Chiral Organic Semiconductors

Chirality, which describes the property of right- or left-handedness, has been extensively studied across physics, chemistry, and biology. While chirality has long been a focus in the life sciences due to its critical role in biological systems and natural products, its applications in materials science remain relatively underexplored.[1] One fascinating characteristic of chiral molecules is their specific interaction with left- and right-handed circularly polarized light, manifested either in absorption (Electronic Circular Dichroism, ECD) or emission (Circularly Polarized Luminescence, CPL). CPL is particularly relevant in emerging chirophotonic applications, including CPL photodetectors[2], circularly polarized LEDs[3], 3D displays[4], as well as bioresponsive imaging[5], and more.[6] In this work, we will explore the synthesis and photophysical/chiroptical characterization of enantioenriched chromophores based on a novel combination of cyclooctatetrathiophene and the porphyrin pigment. This association is expected to give rise to novel organic semiconductors (OSCs) merging multiple desirable properties including remarkable solubility, good thermal and chemical stability, and significant chiroptical activity.

ILV is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities (PASTEL and CEFS2 platforms) for advanced research. The group possesses extensive instruments for structural, photophysical, and computational analysis, with dedicated financial, administrative, and technical staff ensuring comprehensive support.

The doctoral student will be co-supervised by Dr. Barreteau (EDOM, CEA/SPEC/GMT group), with Dr. Dhbaibi, recently recruited to ILV as a Lecturer, as their primary supervisor.

The successful candidate will participate in numerous in-house training courses, specifically receiving training in DFT (GMT), in addition to optimizing molecular engineering at ILV. Weekly meetings will be held, in addition to rigorous monitoring of laboratory notebook maintenance, for example. We will ensure his/her smooth integration into our respective teams, supporting them through all the usual stages of research training.

We have worked with Pr. Adachi's team in Japan for more than 7 years, and all my previous PhDs have spent at least 3 months in Kyushu University: thus, our Japanese colleagues know how to welcome and train our students, knowing that they also have dormitories available for them, which means the year planned abroad will be easy to organize.

In addition, the dissemination of scientific results will primarily occur through publications in peer-reviewed journals (Nat. Chem., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Chem. Sci., or more specialized journals such as Adv. Mater). In accordance with the ANR and Horizon 2020's "Open Science" policy, these publications will be made available in the HAL open archive. Furthermore, data published during and after the project will be shared according to the FAIR principle (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable).

To sum-up, this multidisciplinary and international scientific environment (IRP) combining modelling, design and synthesis, photophysical and chiroptical characterizations, as well as the study of targeted emissive materials in CP-OLED devices, will fully benefit the doctoral student who would join this consortium, with several months already planned and funded for his/her training in Japan.

Strong background in organic chemistry and stereochemistry and  experience in synthetic molecular design and multistep organic synthesis

Skills in spectroscopy and chiroptical techniques