Blue-green Electroluminescence from Aluminum and ${\alpha}$-pyridoin Complex

A novel blue-green emitting aluminum complex was developed by employing 8-hydroxyquinoline as co-ligand for enhancement of electron transport and light emission abilities so that the electroluminescent (EL) devices do not need additional electron transport layer. The aluminum complex (PAlQ) of 8-hydroxyquinoline and ${\alpha}$-pyridoin was synthesized The structure of the PAlQ was elucidated by FT-IR, UV-Vis and XPS. The PAlQ complex showed thermal stability up to 350$^{\circ}C$ under nitrogen flow by TGA. The photoluminescence (PL) was measured from solid film of the PAlQ complex on quartz substrate. The EL device was fabricated by the vacuum deposition. The device having the structure of ITO/TPD/PAlQ/Al was studied, where N,N-bis(3-methylphenyl}-N,N'-diphenyl-benzidine (TPD) was used as a hole transporting layer. The EL device emitted a blue-green light.