Thermoluminescence of the blue light-emitting system based on poly(9-vinylcarbazole) doped with a pyrazoloquinoline dye

We have investigated the charge carrier trapping and recombination mechanisms in electroluminescent systems based on poly(9-vinylcarbazole)/2-tert-butylphenyl-5-biphenyl-1,3,4-oxadiazole blend, used as the matrix, and the deep blue light-emitting pyrazoloquinoline dye-1-H-pyrazolo[3,4-b]quinoline (PAQ8) dopant. The thermoluminescence studies have shown that the charge carrier trapping occurs on the dye molecules as well as on the matrix components. The traps localized on the PAQ8 molecules compete with the others available in the system, however at higher concentrations of the dye a role of these traps increases. Spectral analyses of the thermoluminescence have indicated that even at low concentration of PAQ8, the dye molecules constitute the dominating recombination centres in the system.