Apr 2013: NDSEG Fellowships are Announced:  Sarah Vorpahl and Dana Sulas BOTH receive fellowships!!  Congratulations Sarah and Dana, we're proud of you!

Mar 2013: NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are Announced: SarahVorpahl receives an honorable mention, and Dana Sulas receives an award,  as does former REU student Heidi Nelson (now working with Daniel Gamelin)! Congragulations Sarah, Dana, and Heidi!

Dec 2012: Yunqi Yan receives a Departmental Graduate Student Merit Fellowship. Congragulations Yunqi! Adam Colbert's J. Phys. Chem. Lett. paper shows the spectroscopic fingerprint of hole transfer from photoexcited PbS quantum dots to a conjugated polymer host -- providing insight into the charge generation mechanisms of hybrid organic/inorganic solar cells.

Nov 2012: NSF SEES Fellow Dr. Cody Schlenker's collaboration with Alex Jen's group publishes a JACS paper showing that polymer triplet energy levels need not limit photocurrent collection in organic solar cells.

Oct 2012: Guozheng Shao receives a Departmental International Travel Award to visit his alma mater, Peking Univeristy, in Beijing to give a research seminar. Congratulations Guozheng!

July 2012: David Ginger received the Burton Medal from the Microscopy Society of America at the Microscopy and Microanalysis 2012 Meeting on July 29.

April 2012: Brad MacLeod's paper on built-in potentials in SAM-modified organic diodes appears online in J. Phys. Chem. Lett., while Yunqi Yan's paper on photoswitchable oligonucleotide-modified gold nanoparticles and optical hybridzation stringency appears in Nano Letters. Meanwhile, Yunqi passes her 2nd year exam with no conditions, contiuing our perfect streak!

9 March 2012: Congratulations to Dr. Brad MacLeod who successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis on electroabsorption measurements of the built-in voltage in polymer photodiodes. Brad has a new job studying solar cells at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) studying in Golden CO. We'll miss him! Congratulations are also due to Adam Colbert and Liz Strein who passed their 2nd year exams with no conditions (continuing our recent perfect streak)!

Feb 15 2012: Several group members are featured talking about organic solar cells in the UW "Timeless Discoveries" video commemorating 150 years of research at UW,Watch all the clips here. Or see us talk about the future of solar energy here.

Feb 2012:The UW Advanced Materials for Energy Institute website is now live. Visit AME here to learn more about other UW faculty who are studying new materials for solar energy, batteries, and energy efficiency.

Feb 20 2012: The group ski trip to Steven's Pass was Monday Feb 20

Jan 2012: Dr. Raj Giridharagopals' paper on Submicrosecond Time Resolution Atomic Force Microscopy for Probing Nanoscale Dynamics is online at Nano Letters. The team shows that they can make measurements of transient carrier rise and decay times as fast as ~100 ns with nanoscale spatial resolution and applies the method to study nanostructured solar cells.

Jan 2012: DOE Gradaute Energy Fellow Kristina Knesting's Advanced Materials paper on Spatially modulating interfacial properties of transparent conductive oxides: patterning work function with phosphonic acid SAMs and its accompanying artwork are both online at Advanced Materials.

October 2012: Dr. Kevin Noone's final paper on Photoinduced Charge Transfer and Polaron Dynamics in Polymer and Hybrid Photovoltaic Thin Films is online at J. Phys. Chem. C. and compares charge generation and areas for for improvement across families of solar cells with many different organic and inorganic donors and acceptors.

May 25 2010: Dr. Keiko Munechika's paper on Quantum Dot/Plasmonic Nanoparticle Metachromophores is online at Nano Letters.

April 2011: Rayermann Named NDSEG Fellow Congratulations to Glennis Rayermann! Glennis received notification that she will receive a prestigious 2011 NDSEG Fellowship, awarded to only ~200 out of ~2700 applicants. Way to go Glennis!

March 2011: March Exam Madness Congratulations to newly minted Ph.D., Dr. Kevin Noone, who successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis, "Spectroscopic Investigation of Photoinduced Interfacial Charge Transfer in Blends of Conjugated Polymers and Semiconductor Quantum Dots". Further congratulations to 2nd year Ph.D. student Glennis Rayermann for passing the departmental 2nd year exam with flying colors!

Oct. 2010: There's something in the water. 2010 is the lab's most productive year to date--in more ways than one! With the publication of Obadiah and Glennis' paper comparing time-resolved EFM and SKPM to image local trap formation in organic solar cells we have not only published the most group papers of any year in group history, but did so in a year celebrating the births of new babies to 4 current and past group members. Congratulations to all members of the growing families!

June 2010: Dr. Jennifer Chen's paper on Plasmonic Nanoparticle Dimers for Optical Sensing of DNA in Complex Media is published online as a JACS Communication, and Kevin Noone's paper on broadband absorping bulk heterojunction photovoltaics using low bandgap quantum dots is now online on the Nanoletters website. A good week!

