Recent Progress on Circularly Polarized Luminescent Materials for Organic Optoelectronic Devices

Due to the characteristics of optical rotation, selective emission of polarized light, and circular dichroism, circularly polarized luminescent materials have aroused extensive attentions, and they have exhibited wide optoelectronic applications, such as optical data storage, liquid crystal display, and backlights in 3D displays. Here, the research progress of circularly polarized luminescent materials for organic optoelectronic devices is summarized. First, the definition and measurement of the circularly polarized light, such as optical rotatory dispersion, circular dichroism, and circularly polarized luminescence, are systematically introduced. Subsequently, the design strategies for various kinds of circularly polarized luminescent materials, including luminescent lanthanide and transition-metal complexes, small organic luminophores, conjugated polymers, supramolecules, and liquid crystals are summarized. These materials exhibit circularly polarized luminescence with different magnitudes of luminescence dissymmetry values (g_lum). They are further applied in optoelectronic devices with excellent performance, and the influence factors on the g_lum values of these materials are presented in detail. Finally, the current opportunities and challenges in this rapidly growing research field are discussed systematically. The circularly polarized luminescent materials with large g_lum and high luminescence efficiency are very promising for applications in organic optoelectronic fields.