Low amplified spontaneous emission threshold and suppression of electroluminescence efficiency roll-off in layers doped with ter(9,9′-spirobifluorene)

Abstract

We demonstrate that ter(9,9′-spirobifluorene) (TSBF) doped in a host matrix layer of 4,4′-bis(carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl (CBP) shows a low amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) threshold (Eth = 1.0 μJ cm−2) and suppressed electroluminescence efficiency roll-off at high current densities (no roll-off up to 100 mA cm−2). One origin of the low ASE threshold is that the TSBF-doped CBP layer possesses a very large radiative decay constant (kr = 1.1 × 109 s−1). Singlet–triplet annihilation is almost suppressed in the TSBF-doped CBP layer, which can be ascribed to the small overlap between the emission and triplet absorption of TSBF. Also, the small energy level difference between TSBF and CBP minimizes carrier trapping in TSBF, leading to the suppression of singlet–polaron annihilation. TSBF showed one of the lowest Eth and the most suppressed efficiency roll-off among organic laser dyes investigated in this study and, therefore, is believed to be a promising candidate to realize electrically pumped organic semiconductor laser diodes in the future.