Jason Azoulay, Ph.D.
Optoelectronics
Georgia Institute of Technology
Recruited: 2022
Jason Azoulay is an organic, organometallic and polymer chemist and internationally recognized leader in developing emerging semiconductor materials and devices. He has made significant contributions to the fields of polymer chemistry and materials science,bridging fundamental chemistry with real-world applications. His work focuses on the design, synthesis and characterization of advanced functional materials across numerous technology platforms, with an emphasis on organic semiconductors and conjugated polymers.
Organic semiconductors have ushered in a new era of fundamental research and technological innovation. These materials have found application in numerous high-tech industries, such as lighting and displays, printed electronics, energy conversion and storage and sensing. By understanding the relationships between molecular structure and macroscopic properties, Azoulay has developed fundamentally new approaches to control the properties of these materials, opening access to applications once thought beyond the capacity of organic materials systems.
Azoulay’s research has made major strides in evolving organic semiconductors to overcome foundational limitations within the field. He has enabled a new generation of infrared optoelectronics, devices that emit, detect or modulate infrared radiation. Azoulay’s research has made it possible to overcome drawbacks in the cost, manufacturing and performance of these devices, making it possible for more of them to address many critical needs – in climate change, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and many other areas.
More precisely, his work has pioneered advances in photonics, spin manipulation, magnetism and quantum functionalities that are at the forefront of diverse fields and form the basis for emerging technologies. Azoulay has also demonstrated new chemical sensors that operate in complex aqueous environments with the sensitivity, specificity and performance needed for critical environmental monitoring applications.
Azoulay has directed large interdisciplinary and center-level efforts in conjugated polymers, optoelectronics and chemical sensing, and he has launched a startup company as well. He has also received numerous awards and honors, including the 2017 Nokia-Bell Labs Prize and Department of Energy Early Career Research Program Award.
Azoulay co-directs the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics, and his lab adds great strength to Georgia Tech’s leadership in soft-matter and hybrid optoelectronics. His work also complements numerous efforts at Georgia Tech that develop and apply advanced functional materials.
