Hybrid ZnON–Organic Light Emitting Transistors with Low Threshold Voltage <5 V

The electrical and optical properties of inorganic–organic hybrid light emitting transistors (HLETs) are investigated, which are fabricated using the n-type semiconductor zinc-oxynitride (ZnON) as an electron transporting layer and the poly(p-phenylene vinylene)-based copolymer, Super Yellow (SY), as the light emitting layer. Additionally, the influence of various source (S)–drain (D) electrodes (Al, Ag, and Au) with different work functions (WFs) (4.1, 4.6, and 5.1 eV, respectively) on the performance of HLETs is studied. In order to increase the rate of hole injection from the metal electrodes and increase hole accumulation at the emissive layer, the use of a molybdenum oxide (MoO _x ) interlayer is also investigated. As a result, optimized devices using MoO _x /Au hole injecting electrodes yield high brightness of up to 3.04 × 10 ⁴ cd∙m ⁻² at a low threshold voltage of 4.79 V. This study provides valuable information about the role of the WF of S–D electrodes in HLETs, which may be exploited to improve the device performance of optoelectronic devices in the future.