Improving the charge balance and performance of CdSe/ZnS quantum-dot light-emitting diodes with a sputtered zinc-tin-oxide electron-transport layer and a thermally evaporated tungsten-oxide charge-restricting layer

Abstract

The charge carrier balance and performance of CdSe/ZnS quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QD-LEDs) with a vacuum-deposited electron-transport layer (ETL) and carrier-restricting layer (CRL) were successfully improved. Optimizing the fabrication process of the reactively sputtered zinc-tin-oxide (ZTO) ETL and adopting a thermally evaporated tungsten-oxide (WO x ) CRL improved the electron-hole balance, thus leading to QD-LEDs with improved performance. Impedance spectroscopy analysis was successfully exploited in investigating charge carrier injection into each layer of the QD-LED and electron-hole recombination behaviors. The QD-LED with optimized ZTO ETL and without WO x CRL exhibited 2600 cd m-2 luminance and 3.2 cd A-1 current efficiency, and the QD-LED with both optimized ZTO ETL and a WO x CRL exhibited 3900 cd m-2 luminance and 5.1 cd A-1 current efficiency. These results imply a practical method for improving the electron-hole balance and performance of QD-LEDs, and provide a reliable technique for analyzing the carrier behavior of QD-LEDs.