Influences of Injection Barrier and Mobility on Recombination Rate and Zone in OLEDs

The luminous efficiency of organic light-emitting devices depends on the recombination probability of electrons injected at the cathode and holes at the anode. A theoretical model to calculate the distribution of current densities and the recombination rate in organic single layer devices is presented taking into account the charge injection process at each electrode, charge transport and recombination in organic layer. The calculated results indicate that efficient single-layer devices are possible by adjusting the barrier heights at two electrodes and the carrier mobilities. Lowering the barrier heights can improve the electroluminescent(EL) efficiency pronouncedly in many cases, and efficient devices are still possible using an ohmic contact to inject the low mobility carrier, and a contact limited contact to inject the high mobility carrier. All in all, high EL efficiency needs to consider sufficient recombination, enough injected carriers and well transport.