Project R-15262

A comprehensive study of the latest discovered phenomena in organic semiconductors (Research)

Semiconductors are ubiquitous in today's society. They form the basis of laptop computers and cell phones, light emitting diodes in ambient and automotive lighting, lasers for optical communication and photovoltaic panels for solar energy harvesting. My research group "organic opto-electronics" investigates a new class of organic (polymeric or molecular) semiconductors, which as compared to the classical inorganic semiconductors, are endowed with additional properties such as mechanical flexibility, strong absorption, bright emission and easy tuning of their spectral response from UV to infrared by chemical design, low cost, and in several cases bio-compatibility. Even though not all fundamental physical processes in these materials are fully understood, they are of interest for new types of displays, colourful and even semi-transparent building integrated solar cells, thermo-electric generators and bio-sensing applications. The goal of this sabbatical is to conduct a comprehensive study of the latest discovered phenomena in organic semiconductors and to explore their potential for future energy harvesting and sensing applications. At the university of electrical communication in Tokyo, I will study molecular design rules enabling very efficient and long lifetime excited states in molecular materials, with a minimum of radiationless decay and energy loss processes. At imperial college London I will investigate the parallels between photo-generation and energy conversion in synthetic organic materials and natural photo-systems and at the Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona I will explore the thermal properties of selected organic semiconductors developed at UHasselt. This 7 month sabbatical will advance my technical skills and knowledge on photo-physical phenomena in organic semiconductors and foster new academic collaborations. This will contribute to general understanding of this exciting class of new semiconductors and will inspire the implementation of these materials in new types of solar cells and bio-sensors at UHasselt.

01 January 2025 - 31 July 2025