Assist. Prof. ORITA Yasuhiko and TAKEHARA Ryosuke received the 23rd Tokyo Tech Challenging Research Awards.

The development of basic research on electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of organic materials has been cultivated over many years. However, our understanding of the thermophysical properties of organic materials, especially their heat transport properties, has lagged behind. Thermal energy reflects the degrees of freedom of motion of atoms and molecules in matter, and it is well known that phonons, which are quantized translational motions of the center of mass of molecules, are responsible for heat transport. However, organic materials have numerous degrees of freedom of motion around their center of mass, that is, molecular dynamics, which can lead to the development of new heat transport properties not found in inorganic materials. If the relationship between molecular dynamics and heat transport can be clarified, and if such heat transport properties can be controlled by molecular design and external fields, new heat management technologies using organic materials are expected to be developed. This research project will challenge the understanding and exploration of heat transport originating from two types of molecular dynamics. One is the study of the propagation mechanism of thermal energy stored in intramolecular vibrations. We are interested in clarifying how thermal energy stored in intramolecular vibrations, which are highly localized vibrational modes, propagates through crystals. The other is the study of heat transport in a molecular rotor system having more macroscopic molecular dynamics. In the recently developed two-dimensional dipolar molecular rotor system, the rotational motion of the rotor may facilitate the carrying of thermal energy, and we are interested in finding such a new heat transport mechanism. Understanding heat transport originating from the molecular dynamics unique to these organic materials is expected to open up a new research field of organic heat transport.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Fukushima, Associate Professor Shoji, Mr. Ogawa (M2 in Fukushima Lab.), and other collaborators, as well as Assistant Professor Fukui and other laboratory staff and students.