June 2010: Keiko Munechika and Obadiah Reid both successfully defend their PhD theses. Dr. Reid is now moving to Colorado to take up a position at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL), and Dr. Munechika will continue working in the group as a postdoctoral fellow (after taking a well-earned trip to Hawaii). Dr. Raj Giridharagopal gives an invited talk at the Complex Materials For Energy Applications Conference alongside Dan Nocera (MIT) and Jeff Long (Berkeley).

May 2010: The UW Discoveries video project features alternative energy topics and covers plastic solar cell research on campus, featuring David Ginger and Alex Jen, with appearances by Kristina Knesting, Keiko Munechika, Dr. Raj Giridharagopal, and Obadiah Reid. Watch on YouTube.

April 2010: Deanna Rodovsky's paper on Concerted Emission and Local Potentiometry of Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells addresses the controversial issue of the operating mechanism and contact effects in LECs, and has implications for other doped organic electronic devices. It is now available online in ACS Nano and contains some of the most difficult scanning probe experiments we have ever performed on active devices.

April 2010:Dr. Jennifer Chen gives an invited presentation at the Los Alamos Functionalized Nanomaterials: Bio Helps Nano meeting and Dr. Raj Giridharagopal gives an invited talk at the ECS meeting in Vancouver

April 2010: Prof. David J.C. Mackay, FRS, author of "Sustainable Energy -- without the hot air" and Chief Scientific Advisor to the U.K. Department of Energy and Climate Change is speaking on campus at 6:30 pm on Tuesday April 20, in Kane Hall 130 as part of the Energy Future public lecture series.

April 2010: Kristina Knesting has been named a Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Fellow. Only 150 students out of over 3200 applicants received this honor!

March 2010: Noah Horwitz has been named a 2010 Barry M. Goldwater Scholar. Congratulations Noah!

March 2010 Dr. Raj Giridharagopal's invited perspective discussing organic (plastic) solar cells "Characterizing Morphology in Bulk Heterojunction Organic Photovoltaic Systems" is published online at the Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. A commentary by Dr. Russell Gaudiana (Konarka) on OPVs as Third Generation Photovoltaics is in the same issue.

March 2010: Raj Giridharagopal and David Ginger appear in a short perspective video on the J. Phys. Chem. Lett. website and youtube channel about organic solar cells and morphology that you can watch here (Special thanks to Suzy Hunter and Shaun Taylor for producing the video!).

March 2010:Dr. Raj Giridharagopal, Guozheng Shao, and Chris Groves's application note describing instrumental technique issues related to making scanning probe measurements on nanostructured photovoltaics is available for download from Asylum Research. Direct link to the .pdf here

March 2010: Dr. Abhishek Kulkarni's paper exploring the feasibilty of plasmon-enhanced absorption using silver nanoprisms to enhance charge carrier generation in optically thin plastic solar cells is published online in Nano Letters

March 2010: UW's New Energy Website is online and features UW research on solar power, energy, climate impacts and energy-related topics. David Ginger's mini-profile is here

Feb 2010:Dr. Chris Grove's and Obadiah Reid's Review article on Heterogeneity in Polymer Solar Cells: Local Morphology and Performance in Organic Photovoltaics Studied with Scanning Probe Microscopy is published online in Accounts of Chemical Research

Jan 2010: new students Liz Strein, Glennis Rayerman, and Heather Durkee join the group.

Dec 2009: Deanna Rodovsky Successfully Defended her Ph.D.-- Congratulations Dr. Rodovsky!!

Oct. 2009 David Ginger speaks at the Seattle Chamber Regional Leadership Conference on Renewable Energy and Solar Power watch video here (talk starts about ~9:00 min. -- drag slider to get there)

Autumn 2009: Former PhD student Dr. Andrea Munro gets as job as an Assitant Professor at PLU

Autumn 2009: Undergraduate Noah Horwitz awarded prestigious Washington Research Foundation Fellowship.

Press Release describing our recent Nano Letters paper and how we use nanoscale imaging tools like photoconductive atomic force microscopy (pcAFM) to help better understand the operation of plastic solar cells is covered by dozens of outlets including:
Scientific American
Chemie.de
Photonics Spectra
Laser Focus World
Business Week Business Exchange
The DOE Office of Science Front Page (full article here)

Dr. Liam Pingree's (now at Boeing) paper that images the evolution of transport and photocurrent collection networks during processing of bulk heterojunction solar cells appears online in Nano Letters

Kevin Noone receives an NSF IGERT fellowship from the Center for Nanotechnology congrats Kevin!

Undergrad researchers Nick Anderson and Noah Horwitz both receive departmental awards. Nick the Merck Index award (for 2009), and Noah the CRC Freshman Achievement Award (for 2008, recognized at the 2009 awards banquet). With offers from schools including Berkeley, Northwestern, and Columbia, Nick heads to Columbia to study for his PhD.

