Exciton quenching by diffusion of 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7',8,8'-tetra cyano quino dimethane and its consequences on joule heating and lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes.

In this Letter, the effect of F(4)-TCNQ insertion at the anode/hole transport layer (HTL) interface was studied on joule heating and the lifetime of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Joule heating was found to reduce significantly (pixel temperature decrease by about 10 K at a current density of 40 mA/cm(2)) by this insertion. However, the lifetime was found to reduce significantly with a 1 nm thick F(4)-TCNQ layer, and it improved by increasing the thickness of this layer. Thermal diffusion of F(4)-TCNQ into HTL leads to F(4)-TCNQ ionization by charge transfer, and drift of these molecules into the emissive layer caused faster degradation of the OLEDs. This drift was found to reduce with an increase in the thickness of F(4)-TCNQ.