• Login
    • Join
  • FOLLOW:
  • Subscribe Free
    • eNewsletter
    Checkout
    • Magazine
    • News
    • Printed Electronics
    • Raw Materials
    • Equipment
    • Services
    • Suppliers Guide
    • Resources
    • More
  • Magazine
  • News
  • Printed Electronics
  • Raw Materials
  • Equipment
  • Services
  • Suppliers Guide
  • Resources
  • Current & Past Issues
    Features
    Editorials
    Digital Edition
    Subscribe Now
    Advertise Now
    eNewsletter Archive
    Our Team
    Editorial Guidelines
    Breaking News
    Experts Opinion
    Financial News
    Manufacturers News
    Mergers and Acquisitions
    Online Exclusives
    Personnel
    Product Releases
    Suppliers News
    Live From Shows
    Displays and Lighting
    Photovoltaics
    Printed Batteries
    Printed Circuit Boards/Membrane Switches/In Mold Electronics
    Flexible and Printed Electronics
    RFID and NFC
    Sensors and Wearables
    Smart Cards and Packaging
    Touch Screens
    Adhesives, Barriers and Encapsulants
    Chemicals, Metals and Powders
    Conductive Inks and Coatings
    Electronic Materials
    Film, Paper, Glass and Substrates
    Graphene, Perovskites and Carbon Nanotubes
    Nanomaterials
    Printed Electronic Components
    Research Reports
    Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
    Energy Curing Equipment
    Lab and Testing Equipment
    Manufacturing Equipment
    Printing Equipment
    3D Printing
    Contract Manufacturing Services
    Product Design and Testing
    Research and Consulting
    Research Institutions
    Research Reports
    Universities
    Equipment
    All Companies
    Materials
    Categories
    Converting
    Printed Electronics Systems
    Associations
    Research and Services
    Used Machinery
    Add New Company
    Industry Events
    Live from show events
    Podcasts
    Videos
    Blogs
    Slideshows
    Infographics
    Webinars
    Whitepapers
    Equipment and Services
    Glossary
    • Magazine
      • Current & Past Issues
      • Features
      • Editorial
      • Columns
      • Digital Edition
      • eNewsletter Archive
      • Editorial Guidelines
      • Subscribe Now
      • Advertise Now
    • Breaking News
    • Suppliers Guide
      • Suppliers Guide
      • Add Your Company
    • Printed Electronics
      • Photovoltaics
      • Printed Batteries
      • Printed Circuit Boards/Membrane Switches/In Mold Electronics
      • Flexible and Printed Electronics
      • RFID and NFC
      • Sensors and Wearables
      • Smart Cards and Packaging
      • Touch Screens
    • Raw Materials
      • Adhesives, Barriers and Encapsulants
      • Chemicals, Metals and Powders
      • Conductive Inks and Coatings
      • Electronic Materials
      • Film, Paper, Glass and Substrates
      • Graphene, Perovskites and Carbon Nanotubes
      • Nanomaterials
      • Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
    • Equipment
      • Energy Curing Equipment
      • Lab and Testing Equipment
      • Manufacturing Equipment
      • Printing Equipment
      • 3D Printing
    • Services
      • Contract Manufacturing Services
      • Product Design and Testing
      • Research and Consulting
      • Research Institutions
      • Research Reports
      • Universities
    • Online Exclusives
    • Slideshows
    • Blog
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Infographics
    • Events
      • Industry Events
      • Live from show events
      • Webinars
    • About Us
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms of Use
    Expert's Opinion

    Large-area Flexible Organic Photodiodes Can Compete With Silicon Devices

    Research supported by orgs including Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and U.S. DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration.

