CBE Seminar (Zoom): Organic Semiconductors for Optoelectronics and Energy Applications

Registration link for non-UCI people: https://forms.gle/LW3qwoZAjqQrohTKA

Abstract: Organic semiconductors (OSCs) are a class of carbon-based materials comprised of alternate single and double bonds (conjugated pi-bonds). They can be synthesized to have band gaps from the UV to the near infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. OSCs are attractive due to their unique properties: lightweight, mechanical flexibility, low cost, low-temperature processing, and simple fabrication methods such as roll-to-roll coating, spray coating or ink-jet printing into desired size and shape. Such materials are expected to form the basis of new technologies — called the Organic Electronics. OSCs have been implemented in commercial products such as displays and lighting and have potential applications in transistors, solar cells, photodetectors, thermoelectrics, ratchets, sensors, neuromorphic computing and bioelectronics. In this talk, I will discuss the development of OSCs for applications in solar cells, photodetectors and electrochemical transistors. I will highlight how chemical structure and processing conditions can be used to tune the materials properties and therefore the device performance. The results from these studies provide design guidelines for new generations of materials for applications in organic electronics.

Bio: Thuc-Quyen Nguyen is the director of the Center for Polymers and Organic Solids (CPOS) and professor in the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). Professor Nguyen received her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physical chemistry from UCLA. From 2001-2004, she was a research associate in the Department of Chemistry and the Nanocenter at Columbia University working with Professors Louis Brus and Colin Nuckolls on molecular self-assembly, nanoscale characterization and devices. She also spent time at IBM Research Center at T. J. Watson (Yorktown Heights, NY) working with Richard Martel and Phaedon Avouris on molecular electronics. She joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSB in July 2004.

She has co-authored 273 publications and 3 book chapters that received over 31,000 citations and gave over 275 invited talks at national and international conferences, universities, and companies. Recognition for her research includes the 2005 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, the 2006 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the 2007 Harold Plous Award, the 2008 Camille Dreyfus Teacher Scholar Award, 2009 Alfred Sloan Research Fellows, 2010 National Science Foundation American Competitiveness and Innovation Fellows, the 2015 Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Award, 2016 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, 2019 Hall of Fame - Advanced Materials, 2019 Beaufort Visiting Scholar (St John’s College, Cambridge University), 2015-2019 World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds, Top 1% Highly Cited Researchers in Materials Science by Thomson Reuters and Clarivate Analytics, 2019 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Stanford University's 2020 list of the World Top 2% Highly Cited Scientists, the 2020 UCSB Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award, and 2021 Women in Materials Science by Advanced Materials.

Her current research interests are doping in organic semiconductors, charge transport in organic semiconductors, bioelectronics, and device physics of organic solar cells, ratchets, transistors, and photodetectors.

Website: https://nguyen.chem.ucsb.edu/thuc-quyen-nguyen
https://www.cpos.ucsb.edu/members

Host: Professor Alon Gorodetsky