Tailored heterepitaxy of nanostructured thin films for de novo organic electronic devices under stress

The objective of the project is to produce nanostructures where functional organic materials are organised in a controlled manner such that the charge transfer and transport are tailored. Heteroepitaxial organic materials are of increasing interest, and the controlled deposition of two monolayers of different materials on an inert substrate will afford the opportunity to study charge transfer at the interface between the two. In addition, the project will uniquely aim to study the effect of bending of the substrate on the structure of the organic films. The use of flexible substrates is widely implied as promising for the development of future electronic devices, but the consequences of mechanical stress on molecular organisation in the functional layers of organic devices is unknown. The results of the research will provide unique insight into interfaces between organic materials and the changes in structure they undergo upon mechanical deformation using a battery of characterisation methods.