    Large-area Flexible Organic Photodiodes Can Compete With Silicon Devices
    Organic photodiodes can be much larger than their silicon counterparts. On the left is a silicon photodiode compared to two large-area organic photodiodes. (Credit: Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Georgia Tech)
    Large-area Flexible Organic Photodiodes Can Compete With Silicon Devices
    Georgia Tech principal research scientist Canek Fuentes-Hernandez holds rigid and flexible large-area organic photodiodes whose performance is comparable to that of silicon-based photodiodes. (Credit: Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Georgia Tech)
    Large-area Flexible Organic Photodiodes Can Compete With Silicon Devices
    Georgia Tech principal research scientist Canek Fuentes-Hernandez holds a ring-shaped, large-area organic photodiode whose performance is comparable to that of silicon-based photodiodes. (Credit: Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Georgia Tech)
    Large-area Flexible Organic Photodiodes Can Compete With Silicon Devices
    Flexible ring-shaped, large-area organic photodiodes can improve performance of wearable sensors that monitor cardiac and pulmonary health. (Credit: Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, Georgia Tech)
    John Toon, AVP Research Communications. Georgia Institute of Technology11.06.20
    The performance of flexible large-area organic photodiodes has advanced to the point that they can now offer advantages over conventional silicon photodiode technology, particularly for applications such as biomedical imaging and biometric monitoring that require detecting low levels of light across large areas.
     
    The low-noise, solution-processed, flexible organic devices offer the ability to use arbitrarily shaped, large-area photodiodes to replace complex arrays that would be required with conventional silicon photodiodes, which can be expensive to scale up for large-area applications. 
     
    The organic devices provide performance comparable to that of rigid silicon photodiodes in the visible light spectrum — except in response time.
     
    “What we have achieved is the first demonstration that these devices, produced from solution at low temperatures, can detect as little as a few hundred thousand photons of visible light every second, similar to the magnitude of light reaching our eye from a single star in a dark sky,” said Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, principal research scientist in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. “The ability to coat these materials onto large-area substrates with arbitrary shapes means that flexible organic photodiodes now offer some clear advantages over state-of-the-art silicon photodiodes in applications requiring response times in the range of tens of microseconds.”
     
    The development and performance of large-area, low-noise organic photodiodes are described in the Nov. 6 issue of the journal Science. The research was supported by multiple organizations, including the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration.
     
    Organic electronic devices are based on materials fabricated from carbon-based molecules or polymers instead of conventional inorganic semiconductors such as silicon. The devices can be made using simple solution and inkjet printing techniques instead of the expensive and complex processes involved in the manufacturing of conventional electronics. The technology is now widely used in displays, solar cells, and other devices.
     
    The organic photodiodes use polyethyleneimine, an amine-containing polymer surface modifier found to produce air-stable, low work-function electrodes in photovoltaic devices developed in the laboratory of Bernard Kippelen, Joseph M. Pettit professor at Georgia Tech. The use of polyethyleneimine was also shown to produce photovoltaic devices with low levels of dark current — the electrical current that flows through a device even in the dark. This meant the materials could be useful in photodetectors for capturing faint signals of visible light. 
     
    “Over the years, the dark current levels were reduced so much that measurement equipment had to be redesigned to detect an electronic noise corresponding to a fluctuation of one electron in one-millionth of a second,” Fuentes-Hernandez, the paper’s first author, said. “This work reflects sustained team efforts made in the Kippelen group over more than six years and encompasses part of the Ph.D. work of recent graduates Talha Kahn and Wen-Fang Chou. These collective efforts produced the scientific insights needed to demonstrate organic photodiodes with this level of performance.”
     
    One application for the new devices is in pulse oximeters now placed on fingers to measure heart rate and blood oxygen levels. Organic photodiodes may allow multiple devices to be placed on the body and operate with 10 times less light than conventional devices. This could enable wearable health monitors to produce improved physiological information and continuous monitoring without frequent battery changes. Other potential applications include human-computer interfaces such as touchless gesture recognition and controls.  
     
    A future application is the detection of ionizing radiation by scintillation — a flash of light emitted by a phosphor when struck by a high energy particle. Lowering the level of light that can be detected would improve the sensitivity of the device, allowing it to detect lower levels of radiation. Detecting radiation emitted from vehicles or cargo containers requires a large detector area, which would be easier to make from organic photodiodes than from arrays of silicon photodiodes.
     
