocurrent of each sub-cell in the tandem cell is presented. According to the design, highly efficient small-molecule tandem solar cells with power conversion efficiencies up to 7.3%–7.4% were experimentally demonstrated in both devices utilizing pure metal oxide and organic matrix ICLs.

Electronic device versions of the neural functions of the human retina have high potential for use in artificial vision. This study demonstrates halide perovskite artificial human photoreceptors with specific photoresponses to red, green, and blue colors, which are consistent with human retinal photoreceiving cones and rods. In contrast to the current programmable spectral-response technologies, a novel microcavity structure is combined in this study with a perovskite absorber to achieve a targeted spectrum without using external optical filters. The fabricated artificial photoreceptors exhibit excellent performance including a high detectivity of more than 1013 Jones, a large linear dynamic range of 154 dB, and a short response time of 580 ns. These values are equal to or better than those of the natural human retina. These devices can easily be monolithically integrated on a single flexible substrate by using vacuum deposition, and a true proof-of-concept full-color image reconstruction is demonstrated.

The chromaticity and colour-rendering capability of solution-processed single emission layer (EML) white organic light-emitting diodes (W-OLEDs) can be precisely tuned by manipulating the dopant compositions in the EMLs. In this work, we numerically modelled binary, ternary, and quaternary doping single EML W-OLEDs. The correlated colour temperature (CCT), colour-rendering index (CRI), and spectral designs were correlated. The simulation predicted that the quaternary doping system possesses the best chromaticity performance. The corresponding binary, ternary and quaternary doping single EML W-OLEDs were fabricated and characterised to verify the calculation. The solution-processed quaternary doping W-OLEDs were designed with CRI values up to 85, deviations from the Planckian locus (Du 0 v 0) as low as +0.0009, an EQE of 13.7%, a power efficacy of 14.7 lm/W and current efficiency of up to 24.9 cd/A at 1000 cd/m 2

We report a facile way for continuously tuning the lasing wavelength of an organic thin-film distributed feedback (DFB) laser after device fabrication by varying the effective refractive index seen by the one-dimension DFB laser structure. Varying the effective refractive indices of the organic gain medium and thus the effective refractive index of a one-dimension DFB laser structure after device fabrication is made possible with reorientation of molecules in a molecular glass at elevated temperatures. Distributions of molecular orientations can be fine controlled by annealing temperatures and times, permitting continuous tuning of optical properties and lasing wavelengths. Molecular reorientation can be conducted after devices are made, thus giving one the freedom to set or tune the lasing wavelength to meet a particular purpose with a common structure.

Although small-molecule organic solar cells (SMOSCs) have shown increasingly promising prospects as a source of solar power, there have been few studies concerning the photophysics of these systems. Here, we report the time scale and efficiency of charge separation and recombination in a vapor-deposited SMOSC material that produces 5.81% power conversion efficiency. Transient absorption and time-resolved photoluminescence (trPL) studies of thin film blends comprising DTDCTB, a narrow-band gap electron donor, and either C60 or C70 as an electron acceptor show that charge separation occurs in ~100 fs, while charge recombination takes place over sub-ns and ns time scales. trPL indicates a donor electron-hole pair lifetime of ~33 ps in the neat film and reveals that ~20% of donors fail to charge separate in donor-acceptor mixed films, likely owing to some spatially extended donor-rich regions that interact poorly with acceptors. Our results suggest that morphological manipulations of this material could further improve device efficiency.

The use of 1,4,5,8,9,11-hexaazatriphenylene hexacarbonitrile (HAT-CN) thin layers, particularly the solution-processed type, as an efficient hole-injection layer (HIL) for organic optoelectronic devices is demonstrated herein. Among the solvents commonly used for solution processing, 2-propanone was found to selectively dissolve HAT-CN, allowing the fabrication of a rigid film. The alignment of the electronic energy levels of the solution-processed HAT-CN and thermally polymerized 2,7-disubstituted fluorene-based triaryldiamine (VB-FNPD) species was evaluated using ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy. The results revealed that the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of HAT-CN and the highest occupied molecular orbital of VB-FNPD were very close to the Fermi level, which facilitated charge transfer at the interface and improved hole injection. The utilization of HAT-CN as HIL resulted in a dramatic enhancement of the performance of solution-processed red, green, and blue organic light-emitting diodes. The external quantum efficiency, current efficiency, and power efficiency of the HAT-CN-based devices were higher than or almost similar to those of optimized poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-based devices. Because of the efficient carrier-injection capability and the capacity to prevent interfacial mixing and erosion during fabrication, solution-processed HAT-CN is promising as a novel alternative to conventional PEDOT:PSS HILs.

The effect of organic electron transporting layers (ETLs) on organic solar cells (OSCs) has been evaluated. Thermally deposited small molecule OSCs utilizing the electron transporting material 2,9-dimethyl-4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline (BCP), and the pyridine-containing derivatives 1,3,5-tri(m-pyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene (TmPyPB), bis-1,2-(3,5-di-3-pyridyl-phenyl)benzene (B3PyPB) and diphenyl-bis[4-(pyridin-3-yl)phenyl]silane (DPPS) as ETLs have been fabricated and studied. Impedance spectroscopy and current density–voltage characteristics show that the device performance is closely related to the intrinsic electron mobilities of the ETLs. It was demonstrated that the compound TmPyPB, which possesses good thermal properties, high transparency, high refractive index, and low ionization potential, as well as high electron mobility, is a promising material as an ETL in OSCs, resulting especially in lower series resistance and higher shunt resistance. The devices adopting TmPyPB as an ETL show exceptional characteristics with high fill-factor (FF) and very high power conversion efficiency (PCE) up to 53% and 6.3%, respectively, which are great enhancements compared to cells using conventional BCP as an ETL material.

