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Effect of structural modifications on the spectral and lasing characteristics of truxene-cored starbursts with/without diphenylamine end-cappers

二苯胺端基修饰对三并茚基多臂结构共轭大分子激 光增益材料体系激光特性的影响

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Abstract

This study examined the effect of chemical modifications on the spectral and lasing characteristics of truxene-cored starbursts as gain media for organic lasers. A series of conjugated starburst materials, consisting of a truxene core and oligofluorene bridges with and without diphenylamine (DPA), namely, TrXD and TrX, were assessed as model molecules to investigate the influence of DPA on the photophysical characteristics and organic lasing behaviors. TrXD with DPA could effectively restrain the aggregation and greatly suppress the aggregation-induced emission quenching, yielding high photoluminescence efficiency. A higher radiative decay rate kr was observed for TrXD than for TrX, suggesting that DPA is beneficial for enhancing the radiative decay process. TrXD showed low amplified spontaneous emission thresholds of 2.1–4.3 μJ cm−2 with high net gain coefficients of 80–101 cm−1, rather low loss coefficients of 2.6–4.4 cm−1, compared with TrX. The best performance with a lasing threshold of 0.31 kW cm−2 was obtained for Tr3D, which was superior to that of Tr3 (0.86 kW cm−2). The molecular systems with DPA have a large potential as attractive molecules for organic lasers because of the superior lasing properties induced by kr.

摘要

本文选取三并茚基多臂结构共轭大分子材料TrXD (二苯胺 (DPA)端基修饰)和TrX (DPA端基未修饰)为模型分子, 系统研究了 DPA修饰对三并茚基多臂结构共轭大分子激光增益材料光物理特性和 激光增益行为的影响. 在多臂结构分子中引入DPA基团可以有效抑制 聚集, 从而显著降低聚集诱导的发射猝灭, 进而提高发光效率. 同时, TrXD的辐射衰减速率kr高于TrX, 表明DPA修饰有利于增强辐射衰减 过程. 与TrX相比, TrXD具有较低的放大自发辐射阈值(2.1–4.3 μJ cm−2), 较高的净增益系数(80–101 cm−1), 较低的损耗系数 (2.6–4.4 cm−1). 其中, Tr3D具有优异的激光性能, 其激光阈值为 0.31 kW cm−2, 明显优于Tr3 (0.86 kW cm−2). 研究结果显示, DPA端基 修饰的多臂结构分子系统具有作为有机激光增益介质应用的更好潜 力, 这归因于其更高的辐射衰减速率kr, 从而表现出更优异的激光增益 特性.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21835003, 91833304, 21422402, 21604043, 21674050, and 62004106), the National Key Basic Research Program of China (973 Program, 2014CB648300 and 2017YFB0404501), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20160888 and BE2019120), the Program for Jiangsu Specially-Appointed Professor (RK030STP15001), the Six Talent Peaks Project of Jiangsu Province (TD-XCL-009), the 333 Project of Jiangsu Province (BRA2017402), the Natural Science Foundation of the Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions of China (20KJB140005), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M671553), the NUPT “1311 Project” and Scientific Foundation (NY217169, NY215062, NY215107, and NY217087), the Leading Talent of Technological Innovation of National Ten-Thousands Talents Program of China, the Excellent Scientific and Technological Innovative Teams of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (TJ217038), the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (SJCX21-0297), the Synergetic Innovation Center for Organic Electronics and Information Displays, and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics & Information Displays (SKLOEID) & Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Cheng-Fang Liu  (刘城芳), Qun Yu  (于群), Tingting Lu  (陆婷婷), Qian Luo  (罗倩), Shuoguo Chen  (陈硕果), Ziming Guo  (郭子明), Xu Liu  (刘绪) & Wen-Yong Lai  (赖文勇)

  2. Frontiers Science Center for Flexible Electronics (FSCFE), MIIT Key Laboratory of Flexible Electronics (KLoFE), Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, 710072, China

    Wen-Yong Lai  (赖文勇)

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  1. Cheng-Fang Liu  (刘城芳)
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Contributions

Liu CF, Yu Q, Lu T, and Luo Q performed the experiments; Chen S, Guo Z, and Liu X participated in the discussions and data analysis. Liu CF wrote the draft, and Lai WY revised the manuscript. Lai WY contributed to the overall experimental design and supervised the project. All authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Wen-Yong Lai  (赖文勇).

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Supporting data are available in the online version of the paper.

Cheng-Fang Liu is an associate professor at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. She obtained her PhD degree from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. She then joined the Key Laboratory for Organic Electronics & Information Displays and Institute of Advanced Materials (IAM), Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications. Her current research interests are organic devices and thin-film growth.

Wen-Yong Lai is a full professor at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications. He received his PhD degree from Fudan University in 2007. He then joined the State Key Laboratory of Organic Electronics & Information Displays and IAM, Nanjing University of Posts & Telecommunications. His research focuses on the design, synthesis, and application of organic and polymer optoelectronic materials for organic/plastic electronics, as well as the exploration of novel materials and processes for printed electronics and flexible electronics.

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Effect of structural modifications on the spectral and lasing characteristics of truxene-cored starbursts with/without diphenylamine end-cappers

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Liu, CF., Yu, Q., Lu, T. et al. Effect of structural modifications on the spectral and lasing characteristics of truxene-cored starbursts with/without diphenylamine end-cappers. Sci. China Mater. 66, 309–318 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40843-022-2130-2

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