    Organic photodiodes could have similar advantages in X-ray equipment, where doctors want to use the smallest level of radiation possible to minimize the dose delivered to the patient. Here again, sensitivity, large area, and flexible form factor should give organic photodiodes an advantage over silicon-based arrays. 
     
    “We are working on improving the response time of the photodetector because producing fast photodetectors would enable many additional important applications,” Fuentes-Hernandez said. “There’s a real need to develop photodetector technologies that are more scalable, and one of the motivations of this work is to advance organic technology that we know is cost-effective for scaling.”
     
    The organic photodiodes can show electronic noise current values in the tens of femtoampere range and noise equivalent power values of a couple of hundreds of femtowatt. Key performance factors of the organic photodiodes compare well with silicon except in the area of response time, where researchers are working on a hundred-fold improvement to enable future applications.
     
    “Because we use materials that are processed from inks using printing techniques, they are not as ordered as crystalline materials,” Kippelen said. “As a result, the carrier mobility and the velocity of the carriers that can move through these materials are lower, so you can’t get the same fast signals you get with silicon. But for many applications, you don’t need picosecond or nanosecond response time.”
     
    For Kippelen, the photodiode work shows the results of a 25-year effort to improve the performance of organic electronic materials. That work, part of Georgia Tech’s Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, has involved extensive device modeling to understand the basic science, and research to continuously boost the performance of the materials.
     
    “Organic thin films absorb light more efficiently than silicon, so the overall thickness you need to absorb that light is very small,” Kippelen said. “Even if you scale their area up, the overall volume of your detector remains small with organics. If you increase the area of a silicon detector, you have a larger volume of materials that at room temperature will generate a lot of electronic noise.”
     
    The photodiodes made in Kippelen’s lab use an active layer just 500 nanometers thick. A gram of the material, roughly the size of a fingertip, could coat the surface of an office desk.
    Kippelen hopes the Science paper will help open new doors for organic semiconductors.
     
    “Advances like this will allow us to change the conventional wisdom that switching to organic materials that can lead to scalable devices would mean giving up performance,” he said. “We can’t anticipate all the new applications that could be enabled by this advance.”
     
    In addition to those already mentioned, the research team included Larissa Diniz, Julia Lukens, Felipe A. Larrain, and Victor A. Rodriguez-Toro, all associated with Kippelen’s lab.
     








    This research was supported by the Department of the Navy, Office of Naval Research Awards N00014-15 14-1-0580 and N00014-16-1-2520; through the MURI Center for Advanced Organic Photovoltaics (CAOP); by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research through Award No. FA9550-16-1-0168, the Department of Energy / National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) awards DE-NA0002576 through the Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities (CNEC), and award DE-NA0003921 through the Consortium for Enabling Technologies and Innovation. Support also came from the Chilean National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research through the Doctoral Fellowship program ‘‘Becas Chile,’’ Grant 72150387; from the Colombian Administrative Department of Science, Technology, and Innovation through the program Fulbright-Colciencias; from the National Science Foundation through the Research Experiences for Undergraduates program; and from the Brazil Scientific Mobility Program through an Academic Training Opportunities grant.
     
    CITATION: Canek Fuentes-Hernandez, et al., “Large-area low-noise flexible organic photodiodes for detecting faint visible light.” (Science 2020).
     
