Dresden scientists Prof. Karl Leo (TU Dresden), Dr. Jan Blochwitz-Nimoth (Novaled AG) and Dr. Martin Pfeiffer (Heliatek GmbH) are nominated for the „Deutschen Zukunftspreis 2011“ (the  Federal President’s prize for achievements in technology and innovation) for their mutual achievements in the research of organic semiconductors.

TUD professor Karl Leo is the spokesperson for the project from Dresden. The three scientists succeeded in making organic semiconductors fit for use in diverse products, thereby creating a basis for innovative uses in displays, lighting and photovoltaics that were unthinkable before.

In the future, organic semiconductors can replace crystalline materials like silicium that are used frequently today in many electronic applications, opening a whole new field of possibilities to use electronics. Their advantage: It is relatively simple and cost-efficient to process them into electronic products like transistors, luminous diodes or solar cells because they are a thin, flexible, transparent foil of almost any desired size.
 
Before now, a drawback of synthetic electronics was their low efficiency. In addition, they didn’t last long enough for commercial use. The scientists from Dresden greatly improved the efficiency of organic lamps and reflectors by „studding“ or doping the synthetic materials in them with certain foreign substances. They designed organic luminous diodes (OLED) with a higher light output than fluorescent tubes that will in the future play a big role in the lighting of offices and living spaces.

Among the realistic visions of the nominees are large-scale luminous sources that can change color and be used like wallpaper. Transparent, thin solar cells can stick to cars or clothing and produce electricity from sunlight in the future. For the production of those materials, the scientists created a first coil-to-coil construction that prints organic electronic components onto a thin layer, similar to the printing of a newspaper. The applications are currently being realized in two spin-off enterprises.

Physicist Prof. Karl Leo was instrumental in the basic research of organic luminous diodes and solar cells, for which he received the Leibniz-award in 2002. In early 2011 the European Research Council (ERC) awarded him an „Advanced Grant“ and a funding of 2 million Euros which he uses for further exploration of organic components.

The nomination of the three scientists for the „Deutschen Zukunftspreis“ once again underlines the meaning of knowledge transfer and the excellent networking between TU Dresden and other partners in science and economics. Beginning with the idea and basic research, followed by creating the TUD spin-off enterprises Novaled AG and Heliatek GmbH, this demonstrates the creation of brand new products.

The jury will decide on the 14th December. Federal president Christian Wulff will hand over the „Deutschen Zukunftspreis 2011“ (the  Federal President’s prize for achievements in technology and innovation) to the winning team during the following award celebration in Berlin.
 
Information for journalists:
Prof. Karl Leo, Tel.: 0351 463-37533, leo@iapp.de

TU Dresden, Kim-Astrid Magister, Tel. 0351 463-32398,
pressestelle@tu-dresden.de