Blue thermally activated delayed fluorescence excimers with high external quantum efficiency and accelerated reverse intersystem crossing

This study reports for the first time the development of an efficient blue excimer with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) properties using a multi-resonance TADF-type fused indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole-derived compound with a planar structure for facile excimer formation. The blue excimer was efficiently generated by doping the indolo[3,2,1-jk]carbazole-derived emitter at a high doping concentration. The photophysical analysis demonstrated that the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY), rate coefficients of reverse intersystem crossing (RISC), and horizontal emitting dipole orientation values were improved by excimer formation in the solid film compared with the monomer-dominant solid film by suppressing the concentration-quenching effect. Specifically, the delayed PLQY increased because of the efficient RISC process at high doping concentrations. Consequently, an enhanced maximum external quantum efficiency of 26.3% was obtained in the excimer device (15 wt%) compared with 15.2% in the monomer prevalent device (1 wt%). Moreover, the excimer device showed a peak wavelength of 473 nm and color coordinate of (0.13, 0.19). This demonstration is the first of excimer TADF organic light-emitting diodes with a blue emission and a high external quantum efficiency of 26.3%.