Hybrid Semiconductor Nanomaterials

Hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor nanomaterials – including colloidal quantum dots (QDs), 2D halide perovskites, and metal-organic chalcogenolates (MOCs) – are excitonic materials with applications ranging from solar cells to light-emitting devices to quantum computing and quantum cryptography. In these emerging materials, the combination of quantum and dielectric confinement, strong exciton-phonon coupling, and dimensionality reduction offer unprecedented opportunities for controlling light-matter-charge interactions through chemistry. In this talk, I will describe recent work from my lab on the synthesis of hybrid semiconductor nanomaterials and our evolving understanding of how structure and chemical functionalization influence excited state dynamics. Using a combination of ultrafast laser spectroscopy, time-resolved optical microscopy, and kinetic modeling, we will explore the impact of nonequilibrium population dynamics on excited state transport phenomena and the emergence of unique electronic and vibrational phenomena.