The influence of annihilation processes on the threshold current density of organic laser diodes

Abstract

We examine the impact of various annihilation processes on the laser threshold current density of a multilayer organic laser diode by numerical simulation. Our self-consistent numerical model treats the dynamics of electrons, holes, and singlet as well as triplet excitons in the framework of a drift-diffusion model. The resulting particle distributions enter into an optical model. In our approach, a three layer waveguide structure is taken into account and the resulting laser rate equations are solved. Various annihilation processes are included as reactions between the different particle species in the device employing typical annihilation rates and material properties of organic semiconductors. By systematically varying the device dimensions and the annihilation rate coefficients, the dominating quenching processes are identified. The threshold current density is found to depend sensitively on the thickness of the emission layer. The influence of annihilation processes on the threshold current density is quantified as a function of the emission layer thickness and various annihilation rate coefficients. Using typical annihilation rate coefficients singlet-polaron annihilation is found to be the dominating quenching process. Maximum annihilation rate coefficients are calculated allowing a threshold current density below 1 kA cm2. Singlet-triplet annihilation is recognized as another main loss process for singlet excitons. In our model the singlet exciton density is increased by triplet-triplet annihilation whereas it is diminished by singlet-triplet annihilation. The ratio of the rate coefficients for singlet-triplet and triplet-triplet annihilations is identified to be critical for the total number of singlet excitons being quenched by triplet excitons. © 2007 American Institute of Physics.