Effect of atom substitution in chalcogenodiazole-containing thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters on radiationless transition

Radiationless transition between the lowest singlet (S₁) and triplet (T₁) excited states in the thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) were investigated with respect to molecular design. The photophysical, transient photoluminescence and electroluminescence (EL) characteristics of two chalcogenodiazole-containing TADF emitters were compared. These contained 1,3,4-oxadiazole or 1,3,4-thiadiazole. The effect of substituting oxygen with sulfur on TADF was caused by an electron-pair-accepting conjugative effect. This effect resulted from the vacant 3d-orbitals of divalent sulfur in the thiadiazole heteroring. Atom substitution narrowed the gap between the highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital energy levels, and enhanced S₁ → T₁ intersystem crossing. These effects resulted from the enhanced acceptor strength and orbital angular momentum by the vacant 3d-orbitals of sulfur. Atom substitution increased the contribution of the delayed fluorescence component to the total EL efficiency (65.1% → 78.0%). This resulted from enhanced reverse intersystem crossing, because of the reduced energy gap between S₁ and T₁.