Innovative devices, components, or structures--either electrical or optical--derived from tailored organic materials and process technologies. In organic electronics, organic structures and materials participate in or are essential to a wide diversity of functions that can occur within electrical or optical systems.

Competitive electronics manufacturing depends upon the development and integration of innovative and cost-effective device and materials technologies to create the diverse electrical and optical components or subsystems needed for tomorrow's electronics applications. Whether it is for memory or logic devices; optical or electrical interconnection, illumination or information displays; light or energy resources; detectors, sensors, or actuators; or lithography or molecular patterning, organic electronics technologies are emerging as viable technology options for creating new and improved electrical and optical systems and products.

This ATP outreach topic seeks to catalyze the development of new cost-effective technologies that could leap-frog existing methods for realizing the kind of system functions illustrated above. Of particular interest to ATP are opportunities of greatest interest to U.S. manufacturers of commercial electronics products, components, devices, and materials that involve high technical risk problems. The goal of ATP is to stimulate high technical risk R&D that can bridge the gap between the laboratory and the marketplace, and to accelerate the utilization of organic electronic technologies in tomorrow's commercial products.

This effort complements existing ATP programs in microelectronics and photonics manufacturing; and power technologies, and supports trends towards broader integration of functions within electrical and optical systems. It also leverages fundamental innovations in large-area-, disposable-, and molecular-electronics; MEMS; and smart structures that have the potential for high commercial impact.