Currently, the electronics industry is dominated by inorganic materials (i.e Si, GaAs) which offer high charge carrier mobility, stability, better current morphology control, and device packaging. But, the fabrication process needs to be carried out at a high thermal budget, and in a controlled environment. The thermal budget and the controlled environment tremendously increase the fabrication cost of a device. On the other hand, organic materials can be synthesized by using solutions. Also, most of the organic materials can be processed at much lower temperatures (compared to Si, GaAs etc.); and many of them even at the room temperature, significantly reducing fabrication cost. These materials can also be processed by printing techniques offering high throughput and scalability for industrial production. (Image by Chokniti Khingchum )

Organic semiconductors offer flexibility and hence, several shapes of devices can be made. They are usually lightweight materials. Therefore device packaging, handling, installation and maintaining cost is much lower for organic electronic devices (i.e. compare Si solar cell with Organic solar cell). Due to their flexible and lightweight nature, they are used in flexible displays, flexible LED arrays, flexible solar cells, E-papers, and packaging of inorganic/perovskite electronic devices.

Many of the organic semiconductors are semitransparent. This nature helps to develop semitransparent electronic devices such as solar cells, displays. Semitransparent organic solar cells have the potential in developing highly efficient tandem solar cells. Also, organic semiconductors are inevitably used as charge transport layers in one of the fastest-growing perovskite solar cell technology.

Because of their low-temperature and solution processability, flexibility and semi-transparency, organic semiconductor materials can be easily integrated into existing material synthesis technology. Their integration with inorganic materials offers promising hybrid inorganic-organic materials which borrow the merits of both the organic and inorganic materials. At the device level, integration of organic devices with existing device technology (i.e. Silicon) opens a new area of hybrid devices with multifunctionality. In photovoltaic technology, organic solar cells can be integrated with other solar cell technologies (Si/Perovskite/Dye) to realize highly efficient monolithic and/or four-terminal tandem (or multijunction) solar cells.