Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are set to revolutionize lighting technology, ushering in an era of thin, flexible, and ultra-bright devices. At the heart of recent OLED devices are phosphorescent metal complexes that, when stimulated by an electric voltage, produce a sustained emission of light with higher efficiency than other sources. Furthermore, because OLEDs create their own light, they eliminate the need for backlights used in liquid crystal displays, and therefore consume low amounts of power.

Although the advantages of OLEDs are impressive, manufacturing these devices remains a challenging and expensive process. Phosphorescent OLEDs are normally fabricated by via a process known as ‘doping’ where metal complexes are added into a host matrix under strict concentration requirements. If the metal concentration is too high, the complexes interact and quench each other’s phosphorescent abilities.