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Conjugated polymers are carbon-based materials with extended pi-electron orbitals that can support both charged and neutral excitations. They are characterised by a rich photophysics revolving around the formation, diffusion, radiative or non-radiative decay, as well as dissociation and/or endothermic regeneration of excitonic species (bound hole-electron pairs - 04-1 eV binding energy). A precious tool to investigate such phenomena, that also underpin the exploitation of these materials in polymer light-emitting (PLEDs) and photovoltaic diodes, PVDs, field-effect transistors, as well as in FETs and light-emitting transistors (LETs), is time-resolved photoluminescence spectroscopy.
This project will make use of a recently acquired state-of-the-art TCSPC spectrometer to look at the decay dynamics of organic semiconductors solutions, thin films and self-organised or lithographed nanostructure, on the ps and ns timescales. The emphasis will be, in particular, on the control of intermolecular interactions in covalently or supramolecularly engineered organic semiconductors that we access via collaboration with a range of world-leading synthetic chemists.
Contacts: Franco Cacialli