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A record-breaking low turn-on voltage blue QLED via reducing built-in potential

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Abstract

Developing light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with the merits of low driving and high brightness has always been attractive. Considering the carrier dynamic process under electroexcitation, the built-in potential (Vbi) represents the moment that the photons start to be produced in a LED. However, it has not been carefully studied and discussed. Here, we observed that by employing an interface regulation strategy to enhance hole concentration, the Vbi of quantum dot LEDs (QLEDs) can be reduced. Combined with the characterization methods of Mott–Schottky (MS) and scanning Kelvin probe microscopy (SKPM), the key indicator of Vbi on driving voltage for QLEDs is confirmed. Profiting from the reduction of Vbi, a record-breaking ultra-low turn-on voltage of 2.2 V (@1 cd/m2) is achieved in a blue QLED. The blue QLED shows an advantage of high brightness under low driving voltages, i.e., 1000 cd/m2@3.10 V and 5000 cd/m2@3.88 V. This work proposes a reference strategy to predict and analyze the driving voltage issue, which is beneficial to facilitating the development of low-driving QLEDs in the future.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (No. 2022YFB3606502), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52131304, 62004101, 62261160392, and 22022205), Jiangsu graduate and practice innovation program (No. KYCX23_0456), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (No. 30920041117).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. MIIT Key Laboratory of Advanced Display Materials and Devices, Institute of Optoelectronics and Nanomaterials, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, 210094, China

    Run Wang, Hengyang Xiang, Hongyang Li, Yuqin Su, Gaoran Li & Haibo Zeng

  2. i-Lab, CAS Center for Excellence in Nanoscience, Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, 215123, China

    Chi Zhang & Qi Chen

  3. School of Physics and Electronic Science East China Normal University, Shanghai, 200241, China

    Qinye Bao

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  1. Run Wang
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  3. Chi Zhang
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  4. Hongyang Li
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Correspondence to Hengyang Xiang, Qi Chen or Haibo Zeng.

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Wang, R., Xiang, H., Zhang, C. et al. A record-breaking low turn-on voltage blue QLED via reducing built-in potential. Nano Res. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6570-0

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