Dr. Abhishek Kulkarni's paper on phase transfer of silver nanoprisms appears online in Langmuir and Kevin Noone's paper about charge transfer in PbSe/conjugated polymer blends (and the implications for IR-sensitized quantum dot solar cells using nanocrystal/polymer blends) appears in ACS Nano

Yeechi Chen and Joseph Wei both successfully defend their PhD theses. Congratulations to Dr. Chen and Dr. Wei

Kevin Noone's short perspective article on nanocrystal quantum dot photodetectors and solar cells is published in ACS Nano

Kevin Noone wins 1st place poster prize at MDITR retreat for his poster on quantum dot blends as solar cell materials

Guozheng Shao and Kristina Knesting officially join the group as first year grad students

Dr. Liam Pingree's invited review of scanning probe microscopy on organic electronics and solar cells appears in Advanced Materials. Summer student Irene Wang's artwork graces the issue.

Brad MacLeod travels (fully funded!) to India in December to participate in the NSF International Winter School for Graduates on solar energy and organic materials.

Obadiah Reid's Nano Letters paper on high-resolution carrier mobility measurements in conjugated polymer films for solar cells is covered in an online article at Semiconductor International

Kristina Knesting joins the group as in incoming summer PhD student. Welcome Kristina!

Andrea Munro is one of only 5 nationwide winners of a 2-year $200,000 postdoctoral fellowship! Congratulations Andrea!!!

Andrey Malyutin and Irene Wang join the group as summer REU students. Welcome Andrey and Irene!

Obadiah Reid receives a 2007-2008 NSF IGERT nanotech fellowship! Congrats Obi!

David Ginger receives ACS Unilever Award at Colloid and Surface Science Symposium

Brad MacLeod receives a Carl Storm travel fellowship to the Gordon Research Conference! Congrats Brad!

Undergraduate Jessica M. Smith accepts offer to PhD program in chemistry at UC Berkeley

Group ski trip to Steven's Pass

David Ginger gives the Nanophotonics for Breakfast lecture at Rainier Club on solar energy and photovoltaics

Dr. Liam S. C. Pingree receives competitive EMPD Postdoctoral Fellow Travel Award

Brad MacLeod awarded a full NSF Graduate Research Fellowship! Go Brad!

Prof. Lee Park (Williams College) arrives on sabbatical

Andrea Munro is one of 5 top-level student award winners for the AVS for 2007

Obadiah Reid wins competitive nanotech IGERT fellowship

David Ginger is named a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar

Dr. Liam S. C. Pingree awarded NSF Discovery Corps Fellowship

David Coffey passes his Ph.D. oral defense! Congratulations Dr. Coffey!

David Coffey and Obadiah Reid's Nano Letters Paper on photoconductive AFM of polymer solar cells, is covered in the MRS Bulletin (May 2007 v32 p383), and is featured in Photonics Spectra

David Coffey writes for SPIE Newsroom on plastic solar cells

Undergraduate Ilan Jen-La Plante accepts offer to PhD program in chemistry at UC Berkeley

Obadiah Reid wins best presentation award at the 2007 CNT Student Symposium, along with a free trip to the PNNL-sponsored Micro Nano Breakthrough Conference

Ilan Jen-La Plante receives a Mary Gates Endowment for students research training grant for undergraduate research

David Coffey was awarded a Materials Research Society Graduate Student Silver award at the Fall 2006 meeting in Boston for his work on studying the impact of film morphology on polymer photovoltaic performance with novel scanning probe microscopy methods.

David Coffey receives GSAS scholarship with full funding to travel to advanced solar cells workshop held in Hsinchu and Taipei, Taiwan Sept. 19-29, 2006

David Coffey's Nature Material's Paper on EFM of polymer solar cells, covered in News and Views, and also highlightedat optics.org

David Ginger receives a Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation

Andrea Munro awarded UIF Fellowship in Nanotechnology for 2006-2007 year

Quantum Dot LED work featured in Photonics Spectra (April 2006, p90) and MRS Bulletin (April 2006 p 290) postdoc Jialong Zhao, Ph.D., Andrea Munro, and former undergrad I-Kang Ding are all coauthors along with our collaborators from the Jen group in MSE.

Andrea Munro wins best poster prize at the MDITR retreat(Tucson, AZ)

Andrea Munro awarded NSF IGERT fellowship in nanoscience

Joseph Wei and David Coffey both receive poster prize nominations at Fall 2005 MRS Meeting

Joseph Wei wins best poster prize at the CNT Symposium for his poster "Controlling Pattern Formation in Polymer Blend Films with Dip-Pen Nanolithography"

Andrea Munro wins third prize in CNT contest for designing nanotech education materials for high school students (Science For Success Program)

David Ginger receives PECASE Award (AFOSR Sponsored) photo

Andrea Munro elected vice-president of UW nanotech student association

Andrea Munro awarded competitive UIFNanotech Fellowship

Peter Salveson receives a Mary Gates Endowment for students research training grant for undergraduate research

David Ginger receives NSF CAREER award

I-Kang Ding receives The Dean's Award from his home institution of National Taiwan University

David Coffey receives competitive renewal of his Nanotech-IGERT Fellowship

Andrea Munro recognized in national NSF Fellowship Competition