SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

doi: 10.1038/nmat2751

Organic Light-Emitting Transistors with Efficiency Out-performing the Equivalent Light-

Emitting Diodes by R. Capelli et al.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The Supplementary Information is composed of 6 figures with their captions and reports the
quantitative determination of the optical properties of the tri-layer OLET. The figures show the
electrical and morphological characteristics of the materials used as charge transport layers in the
heterostructure OLETs, a sketch of the interdigitated top-contact source and drain configuration, the
optical transmission spectrum of the tri-layer OLET, and the structure and external quantum
efficiency of the tri-layer OLET with reduced channel length.

150
a -40 V GS = 0 : -90 V b V GS = 0 : 90 V
IDS (μA)

-30
IDS (μA)

100

-20
50
-10

0 0

0 -20 -40 -60 -80 0 20 40 60 80

V DS (V) V DS
D S (V)

Figure S1 Output electrical characteristics of single-layer field-effect transistors. a) OFET

based on DH-4T and (b) OFET based on DFH-4T.

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supplementary information doi: 10.1038/nmat2751

a b

10 µm 10 µm

Figure S2 Topographical images of the n-type and p-type charge transporting layers grown
on PMMA dielectric. Confocal laser scanning microscopy images (excitation wavelength 488 nm)
of the active region of DH-4T (a) and DFH-4T (b) single-layer OFET devices.

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doi: 10.1038/nmat2751
supplementary information

Figure S3 Device structure and electrical characteristics of the bi-layer OFET. a) Scheme of
the OFET device based on a DFH-4T/DH-4T bi-layer structure. b) Output electrical characteristics
measured by operating the device in p-type mode. c) Forward and backward transfer electrical
characteristics measured in saturation regime (VDS = 90 V).

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supplementary information doi: 10.1038/nmat2751

Figure S4 Sketch of the interdigitated source and drain structure used for the realization of
the tri-layer OLET. Channel length and channel width are 150 μm and 20 cm, respectively.

Quantitative analysis of the optical properties of the tri-layer OLET

To quantitatively analyze the optical properties of the tri-layer OLET, we consider the following.

1. In the perfectly ambipolar regime the number of injected electrons equals that of injected
holes and all charges recombine, therefore Ids = Ie = Ih.
2. The exciton formation rate for singlet states is 25%.
3. The experimentally determined PL quantum yield (QY) of the Alq3:DCM layer is 74%
[1].
4. The theoretical value of EQE for an optimized OLED based on Alq3:DCM is 3.7%,
considering that exciton quenching is fully avoided and an outcoupling efficiency of 20% in
an OLED with 100 nm thick ITO and Al electrodes [1].
5. The EQE of the tri-layer OLET in the ambipolar regime is 5%.

The EQE (ηext) of the OLET device can be expressed as:

ηext = γ ΦPL χ σout

Where γ is the ratio of injected electrons to injected holes, ΦPL is the photoluminescence quantum
yield, χ is the fraction of singlet excitons formed, σout is the light outcoupling efficiency.

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doi: 10.1038/nmat2751
supplementary information
Given that γ = 1; ΦPL = 74%; χ = 25% are fixed values, an EQE ηext = 5% implies a light
outcoupling efficiency σout = 27%. The light outcoupling efficiency of the OLET is therefore
improved by 30% with respect to that of the typical OLED structure (20%).

In order to quantify the effect of the exciton-charge quenching on the EQE of the OLETs in case of
overlap between the charge accumulation layer and exciton formation zone, the case of the single
layer ambipolar OLET is considered.
J. Zaumseil et al.[2] derived experimentally for an ambipolar single layer OLET with a device
structure similar to the one reported here, but with a 15nm thick Au layer in place of the 100nm
ITO, an EQE = 0,75%.
In that case ΦPL = 54% and χ = 25%. The outcoupling efficiency of the single layer OLET can be
calculated by comparing the relative transmittance of the stack (gate electrode, dielectric layer,
organic layer, glass substrate) with that of the tri-layer OLET. At the respective emission
wavelength the transmission of the single layer OLET is 50%, [2] while that of the tri-layer is
84,4% (see Fig. S 5).

Figure S5 Optical transmission spectrum of the tri-layer OLET device. The red dot indicates
the transmission of the complete of the stack (gate electrode, dielectric layer, organic layer, glass
substrate) at the emission wavelength.

This means that if the outcoupling efficiency of the tri-layer OLET is 27%, that of the single layer
OLET is 16%.
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For the single layer OLET

ηext = γ ΦPL χ σout

η ext = 1 x 0,54 x 0,25 x 0,16 = 2,16%

This value is to be compared with the experimentally derived EQE value, that is 0,75%.

The difference between the expected EQE value in case of no exciton quenching (2,16%) and the
experimentally derived EQE value (0,75%) gives the quantitative determination of the exciton-
charge quenching in a single layer ambipolar OLET. The exciton-charge quenching decreases the
EQE by a factor of 2,9.
The value of the exciton-charge quenching ζ calculated as

ζ = (η ext - EQEExperimental)/ η ext

is
ζ ∼ 65%

Even though the EQE measurements reported in [2] were affected by the collection geometry, the
exciton-charge quenching remains very high and cannot be compensated by the outcoupling
efficiency. Any sizable exciton quenching in the tri-layer OLET, would result in an outcoupling
efficiency much higher than 30%, which is unlikely because of the losses at the PMMA/ITO
structure. Indeed it is known that values of the outcoupling efficiency exceeding 30% are possible
only using an ultra-thin layer of ITO and/or a high refractive index glass substrate [3, 4]. An
outcoupling efficiency of 27% in the tri-layer structure where the losses at the metal electrode have
been removed is a realistic figure. Therefore, in the tri-layer OLET there is no sizable exciton-
charge quenching.

External quantum efficiency of tri-layer OLETs with reduced channel length

In order to verify that a reduction in channel length has no major deleterious effect on light
emission efficiency, a tri-layer OLET with channel length of 50 microns was fabricated maintaining
all other features of the device structure unchanged.

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doi: 10.1038/nmat2751
supplementary information

Figure S6 Tri-layer OLET with 50 μm channel length. a) Structure of the tri-layer OLET device
with reduced channel length. b) Transfer characteristic and External Quantum Efficiency as a
function of VGS.

A thorough optimization of the device structure with reduced channel length would require the use
of a gate dielectric with increased capacitance, which is outside the scope of this work.

References

1. Matsushima, T., Adachi, C. Extremely low voltage light-emitting diodes with p-doped alpha-
sexithiophene hole transport and n-doped phenyldipyrenylphosphine oxide electron transport
layers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 253506 (2006).

2. Zaumseil, J. et al. Quantum efficiency of ambipolar light-emitting polymer field-effect

transistors. J. Appl. Phys. 103, 064517 (2008).

3. Lu, M. –H., Sturm, J. C. Optimization of external coupling and light emission in organic light-
emitting devices: modelling and experiment J. Appl. Phys. 91, 595-604 (2002).

4. Reineke, S. et al. White organic light-emitting diodes with fluorescent tube efficiency Nature
459, 234-239 (2009)

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