Novel organic/ultrathin low work function metal bilayer cathode buffers for small molecule organic solar cells are proposed. Ultrathin low work function metal layers possess a high built-in electric field for effective carrier extraction and a high cathode reflectivity for maximum absorption in the photoactive layers. This leads to a significant increase of short circuit current density and fill factor of cells. By integrating this bilayer cathode buffer with DTDCTB:C 60 small molecular heterojunction, the device exhibits a high power conversion efficiency of up to 5.28%, which is an improvement of 22% compared to a device with a traditional single organic layer buffer.

In this work, we present vacuum-deposited bifacial transparent organic solar cells on indium-tin-oxide-coated glass substrates. Good performances and high transparencies are achieved simultaneously by employing the planar-mixed heterojunction of the organic donor 2-{[7-(5-N,N-ditolylaminothiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazol-4-yl]methylene}malononitrile (DTDCTB) and fullerenes with carefully designed resonance top electrodes. Comprehensive optical simulation is exploited to investigate the effect of the top-electrode configuration on the cell transparency and efficiency. Cells with structures designed for high transparencies were fabricated and tested. The DTDCTB:C60 device yields a high transmission of up to 66.4% at 530 nm and a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 2.11%. Moreover, the DTDCTB:C70 device demonstrates an exceptional PCE as high as 3.24% with a balanced transmission of ≈50% in the visible spectrum. Enhanced PCE values of transparent solar cells are also revealed with the use of external reflectors. Efficiency enhancements of ≈15% and ≈65% are achieved by simply attaching a reflection mirror at the cathode or anode side, respectively.

Preparation and characterization of a new class of emissive Os(II) complexes (1–5) have been achieved using 3-(thiazol-2-yl), 3-(benzothiazol-2-yl), 3-(imidazol-2-yl) and 3-(benzimidazol-2-yl) azole chelates, together with the incorporation of one diphosphine ancillary for satisfying the octahedral coordination arrangement. The resulting Os(II) complexes, except for 5, all show bright emission spanning visible region from green to saturated red, and their structural versus spectroscopic properties have been comprehended by absorption/emission together with computational approaches. Subsequently, a series of solution-processed OLEDs using 1–4 as the dopant were successfully fabricated, demonstrating excellent device performances with external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 15%, current efficiency exceeding 48 cd/A, and power conversion efficiency up to 50 lm/W. Complex 4 is the only Os(II) based phosphor so far suitable for the fabrication of highly efficient green-emitting OLEDs.

Blue and white small-molecule organic light-emitting diodes are fabricated by multi-layer blade coating on hot plate at 80 C with hot wind. Uniform multi-layer structures are made without dissolution due to rapid drying. Only small molecules originally developed for vacuum deposition are used. For hole transport layer of, 4 0

In typical organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs), a significant portion of internally generated radiation is trapped into the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) modes, in general not accessible for external use. By thinning the metal electrode, the SPP modes can be coupled to the outside surface of the device. As such, one can recycle a portion of SPPs by capping the thinned metal electrode with an appropriate absorbing/re-emission medium, inducing SPP-mediated energy transfer and re-emission. Such an approach may be used for implementing double-emitting OLEDs with different emission colors on two sides and with a broad color tuning capability.

We investigated the temporal coherence properties of organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) by characterizing their coherence lengths. The interferometry based on the Newton’s rings apparatus was adopted to characterize the coherence lengths of various OLEDs, including non-doped/doped OLEDs and non-cavity bottom-emitting/cavity top-emitting OLEDs. The types of OLEDs investigated exhibit coherence lengths of 3–10 μm, depending on the device structures/emitters and spectral bandwidths of the OLED emission. OLEDs using emitting molecules with more limited number of allowed vibronic transitions give narrower-band and more coherent emission. Introducing the microcavity into the device structure to induce resonance also narrows the emission spectra and meanwhile increases the coherence length. Such information may be useful for modeling, design, and optimization of optical properties of OLEDs.

The combination of white organic light-emitting devices (OLED) and color filters is one of the most promising technologies for full-color OLED displays. Yet, the transmission spectra of most available color filters are broad and poorly match the electroluminescence spectra of white OLEDs, yielding less saturated filtered colors and small color gamut for displays. In this work, we report that by employing the microcavity structure only in green pixels for such OLED display technology, one can simultaneously achieve simplification the manufacturing process, enhancement of color performances, and enhancement in efficiencies for OLED displays.

We report the unusual photoluminescence (PL) properties of vertically aligned InN nanorod arrays grown on Si(111) with a Si3N4 buffer layer. The optimum growth conditions of InN nanorods are obtained by controlling the III/V ratio and the growth temperature. Structural characterization by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy indicates that individual nanorods are wurtzite InN single crystals with the growth direction along the c-axis. Near-infrared PL from InN nanorods is clearly observed at room temperature. However, in comparison to the PL from InN epitaxial films, the PL from InN nanorods is significantly lower in efficiency and exhibit anomalous temperature dependence. We propose that these unusual PL properties are results of considerable structural disorder (especially for the low-temperature grown InN nanorods) and strong surface electron accumulation effect. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)