Blue-Hazard-Free Organic Light-Emitting Diode with a Lifetime Greater than 200,000 h

Abstract

Blue-hazard-free lighting is in urgent need in order to protect human eyes and physiology. A candlelight-style organic light emitting diode (OLED) is so far the safest measure for its blue-hazard-free, low-color-temperature illumination. However, lifetime is still the most critical reliability issue in OLEDs, especially in lighting applications that are closely associated with high current density operation. Here, we present a novel approach to develop blue-hazard-free OLEDs with a lifetime exceeding 200,000 h at 1000 cd/m2 by employing a tandem structure with ultra-high purity emitter. The resultant device shows a current efficacy of 37.4 cd/A, an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 22.7%, an 80 CRI, and a 78 SRI with a 223,500 h lifetime (t50). Additionally, the resultant device also exhibits a long retina exposure duration of 12,300 s (3.42 h) and suppresses very less melatonin generation (1.7%), demonstrating that the fabricated OLED device is a highly prospective general lighting source to safeguard human health.