Organic LEDs that emit light in the short-wavelength infrared (SWIR) region, which spans the 1–2 μm region, are attractive for applications in biosensors, biomedical imaging and spectroscopy, and surveillance. However, fabrication of such devices with high radiance has not yet been achieved owing to an intrinsic limitation imposed by the energy-gap law, which leads to extremely low emission efficiencies. Here, we report that acceptor–donor–acceptor-type molecules with high coplanarity, rigid π-conjugated backbones, an extremely small reorganization energy and an electron–phonon coupling factor are capable of simultaneously providing a strongly suppressed non-radiative recombination rate and a high operation stability at high current density. We achieve electrically driven SWIR organic LEDs with an irradiance of up to 3.9 mW cm⁻² (corresponding to 7% of direct sunlight infrared irradiance). These findings should open a wide avenue to a new class of organic SWIR light sources for a broad range of applications.

在跨越 1-2 μm 区域的短波红外 (SWIR) 区域发光的有机 LED 对生物传感器、生物医学成像和光谱学以及监控等应用具有吸引力。然而，由于能隙定律施加的内在限制，尚未实现具有高辐射的这种器件的制造，这导致极低的发射效率。在这里，我们报告了具有高共面性、刚性π的受体-供体-受体型分子共轭骨架、极小的重组能和电子-声子耦合因子能够同时提供强烈抑制的非辐射复合率和高电流密度下的高操作稳定性。我们实现了辐照度高达 3.9 mW cm ^-2的电驱动 SWIR 有机 LED （对应于直射太阳光红外辐照度的 7%）。这些发现应该为一类新的有机短波红外光源的广泛应用开辟了广阔的道路。