    Suggested For You
    The 2021 Conductive Ink Market The 2021 Conductive Ink Market
    RDS Launches Tianma 13.3-inch Full HD TFT RDS Launches Tianma 13.3-inch Full HD TFT
    JOLED Display Adopted for Newly-Announced ASUS OLED Monitor for HDR Content Creators JOLED Display Adopted for Newly-Announced ASUS OLED Monitor for HDR Content Creators
    IDTechEx Forecast Market for Fully Printed Sensors Will Reach $4.9 Billion by 2032 IDTechEx Forecast Market for Fully Printed Sensors Will Reach $4.9 Billion by 2032
    CYD, Nanosys’ ‘Air Stable’ Quantum Dot Component Enters Mass Production CYD, Nanosys’ ‘Air Stable’ Quantum Dot Component Enters Mass Production
    Empa Sets New Record Efficiency for Flexible Solar Cells Empa Sets New Record Efficiency for Flexible Solar Cells
    LG Display to Showcase Transparent OLED Display at IAA 2021 in Munich LG Display to Showcase Transparent OLED Display at IAA 2021 in Munich
    AmphiLab Uses Conductive Ink to Merge Books and Electronics AmphiLab Uses Conductive Ink to Merge Books and Electronics
    ‘Smart’ Shirt Using Carbon Nanotube Threads Keeps Tabs on the Heart ‘Smart’ Shirt Using Carbon Nanotube Threads Keeps Tabs on the Heart
    Space Mission Tests NREL Perovskite Solar Cells Space Mission Tests NREL Perovskite Solar Cells
    Universal Display Announces Recipients of the 2021 UDC Awards Universal Display Announces Recipients of the 2021 UDC Awards
    Saule Technologies Launches First Installation of Perovskite Solar Modules Saule Technologies Launches First Installation of Perovskite Solar Modules
    PPG, Universal Display Expand OLED Operations in Ireland PPG, Universal Display Expand OLED Operations in Ireland
    Epishine Signs Distribution Agreement with Farnell Epishine Signs Distribution Agreement with Farnell
    Combining Perovskite with Silicon, Solar Cells Convert More Energy From Sun Combining Perovskite with Silicon, Solar Cells Convert More Energy From Sun

    Related Features

    • Conductive Inks and Coatings | Flexible and Printed Electronics | Manufacturers News | Photovoltaics | Printed Circuit Boards/Membrane Switches/In Mold Electronics | Sensors and Wearables | Smart Cards and Packaging | Suppliers News
      The 2021 Conductive Ink Market

      The 2021 Conductive Ink Market

      The conductive ink industry is growing with new applications on the horizon, but silver prices remain a concern.
      David Savastano, Editor 09.22.21

    • Breaking News | Displays and Lighting | Manufacturers News
      RDS Launches Tianma 13.3-inch Full HD TFT

      RDS Launches Tianma 13.3-inch Full HD TFT

      Designed to meet the demanding requirements of the industrial and medical display markets.
      09.22.21

    • Breaking News | Displays and Lighting | Manufacturers News | Product Releases
      JOLED Display Adopted for Newly-Announced ASUS OLED Monitor for HDR Content Creators

      JOLED Display Adopted for Newly-Announced ASUS OLED Monitor for HDR Content Creators

      JOLED mass-produces 22, 27, 32 inch OLED displays under OLEDIO brand
      09.17.21


    • Breaking News | Flexible and Printed Electronics | Research Reports | Sensors and Wearables
      IDTechEx Forecast Market for Fully Printed Sensors Will Reach $4.9 Billion by 2032

      IDTechEx Forecast Market for Fully Printed Sensors Will Reach $4.9 Billion by 2032

      There are multiple factors that are driving the adoption of many types of printed/flexible sensors.
      Dr. Matthew Dyson, IDTechEx 09.14.21

    • Breaking News | Displays and Lighting | Manufacturers News | Semiconductors and Quantum Dots
      CYD, Nanosys’ ‘Air Stable’ Quantum Dot Component Enters Mass Production

      CYD, Nanosys’ ‘Air Stable’ Quantum Dot Component Enters Mass Production

      Collaborate on new generation of barrier-free extruded QD components, enabling adoption in sub-$500 TVs.
      09.10.21

    Loading, Please Wait..
    Trending
    • Onsemi Presents Path To Accelerate Revenue Growth
    • Printed Electronics Now Interview: Francisco Melo Of Avery Dennison
    • Japan Display To Acquire JOLED OLED Business
    • HID Unveils Eco-friendly Bamboo Access Cards
    • Ambiq Receives 2023 Bronze Stevie Award
    Breaking News
    • DIC Acquires Photoresist Polymers Manufacturer PCAS Canada
    • Arkema Collaborates with Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia
    • Vitesco Technologies, onsemi Sign SiC Long-Term Supply Agreement
    • Ambiq Receives 2023 Bronze Stevie Award
    • onsemi Presents Path to Accelerate Revenue Growth
    View Breaking News >
    CURRENT ISSUE

    Winter 2021

    • Printed Electronics Now’s International Suppliers’ Directory
    • The Automotive Market and Flexible and Printed Electronics
    • Flexible and Printed Electronics in Healthcare
    • Flexible and Printed Electronics Make Gains in Smart Packaging
    • PAPERONICS: Low-cost multisensory paper and packaging applications
    • View More >

    Cookies help us to provide you with an excellent service. By using our website, you declare yourself in agreement with our use of cookies.
    You can obtain detailed information about the use of cookies on our website by clicking on "More information”.

