In this award, funded by the Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division, Prof. Linda Peteanu from Carnegie-Mellon University and her graduate student colleagues will investigate the electronic properties of an important class of conjugated polymeric materials -- MEH-PPV. These fluorescent conjugated polymeric materials are important in a number of electronic devices, and show promise in a number of technological applications. Prof. Peteanu and her group, working with a number of collaborators will bring to bear a number of powerful tools -- including electronic structure calculations with David Yaron (Carnegie -Mellon), THz absorption spectroscopy measurements with Ted Heilweil (NIST-Gaithersburg), X-ray scattering with Stephanie Tristram-Nagle (Carnegie-Mellon), and a number of microscopic and spectroscopic methods in her own lab -- to study the fundamental physical processes occurring in these materials. The ultimate goal of these studies is to develop a better understanding of the microscopic physical and chemical processes occurring in these materials, with an eye towards developing materials with improved properties.
Organic electronic materials show great promise for a number of electronic and photo-physical applications including flat-screen displays, organic transistors, and photocells. An improved understanding of the fundamental photophysics taking place in these materials will likely lead to improved materials for these various devices. Providing this improved understanding is one of the main goals of the research carried out in studies like the one funded in this award. In addition to the broader societal impact that these improved materials will have, the students trained in this project will be broadly educated in a number of disciplines including materials science, physics and chemistry.
