Abstract
Today, the humankind finds itself facing several extreme challenges, many of them centered on the supply and uses of energy. From climate change to national security to providing an adequate standard of living to everyone on the planet, humanity faces several potential avenues to find acceptable energy solutions in the future. In this talk, the speaker will provide one particularly interesting approach to overcoming two of the major technological hurdles: efficient lighting and low cost solar energy-to-electricity conversion. Organic semiconductor devices based on low cost and earth-abundant synthetic organic molecules, have the characteristics of being compatible with “printing electronics by the mile” in ambient environments, completely changing the economics of making high performance solar cells, displays and lighting. The speaker will discuss recent advances in several of these organic-based technologies and how, if successful, they have the potential of making a significant impact on our energy economy.
About the Speaker
Prof Stephen Forrest received his PhD in Physics from the University of Michigan in 1979. First at Bell Labs, he investigated photodetectors for optical communications. He joined the University of Southern California in 1985, where he worked on optoelectronic integrated circuits, and organic semiconductors. He became the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University in 1992. He also served as Director of the National Center for Integrated Photonic Technology and as Director of Princeton's Center for Photonics and Optoelectronic Materials, and the Chair of the Electrical Engineering Department from 1997 to 2001. He joined the faculty of the University of Michigan in 2006, and is currently William Gould Dow Collegiate Professor in Electrical Engineering, and also Professor of Physics, and Materials Science and Engineering.
Prof Forrest’s research interests include organic electronics, photonic integrated circuits and photonic materials. His areas of specialty include optoelectronics, integrated photonics and optoelectronics with quantum confined heterostructures, displays and detectors, materials for solid state electronic and optoelectronic devices, solid-state energy conversion technologies, and renewable energy (solar cells, wind, energy scavenging). He has authored approximately 525 papers in refereed journals, and has 247 patents.
Prof Forrest is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Optical Society, and a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering. He received numerous awards including the IEEE/LEOS Distinguished Lecturer Award, the IPO National Distinguished Inventor Award as well as the Thomas Alva Edison Award for innovations in organic LEDs (OLEDs), the MRS Medal for work on organic thin films, the IEEE/LEOS William Streifer Scientific Achievement Award for advances made on photodetectors for optical communications systems, the Jan Rajchman Prize from the Society for Information Display for invention of phosphorescent OLEDs. In 2007, the IEEE has named Prof Forrest, Sir Richard H. Friend and Prof Ching W. Tang as co-recipients of the Daniel E. Noble Award, recognizing their pioneering contributions to the development of OLEDs, that paved the way for advancements in high-efficiency flat-panel displays and solid-state light sources for general lighting.
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