Interest in the electronic properties of semiconducting organic molecules dates back many decades to classic studies of ground- and excited-state electronic structure of model molecules, such as anthracene, performed in the early 1960s by Martin Pope and colleagues. 1 Since then, various semiconducting organic molecules and polymers have been steadily developed.
The use of organic semiconductors in xerography gave that field a particular boost during the 1980s (see the article by Joseph Mort in Physics Today, April 1994, page 32). As photoreceptor materials on photocopier and laser-printer drums, organics could generate and transport charge, usually as solid mixtures of molecular semiconductors in inert polymer hosts. The vast majority of copiers and laser printers now use those materials systems, and the underlying science has matured, especially in the context of industrial application. 2
Today, electronics researchers are more focused on reducing the size of semiconductor devices to their fundamental...