From: "Nance L Briscoe
To: "Peter H Proctor" <drp@drproctor.com>
Cc: "Nance L. Briscoe"
Subject: Re: Very Early Organic Semiconductor Device
Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 17:26:02 -0400
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THANK YOU Peter !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I so wish all donors where as specific and could follow through as well as you!!
 
YES - ABSOLUTELY we will be very pleased to receive this donation to the collections! I want this item to be added to the reference source chip site at http://smithsonianchips.si.edu as well - any copyright will forward to the Smithsonian - you need to know that. However all credit is given to the donor, scientist, etc for the technology - we own copyright on all things provided for history's sake in research with the donor(s)' names and/or contact always involved.


Nance Briscoe
----- Original Message -----
From: Peter H Proctor
Sent: Wednesday, October 23, 2002 6:26 PM
Subject: Very Early Organic Semiconductor Device

 
Dear Ms Brisco;

          As a followup to our converstion of last week:   We wish to either donate or place on permanent loan to the Smithsonian the following item,   for the purpose of exibition:

Melanin Bistable Switch--- A very early organic semiconductor electronic device. 

Provenance:

       This device was constructed at  the Physics Department of  the University of Texas MD  Anderson Hospital in the Fall of 1973.    It was then used  in a series of experiments published in 1974 in the Journal Science,   titled  "Amorphous Semiconductor  Switching in Melanin ".    This paper is posted online at  www.drproctor.com/os/amorphous.htm .

      About 1978,  the device was moved by  John McGinness to his home laboratory,  where it was used for further experiments in the development of a battery using an organic semiconducting material.      The  apparartus remained there until June of 2002,  when  Dr McGinness gave it to me.     Belatedly realizing its historical value,    I have since kept it in my office under lock and key.

Special  significance:

1)   This is likely the first reported electronic device to use an organic semiconductor as the active element.  In any case,  it antedates the next report we can find of such a device by about 8 years.

2)   The ON state of  this switch  has almost metallic conductivity,    This antedates Shirawkawa et als Nobel-Prize-winning 1977 report of similar ( but passive )  high conductivity in another polyacetylene.   So this device has basic science,  as well as technological significance.

3)   Melanin is a polyacetylene and vice versa.    Technically,  most,  if not all,  subsequent  organic semiconductor  devices also use some polyacetylene-derivative as the active element.  So this device is their immediate ancestor .

        I am attaching some photos of this device.   The vial contains diethyamine-doped melanin.  This is what we used for the original experiments,  although vial is from 1977,  still well-before anything similar.   If you wish,  we can donate this material,  but will attempt to find an earlier sample.

Yours truly, 

Peter H. Proctor, PhD, MD