Professor Dan Frisbie completes month-long visit to CPE

Professor Dan Frisbie of the University of Minnesota, USA spent a month in residence with CPE early in 2013, as part of a 6 month sabbatical.

Professor Dan Frisbie of the University of Minnesota, USA spent a month in residence with CPE early in 2013, as part of a 6 month sabbatical. The purpose of his visit was two-fold, namely to enhance interactions between Imperial College and the University of Minnesota along strategic directions in plastic electronics, and to foster intellectual exchange regarding key challenges in solar energy conversion and organic electronics.  During this time he met with a number of CPE faculty, postdoctoral fellows and post-graduate students across College. The multi-week stay afforded the opportunity to attend group meetings and seminars, and to have extended interactions with Imperial researchers. Early on in his visit to CPE, Professor Frisbie presented a two part seminar to CPE members on his research. The first part was entitled, “Printed Transistors and Circuits” and covered his group’s current work on low-voltage electrolyte gated transistors (EGTs) for applications in printed electronics. The second part was entitled, “Factors Affecting Open Circuit Voltage in Polymer Solar Cells” and focused on the analysis of solar cell dark currents as a function of temperature to understand how to increase polymer solar cell efficiency. Professor Frisbie notes that “the best part of the visit was the opportunity I had to speak with CPE faculty and students first-hand about their research and to be able to have multiple conversations…something that is difficult to do at large, international conferences.” As a result of his visit, a number of collaborative research directions are planned.