Physics Colloquium, January 8, 2008
Quantum Transport and the Roles of Nanostructures in Electronic Polymers Arthur J. Epstein

The Ohio State University, Departments of Physics & Chemistry

Polymers and Organic Solids have both internal and external structures that can be controlled on the nano scale through chemistry and processing. I introduce a number of new phenomena recently uncovered in electronic polymers and organic solids, the bases of which are rooted in the composition of their chemical repeat and the nanostructures that they form. Among these new phenomena are organic and polymer semiconductors that have bulk magnetoresistance exceeding 10% at 100 Oe, even at room temperature, controlled by the interconversion of singlets and triplets in magnetic field; polymer metals that have non-Drude behavior with metallic conductivity controlled by resonant quantum tunneling between self-assembled quantum dots; nanowires of conducting polymers that have 'mechanically' controlled metal - insulator transitions; and surfaces turned superhydrophobic or superhydrophyllic through their nanostructure.

Dr. Epstein's Web Site

4:00 p.m., Physics Research Building (PRB), Room 1080

Reception at 3:45 p.m., Atrium, PRB