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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/T11623/01
Title: Charge generation & transport dynamics in self-organised organic semiconductors
Principal Investigator: Friend, Professor Sir R
Other Investigators:
Silva, Professor C Sirringhaus, Professor H
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Physics
Organisation: University of Cambridge
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 July 2005 Ends: 30 June 2008 Value (£): 227,279
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Materials Characterisation
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Electronics
Related Grants:
GR/T11630/01
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
29 Jun 2004 Joint Photonics Prioritisation Panel (Tech June04) Deferred
Summary on Grant Application Form
Carbon-based electronics have become increasingly important over the last decade, with conjugated molecular materials proving particularly successful as active ingredients in light-emitting devices, solar cells and transistors. Particular advantages of this new technology include the possibility of largescale, cheap solution processing and manufacture of mechanically flexible devices. The UK has an exceptionally strong record in this area, with industrial and academic activities being genuinely competitive on an international scale. However, current challenges to be tackled include the development of new and better-controlled materials and of a broader understanding of charge carrier conduction and trapping processes. These can only be addressed effectively through multidisciplinary collaborations and access to a wide range of characterization equipment. The programme proposed here will address all these issues by establishing a new collaboration that combines established expertise in device fabrication and characterisation with a novel, non-contact spectroscopic approach that probes charge carrier population and mobility. We will bring together photoluminescence up-conversion (Dr Herz, Oxford), terahertz-probe (Dr Johnston, Oxford) and near-infrared probe (Dr Silva, Cambridge) transient absorption methodologies to gain unprecedented insights into factors leading to trapping of charges and photoexcitations in organic semiconductors. This combination will lead to advances that are unattainable by application of each technique in isolation and has not been implemented previously. Microscopic phenomena unravelled with these tools will be correlated with macroscopic properties measured in devices (Prof Sir Richard Friend and Dr Sirringhaus, Cambridge) creating a direct link between electronic dynamics on the material nanoscale and their consequences in device architectures. The programme will involve interdisciplinary collaborations with researchers working on the synthesis and optimisation of conjugated organic semiconductors, with the intention of advancing the design of materials with high charge carrier mobilities. In this context, the programme will benefit from complementary activities through the European Commission's Framework 6 programme NAnoscale Integrated processing of self-organizing Multifunctional Organic Materials (NAIMO), whose aim is the development of new solution-processable, multifunctional materials within a broad partnership including academic institutions and industry.
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Organisation Website: http://www.cam.ac.uk