Please wait a minute...
Chin. Phys. B, 2026, Vol. 35(3): 038502    DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/adfdc8
INTERDISCIPLINARY PHYSICS AND RELATED AREAS OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Prev  

Enhanced thermal stability of OLEDs based on an organic n-p heterojunction and its derivative

Wei Shi(施薇)1,2, Wei Zhao(赵微)1,2, Bingjia Zhao(赵冰佳)1,2,3, Yangyang Zhu(朱杨洋)1,2, Yang Lin(林洋)1,2, Yachen Xu(徐亚晨)1,2, Weixia Lan(兰伟霞)1,2,4,†, and Bin Wei(魏斌)1,2,4
1 School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China;
2 Key Laboratory of Advanced Display and System Applications, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200072, China;
3 School of Microelectronics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China;
4 Nanan Institute of Shanghai University, Nan'an 362300, China
Abstract  To address the issues of insufficient thermal stability in charge generation layers (CGLs) and carrier imbalance induced by high-temperature annealing in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), this study proposes a metal oxide-doped organic n-p heterojunction (BPhen:Ag$_{2}$O/NPB:MoO$_{3}$) as the core functional layer and designs novel device structures based on its derivatives. By analyzing the performance evolution of heterojunction thin films and OLEDs under annealing treatments ranging from 27 $^\circ$C to 100 $^\circ$C, it was found that after high-temperature annealing, the surface MoO$_{3}$ particles became uniformly dispersed in the heterojunction films, with reduced roughness and no crystallization observed, demonstrating excellent thermal stability. Single-carrier device tests revealed that the current density reached its maximum value at 80 $^\circ$C annealing. In comparison, at 100 $^\circ$C annealing, the current density decreased due to the dissociation of charge-transfer complexes (CTCs), yet it remained higher than that under ambient conditions. Furthermore, the performance degradation of the newly developed p-i-n-p structure OLEDs after high-temperature annealing was significantly smaller compared to conventional p-i-n structures.
Keywords:  organic light-emitting diodes      metal oxide-doping      organic heterojunction      thermal stability  
Received:  20 June 2025      Revised:  01 August 2025      Accepted manuscript online:  21 August 2025
PACS:  85.30.-z (Semiconductor devices)  
  73.40.Kp (III-V semiconductor-to-semiconductor contacts, p-n junctions, and heterojunctions)  
  72.80.Le (Polymers; organic compounds (including organic semiconductors))  
  68.60.Dv (Thermal stability; thermal effects)  
Fund: This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 62304127) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai Municipality (Grant No. 24ZR1422300).
Corresponding Authors:  Weixia Lan     E-mail:  weixia_lan@shu.edu.cn

Cite this article: 

Wei Shi(施薇), Wei Zhao(赵微), Bingjia Zhao(赵冰佳), Yangyang Zhu(朱杨洋), Yang Lin(林洋), Yachen Xu(徐亚晨), Weixia Lan(兰伟霞), and Bin Wei(魏斌) Enhanced thermal stability of OLEDs based on an organic n-p heterojunction and its derivative 2026 Chin. Phys. B 35 038502

