Reducing the driving voltage of organic light-emitting diodes by inserting a transparent ultrathin layer of oxidized silver as a hole-injecting layer

Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) containing a transparent ultrathin layer of oxidized silver as a hole-injecting layer, placed between a indium–tin-oxide (ITO) electrode and the hole-transporting layer, were fabricated, and their electrical and luminescent properties were investigated. The OLEDs had a structure that consisted of an ITO layer; followed by an ultrathin Ag layer oxidized by a ultraviolet (UV)–ozone surface treatment; a N,N′-di-(1-naphthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl]-1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine (α-NPD) layer; a 5,6,11,12-tetraphenylnaphthacene (rubrene)-doped 9,10-diphenylanthracene (DPA) layer; a tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (Alq₃) layer; a lithium fluoride (LiF) layer; and a Al layer. The operating voltages of the OLEDs with the oxidized Ag (i.e., AgO_x) layer were drastically lower than those of the layer-free OLEDs, because the AgO_x layer, which had high oxidizability, contributed to hole injection as it oxidized the surface of the α-NPD layer. However, the external quantum efficiency of the OLEDs with the AgO_x layer was lower than that of the AgO_x layer-free OLEDs, suggesting that the carrier balance (i.e., the balance between the holes and electrons) became uneven in the emission layer, owing to the insertion of the AgO_x layer. It was assumed that this imbalance resulted from the number of holes in the emission layer being higher because of the increase in hole injection in the AgO_x layer.