Part- organic device helps make bendable phones

Melbourne: Scientists have developed a thin, flexible semiconductor, partly using organic materials, that can efficiently convert electricity into light and could help make bendable smartphones. The invention, by researchers at the Australian National University ( ANU), also opens the door to a new generation of highperformance electronic devices that will be biodegradable or can be easily recycled, promising to help substantially reduce ewaste. The huge volumes of e- waste generated by discarded electronic devices around the world is causing irreversible damage to the environment. The organic component has the thickness of just one atom — made from just carbon and hydrogen — and forms part of the semiconductor. The inorganic component has the thickness of around two atoms. The hybrid structure can convert electricity into light efficiently for displays on mobile phones, televisions and other electronic devices. “For the first time, we have developed an ultra- thin electronics component with excellent semiconducting properties that is an organicin-organic hybrid structure and thin and flexible enough for future technologies, such as bendable mobile phones and display screens,” said Larry Lu, associate professor at ANU. PhD researcher Ankur Sharma said experiments demonstrated the performance of their semiconductor would be much more efficient than conventional semiconductors. “We have the potential with this semiconductor to make mobile phones as powerful as today's supercomputers,” said Sharma. “The light emission from our semiconducting structure is very sharp,” he said.