Over the last few years, organic electronics devices have lured a lot of attention. And now as the world shifts to organic production, from fruits to vegetables, the term organic in electronics is gaining momentum. Organic electronics refers to a branch of modern electronics and deals with organic materials, such as polymers or small molecules. Organic materials have considered excellent insulators for many technological applications. Recently, at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, a wide range of innovative and modern electronics products using smart and stretchable electronics were demonstrated besides mobility, digital health and IoT innovations.
Developing high-performance organic electronic devices require a detailed understanding of the mechanisms and processes that make them work. In the automotive sector, for instance, the development of flexible hybrid electronics, involving printed and traditional ultrathin, silicon-based electronics, are making major inroads to future innovation.
OLED (organic light-emitting diode) is the best example of organic electronics. The light encompasses a thin film of organic material that emits light under stimulation by an electric current. A typical OLED includes an anode, a cathode, organic material and a conductive layer.
Many organic electronic structures may assemble on flexible substrates using existing printing technologies. More than a half-century, Moore’s Law and the theory that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles about every two years have measured advancements in electronics. Moore’s Law defines as a computing term which originated around 1970. The simplified version of this law delineates that processor speeds, or overall processing power for computers will double every two years. However, when first printed electronics emerged decades ago, some industry leaders considered the premature end of Moore’s Law, while others argued that printed electronics would not survive as early applications for low-cost RFID and flexible LCD displays failed.
Today, organic electronics are growing at a striking pace, and are set to revolutionize the way we use electronics. Unlike conventional electronics that are based on inorganic semiconductors like silicon, organic electronics offer many potential advantages. For instance, organic semiconductors are lightweight, mechanical flexibility, chemical modifications possible, and easy and cost-effective.
Research in the field of organic electronics conducted largely on a multidisciplinary level, including theoretical physics and chemistry, synthetic chemistry, various material and device characterization methods, and device engineering. Creating new organic electronic applications and improvement of performance of the already existing prototype devices require materials with desired properties that play an influential role. Electric conductive i.e. substances that can transmit electrical charges with low resistivity are one class of materials of interest in organic electronics.
According to reports, Henry Letheby described the earlier discovery of the electrical conduction in organic materials in 1862. In the 1950s, a second class of electric conductors was discovered based on charge-transfer salts. Now, in the world of rapid disruption, organic electronics, including photovoltaics, displays, and electronics circuits and components, offer massive advantages over the traditional inorganic-based electronics. This is majorly because organic electronics are cost-effective, flexible, indissoluble, optically transparent, lightweight and consume low power.
