Alan J. Heeger

University of California, Santa Barbara


Primary Section: 33, Applied Physical Sciences
Secondary Section: 13, Physics
Membership Type:
Member (elected 2001)

Research Interests

My colleagues and I have done pioneering research in the area of highly conducting organic solids with emphasis on the class of materials known as semiconducting and metallic polymers. My research interests have focused on the development of the fundamental physics and chemistry that determine the electronic and optical properties of semiconducting and metallic polymers with the goal of making these novel materials available for applications in technology. I was a founder of UNIAX Corporation in 1990 and am now chief scientist. UNIAX, acquired in 1990 by DuPont, is focusing on bringing polymer displays into commercial products. More recently, I have initiated studies of conjugated polyelectrolytes and the use of such conjugated polyelectrolytes in the area of biosensors, that is, water-soluble semiconducting, luminescent polymers (and oligomers) covalently bonded to biospecific ligands as the active materials.

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