ChE Seminar: Excitons, Disorder, and Nonequilibrium Transport in Hybrid Semiconductor Nanomaterials

Details

William A. Tisdale, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Chemical Engineering
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Title: Excitons, Disorder, and Nonequilibrium Transport in Hybrid Semiconductor Nanomaterials

Abstract: 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.

Bio: Will Tisdale is Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT. His research program is focused on the development of colloidal semiconductor nanomaterials for use in next-generation energy technologies, and the use of ultrafast laser spectroscopy methods and advanced optical microscopy techniques for probing dynamics at the nanoscale. He earned a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware in 2005, a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2010, and was a postdoc in the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT before joining the faculty in 2012. Will is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the DOE Early Career Award, the NSF CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, the Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, and the AIChE Nanoscale Science & Engineering Forum Young Investigator Award. For his dedication to undergraduate teaching Will has been recognized with MIT’s highest honor, the MacVicar Fellowship, and the student-selected Baker Award.