Alan J. Heeger

Alan J. Heeger is an American chemist and physicist who shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering and developing conductive polymers.

Alan MacDiarmid: A New Zealand-born American chemist who shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for work on conductive polymers. Heeger and MacDiarmid collaborated with Hideki Shirakawa on doped polyacetylene.
Conductive polymer: An organic polymer that can conduct electricity through mobile charge carriers along its molecular structure. Developing these materials was the central achievement recognized by Heeger’s Nobel Prize.
Organic electronics: Electronic devices and systems made with carbon-based semiconductors and conductors. Conductive polymers became a material platform for this broader field.
Organic semiconductor: A carbon-based material whose electrical conductivity lies between that of an insulator and a conductor. Conductive-polymer research helped establish organic materials as a serious electronics platform.
Hideki Shirakawa: A Japanese chemist who shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for discovering conductive polymers. His discovery of highly conductive polyacetylene led to the collaboration with Heeger and MacDiarmid.
Polyacetylene: A polymer of repeating acetylene units that can conduct electricity when chemically doped. Its dramatic increase in conductivity provided the landmark demonstration associated with Heeger’s work.
Organic light-emitting diode: A light-emitting device in which an organic semiconductor emits light under electrical excitation. Conductive polymers and related organic materials have enabled flexible display technologies.
Plastic: A moldable material made from polymers, commonly associated with electrical insulation. Conductive polymers overturned the expectation that plastic must be electrically insulating.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry: An annual international award recognizing outstanding contributions to chemistry. The 2000 prize recognized Heeger’s role in establishing conductive polymers.
Polymer doping: The introduction of chemical dopants that change a polymer’s charge-carrier concentration and electrical properties. Doping transformed polyacetylene from a weak conductor into a highly conductive material.

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