Optical detection of charge carriers in multilayer organic light-emitting diodes: Experiment and theory

We have investigated a multilayer organic light-emitting diode with 1,3,5-tris (N,N-bis-(4-methoxyphenyl)aminophenyl)-benzene acting as the hole transporting layer (HTL) and tris (8-hydroxy-quinolinolato) aluminum (Alq3) as the electron transporting layer. Positive charge carriers in the HTL were detected optically as a function of the applied bias. It was found that a hole injecting layer, consisting of 3,4 polyethylene-dioxy-thiophene doped with polystyrenesulfonate, forms an ohmic contact to the HTL by inducing a thin layer of holes in the interfacial region. An analytical model is developed to describe the observed carrier concentrations as well as the current–brightness–voltage characteristics quantitatively.