Ratcliff Wins NSF Award to Study Organic Semiconductors

Most people aren’t accustomed to hearing “organic” and “semiconductor” in the same sentence. But the words flow naturally for Erin Ratcliff, a University of Arizona assistant professor of materials science and engineering with a chemistry background.

Ratcliff is co-principal investigator on a new research project funded by the National Science Foundation to better understand and improve the viability of organic semiconductor materials, which are being used more and more in the manufacturing of digital display screens and new electronic devices.

The $590,000, three-year award teams Ratcliff with Jeanne Pemberton, a UA Regents’ Professor of chemistry and biochemistry in the College of Science and principal investigator on the study.