Efficient Red/Green Inverted Quantum-Dot Light-Emitting Diodes Enabled by Bilateral Heterojunction Charge-Generation Layers.

Zhou, Boyu; Wu, Yixian; Zheng, Zehua; Zhang, Xinwei; Wang, Yanping · Nano Lett · 2026

basic_science · Level V

Where this comes from

Abstract

The advancement of inverted quantum-dot light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) is fundamentally hindered by inefficient charge injection and severe interfacial energy barriers. Here, we propose a bilateral charge-generation layer (CGL) architecture integrating two complementary heterojunctions: PEDOT:PSS/ZnO and <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-bis(4-methylphenyl) benzenamine (TAPC)/1,4,5,8,9,11-hexaazatriphenylenehexacarbonitrile (HAT-CN). This architecture decouples the carrier supply from electrodes, enabling balanced carrier injection into the quantum-dot emissive layer. The resulting inverted QLEDs achieve a record-high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 30.8% for red emission and a high EQE of 20.1% for green emission, corresponding to current efficiencies of 40.8 and 88.1 cd A<sup>-1</sup>, respectively. These bilateral CGL devices also exhibit extended stability, with extrapolated <i>T</i><sub>50</sub> lifetimes of ∼36,494 h (red) and ∼39,962 h (green) at 100 cd m<sup>-2</sup>. Both the efficiencies and lifetimes significantly outperform their unilateral counterparts. This work establishes a practical design pathway for efficient and stable inverted QLEDs, providing useful insights for advancing emerging optoelectronic technologies.