Colloidal Quantum Dot Optoelectronics

The importance of colloidal quantum dots was celebrated with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to Bawendi, Brus, and Ekimov in 2023.  Our group has a long history of studying these materials, from light harvesting in solar cells, to fundamental surface chemistry, to their potential technological applications ranging from high-performance light-emitting diodes for augmented-reality (AR) and virtual-reality (VR) displays, to their positioning, integration into cavities, and spectroscopic properties as single-photon emitters for quantum light.  Since 2020 our team has played a leading role in the NSF funded Science and Technology Center for the Integration of Modern Optoelectronic Materials on Demand (IMOD), where David Ginger serves as the lead PI and founding director.

Plasmonics and Nanophotonic Materials

Plasmonic nanomaterials, such as gold and silver nanoparticles exhibit distinct localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR) upon excitation with light.  These plasmon resonances are responsible for the intense colors of metallic nanoparticles, and open the door for new optical functionality arising from collective electromagnetic coupling effects and the concentration of incident light into electromagnetic hot spots.

We use both experimental and theoretical tools to gain fundamental understanding of the optical and electronic properties of plasmonic metallic nanoparticles for use in applications from sensing to photonics.

Recently, we have been interested in combining optically-active plasmonic nanoparticles and stimuli-responsive media to design responsive plasmonic nanomaterials. These materials offer great promise for designing next-generation sensors, actuators, and reconfigurable materials, for instance, by designing responses that differentiate specific from non-specific binding, or receptors that can alter their binding affinity to adapt their dynamic range to the analytical conditions at hand. To date, our group has been particularly focused on integrating plasmonic nanoparticles with responsive media such as DNA, hydrogels and azobenzene which can respond to salt, temperature and light, and providing guidelines for improving their performance, as well as protein-based templates for hierarchical assembly through the CSSAS EFRC.  We are also collaborating with partners in the IMOD STC to explore their use as plasmonic cavities/antenna for controlling emission from colloidal quantum dots, which draws on another longstanding research interest of our team.