Alan Heeger

Alan Heeger shared the 2000 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in discovering and developing conductive polymers. His research proved that organic plastics could be engineered to conduct electricity.

Organic electronics relies on carbon-based conductive polymers, the field pioneered by Heeger, instead of traditional silicon or metals. This research enables the creation of flexible smartphone screens, OLED TVs, and printable solar cells.

Heeger conducted his Nobel-winning research alongside chemist Alan MacDiarmid and physicist Hideki Shirakawa. The three scientists collaborated at the University of California, Santa Barbara, to unlock the electronic properties of plastics.

Heeger demonstrated that by doping a polymer with specific chemicals, electrons could be added or removed. This allows the remaining electrons to move freely along the polymer chain, carrying an electrical current.