The objective of this proposal is to increase student participation at Symposium J ?Organic and Hybrid Organic Electronics? to be held at the 2012 MRS Spring Meeting. Funds will be used to enable young American scientists in training to attend an international conference by means of financial assistance to travel and registrations fees. The intellectual merit of the proposed Symposium consists in the development of a detailed understanding of correlations between chemical structure and associated molecular properties (such as electronic and spectroscopic properties, solubility, miscibility or chemical reactivity) and characteristics of devices in which the investigated compounds are used. Examples include the selection of pairs of specific fullerene derivatives and polymers and the characteristics of resulting solar cells and photodetectors while developing scalable device fabrication methodology or the use of bulk quantities of exclusively semi-conducting carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) in thin-film transistors. The proposed symposium is expected to lead to transformative design approaches allowing for the systematic engineering of new materials best suitable to be used in specific devices, improved predictive capabilities of computational techniques and better materials as well as device metrology. The broader impact includes the significantly accelerated commercial development of organic and hybrid electronics. Communication between scientists with different backgrounds, critical for the industrial success of newly developed devices will be facilitated. Manufacturing of electronic devices with yet unmet characteristics, for instance on flexible substrates, will be enabled. Participation of women and representatives from underrepresented minorities will be particularly encouraged.
The symposium was expected to lead to innovative design approaches allowing for the systematic engineering of new materials best suitable to be used in specific devices, improved predictive capabilities of computational techniques and better materials as well as device metrology. The significantly accelerated commercial development of organic and hybrid electronics was a major element of the broader impact of the Symposium. Communication between scientists with different backgrounds, critical for the industrial success of newly developed devices was facilitated. Manufacturing of electronic devices with yet unmet characteristics will be enabled. For instance, further development of deposition and printing technology will allow fabrication of devices such as touch screens on flexible but also three-dimensional substrates. Printed electronics will not only be used in existing products but also products not possible with conventional technology such as a "rollable" solar cell or display or semi-transparent solar cells allowing to retrofit large glass surfaces for energy generation will be enabled. The availability of qualified scientists and engineers will be essential for the final development steps and the beginning of manufacturing. The symposium provided the opportunity, particularly for young scientists, to gain understanding of neighboring disciplines, in most cases beyond the initial academic training but necessary for the successful implementation of organic and hybrid electronics. Authors of accepted contributions were contacted and encouraged to submit applications for financial assistance aiming to enhance the participation of junior scientists, particularly women and members of underrepresented minorities.
