Kaul A.B.
National Science Foundation, US
Keywords: flexible electronics, organic electronics, organic photovoltaics
Organic semiconductors display fascinating properties which has enabled their application in low-cost, high-efficiency organic photovoltaics (OPV), as well as in flexible and printed electronics for OLEDs for solid state lighting and displays. In particular, the use of organic semiconductors in OPV has seen rapid growth recently, with power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) reported to be well above 10%. In this talk, I will describe the role of organic semiconductors for enabling high-efficiency, low-cost organic photovoltaics. This urgency for developing low-cost, efficient renewable energies is very pressing since the worldwide demand for energy is expected to triple by the end of the century. The advantage of OPV lies in the very low-cost manufacturing processes used which are based on room temperature techniques and environmentally friendly materials. Such solar cell architectures are also potentially compatible with a roll-to-roll processing platform. An overview of activities related to organic and flexible electronics programs and funding opportunities in the Engineering Directorate at NSF will be presented, along with highlights from a recently held NSF/ONR workshop on the same topic.
Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 2, Nanotechnology 2013: Electronics, Devices, Fabrication, MEMS, Fluidics and Computational (Volume 2)
Published: May 12, 2013
Pages: 76 - 79
Industry sector: Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Printed & Flexible Electronics
ISBN: 978-1-4822-0584-8