Preface
Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr.
The development and use of organic materials holds the promise of revolutionizing various types of devices and applications in many areas, including those related to displays and imaging. Given the variety of materials and their possible uses, work in this field cannot normally fit within a specific area. Rather, contributions may be classified as pertaining to different areas, e.g. Organic Electronics which is devoted to the study of organic small molecules and polymers whose electronic properties may be exploited in various applications. The latter are sufficiently broad to encompass not only traditional electronic devices, such as diodes and transistors, but also photovoltaic cells, biosensors and many more.
The decision to publish a special issue dedicated to contributions that can broadly be classified as Organic Electronics was motivated by the impact such contributions may have on the technology of displays, and to further imaging applications. The selected papers cover a wide spectrum of topics, from fundamental studies of the physics in organic devices to potential applications of flexible, printed devices.
With regard to basic properties of organic devices, Iwamoto and coworkers introduce non-linear optical methods tailored to visualize charge carrier motion, which is key for diverse types of devices. Multiphoton lithography is surveyed by Mendonça and coworkers, with emphasis on the fabrication of optical microdevices. Flexible devices are the subject of two contributions. Weis describes promising choices for transparent electrodes used in flexible organic light-emitting diodes and displays, while Pavinatto concentrates on biosensors in which the active layer is printed. Finally, Ariga and coworkers discuss the use of nanoarchitectonics in cell imaging, with the ensuing impact on control and manipulation of cellular functions.
In addition to introducing state-of-the-art developments in topics of Organic Electronics, the collection of papers published in this issue offer a vision of the benefits to science, technology and the society as a whole, which should arise from further progress in the field.
Osvaldo N. Oliveira Jr.
São Carlos Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, Brazil