This award will support collaborative research in solid state chemistry between Dr. Arthur Epstein, Ohio State University and Dr. J.P. Pouget, University of Paris-Sud, Orsay, France. The objective of the project is to investigate structural phenomema in quasi-one-dimensional systems. More specifically, the researchers propose to explore the subtle relationships between local molecular and polymeric crystallographic order and electronic and magnetic phenomena in low dimensional solids, especially with respect to the polyaniline family of polymers and the ferromagnetic charge transfer salts. The study of electronic and magnetic phenomena in low dimensional organic and organometallic solids has made revolutionary advances in the past two decades. A key aspect of these advances is the exploration of properties of new material systems and determination of the dependence of these properties on subtle local structural phenomena. An essential aspect for the advancement of scientific study of these systems is the knowledge of the local structure and its variation with temperature and chemical modification. This cooperative research program combines the structural expertise of the University of Paris-Sud group with the experience in integrated optical, magnetic and electrical studies of the Ohio State group. Drs. Epstein and Pouget have a decade-long history of joint research efforts to uncover the effects of local order on the one and three dimensional electronic phenomena in molecular and polymeric systems. Dr. Pouget's laboratory is one of the few in the world which is set up specifically to study the subtle orders in materials and Dr. Pouget himself is a leading authority in structural phenomena of low-dimensional solids. The results of this research should significantly enhance understanding of the physical properties of polyaniline in terms of chemical structure.