    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms And Conditions
    • Contact Us

    follow us

    Subscribe
    Nutraceuticals World

    Latest Breaking News From Nutraceuticals World

    Stefan Pasiakos, PhD, Selected to Lead NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
    Verdure Sciences Receives Award for Sustainable, Ethical Turmeric Sourcing
    BGG Receives Patent for Saw Palmetto ID Method
    Coatings World

    Latest Breaking News From Coatings World

    Teal and Mackrill Director Geoff Mackrill Honored by BCF
    Evonik's TEGO Airex 923 Wins 2023 Ringier Technology Innovation Award
    120 Years HOFFMANN MINERAL - Success Through Innovation and Responsibility
    Medical Product Outsourcing

    Latest Breaking News From Medical Product Outsourcing

    LifeQ Unveils New 24-Hour Sleep Solution
    Babson Diagnostics Welcomes New Clinical Advisor, Andrew Carroll
    EvoEndo Names CEO and Chief Operating Officer
    Contract Pharma

    Latest Breaking News From Contract Pharma

    WuXi Increases Manufacturing Capacity in Germany
    Dragonfly Therapeutics Expands Clinical Leadership Team
    Innovent Enters into Clinical Trial Collaboration with Merck KGaA
    Beauty Packaging

    Latest Breaking News From Beauty Packaging

    L'Oréal North Asia President Discusses China's Consumer Sector Recovery & Premium Beauty Trends
    Kiehl’s Celebrates Pride by Supporting The Trevor Project
    L’Oréal & UNESCO Announce 2023 Laureates of the For Women in Science International Awards
    Happi

    Latest Breaking News From Happi

    Uoma Beauty Founder and CEO Sharon Chuter Steps Down
    Peter Thomas Roth Rolls Out Ultimate Solution 5 Multitasking Moisturizer
    Colorproof Teams Up with the It Gets Better Project on Limited-Edition Hair Care Kits
    Ink World

    Latest Breaking News From Ink World

    WestRock Advances its Commitment to a Sustainable Future
    Roland DGA Announces Key Service Department Personnel Changes
    The 2023 CPIPC Golf Outing is Teeing Off on June 21
    Label & Narrow Web

    Latest Breaking News From Label & Narrow Web

    Appvion announces new, sustainable coatings for label facestocks
    Epson teams with 5 Gyres Institute to battle plastic pollution
    Maxcess opens new facility in India
    Nonwovens Industry

    Latest Breaking News From Nonwovens Industry

    Harper Hygienics Launches Hemp-Based Intimate Care Wipes
    What You’re Reading on Nonwovens-Industry.com
    Biodiapers Signs Agreement with Sicam
    Orthopedic Design & Technology

    Latest Breaking News From Orthopedic Design & Technology

    Augmedics Debuts New Features, Indications for xvision Platform
    Artelon Closes $20M Series B Funding
    Orthofix Unveils Seven-Year Outcome Data for M6-C Artificial Cervical Disc
    Printed Electronics Now

    Latest Breaking News From Printed Electronics Now

    DIC Acquires Photoresist Polymers Manufacturer PCAS Canada
    Arkema Collaborates with Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia
    Vitesco Technologies, onsemi Sign SiC Long-Term Supply Agreement

    Copyright © 2023 Rodman Media. All rights reserved. Use of this constitutes acceptance of our privacy policy The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Rodman Media.

    AD BLOCKER DETECTED

    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
    Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.


    FREE SUBSCRIPTION Already a subscriber? Login