Technological Challenges for Hybrid Flexible Electronics and Photonics Workshop to be held in April 2010 at Arlington, VA

University Of Texas At Austin, Austin TX

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this workshop on Flexible Electronics is to assess the state-of-the-art in terms of materials, devices, and systems in this area. The objective is to identify what are the new areas of research that hold most promise and what research issues need to be addressed so as to advance these research areas in flexible electronics. Intellectual Merit: The first commercial products were based on photo-conductive films, a business now with annual sales in the multi-billion dollar range. Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) 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. One of the next key areas is going to be solid state lighting based on OLEDs. Similarly, organic and flexible electronics offers significant opportunities related to biomedical devices and systems that can help the total cost of health care. This includes biomedical sensors, actuators, systems in a foil, and systems for patient care and monitoring. Transistors have also been successfully integrated with display elements such as LEDs and electrophoretic cells and used as chemical and biological sensors. Another area of interest is organic solar cells with power conversion efficiencies more than 6% have been reported. As the field has evolved in the past few years, inorganic materials are being increasingly used either singly or together with organic/polymer materials, and it is more appropriate to speak of hybrid electronics. 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. Broader Impact: The workshop will also have an impact on research and development in the area of flexible electronics. This is an area of research in which the United States is currently outspent by about 3:1 by funding agencies in Europe. the WTEC study (led by the PI) has assessed the state of this field in Europe. In this workshop, opportunities in this area for researchers and industry in the US will be identified. The workshop will also assess the needs for graduate and undergraduate education aspects related to this area. 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 and hybrid organic/inorganic semiconductor fields. The workshop will also address issues of US competitiveness in the field of flexible hybrid electronics vis- -vis Europe and Asia and how this can be improved.