Selenium-Doped Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Multiresonance Emitters with Fast Reverse Intersystem Crossing for Narrowband Blue Emission

Two kinds of boron- (B), selenium- (Se), and nitrogen-doped (N) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emitters (Cz-BSeN and DCz-BSeN) with a multiresonance effect are developed for narrowband blue emission by embedding boron as an electron-deficient atom and selenium and nitrogen as electron-donating atoms into a benzo[a]naphtho[1,2,3-hi]aceanthrylene skeleton. It is found that both emitters exhibit strong spin–orbit coupling and fast reverse intersystem crossing (rate constant of 7.5–8.8 × 106 s–1) due to the heavy-atom effect of selenium, which is 2 orders of magnitude faster than its B, N-doped PAH analogue. Meanwhile, compared to parent B, Se, N-doped PAH emitter Cz-BSeN, incorporating carbazole moieties on the para position of the boron atom in DCz-BSeN not only blueshifts the emission by 7 nm without broadening its spectra but also results in an enhanced photoluminescent quantum efficiency of 93% in the doped film. The organic light-emitting diode (OLED) employing DCz-BSeN as emitter revealed narrowband blue emission at 481 nm with a small full-width at half-maximum (fwhm) of 32 nm, as well as a maximum external quantum efficiency of 22.3%, accompanied by alleviated efficiency roll-off compared to its B, N-containing counterpart.