Scanning the Issue

Organic electronics is now entering its second decade as a commercial technology but in many ways is a relatively recent and emerging field. As such, significant advances are being made across a broad range of activities, from improving the understanding of very fundamental phenomena to improving manufacturing technologies. Much of the interest in organic electronics stems from the chemical tunability of electronic states and the high efficiency of optical absorption and/or emission in many organic semiconductors. These properties have been utilized in organic dyes for millennia in a Bpassive[ or all-optical role. Since the 1960s, the electrical and optical properties of organic semiconductors have been studied. A broad renewal of interest in the field owes largely to the demonstration of efficient light-emitting diodes based on either molecular structures by Tang and Van Slyke in 1987 [1] or conjugated polymers by Burroughes et al. in 1990 [2]. It is the demonstration of efficient injection or extraction of charge carriers to or from optical processes using organic semiconductors that enables functionality traditionally reserved for inorganic, epitaxially grown, compound semiconductors. Around the same time, there was increasing interest in the use of organic semiconductors in all-electrical processes for diodes and field-effect transistors [3]. Like their inorganic analogs, charge transport and storage can be used in switching or memory applications. In a sense, it may not seem to be a worthy pursuit to develop semiconductors that perform the same function as silicon, yet do not provide a next generation to follow the end of Moore’s law. But when one considers the added advantages of many organic semiconductors, the value becomes apparent. In particular, it is the ability to process organic semiconductors over large areas and at low temperatures, e.g., on a wide variety of substrates, that provides opportunities for organoelectronics, where inorganic materials fall short. As with optoelectronic devices, the ability to fabricate highly efficient and tunable devices over large areas and to integrate dissimilar materials using relatively simple processing makes organic electronics very attractive for applications, including displays, e-readers, lighting, photovoltaics, radio-frequency ident i f icat ion (RFID), and optical communications. As it is impossible to cover all aspects of organic electronics, the current Special Issue attempts to cover a representative sampling of activities. Organic electronics, for the purpose of this issue, are those in which active Organic electronics covered in this issue, are those in which active electronic or optoelectronic components are composed partly or entirely of organic semiconducting materials.