WFU Joint Physics and Chemistry Colloquium

TITLE: Electronic and Optical Processes in Organic Electronic Devices: The Case of Charge Transport

SPEAKER: Professor Jean-Luc Brédas,

TIME: Wednesday October 10, 2012 at 2:15 **

PLACE: Room 101 Olin Physical Laboratory

In this presentation, we will first give an overview of the recent progress made in the applications of organic electronic devices, in particular in the case of organic light-emitting diodes, field-effect transistors, and solar cells. Taking the latter as example, we will then describe the electronic and optical processes that need to be optimized to ensure efficient device operation: (i) photon absorption and exciton formation; (ii) exciton dissociation and charge separation; (iii) charge transport towards the electrodes; and (iv) charge collection at the electrodes. The last part of the talk will focus on point (iii); we will illustrate how quantum-chemical approaches can be used to derive at the molecular level the parameters (electronic couplings and electron-vibration couplings) that impact the charge-transport properties of organic molecular semiconductors.