Doping in organic semiconductors: fundamentals, materials and applications

After previously being somewhat neglected, the controlled doping of organic semiconductors is currently a major focus in the field of organic electronics. This symposium will bring together key researchers to discuss the chemistry and physics of materials and applications exploring the possibilities of doped organic semiconductors.

Scope:

Very recent steps towards controlled doping of organic semiconductors (OSC) has opened a vast number of novel applications in areas where the unique properties of these materials (bio- and large-area compatibility at low cost) can be exploited. Doped OSC have enabled previously unseen sensors, transducers, energy harvesters etc. Nevertheless, the performance of such materials has clearly not reached its limits, and the understanding of the underlying processes is far from complete. At the same time, full exploitation of their potential for micro- and opto-electronics devices has not been possible, especially in solution-based approaches, because of lack of fundamental approaches for spatially controlled and stable doping with highly controlled carrier density. This symposium will address the following challenges:

Synthesis

• The impact of dopant structure on properties like miscibility and diffusivity as well as on final material properties like conductivity is poorly understood.
• It has proven hard to make efficient and stable n-type dopants that reach similar performance as p-types.

Processing and Characterization

• Apart from the intended changes in electrical conductivity, doping changes all most all other material properties (optical, thermal, mechanical) as well, in ill-understood ways.
• Processing schemes are needed that allow control over morphology and properties while being reproducible and scalable.

Upscaling and Devices

• Optimizing device performance requires matching material properties and device design, while necessitating tailored and flexible deposition tools.
• The stability in the relevant environment (wet, salty, warm, …) must be further improved to pave the way for real products.
• Materials and processes for stable local doping are necessary to control charge injection and transport in micro- and opto-electronics.

Theory and Modeling

• Doping adds new dimensions to the already complicated physics of typically poorly ordered OCS, requiring new concepts to interpret measurements and guide design and development

Hot topics to be covered by the symposium:

• synthesis of small molecular and polymer dopants
• processing of doped polymer and small molecular systems
• structure-processing-property relationships of doped organic semiconductors
• in-situ and real-time characterization tools
• charge, energy and heat transport in doped organic semiconductors
• processes for stable local doping in electronic devices
• theoretical concepts and modeling
• devices using doped materials, incl. sensors, thermogenerators, transducers etc.
• long-term stability and lifetime of materials and devices

List of confirmed invited speakers:

• Sabine Ludwigs (Germany)
• Natalie Stingelin (USA)
• Simone Fabiano (Sweden)
• Riccardo Rurali (Spain)
• Jana Zaumseil (Germany)
• Derya Baran (Saudi)
• Luca Beverina (Italy)
• Nguyen Thuc Quyen (USA)
• Thomas Anthopoulos (Saudi Arabia)
• Jianguo Mei (USA)
• Karl Leo (Germany)
• Christian Müller (Sweden)
• Yinhua Zhou (China)
• Frank Ortmann (Germany)
• Gaia Tomasello (Germany)
• Antonio Facchetti (USA)
• Yong-Young Noh (Republic of Korea)
• Ting Lei (China)

List of confirmed scientific committee members:

• Igor Zozulenko (theory)
• Michael Sommer (synthesis)
• Martin Brinkmann (processing)
• Mariano Campoy-Quiles (physics)
• Chiara Bertarelli (synthesis, doping mechanisms)
• Besira M. Mihiretie (analysis)

Publication:

A selection of the contributions to the symposium will be invited to submit a paper to a special issue in Advanced Electronic Materials (Wiley). All submitted papers will undergo peer-review process.