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

***在制造平板显示器、固态照明、太阳能电池和传感器方面，通过喷墨印刷、叶片涂层和旋转涂层等“湿”工艺实现低成本制造的前景，长期以来一直是光电和光伏设备中追求有机半导体的主要动机之一。尽管在过去二十年中取得了重大进展，例如，有机发光器件（OLED）在显示器市场上的主导地位日益增强，但绝大多数新产品仍然是通过传统的（且昂贵的）“干”真空沉积方法制造的。一个主要原因是，即使使用相同的材料，湿涂层工艺与真空沉积工艺相比，其设备的稳定性也明显有限。较低的稳定性导致设备性能随着时间的推移而迅速下降，使设备不适合大多数商业应用。******提出的研究旨在揭示这种现象背后的因素，并开发控制它们的方法，从而使其以更低的成本使用这些工艺生产具有长使用寿命的有机光电和光伏设备，从而更便宜的产品。这项研究将利用申请人开创的一些先进的实验技术，并将建立在他以前在该领域工作的发现基础上。6名研究生将参与本研究。研究结果将对未来耐用、廉价的有机发光设备和太阳能电池的发展至关重要，这将与加拿大的工业伙伴合作。因此，它将为这些合作伙伴在下一代光电子和能量收集设备的巨大潜力的新兴技术方面提供竞争优势。这项研究还将培训一批新“品种”的加拿大研究人员，他们将获得一项新兴技术的专业知识，该技术有可能创造新产品和市场机会。**

*** 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. **