The Next Generation Organic Materials Oligoacenes, Heteroacenes and Cyclacenes

University Of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles CA

Investigators

Abstract

A radically new class of organic materials, the protected oligoacenes and polyacenes are proposed. Unlike the much-explored conjugated polymers, these unsaturated macromolecules will be electrical conductors without the need of a dopant; they will be they first of the oligocenes, the cyclacenes may exhibit even more exotic properties, such as superconductivity at higher temperatures. The proposed syntheses are relatively short, so that large amounts of materials will be available for the evaluation of physical properties and device (FET, LED, photodiode, etc.) fabrication. Organic electronic materials have just entered the commercial engineering mainstream in the form of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), photodiodes (plastic solar cells) and thin film transistors (TFTs). The LEDs produce brighter and cooler light than standard incandescent lamps wand will have a large impact on society in terms of energy savings both in manufacturing and in use. The manufacture of organic TFTs will also be much more energy-efficient than the equivalent, current, silicon-based devices. Another important societal benefit of the research proposed here will be the considerably advance in the education of the graduate and undergraduate students supported by these funds. Development of these organic electronic devices will provide a truly interdisciplinary educational foundation for our future workforce.