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2025
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Chemistry
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2026

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Best Scientists

D-Index
209
Citations
228474
World Ranking
204
National Ranking
133

Materials Science

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209
Citations
230232
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24
National Ranking
13

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204
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7

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203
Citations
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45
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34

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2026 - Research.com Physics in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Chemistry in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Physics in United States Leader Award
  • 2022 - Research.com Materials Science in United States Leader Award
  • 2011 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2002 - Member of the National Academy of Engineering For co-founding the field of conducting polymers and for pioneering work in making these novel materials available for technological applications.
  • 2001 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2000 - Nobel Prize for the discovery and development of conductive polymers
  • 1995 - International Balzan Prize
  • 1983 - Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize, American Physical Society For his studies of conducting polymers and organic solids, and in particular for his leadership in our understanding of the properties of quasi-one-dimensional conductors
  • 1969 - Fellow of American Physical Society (APS)
  • 1968 - Fellow of John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
  • 1963 - Fellow of Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences
  • Foreign Member, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Overview

Alan J. Heeger is affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara in the United States. Their work is primarily recognized for contributions to the field of conducting polymers.

Heeger has received several honors acknowledging different aspects of their scientific career. They were awarded the Nobel Prize in 2000 for the discovery and development of conductive polymers. That same contribution also led to recognition from the National Academy of Engineering in 2002, which cited their role in co-founding the field of conducting polymers and pioneering the practical applications of these novel materials.

Other distinctions include becoming a Member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2001 and receiving the International Balzan Prize in 1995. Earlier recognition includes the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Prize from the American Physical Society in 1983, awarded for studies of conducting polymers and organic solids, particularly leadership in understanding quasi-one-dimensional conductors.

Heeger was also recognized as a Fellow by several organizations: the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2011, the American Physical Society (APS) in 1969, the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation in 1968, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in 1963. Additionally, they hold status as a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Best Publications

  • Polymer photovoltaic cells : enhanced efficiencies via a network of internal donor-acceptor heterojunctions

    G. Yu;J. Gao;J. C. Hummelen;F. Wudl

  • Solitons in polyacetylene

    W. P. Su;J. R. Schrieffer;A. J. Heeger

  • Design Rules for Donors in Bulk‐Heterojunction Solar Cells—Towards 10 % Energy‐Conversion Efficiency

    Markus C. Scharber;David Mühlbacher;Markus Koppe;Patrick Denk

  • Photoinduced electron transfer from a conducting polymer to buckminsterfullerene.

    N. S. Sariciftci;L. Smilowitz;A. J. Heeger;F. Wudl

  • Thermally stable, efficient polymer solar cells with nanoscale control of the interpenetrating network morphology

    Wanli Ma;Cuiying Yang;Xiong Gong;Kwanghee Lee

  • Synthesis of electrically conducting organic polymers: halogen derivatives of polyacetylene, (CH)x

    Hideki Shirakawa;Edwin J Louis;Alan g MacDiarmid;Chwan K Chiang

  • Electrical Conductivity in Doped Polyacetylene.

    C. K. Chiang;C. R. Fincher;Y. W. Park;A. J. Heeger

  • Solitons in conducting polymers

    A. J. Heeger;S. Kivelson;J. R. Schrieffer;W. P. Su

  • Bulk heterojunction solar cells with internal quantum efficiency approaching 100

    Sung Heum Park;Sung Heum Park;Anshuman Roy;Serge Beaupré;Shinuk Cho;Shinuk Cho

  • Soliton excitations in polyacetylene

    W. P. Su;J. R. Schrieffer;A. J. Heeger

  • Efficient tandem polymer solar cells fabricated by all-solution processing.

    Jin Young Kim;Jin Young Kim;Kwanghee Lee;Kwanghee Lee;Nelson E. Coates;Nelson E. Coates;Daniel Moses;Daniel Moses

  • Efficiency enhancement in low-bandgap polymer solar cells by processing with alkane dithiols

    J. Peet;J. Y. Kim;N. E. Coates;W. L. Ma

  • Flexible light-emitting diodes made from soluble conducting polymers

    G. Gustafsson;Y. Cao;G. M. Treacy;F. Klavetter

  • Visible light emission from semiconducting polymer diodes

    David Braun;A. J. Heeger

  • 25th anniversary article: Bulk heterojunction solar cells: understanding the mechanism of operation.

    Alan J. Heeger

  • Polymer Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells

    Qibing Pei;Gang Yu;Chi Zhang;Yang Yang

  • Recombination in polymer-fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells

    Sarah R. Cowan;Anshuman Roy;Alan J. Heeger

  • New Architecture for High-Efficiency Polymer Photovoltaic Cells Using Solution-Based Titanium Oxide as an Optical Spacer

    Jin Young Kim;Jin Young Kim;Sun Hee Kim;Hyun-Ho Lee;Kwanghee Lee

  • High-detectivity polymer photodetectors with spectral response from 300 nm to 1450 nm.

    Xiong Gong;Minghong Tong;Yangjun Xia;Wanzhu Cai

  • Processing Additives for Improved Efficiency from Bulk Heterojunction Solar Cells

    Jae Kwan Lee;Wan Li Ma;Christoph J. Brabec;Jonathan Yuen

Frequent Co-Authors

Guillermo C. Bazan
Guillermo C. Bazan National University of Singapore
Fred Wudl
Fred Wudl University of California, Santa Barbara
Alan G. MacDiarmid
Alan G. MacDiarmid University of Pennsylvania
Xiong Gong
Xiong Gong University of Akron
Kwanghee Lee
Kwanghee Lee Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology
Shinuk Cho
Shinuk Cho University of Ulsan
Yong Cao
Yong Cao South China University of Technology
Anthony F. Garito
Anthony F. Garito University of Pennsylvania
Jin Young Kim
Jin Young Kim Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology
Jung Hwa Seo
Jung Hwa Seo University of Seoul

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