Collaborative Research: Development of Dimeric Molecular n- and p-Dopants and their Application in Organic Light-emitting Diodes

非技术性：人们对使用有机(碳基)分子或聚合物取代传统半导体的显示器、照明和太阳能电池等低成本、轻巧的柔性电子设备的兴趣日益浓厚。有机材料的电学性能通常是使用称为掺杂剂的添加剂来控制的。PI已经开发出了掺杂剂分子，它展示了前所未有的易用性和有效性的结合。最近，他们发现，暴露在光线下可以进一步提高这些掺杂剂的用途，使它们能够与适合于显示应用的材料一起使用，而其他掺杂剂对这些材料几乎没有有效的效果。这项研究探索了这种方法的可能性和局限性，使用新的掺杂剂的化学合成，电测量，以及器件制造和测试。研究成果可能会带来设备的改进，特别是需要更少电力的显示器。这项研究为研究生提供跨学科的培训，提供案例研究，纳入PIS的讲座，并通过接待暑期学生和鼓励申请研究生院，在为少数群体服务的机构和会议上招聘，以及通过与新墨西哥高地大学的互动，为妇女和少数群体提供教育和培训机会。技术：有机半导体与分子氧化剂或还原剂的可控掺杂可以极大地改善晶体管(OFET)以及有机光伏和发光二极管的电荷注入和导电性。二聚n掺杂提供了前所未有的环境稳定性和强大的还原能力的组合。这项研究建立在PI最近的发现基础上，即紫外线或可见光可以将这些二聚体的有效强度扩展到超出其热力学限制，从而实现OLED材料的n掺杂。这项研究的目的是通过改变半导体电子的亲和力和刚性，开发更强和更弱的二聚体n-掺杂剂，以及开发二聚体p-掺杂剂来了解光激活的机理、范围、实用性和局限性。该方法包括掺杂剂的合成和表征；反应性和光活化研究；电子光谱、电学和掺杂剂扩散测量；以及OLED的制造和测试。更广泛的技术影响包括促进低开启电压的OLED，以及简化OPV和OFET的制造。教育影响包括对研究学生进行合成化学、物理表征和设备工作的跨学科培训；将基于研究的材料纳入PIs机构和新墨西哥高地大学(学生还确定新化合物的晶体结构)的讲座中；以及为妇女和少数民族提供教育和培训的机会。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Non-Technical: There is increasing interest in low-cost, lightweight flexible electronic devices such as displays, lighting and solar cells that use organic (carbon-based) molecules or polymers in place of traditional semiconductors. The electrical properties of organic materials are often controlled using additives called dopants. The PIs have developed dopant molecules that exhibit an unprecedented combination of ease of use and effectiveness. Recently they have discovered that exposure to light can increase the utility of these dopants still further, enabling them to be used with materials suitable for display applications for which few other dopants are effective. This research explores the possibilities and limitations of this approach using chemical synthesis of new dopants, electrical measurements, and device fabrication and testing. Research outcomes may lead to improved devices, particularly displays that require less power. The research provides graduate students with interdisciplinary training, affords case studies for inclusion in the PIs' lectures, and gives opportunities for the education and training of women and minorities by hosting summer students and encouraging application to graduate school, recruiting at minority-serving institutions and conferences, and through interactions with New Mexico Highlands University.Technical: Controllable doping of organic semiconductors with molecular oxidants or reductants can greatly improve charge injection and conductivity in transistors (OFETs), as well as organic photovoltaics and light-emitting diodes. Dimeric n-dopants offer an unprecedented combination of ambient stability and strong reducing ability. This research builds on the PIs' recent findings that UV or visible light can extend the effective strength of these dimers beyond their thermodynamic limit, enabling n-doping of OLED materials. The goal of the research is to understand the mechanism, scope, practicalities, and limitations of the photoactivation, through varying the semiconductor electron affinity and rigidity, developing both stronger and weaker dimeric n-dopants, and developing dimeric p-dopants. The approach includes dopant synthesis and characterization; reactivity and photoactivation studies; electron spectroscopy, electrical, and dopant-diffusion measurements; and OLED fabrication and testing. Broader technological impacts include facilitating OLEDs with low turn-on voltages, and simplification of OPV and OFET manufacture. Educational impacts include interdisciplinary training of research students in synthetic chemistry, physical characterization, and device work; incorporation of materials based on the research into lectures at the PIs' institutions and at New Mexico Highlands University (where students also determine crystal structures of new compounds); and opportunities for the education and training of women and minorities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.