The field of organic and polymeric electronics and photonics has progressed enormously in recent years as a result of worldwide activity in numerous research groups. Advances have been made both in the fields of devices and applications as well as in the underlying chemistry, physics, and materials science issues. The impact of this field will also influence many adjacent disciplines such as nanotechnology, sensors, and photonics.
The growth of the field has been impressive. The first commercial products were based on photo-conductive films, a business now with annual sales in the multi-billion dollar range. Light emitting diodes (LEDs) and displays based on light emitting diodes have been introduced to the market and a large expansion in market penetration has been forecast in the next decade. Efficiencies of organic and polymeric LEDs have reached figures close to theoretical maxima. Thin-film transistor based circuits and systems incorporating several hundred devices in flexible substrates have been demonstrated. These levels of integration are sufficient for application such as radio frequency identification tags.
Transistors have also been successfully integrated with display elements such as PDLCs and electrophoretic cells and used as chemical sensors. Photodiodes have been fabricated with quantum efficiencies in excess of 70% and solar cells with power conversion efficiencies more than 3% have been reported. Solar cell efficiencies are expected to increase with improvements in materials design. There have been major strides made in understanding the physics of charge transport and luminescence and in understanding interfaces between organic materials and also between metals and organics. There continue to be advances made in the synthesis of new compounds and in improved synthetic procedures of important materials. Another area that has seen a lot of growth is the use of novel low-cost fabrication procedures such as in the realization of a variety of organic devices.
Despite this impressive set of advances, it is clear that more research needs to be done. The chief objective of the workshop is to help define the future of the field. This will be done by having a series of experts give talks on key subjects and also by encouraging debate and discussion amongst all participants in a series of panels. The proceedings of the workshop will be a set of reports and discussion summaries by group leaders.
The workshop will also have an impact on graduate education. A large number of universities offer courses in the general area of organic semiconductors, and the workshop will help define directions in this area as well as in retraining high technology workers for careers in the organic semiconductor field.
