Enhanced Performance of Quantum Dot-Based Light-Emitting Diodes with Gold Nanoparticle-Doped Hole Injection Layer

In this paper, the performance of quantum dot-based light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) comprising ZnCdSe/ZnS core-shell QDs as an emitting layer were enhanced by employing Au-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) hole injection layer (HIL). By varying the concentration and dimension of Au nanoparticle (NP) dopants in PEDOT:PSS, the optimal devices were obtained with ~22-nm-sized Au NP dopant at the concentration with an optical density (OD) of 0.21. Highly bright green QLEDs with a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 8.2 % and a current efficiency of 29.1 cd/A exhibit 80 % improvement compared with devices without Au NP dopants. The improved performance may be attributed to the significant increase in the hole injection rate as a result of the introduction of Au NPs and the good matching between the resonance frequency of the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) generated by the Au NPs and the emission band of QD layer, as well as the suppressed Auger recombination of QD layer due to the LSPR-induced near-field enhanced radiative recombination rate of excitons. These results are helpful for fabricating high-performance QD-based applications, such as full-color displays and solid-state lighting. Graphical Abstract 80 % enhancement of efficency of quantum dot-based light-emitting diodes with gold nanoparticle doped hole-injection-layer. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s11671-016-1573-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.