WFU Physics Colloquium

TITLE: Organic Materials for Solar Energy and Lighting: Their interface with Metal Surfaces

SPEAKER: Abdelkader Kara,

TIME: Wednesday April 11, 2012 at 4:00 PM

PLACE: Room 101 Olin Physical Laboratory

Understanding the interface electronic structure characteristics between organic molecules and transition metal surfaces with different structural (degree of corrugation and bonding environment) and chemical characteristics is crucial for the design of high performance organic devices. The computational high-throughput screening of the interface characteristics involving a variety of surfaces can provide the fundamental understanding necessary for the design of breakthrough devices with desired performances. I use first-principles calculations to screen the electronic structure characteristics of the interfaces between relevant organic molecules (acenes in this case) and several transition metal surfaces with different chemical identities and orientations.

In this talk, I will give a detailed account for the case of pentacene on copper surfaces. I will also present cases where the inclusion of dispersion forces through van der Waals corrections is necessary.