Interaction of UV Irradiation with Thin Films of Organic Molecules

Abstract

There is an ongoing interest in organic materials due to their application in various organic electronic devices. However stability of organic materials limits their potential use. They are prone to degradation both during the working life and storage. One of the main causes is extrinsic degradation, under the influence of oxygen and moisture. This problem can be solved by encapsulation of devices. However no encapsulation is perfect. This paper presents a study of interaction of thin films of well-known organic blue emitters, namely N,N′-bis(3-methylphenyl)-N,N′-bis(phenyl)benzidine (TPD) and 4,4′-bis(2,2-diphenylvinyl)-1,1′-biphenyl (DPVBi), with UV light in air. Films of both materials are stable in vacuum, but readily degrade in the presence of oxygen. Thus, the necessary condition for interaction (degradation) is the simultaneous presence of UV light and oxygen. Chemical analysis of irradiated films by mass and infrared spectroscopy revealed presence of oxidized species (impurities). These impurities are responsible for increased morphological stability of irradiated films and quenching of photoluminescence (PL). Only small amount of impurities, 0.4 % (0.2 %) for TPD (DPVBi), causes 50 % decrease of PL. This implies a non-trivial mechanism of quenching. For both molecules it was found that distance between impurities is smaller or equal to exciton diffusion length, which is the necessary condition for quenching. Following mechanism of quenching is proposed: exciton diffuses by hopping form one host molecule (DPVBi or TPD) to another through Förster resonant energy transfer in a random walk manner. If, during its lifetime, it comes to proximity of an impurity, a PL quenching process occurs. Findings of this study are important because they show that even a small amount of oxygen that penetrates a blue emitter layer would impair luminescence efficiency of a device. Moreover, the absorption of its own radiation would additionally contribute to the rate of degradation of a device. It is reasonable to expect that transport properties would also be affected when materials are used as a hole-transporting layer in OLEDs.