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San Francisco Marriott Hotel and Argent Hotel
April 16-20, 2001
San Francisco, California
Plenary Session
Alan J. Heeger
University of California, Santa Barbara
Talk Presentation
Semiconducting and Metallic Polymers:
The Fourth Generation of Polymeric Materials
Wednesday, April 18, 6:00 p.m.
Metropolitan Ballroom, Argent Hotel
Nobel laureate Alan J. Heeger obtained his PhD degree at the University of California-Berkeley in 1961. Heeger was a member of the Physics Department at the University of Pennsylvania from 1962 to 1982. He then accepted a professorship at UCSB where he was a founding member of the Materials Department and currently holds a joint appointment (Physics and Materials). Heeger, along with F. Wudl, co-founded the Institute for Polymers and Organic Solids at the University, and directed the Institute from 1983 until 1999.
Heeger and his colleagues at UCSB have accomplished pioneering research in the area of semiconducting and metallic polymers. This class of novel materials has the electrical and optical properties of semiconductors and metals in combination with the processing advantages and mechanical properties of polymers. His current research interests lie in the area of transport in semiconducting polymers, light emission from semiconducting polymers (both photoluminescence and electroluminescence), and ultrafast measurements directed toward investigation of the nature of the primary photoexcitations in semiconductiong polymers. His research group focuses on issues related to the fundamental electronic structure of this novel class of materials and carries out studies of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), and lasers, all fabricated from semiconducting (conjugated) polymers.
According to Heeger, high performance devices
have been fabricated by casting thin film structures using soluble
conducting polymers. These devices include (LEDs), photodiodes,
lasers, and thin-film transistors. Heeger will briefly review
the materials and the fundamental physics that enable these applications.
Currently chief scientist at UNIAX Corporation, Heeger founded
the corporation in 1990 and served as chair until 1999. UNIAX
was acquired by DuPont in early 2000. Heeger's honors include
Fellow of the American Physical Society, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
Fellow, Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, Buckley Prize in Solid
State Physics (1983), Balzan Prize for the Science of New Materials
(1995), and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2000), as well as numerous
honorary degrees.
