Fundamentals of Conjugated Ionomer Electronics

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This technical component of this project deals with certain fundamental principlesunderlying the application of ionically functionalized conducting polymers, so calledconjugated ionomers, to electronics. The three primary goals of the project are: (1) toelucidate the mechanism of current rectification at pn junctions based on conjugatedionomers; (2) to elucidate the mechanism of steady-state rectification in a new class ofheteroionic junctions formed between an undoped anionic and cationic ionomer; (3) toexplore a non-traditional method of doping conjugated polymers that relies on non-Faradaic processes. To achieve these goals, a comprehensive suite of electrical andelectrochemical characterization methods are applied to study a series of rationallydesigned polymer bilayer structures. These studies are complemented by studies onsingle layer structures and rely heavily on the availability of a family of conjugatedionomers or varying ionic functional group density. The results of the characterizationmethods are to be compared to both theories developed for inorganic semiconductoranalogues as well as those developed for molecular systems.The broader impacts of the proposal stem from better understanding the relationof polymeric to inorganic semiconductors as well as the unique properties of interfacesbetween mixed ionic/electronic conductors. In doing so, these studies will help guide thefuture development of electronic and optoelectronic devices, such as transistors and lightemittingdiodes, based on conjugated polymers. The project will also impact the trainingof both undergraduates and graduate students in the basic science of materials. Graduatestudents working on the project will be part of a comprehensive training program thatintegrates chemists and physicists and includes targeted technical training in the area ofsemiconductor devices as well as off-campus internships. A broad range ofundergraduates will be reached by the project both through their contributions to researchand through curriculum development. A new non-majors undergraduate course will bedeveloped that teaches basic chemical and physical principles using everyday materialsand the devices upon which they are based as a context.