High Efficiency over 15% by Breaking the Theoretical Efficiency Limit of Fluorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Effects

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2023 Jul 26;15(29):35290-35301. doi: 10.1021/acsami.3c07064. Epub 2023 Jul 17.

Abstract

The theoretical efficiency limit of fluorescence organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) was successfully surpassed by utilizing the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect with conventional emissive materials. The interaction between polaritons and plexcitons generated during the LSPR process was also analyzed experimentally. As a result, the external quantum efficiency (EQE) increased dramatically from 6.01 to 15.43%, significantly exceeding the theoretical efficiency limit of fluorescent OLEDs. Additionally, we introduced a new concept of the LSPR effect, called "LSPR sensitizer", which allowed for simultaneous improvement in color conversion and efficiency through cascade transfer of the LSPR effect. To the best of our knowledge, the EQE and the current efficiency of our LSPR-OLED are the highest among LSPR-based fluorescent OLEDs to date.

Keywords: gold nanoparticles; localized surface plasmon resonance; organic light-emitting diodes; plexciton; polariton.