During the last few years, transition metal oxides (TMO) such as molybdenum tri-oxide (MoO(3) ), vanadium pent-oxide (V(2) O(5) ) or tungsten tri-oxide (WO(3) ) have been extensively studied because of their exceptional electronic properties for charge injection and extraction in organic electronic devices. These unique properties have led to the performance enhancement of several types of devices and to a variety of novel applications. TMOs have been used to realize efficient and long-term stable p-type doping of wide band gap organic materials, charge-generation junctions for stacked organic light emitting diodes (OLED), sputtering buffer layers for semi-transparent devices, and organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells with improved charge extraction, enhanced power conversion efficiency and substantially improved long term stability. Energetics in general play a key role in advancing device structure and performance in organic electronics; however, the literature provides a very inconsistent picture of the electronic structure of TMOs and the resulting interpretation of their role as functional constituents in organic electronics. With this review we intend to clarify some of the existing misconceptions. An overview of TMO-based device architectures ranging from transparent OLEDs to tandem OPV cells is also given. Various TMO film deposition methods are reviewed, addressing vacuum evaporation and recent approaches for solution-based processing. The specific properties of the resulting materials and their role as functional layers in organic devices are discussed.

The electronic structures of vacuum-deposited molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) and of a typical MoO3/hole transport material (HTM) interface are determined via ultraviolet and inverse photoelectron spectroscopy. Electron affinity and ionization energy of MoO3 are found to be 6.7 and 9.68 eV, more than 4 eV larger than generally assumed, leading to a revised interpretation of the role of MoO3 in hole injection in organic devices. The MoO3 films are strongly n-type. The electronic structure of the oxide/HTM interface shows that hole injection proceeds via electron extraction from the HTM highest occupied molecular orbital through the low-lying conduction band of MoO3.

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Entirely transparent pixels composed of monolithically integrated transparent organic light‐emitting diodes driven by transparent thin‐film transistors are presented. With an average transmittance of more than 70 % (see figure and inside cover) in the visible part of the spectrum (400–750 nm), the presented active pixels pave the way to the realization of fully transparent active‐matrix displays. Low processing temperatures mean that flexible transparent displays may be feasible.

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The electronic structure and hole-injection properties of ambient contaminated molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) surfaces are studied by ultraviolet and inverse photoemission spectroscopy, and current-voltage measurements. Contamination reduces the work function (WF), electron affinity (EA) and ionization energy by about 1 eV with respect to the freshly evaporated film, to values of 5.7 eV, 5.5 eV, and 8.6 eV, respectively. However, the WF and EA remain sufficiently large that the hole-injection properties of MoO3 are not affected by contamination. The results are of particular importance in view of potential applications of transition metal oxides for low-cost manufacturing of devices in low-vacuum or nonvacuum environment.

The energetics of an archetype charge generation layer (CGL) architecture comprising of 4,4′,4″-tris(N-carbazolyl)triphenylamine (TCTA), tungsten oxide (WO3), and bathophenanthroline (BPhen) n-doped with cesium carbonate (Cs2CO3) are determined by ultraviolet and inverse photoemission spectroscopy. We show that the charge generation process occurs at the interface between the hole-transport material (TCTA) and WO3 and not, as commonly assumed, at the interface between WO3 and the n-doped electron-transport material (BPhen:Cs2CO3). However, the n-doped layer is also essential to the realization of an efficient CGL structure. The charge generation mechanism occurs via electron transfer from the TCTA highest occupied molecular orbital level to the transition metal-oxide conduction band.

The mechanism of charge generation in transition metal oxide (TMO)‐based charge‐generation layers (CGL) used in stacked organic light‐emitting diodes (OLEDs) is reported upon. An interconnecting unit between two vertically stacked OLEDs, consisting of an abrupt heterointerface between a Cs2CO3‐doped 4,7‐diphenyl‐1,10‐phenanthroline layer and a WO3 film is investigated. Minimum thicknesses are determined for these layers to allow for simultaneous operation of both sub‐OLEDs in the stacked device. Luminance–current density–voltage measurements, angular dependent spectral emission characteristics, and optical device simulations lead to minimum thicknesses of the n‐type doped layer and the TMO layer of 5 and 2.5 nm, respectively. Using data on interface energetic determined by ultraviolet photoelectron and inverse photoemission spectroscopy, it is shown that the actual charge generation occurs between the WO3 layer and its neighboring hole‐transport material, 4,4',4”‐tris(N‐carbazolyl)‐triphenyl amine. The role of the adjacent n‐type doped electron transport layer is only to facilitate electron injection from the TMO into the adjacent sub‐OLED.