Novel Carbazole/Fluorene-Based Host Material for Stable and Efficient Phosphorescent OLEDs

A novel host material of "M"-type carbazole/fluorene-based mDCzPF with a high triplet energy by utilizing meta-substituted phenyl groups as linkers was developed. It was demonstrated that the position of the substituents significantly affected the molecular configuration and dipole moment, which played a critical role in the device performances. Red phosphorescent OLED utilizing the "M"-type mDCzPF as the host represented a 10-fold operational lifetime improvement over the OLED using a "V"-type pDCzPF linked by para-substituted phenyl groups as the host because of the good charge transport ability of the mDCzPF. Additionally, the "M"-type mDCzPF host was also compatible with a blue emitting phosphorescent emitter PtNON. The PtNON-doped OLED using mDCzPF as the host exhibited a peak EQE of 18.3% with a small roll off, yet maintained an EQE of 13.3% at a high brightness of 5000 cd/m². Thus, the novel "M"-type mDCzPF could be employed as stable host material for efficient OLED emitting across the whole visible spectrum. This study should provide a viable method for designing new host materials for the development of stable and efficient phosphorescent OLEDs.