Origin and Control of Orientation of Phosphorescent and TADF Dyes for High-Efficiency OLEDs

It has been known for decades that the emitting dipole orientation (EDO) of emitting dyes influences the outcoupling efficiency of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). However, the EDO of dopants, especially phosphorescent dopants, has been studied less than that of neat films and polymer emitting layers (EMLs) due to the lack of an apparent driving force for aligning the dopants in amorphous host films. Recently, however, even globular-shaped Ir complexes have been reported to have a preferred orientation in doped films and OLEDs. External quantum efficiencies (EQEs) higher than 30% have also been demonstrated using phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescent dyes (TADF) doped in EMLs. Here, recent results on the EDO of phosphorescent and TADF dyes doped in host films, and highly efficient OLEDs using these dyes are reviewed. The origin and control of the orientation of phosphors are discussed, followed by a discussion of future strategies to achieve EQEs of over 60% without a light extraction layer, from the material point of view.