Organic electronics research

The scope for application broadens with the possibility of integrating electronic and optoelectronic devices on a same flexible substrate. Most of such applications ranging from Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, sensors to smart objects, require circuitry for logic operations. The organic electronics group is focused in the development of low-cost organic circuits as in Fig. 1 below that can be utilised as key functional blocks in such applications. This includes generating novels circuit designs and respective low-cost fabrication processes for building the circuits on flexible plastic substrates. 

Fig. 1 - Organic circuits built on flexible substrates developed in the group

In addition to the designs and processes, conventional silicon models are also inapplicable to not organic-based devices and subsequently novel physical organic models need to be developed are use in accurate simulations of the circuit designs. The fabrication of the organic devices such schottky diodes, MOS capacitors and thin-film transistors (OTFTs) are carried out in a high-purity clean room of class 10 and houses standard aligner, evaporators and hotboxes. The characterisation is carried out in Wolfson Centre, opened by Sir Richard Friend of the Cavendish, Cambridge in 2002. The Wolfson houses semiconductor parameter analysers and glove boxes.

The various research areas focused in the group include:

• Modelling of organic devices
• Simulation of novel organic circuit designs
• Development of low cost circuit processes
• Stability and yield studies of organic devices and circuits

Projects

• Low-cost Smart Integrated Miniaturised Sensor System (SIMS)
• Development of organic matrix backplane - Marck Case award
• Delovering a sustainable future for UK printable electronics 
• POLYNET 
• POLYAPPLY 
• Sleeper tag/tracktonic 
• Carbon-based electronics 

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