SC316 Organic Photonic Devices

Monday, May 17, 2010
1:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.
Marc Baldo, Vladimir Bulovic; MIT, USA
Level: Beginner (no background or minimal training is necessary to understand course material)


Course Description

Over the last decade, enormous strides have been made in the field of organic photonic devices. This course will review basic concepts underlying the design, fabrication and operation of organic electronic devices, in particular organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), and organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs). The first hour of the class will provide an overview of organic semiconductors, their structures, and general physical and electronic properties. The electronic structure of a single organic molecule will be used as a guide to the electronic behavior of organic aggregate structures. A brief discussion of methods for forming organic thin film structures will set the stage for the detailed discussion of active devices. The second hour of the class will address OLEDs. Through historical review we will introduce the basic OLED structure and operating characteristics. Discussion will lead us through the description of transparent, inverted, flexible and phosphorescent OLEDs. We will also address the optical design of OLEDs, including light guiding and microcavity effects. We will conclude with the emerging technology of quantum dot LEDs (QD LEDs). In describing OPVs we will first introduce the concept of an exciton, the molecular or aggregate unit excitation that fundamentally governs the operation of all organic optoelectronic devices. We will examine the material dependencies of exciton diffusion and dissociation in OPVs. We will conclude by summarizing the prospects for organic photonics. We will concentrate on the uniqueness of the organic material set and its potential to change manufacturing paradigms in 21st century electronics.


Benefits and Learning Objectives

This course should enable you to:

  • Define the basic concepts underlying the design and fabrication of organic light emitting devices and organic photovoltaic cells.
  • Summarize the differences between organic semiconductors and conventional semiconductors, in particular the consequences of van der Waals bonding.
  • Examine the state of the art of organic electronics technology.
  • Differentiate the fundamental benefits and limitations of the organic materials.
  • Investigate new manufacturing paradigms enabled through use of organic materials.
  • Compare some successful start-up companies and their brief lessons.

Intended Audience

The course is suitable for a general audience. No specific knowledge of chemistry is required.


Biography

Vladimir Bulovic and Marc Baldo are professors at the MIT Laboratory of Organic Optics and Electronics.

Marc Baldo is the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Sydney in 1995 with first class honors and university medal, and his master's (1998) and doctorate (2001) from Princeton. Baldo's interests include electrical and exciton transport in organic materials, energy transfer, metal-organic contacts, heterogeneous integration of biological materials and novel organic transistors.

Bulovic is an associate professor of electrical engineering; he studies physical properties of organic and inorganic nanostructured thin films and their use in novel organic and hybrid optoelectronic devices. He received his bachelor's degree in 1991 and his doctorate in 1998 from Princeton. Before 2000, he was a senior scientist and project head at Universal Display Corp., where he developed new organic light emitting and photosensitive devices and applications.