[1] Bauri J, Choudhary R B and Mandal G 2021 J. Mater. Sci. 56 18837
[2] Chen HW, Lee J H, Lin B Y, Chen S andWu S T 2018 Light-Sci. Appl. 7 17168
[3] Huang Y, Hsiang E L, Deng M Y and Wu S T 2020 Light-Sci. Appl. 9 105
[4] Pode R 2020 Renew. Sust. Energ. Rev. 133 110043
[5] Reineke S, Thomschke M, Luessem B and Leo K 2013 Rev. Mod. Phys. 85 1245
[6] Yadav S, Mittal P and Negi S 2022 Bull. Mater. Sci. 45 0973
[7] Zou S J, Shen Y, Xie F M, Chen J D, Li Y Q and Tang J X 2020 Mater. Chem. Front. 4 788
[8] Lin S J, Cheng Y C, Chen C H, Zhang Y Y, Lee J H, Leung M K, Lin B Y and Chiu T L 2022 J. Mater. Chem. C. 11 161
[9] Shirota Y, Okumoto K and Inada H 2000 Synthetic. Met. 111 387
[10] Steuber F, Staudigel J, Stössel M, Simmerer J, Winnacker A, Spreitzer H, Weissörtel F and Salbeck J 2000 Adv. Mater. 12 130
[11] Tang S S, Yang G X, Zhu J J, He X, Jian J X, Lu F and Tong Q X 2021 Chem. Eur. J. 27 9102
[12] Kou Z Q, Tang Y, Yang L P, Yang F Y and Guo W J 2018 Chin. Phys. B 27 107801
[13] Azrain M M, Mansor M R, Omar G, Fadzullah S H S M, Esa S R, Lim L M, Sivakumar D and Nordin M N A 2019 Synthetic. Met. 247 191
[14] Shi W, Yue Y, Zhao B, Xu H, Cao C, Lan W, Lin Y and Wei B 2024 Adv. Eng. Mater. 26 2301584
[15] Zhang L, Dong S C, Gao C H, Shi X B, Wang Z K and Liao L S 2015 Appl. Phys. Mater. 118 381
[16] Gong C, Xu Y, Liu Y, Liao Y, Lan W, Wei B, Duan L and Wong W Y 2021 Org. Electron. 99 106307
[17] Wei B, Fan Y, Sun A, Liu K, Li S, Lan W, Liao Y, Lin Y and Wong W Y 2021 Opt. Mater. Express 11 3455
[18] Dong Y, Yan D, Yang S, Wei N, Zou Y and Zeng H 2023 Chin. Phys. B 32 018507
[19] Yu C, Yin H, Guo J, Zhang W and Shi Y 2024 Chin. Phys. Lett. 41 093301
[20] Ashrafi M, Fakhraian H and DehnaviMA 2017 Propell. Explos. Pyrot. 42 268
[21] Li Z, Wu Z, Fu W, Wang D, Liu P, Jiao B, Lei X, Zhou G and Hao Y 2013 Electronic. Mater. Lett. 9 655
[22] JiangMD, Chiu T L, Lee P Y, Yang S P and Lin H C 2012 Jap. J. Appl. Phys. 51 032101
[23] Zhivkov I, Spassova E, Danev G, Ivanov T and Andreev S 1998 Vacuum 51 189
[24] Zhao B, Zhu Y, Xu Y, Yang X, Li J, Zheng Y, Wei B, Shi W, Li C and Zhang S 2025 Displays 87 102959
[25] Kroger M, Hamwi S, Meyer J, Dobbertin T, Riedl T, Kowalsky W and Johannes H H 2007 Phys. Rev. B 75 235321
[26] Cui D, Wang S, Li S, Liu Y, Du H, Du Q, Zhao L, Wang W and Dong X 2021 J. Mater. Sci.-Mater. El. 32 12075
[27] Cui D, Wang S, Li S, Liu Y, Gao X, Wang W and Dong X 2021 Opt. Express. 29 16845
[28] Walters D M, Antony L, de Pablo J J and Ediger M D 2017 J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 8 3380
[29] Mu H, Wei B, Xie H and Jiang Y 2017 J. Lumin. 192 1110
[30] Ning S, Wu Z, Dong H, Ma L, Jiao B, Ding L, Ding L and Zhang F 2016 Org. Electron. 30 165
[31] Woo J Y, Park M H, Jeong S H, Kim Y H, Kim B, Lee T W and Han T H 2023 Adva. Mater. 35 2207454
[32] Lee J, Kim J and Jeon E S 2018 J. Mech. Sci. Technol. 32 2707
[1] Effect of aggregation on thermally activated delayed fluorescence and ultralong organic phosphorescence: QM/MM study
Qun Zhang(张群), Xiaofei Wang(王晓菲), Zhimin Wu(吴智敏), Xiaofang Li(李小芳), Kai Zhang(张凯), Yuzhi Song(宋玉志), Jianzhong Fan(范建忠), Chuan-Kui Wang(王传奎), and Lili Lin(蔺丽丽). Chin. Phys. B, 2023, 32(10): 103301.
[2] Luminescent characteristics of Tm3+/Tb3+/Eu3+ tri-doped Na5Y9F32 single crystals for white emission with high thermal stability
Lizhi Fang(方立志), Xiong Zhou(周雄), Zhiwei Zhao(赵志伟), Biao Zheng(郑标), Haiping Xia(夏海平), Jun Wang(王军), Hongwei Song(宋宏伟), and Baojiu Chen(陈宝玖). Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(12): 127802.
