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Organic electronics

Addressing challenges

Nature Materials volume 13, pages 773–775 (2014)Cite this article

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Although promising, the use of organic semiconductors has not yet revolutionized consumer electronics. Synthesis of high-performance materials, enhanced control of morphology and smart exploitation of unique photophysical phenomena are the way forward to overcome the technological hurdles of this field.

Almost since its inception, the notion of organic electronics (the replacement of traditional inorganic conductors and semiconductors with carbon-based counterparts) has ignited the imagination with promises of unique form factors, ultra-lightweight electronics and low-cost fabrication of 'printed electronics'. Translating imagination to reality with such complex materials has taken significant time and required impressive effort, but recent commercial offerings of organic light-emitting-diode displays suggest that organic electronics remains a viable technology1. However, wider adoption of carbon-based materials will require demonstration of more competitive properties in the areas of power generation, displays, logic and lighting. The symposium 'The Grand Challenges in Organic Electronics' at the 2014 Materials Research Society Spring meeting in San Francisco brought together hundreds of researchers in the field to outline some of the more challenging aspects of translating unique materials observations in the laboratory to exploitable technologies for commercialization. The diverse viewpoints, from industrial perspectives on issues such as shelf-life and scalability to academic presentations of unusual phenomena discovered in organic semiconductors, confirm the impressive potential of organic electronics for advancing technology.

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Figure 1: Using process techniques to alter the solid-state order of a small-molecule organic semiconductor.

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  1. John E. Anthony is in the Department of Chemistry, The University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky 40506, USA,

    John E. Anthony

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  1. John E. Anthony
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Correspondence to John E. Anthony.

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Anthony, J. Addressing challenges. Nature Mater 13, 773–775 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4034

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