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

非技术：人们对低成本、轻质的柔性电子设备越来越感兴趣，例如使用有机（碳基）分子或聚合物代替传统半导体的显示器、照明和太阳能电池。有机材料的电性能通常使用称为掺杂剂的添加剂来控制。PI已经开发出掺杂剂分子，其表现出前所未有的易用性和有效性的组合。最近，他们发现暴露于光可以进一步增加这些掺杂剂的效用，使它们能够与适用于显示器应用的材料一起使用，对于显示器应用，很少有其他掺杂剂是有效的。本研究探讨了这种方法的可能性和局限性，使用化学合成的新掺杂剂，电气测量，器件制造和测试。研究成果可能会导致改进的设备，特别是需要更少功率的显示器。该研究为研究生提供了跨学科的培训，提供了案例研究，以纳入PI的讲座，并通过主办暑期学生和鼓励申请研究生院，在少数民族服务机构和会议招聘，并通过与新墨西哥州高地大学的互动，为妇女和少数民族的教育和培训提供了机会。用分子氧化剂或还原剂对有机半导体进行可控掺杂可以极大地改善晶体管（OFFET）以及有机光致发光器件和发光二极管中的电荷注入和导电性。二聚n型掺杂剂提供了前所未有的环境稳定性和强还原能力的组合。这项研究基于PI最近的发现，即紫外线或可见光可以将这些二聚体的有效强度扩展到其热力学极限之外，从而实现OLED材料的n掺杂。研究的目标是通过改变半导体电子亲和力和刚性，开发更强和更弱的二聚n型掺杂剂，以及开发二聚p型掺杂剂，了解光活化的机制，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，电气和掺杂剂扩散测量;和OLED制造和测试。更广泛的技术影响包括促进具有低开启电压的OLED，以及简化OPV和OFET制造。教育影响包括对研究生进行合成化学、物理表征和设备工作方面的跨学科培训;将基于研究的材料纳入PI机构和新墨西哥州高地大学的讲座中（学生还可以确定新化合物的晶体结构）;该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.