To increase the lifetime of electroluminescent (EL) device by low-temperature deposition of organic thin solid films

We have studied the electrical and light-emitting behaviour as well as the lifetime of electroluminescent (EL) cells which consist of naphthoylimide (NPL) as the emitting layer and poly(3-octythiophene) (P3OT) doped with poly(N-vinylcarbazoe) (PVK) as the hole transport layer sandwiched between indium-tin-oxide (ITO) and aluminium (Al) electrodes. The mixed polymer (P3OT : PVK) layer and the emitting layer were deposited by spin coating and by vacuum deposition. When the ITO substrate was cooled to near liquid N2 temperature during the deposition of the NPL emitting layer, the brightness of the cells increased. Characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM), the emitting layer became more amorphous as the deposition temperature decreased. Results collected show that low temperature deposition of organic thin solid films would be a powerful technique for not only the enhancement of electroluminescent brightness but also increasing the lifetime of EL devices. © 1998 Kluwer Academic Publishers