High-efficiency low-voltage blue fluorescent OLEDs

OLEDs are widely used as displays for mobile phones and TVs at present and are poised to penetrate the lighting and luminary markets. It is generally assumed that the external quantum efficiency of traditional fluorescent organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) plateaus around 5%. The So and Castellano research groups at NC State discovered that under certain conditions, the external quantum efficiency for these devices can reach 10% whereas the power conversion efficiency of related blue fluorescent OLEDs have also been shown to be as high as that measured in blue phosphorescent OLEDs. This is due to the low drive voltages necessary to achieve blue light emission. These combined experimental findings were recently published in Nature Communications.