This thesis is about the development and validation of a numerical model for the simulation of the current-voltage characteristics of organic thin-film devices. The focus is on the analysis of a white organic light-emitting diode (OLED) with fluorescent blue and phosphorescent red and green emitters. The simulation model describes the charge transport as a one-dimensional drift-diffusion current and is developed on the basis of the Scharfetter-Gummel method. It incorporates modern theories for the charge transport in disordered organic materials, which are considered by means of special functions for the diffusion coefficient and the charge-carrier mobility. The algorithm is designed such that it can switch between different models for mobility and calculates both transient and steady-state solutions. In the analysis of the OLED, electron and hole transport are investigated separately in series of single-carrier devices. These test devices incorporate parts of the layers in the OLED between symmetrically arranged injection layers that are electrically doped. Thereby, the OLED layer sequence is reconstructed step by step. The analysis of the test devices allows to obtain the numerous parameters which are required for the simulation of the complete OLED and reveals many interesting features of the OLED.
For instance, it is shown how the accumulation of charge carriers in front of an interface barrier increases the mobility and the transfer rate across the interface. Furthermore, it is demonstrated how to identify charge-trapping states. This leads to the detection of deep trap states in the emission zone of the OLED -- an interesting aspect, since these states can function as recombination centers and may cause non-radiative losses. Moreover, various other effects such as interface dipoles and a slight freeze-out of active electric dopants in the injection layers are observed. In the simulations of the numerous test devices, the parameters are consistently applied. Thereby, the agreement between simulation and experiment is excellent, which demonstrates the correctness and applicability of the developed model. Finally, the complete OLED is successfully simulated on the basis of the parameters that have been obtained in the analysis of the single-carrier devices. The simulation of the OLED illustrates the transport levels of electrons and holes, and proofs that the OLED efficiency is low because of non-radiative recombination in the interlayer between the phosphorescent and fluorescent emission zones. In this context, many interesting issues are discussed, e.g. the applicability of the Langevin model in combination with the mobility models for the description of recombination and the relevance of interactions between free charge carriers and excitons.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:26282 |
| Date | 01 November 2012 |
| Creators | Schober, Matthias |
| Contributors | Leo, Karl, Greenham, Neil, Technische Universität Dresden |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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