Molecular beam deposition and polymerization of parylene-N ultrathin films: Effective buffers in organic light emitting diodes

Abstract Ultrathin Parylene-N (PPXN) films were prepared by using a home-made Knudsen Cell (KC). The PPXN films were identified by infrared (IR) spectra. The morphology and insulativity of PPXN films were measured by atomic force microscope (AFM) and current density versus voltage ( j – V ) characteristics. Well controlled 1-nm-thick PPXN thin films were inserted at different locations in the N′-bis(naphthalene-1-yl)-N, N′-bis(phenyl) benzidine (NPB) layers of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) with the structure of ITO/NPB/tris (8-hydroxyquinolato) aluminum (Alq 3 )/LiF/Al. For an optimized PPXN inserted structure, current efficiency of 6.27 cd/A was achieved, 11% higher than the 5.64 cd/A of the control one with 1-nm-thick PPXN buffer inserted at the anode interface. The device current efficiency improvement is due to the electron blocking of PPXN buffers, and the current density variation of devices under operation was explained by tunneling barrier reduction.