What Physicists Do
Physics 123 Spring 2019
(First 5 weeks) Fridays, 6a (3:30-4:30), Olin 141 1 Credit; S/CR/NC
The Department of Physics and Astronomy is pleased to announce this year’s Physics 123 Line-up. “What Physicists Do” is our annual series of five lectures by invited speakers, many of whom are Carleton Physics alumni. It is intended to introduce students to a broad range of real-world physics and to give some perspective on the kinds of work done by people with a physics background. The course is open to all interested students who have taken PHYS 151; those considering a major in physics are particularly encouraged to enroll.
The presentations are in OLIN 141 on Fridays during 6th period (3:30-4:30pm). The only requirement, beyond attending five talks, is to read an assigned article beforehand and then to submit a short (one page) typed essay afterwards commenting on both the talk and the reading. Speakers will be available for informal discussions over refreshments afterward. Questions: Arjendu Pattanayak, Olin 337, x7166, arjendu@carleton.edu
April 12th Catrice Carter ’11: “Device and Metasurface Designs for Next-Generation Blue-Emitting Organic LEDs: Cost, Sustainability, Efficiency, and Stability”
Proponents for sustainable alternative lighting and display options advocate for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), particularly polymer organic light-emitting diodes (P-OLEDs), because of their potential for low-cost fabrication, more versatile device formats, and lower power consumption compared to traditional options. Typically, red, green, and blue phosphorescent OLEDs (Ph-OLEDs) are necessary for white lighting and display applications. However, blue Ph-OLED device architectures have lower efficiency relative to that of red and green with with EQEs of 3.5%, 5.5%, and 9%, and 3.5%. Further, OLED luminaires have lifetimes 25% less than that for a typical inorganic LED. Prior studies have proposed methods such as new materials (metal oxides and fluorides) for the charge transport layers, alternative device architectures (such as top-emitting and inverted devices), and integrated light management structures (such as using noble metal nanostructures) to resolve these issues, but not much consideration has been given to the environmental and economic ramifications. Hence, in this work various P-OLED device architectures are theoretically and experimentally studied to determine efficiency and stability enhancement approaches, while accounting for cost and sustainability concerns within the research and development phase. The approaches to improve OLED device performance reported in this presentation have the potential to save on capital costs and on energy consumption, to improve stability and efficiency gains, and to minimize the carbon footprint associated with OLED devices.
Additionally, an overview of other research efforts and interests will be discussed, including topics in technology scaling and Moore’s Law.