Organic Electronic Materials Chemistry Lab

AboutAbout the lab

Turning organic molecules into materials for electronic devices

The Organic Electronic Materials Chemistry Lab (Nakayama Lab) focuses on the optical and electronic functions of organic molecules, and aims to develop new materials and apply them to optical and electronic devices.
Its subject is organic electronics devices, which pass electricity through organic molecules and use them as semiconductors, such as organic EL, organic transistors, and organic solar cells.
The lab combines perspectives from different fields: organic chemistry that designs the properties of a "single molecule," the physical chemistry of thin films, and semiconductor engineering that discusses device performance.
On the lab's website, it is introduced under the name "Nakayama Lab."

ResearchResearch themes

The lab aims to create new organic electronics devices that make use of the properties of organic electronic materials (currently mainly organic transistors and organic solar cells), as well as new materials suited to them. The research spans a wide range of levels, from the organic chemistry of single molecules to the physical chemistry of thin films and the semiconductor engineering of devices.

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Development of vertical organic transistors↗

The lab develops "vertical organic transistors," in which current flows in the film thickness direction. Because the channel length is short and current flows across the whole area, they can operate at high current and low voltage. Combined with organic EL materials, they can also realize organic light-emitting transistors that emit light while amplifying current.

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Optical and electrical properties of organic semiconductor thin films↗

With the goal of predicting device performance from molecular structure, the lab works toward a hierarchical understanding of performance, from organic synthesis that designs the electronic states of single molecules, to controlling molecular orientation in thin films and measuring carrier mobility. It also designs devices using computational methods such as quantum chemical calculations.

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Development of organic EL materials↗

The lab studies organic EL, in which organic materials emit light from electrical energy, across the full range from organic synthesis to device applications. In recent years, it has succeeded in developing materials such as thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials that show reverse intersystem crossing 100 times faster than conventional ones.

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Operating mechanisms and materials for organic solar cells↗

The lab analyzes the processes of photoinduced charge separation and charge transport in organic solar cells from the viewpoint of semiconductor physics, and develops new materials. Working with single-component systems, which differ from the usual bulk heterojunction systems, it aims to understand photoinduced charge separation and improve performance.

VoicesStudent voices

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