Electronic And Optical Properties Of Conjugated Oligomers And Polymers

Conjugated polymers have important technological applications, including solar cells and light emitting devices. They are also active components in many important biological processes. In recent years there have been significant advances in our understanding of these systems, owing to both improved experimental measurements and the development of advanced computational techniques. The aim of this book is to describe and explain the electronic and optical properties of conjugated polymers. It focuses on the three key roles of electron-electron interactions, electron-nuclear coupling, and disorder in determining the character of the electronic states, and it relates these properties to experimental observations in real systems. A number of important optical and electronic processes in conjugated polymers are also described. The second edition has a more extended discussion of excitons in conjugated polymers. There is also a new chapter on the static and dynamical localization of excitons.

Electroactive oligomers form an important class of advanced materials for the development of new devices such as thin-film, flexible batteries; semiconductors; large-area optical displays; and sensors. In addition, the study of oligomeric model compounds is an essential prerequisite for understanding and developing polymers for electronics and optoelectronics applications. Written and edited by leading scientists in the field, this applications-oriented handbook represents the first comprehensive, systematic study of electroactive oligomeric materials. Special emphasis is placed on a critical review of the literature; relevant materials and technical data are collected in tables throughout. Includes - materials synthesis - structure--property relationship as a function of chain-length - applications in optics and electronics - oligomers as models for polymers - the role of oligomers in tomorrow's technology? Electronic Materials - The Oligomer Approach offers a stimulating combination of basic concepts and practical applications. It is sure to become a standard reference source that no-one working in the field can do without.

This essential resource consists of a series of critical reviews written by leading scientists, summarising the progress in the field of conjugated thiophene materials. It is an application-oriented book, giving a chemists’ point of view on the state-of-art and perspectives of the field. While presenting a comprehensive coverage of thiophene-based materials and related applications, the aim is to show how the rational molecular design of materials can bring a new breadth to known device applications or even aid the development of novel application concepts. The main topics covered include synthetic methodologies to thiophene-based materials (including the chemistry of thiophene, preparation of oligomers and polymerisation approaches) and the structure and physical properties of oligo- and polythiophenes (discussion of structural effects on electronic and optical properties). Part of the book is devoted to the optical and semiconducting properties of conjugated thiophene materials for electronics and photonics, and the role of thiophene-based materials in nanotechnology.

The papers from this four-day symposium include two talks from the 2000 Nobel Prize winners in chemistry, Professor Alan MacDiarmid and Professor Alan Heeger. The volume emphasizes the broad scientific and technological interest in applications of organic materials to electronics, optics, and optoelectronics. Materials synthesis and modification from the nanoscale to the mesoscale to the macroscale are discussed. Technological applications range from transistors and nanoelectronics, to light-emitting diodes, photovoltaics, photonic crystals, photodetectors, organic memories, and nonlinear optical materials. Topics include: electronic and optical properties; materials; devices; photovoltaics and transistors; self-assembly, nanostructures and printing; and growth and interfaces.

This book constitutes the Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Conjugated Polymers held at the University of Mons, Belgium, during the first week of September 1989. The Workshop was attended by about fifty scientists representing most of the leading research groups within NATO countries, that have contributed to the development of conjugated polymeric materials. The program was focused on applications related to electrical conductivity and nonlinear optics. The attendance was well balanced with a blend of researchers from academic, industrial, and government labs, and including synthetic chemists, physical chemists, physicists, materials scientists, and theoreticians. The Workshop provided an especially timely opportunity to discuss the important progress that has taken place in the field of Conjugated Polymers in the late eighties as well as the enormous potential that lies in front of us. Among the recent significant developments in the field, we can cite for instance: (i) The discovery of novel synthetic routes affording conjugated polymers -that are much better characterized, especially through control of the molecular weight; - that can be processed from solution or the melt; the early promise that conducting polymcrs would constitute materials combining the electrical conductivities of metals with the mechanical properties of plastics is now being realized; -that can reach remarkably high conductivities.

This book is intended for those who are interested in understanding the electronic structure and properties of polymers. The scope of the book is to provide the non-specialist reader with a comprehensive and unified description: (i) of quantum mechanical methods, mainly originating from quantum chemistry, to calculate the electronic properties of polymers, (ii) of their use for interpreting and predicting results in fields where the electronic structure is playing an important role, like the electrical conductivity and the non linear optical properties of conjugated polymers.It will also serve as a reference book to lecture graduate students on the electronic structure of polymers or more generally of quasi-one dimensional materials. In this framework, it is worth stressing that the quantum theory of polymers bridges the gap between chemistry and physics. Since no book of this kind involving a strong interaction between theoretical and experimental concepts is available at the moment, it will also meet a need for a timely monograph in a field of important and fast growing interest.

"Furnishes the necessary background information, methods of characterization, and applications of optic and photonic systems based on polymers. Provides detailed tutorial chapters that offer in-depth explanations of optic and photonic fundamentals and synthesis techniques."