Determination of molecular dipole orientation in doped fluorescent organic thin films by photoluminescence measurements

The orientation of the transition dipole moments of fluorescent organic molecules doped into a matrix material is determined by photoluminescence measurements of the angular dependent emission spectra and by comparison with simulations. The analysis of two small molecular materials doped into a 4,4′-bis(N-carbazole)-biphenyl matrix is demonstrated, yielding a horizontal orientation of 91% for 4,4′-bis4-(diphenylamino)styrylbiphenyl and a completely random orientation in case of tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum (Alq3). This expeditious technique does not require detailed information about the optical properties of the dopant, making this method particularly suitable for characterizing newly developed materials for organic light-emitting diodes with enhanced light-outcoupling efficiency.