Investigating the Causes of the Limited Electrical & Photo-Stability of Organic Optoelectronic and Photovoltaic Devices Fabricated by Wet-coating

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The promise of low-cost fabrication via "wet" processes, such as inkjet printing, blade-coating and spin-coating, in manufacturing flat panel displays, solid state lighting, solar cells and sensors, has long been one of the main motivations behind the pursuit of organic semiconductors in optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices. Despite the significant progress in the last two decades, evident, for example, in the increasing dominance of organic light emitting devices (OLED) in the display market, the vast majority of these new products are still fabricated by conventional (and costly) "dry" vacuum-deposition methods. A primary reason is the significantly limited stability of devices made by wet-coating processes in comparison to their vacuum-deposited counterparts even when the same materials are utilized. The lower stability leads to a rapid decrease in device performance with time, rendering the devices unsuitable for most commercial applications.     The proposed research aims to uncover the factors behind this phenomenon and to develop approaches to control them, thus make it produce organic optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices with long service life at a much lower cost using these processes, hence cheaper products. The research will utilize a number of advanced experimental techniques pioneered by the applicant and will build on findings from his previous work in this area. Six graduate students will participate in this research. The research results will be critical for future development of durable, yet cheaper, organic light emitting devices and solar cells, which will be pursued in collaboration with Canadian industrial partners. It will, therefore, provide those partners with a competitive edge in an emerging technology of tremendous potential for next generation optoelectronics and energy harvesting devices. The research will also allow training of a new "breed" of Canadian researchers who will acquire expertise in an emerging technology that has the potential to enable new products and market opportunities.