Orientation distributions of vacuum-deposited organic emitters revealed by single-molecule microscopy

Francisco Tenopala-Carmona (), Dirk Hertel, Sabina Hillebrandt, Andreas Mischok, Arko Graf, Philipp Weitkamp, Klaus Meerholz and Malte C. Gather ()
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Francisco Tenopala-Carmona: University of Cologne
Dirk Hertel: University of Cologne
Sabina Hillebrandt: University of Cologne
Andreas Mischok: University of Cologne
Arko Graf: University of St Andrews
Philipp Weitkamp: University of Cologne
Klaus Meerholz: University of Cologne
Malte C. Gather: University of Cologne

Nature Communications, 2023, vol. 14, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract The orientation of luminescent molecules in organic light-emitting diodes strongly influences device performance. However, our understanding of the factors controlling emitter orientation is limited as current measurements only provide ensemble-averaged orientation values. Here, we use single-molecule imaging to measure the transition dipole orientation of individual emitter molecules in a state-of-the-art thermally evaporated host and thereby obtain complete orientation distributions of the hyperfluorescence-terminal emitter C545T. We achieve this by realizing ultra-low doping concentrations (10−6 wt%) of C545T and minimising background levels to reliably measure its photoluminescence. This approach yields the orientation distributions of >1000 individual emitter molecules in a system relevant to vacuum-processed devices. Analysis of solution- and vacuum-processed systems reveals that the orientation distributions strongly depend on the nanoscale environment of the emitter. This work opens the door to attaining unprecedented information on the factors that determine emitter orientation in current and future material systems for organic light-emitting devices.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41841-2

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