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Triplet management for efficient perovskite light-emitting diodes

Nature Photonics volume 14, pages 70–75 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Perovskite light-emitting diodes are promising for next-generation lighting and displays because of their high colour purity and performance1. Although the management of singlet and triplet excitons is fundamental to the design of efficient organic light-emitting diodes, the nature of how excitons affect performance is still not clear in perovskite2,3,4 and quasi-two-dimensional (2D) perovskite-based devices5,6,7,8,9. Here, we show that triplet excitons are key to efficient emission in green quasi-2D perovskite devices and that quenching of triplets by the organic cation is a major loss path. Employing an organic cation with a high triplet energy level (phenylethylammonium) in a quasi-2D perovskite based on formamidinium lead bromide yields efficient harvesting of triplets. Furthermore, we show that upconversion of triplets to singlets can occur, making 100% harvesting of electrically generated excitons potentially possible. The external quantum and current efficiencies of our green (527 nm) devices reached 12.4% and 52.1 cd A−1, respectively.

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Fig. 1: Unit cell structures and proposed energy transfer mechanisms in quasi-2D perovskites-based LEDs.
Fig. 2: Crystalline properties of N2F8 and P2F8 films.
Fig. 3: Optical properties of N2F8 and P2F8 films.
Fig. 4: Proposed PeLED emission mechanism and characterization of N2F8 and P2F8 devices.

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Data availability

The data that support the plots within this paper and other findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), ERATO, Adachi Molecular Exciton Engineering Project under JST ERATO grant no. JPMJER1305, Japan, and the International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER) sponsored by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and The Canon Foundation. C.Q. acknowledges support from funding by the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC). We thank Pohang Accelerator Laboratory (PAL) for giving us the opportunity to perform the GIWAXS measurements and MEST and POSTECH for supporting these experiments, H. Ahn for adjustments and help, and other colleagues from the 9A USAXS beamline for assistance. Part of this work at Kyoto was supported by JST-CREST (grant no. JPMJCR16N3). This research was supported in part by the CNRS (PICS N8 8085), France.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (OPERA), c/o Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), ERATO, Adachi Molecular Exciton Engineering Project, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Chuanjiang Qin, Toshinori Matsushima, William J. Potscavage Jr, Atula S. D. Sandanayaka, Matthew R. Leyden, Fatima Bencheikh, Kenichi Goushi & Chihaya Adachi

  2. State Key Laboratory of Polymer Physics and Chemistry, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China

    Chuanjiang Qin

  3. International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (WPI-I2CNER), Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Toshinori Matsushima, Kenichi Goushi & Chihaya Adachi

  4. Sorbonne Université, Institut Parisien de Chimie Moléculaire, UMR 8232, Chimie des Polymères, Paris, France

    Fabrice Mathevet

  5. Institut de Physique et Chimie des Matériaux de Strasbourg, UMR 7504, CNRS – Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France

    Benoît Heinrich

  6. Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan

    Go Yumoto & Yoshihiko Kanemitsu

  7. Innovative Organic Device Laboratory, Institute of Systems, Information Technologies and Nano-technologies (ISIT), Fukuoka, Japan

    Chihaya Adachi

  8. Fukuoka i3-Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (i3-OPERA), Fukuoka, Japan

    Chihaya Adachi

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  1. Chuanjiang Qin
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Contributions

C.Q. and C.A. conceived the concept. C.Q. designed all experiments and fabricated devices. C.Q. and T.M. performed the optical absorption, electroluminescence measurements and device characterization. F.M., B.H. and C.Q. performed GIWAX and XRD analysis. C.Q. and K.G. measured temperature-dependent transient photoluminescence. C.Q., G.Y., K.G. and Y.K. performed transient absorption measurement and analysis. F.B. performed the simulations. C.Q., W.J.P., M.R.L. and A.S.D.S. performed data analysis and figure preparation. C.Q. wrote the draft. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript. C.A. supervised the project.

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Correspondence to Chuanjiang Qin or Chihaya Adachi.

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Energy transfer mechanisms, photoluminescence data and external quantum efficiency statistics.

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Qin, C., Matsushima, T., Potscavage, W.J. et al. Triplet management for efficient perovskite light-emitting diodes. Nat. Photonics 14, 70–75 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-019-0545-9

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