MINOTOR · Modelling of electronic processes at interfaces in organic-based electronic devices

The growing fields of organic electronics and spin-based electronics rely on the use of organic conjugated molecules and polymers as active components in multi-layer device applications such as light-emitting displays, solar cells, field-effect transistors, (bio)chemical sensors and storage devices. Since all organic-based devices are made by deposition of successive layers (metal, oxide, insulating or semiconducting layers), many key electronic processes (such as charge injection from metallic electrodes, charge recombination into light or light conversion into charges, spin injection, etc.) occur at interfaces. Although a large body of knowledge has been accumulated on the characterization of such interfaces (especially morphological issues), a detailed and unified understanding of the electronic processes occurring at these interfaces is currently missing and there is no consensus on the materials and device strategies that need to be developed in order to achieve these objectives. The main goal of this proposal is to bring together complementary expertises in order to assess the electronic processes occurring at interfaces via theoretical modelling tools supported by surface-sensitive characterization techniques. MINOTOR gathers leading groups in the modelling of electronic processes at interfaces (organic/organic, metal/organic, and inorganic/organic) typically encountered in organic-based electronic devices. The main goal of MINOTOR is to develop a multiscale theoretical approach ranging from the atomistic to mesoscopic scale to model in the most realistic way such interfaces and provide a unified view of the electronic phenomena taking place at these interfaces. The theoretical predictions will be compared to experimental investigations performed in the consortium, thereby allowing a direct feedback between theory and experiment.