Polymeric Semiconductors for Printed Opto-Electronics: Materials Design and Role of the Interfaces

Dr. Antonio Facchetti
Polyera Corporation

Northwestern University, Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Center, 2145 Sheridan Road Evanston IL 60208 (USA)
Polyera Corporation, 8045 Lamon Avenue Skokie, IL 60077 (USA)

Organic opto-electronics is a new technology envisioning the fabrication of semiconductor-based devices using printing methodologies instead of conventional photolitography employed in the silicon industry. Since polymeric materials can be printed more efficiently than small molecules they will be the key enablers of this technology. In this presentation I will describe the design rationale, synthesis, characterization, and properties of semiconducting polymers for printed thin-film transistors (TFTs) and solar cells (OPV) from design rules obtained in molecular systems. This work demonstrates that organic transistor technology is possible and exhibit charge carrier mobilities surpassing those of amorphous silicon. Furthermore, new interlayer materials facilitating interfacial transport are presented.