[3] Influences of nanoparticles and chain length on thermodynamic and electrical behavior of fluorine liquid crystals
Ines Ben Amor, Lotfi Saadaoui, Abdulaziz N. Alharbi, Talal M. Althagafi, and Taoufik Soltani. Chin. Phys. B, 2022, 31(10): 104202.
[4] Theoretical verification of intermolecular hydrogen bond induced thermally activated delayed fluorescence in SOBF-Ome
Mu-Zhen Li(李慕臻), Fei-Yan Li(李飞雁), Qun Zhang(张群), Kai Zhang(张凯), Yu-Zhi Song(宋玉志), Jian-Zhong Fan(范建忠), Chuan-Kui Wang(王传奎), and Li-Li Lin(蔺丽丽). Chin. Phys. B, 2021, 30(12): 123302.
[5] Thermal stability of magnetron sputtering Ge-Ga-S films
Lei Niu(牛磊), Yimin Chen(陈益敏), Xiang Shen(沈祥), Tiefeng Xu(徐铁峰). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(8): 087803.
[6] Energy transfer, luminescence properties, and thermal stability of color tunable barium pyrophosphate phosphors
Meng-Jiao Xu(徐梦姣), Su-Xia Li(李素霞), Chen-Chen Ji(季辰辰), Wan-Xia Luo(雒晚霞), Lu-Xiang Wang(王鲁香). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(6): 063301.
[7] Structural and thermal stabilities of Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles and their arrays: A molecular dynamics simulation
Hai-Hong Jia(贾海洪), De-Liang Bao(包德亮), Yu-Yang Zhang(张余洋), Shi-Xuan Du(杜世萱). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(4): 048701.
[8] Reliability of organic light-emitting diodes in low-temperature environment
Saihu Pan(潘赛虎), Zhiqiang Zhu(朱志强), Kangping Liu(刘康平), Hang Yu(于航), Yingjie Liao(廖英杰), Bin Wei(魏斌), Redouane Borsali, and Kunping Guo(郭坤平). Chin. Phys. B, 2020, 29(12): 128503.
[9] Characteristics of urea under high pressure and high temperature
Shuai Fang(房帅), Hong-An Ma(马红安), Long-Suo Guo(郭龙锁), Liang-Chao Chen(陈良超), Yao Wang(王遥), Lu-Yao Ding(丁路遥), Zheng-Hao Cai(蔡正浩), Jian Wang(王健), Xiao-Peng Jia(贾晓鹏). Chin. Phys. B, 2019, 28(9): 098101.
[10] Surface stabilized cubic phase of CsPbI3 and CsPbBr3 at room temperature
Feng Yang(杨凤), Cong Wang(王聪), Yuhao Pan(潘宇浩), Xieyu Zhou(周谐宇), Xianghua Kong(孔祥华), Wei Ji(季威). Chin. Phys. B, 2019, 28(5): 056402.
[11] Effect of Au/Ni/4H-SiC Schottky junction thermal stability on performance of alpha particle detection
Xin Ye(叶鑫), Xiao-Chuan Xia(夏晓川), Hong-Wei Liang(梁红伟), Zhuo Li(李卓), He-Qiu Zhang(张贺秋), Guo-Tong Du(杜国同), Xing-Zhu Cui(崔兴柱), Xiao-Hua Liang(梁晓华). Chin. Phys. B, 2018, 27(8): 087304.
[12] Synthesis of thermally stable HfOxNy as gate dielectric for AlGaN/GaN heterostructure field-effect transistors
Tong Zhang(张彤), Taofei Pu(蒲涛飞), Tian Xie(谢天), Liuan Li(李柳暗), Yuyu Bu(补钰煜), Xiao Wang(王霄), Jin-Ping Ao(敖金平). Chin. Phys. B, 2018, 27(7): 078503.
[13] Excellent thermal stability and thermoelectric properties of Pnma-phase SnSe in middle temperature aerobic environment
Yu Tang(唐语), Decong Li(李德聪), Zhong Chen(陈钟), Shuping Deng(邓书平), Luqi Sun(孙璐琪), Wenting Liu(刘文婷), Lanxian Shen(申兰先), Shukang Deng(邓书康). Chin. Phys. B, 2018, 27(11): 118105.
[14] Thermal stability and data retention of resistive random access memory with HfOx/ZnO double layers
Yun-Feng Lai(赖云锋), Fan Chen(陈凡), Ze-Cun Zeng(曾泽村), Pei-Jie Lin(林培杰), Shu-Ying Cheng(程树英), Jin-Ling Yu(俞金玲). Chin. Phys. B, 2017, 26(8): 087305.
[15] Enhanced thermal stability of VCSEL array by thermoelectric analysis-based optimization of mesas distribution
Chu-Yu Zhong(钟础宇), Xing Zhang(张星), Di Liu(刘迪), Yong-Qiang Ning(宁永强), Li-Jun Wang(王立军). Chin. Phys. B, 2017, 26(6): 064204.
No Suggested Reading articles found!