Organic

Semiconductors
OLED’s and OPV’s
BIANCA ALVES, DAVID SÁEZ E MARIANA TEIXEIRA

Q3003 Introduction to Materials Chemistry 2021/2022

 Contents
 Class of material
 Structure
 Properties
 Applications

Q3003 Introduction to Materials Chemistry 2021/2022

 Class of material
 Semiconductors usually are crystal solids with electric conductivity between conductors and insulators.
The electrical conductivity of a semiconductor depends if there is enough energy available to overcome
the bandgap. 
 Examples: Silicon (Si), Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Germanium (Ge)

Catherine E. Housecroft, Alan G. Sharpe. Inorganic Chemistry. 4 th ed. Edited by Pearson. 2012.
Q3003 Introduction to Materials Chemistry 2021/2022
 Structure
 Organic semiconductors are solid molecular crystals exhibiting van der Waals interactions, thus implying
a considerably weaker intermolecular bond compared to covalently bonded inorganic semiconductors
like Si or GaAs.
 Organic materials are carbon based and have π-bonding, therefore have better conductivity for the
electrons. 

Brütting, W. (2006). Introduction to the Physics of Organic Semiconductors. Physics of Organic Semiconductors: 1-14.
Katariya, A. and J. Rani (2021). "Review on two-dimensional organic semiconductors for thin film transistor application."
Q3003 Introduction to Materials Chemistry Materials Today: Proceedings 46: 2322-2325.
2021/2022
 Properties
 The fact that they are materials with organic characteristics, the mechanical and thermodynamic
properties are distinct. For example: hardness is reduced, the melting point is lower but, even more
importantly, electronic delocalization is much weaker between neighboring molecules, which has a direct
bearing on the optical properties and the transport of charge carriers (electrical).

https://www.extremetech.com/computing/168124-lg-is-making-bendable-and-unbreakable-oled-display-for-useless-curved-
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Q3003 Introduction to Materials Chemistry 2021/2022
 Applications
 Organic devices stand out for combining the semiconductor characteristic with the flexibility of plastics,
allowing the creation of more innovative products and important transformations in manufacturing
processes – low cost chemical synthesis in terms of manufacturing and control.

Q3003 Introduction to Materials Chemistry 2021/2022