Congratulations to Sakiru Abiodun
He defended his PhD thesis on “Surface and Alloy Engineering of Halide Perovskite (CsPbX3) Nanocrystals for Efficient and Stable Optoelectronics”. Dr. Abiodun will join Intel as a TD Mod Engineer.
Our lab explores the formation, physical properties, and interfacial chemistry of nanoscale materials. Materials that we make in our lab include nanocrystal quantum dots (QDs) and semiconductor nanowires; we also examine a variety of other low-dimensional materials in collaborative projects. A strong inspiration for this work is the opportunity to impact fields including energy conversion, energy storage, bioimaging, and biomedicine.
There are two general themes that guide our choice of problems. One is an attempt to develop surface-sensitive metrics, purification strategies, and synthetic steps for QDs and other colloidal nanocrystals that permit increasingly precise and sophisticated control of the resulting physical and chemical properties. Such control is necessary for improving the performance of QD solar cells and other nanocrystal-based devices, and for advancing the biomedical applications of nanocrystal-based imaging and therapeutic agents. The second concerns the transport of matter, charge, and energy within nanoscale systems and across interfaces. We use microfabrication, optoelectronic measurements, and functional imaging techniques to characterize these transport processes. These themes are explored in several project areas.
Graduate and undergraduate students with a variety of academic interests including physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry; physics; biological sciences; and electrical engineering will be able to make strong contributions to the group’s research. Group members employ techniques including air-free synthetic chemistry, NMR spectroscopy, calorimetry, chemical vapor deposition, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, microfabrication, and photoluminescence imaging and spectroscopy. Instrument control, data analysis, and technical image analysis is done with computational tools such as Matlab and Labview.
Undergraduates interested in research opportunities should contact Prof. Greytak directly with a CV and a note regarding your professional goals. Prospective graduate students are advised to consult the Department’s graduate admissions page. Postdoc applications cannot be considered at the time of this writing due to funding constraints but should this change, a cover letter, CV, and at least two publications should be sent in hardcopy.
News and Highlights
Congratulations to Fiaz Ahmed
He defended his PhD thesis on “Enhancing Charge Carrier Mobility in Colloidal Quantum Dots For Technological Applications”. Dr. Ahmed will join Intel as a TD Mod Engineer.
Congratulations to John Dunlap
He defended his PhD thesis on “Investigations on the Surface Chemistry of Colloidal Quantum Dots towards Fluorescent Biological Probes”. Dr. Dunlap will join UES, Inc. and the Air Force Research Laboratory as a Postdoctoral Researcher.
Congratulations to Mathew Kelley
He defended his PhD thesis on “Colloidal Semiconductor Quantum Dots: Solution Processing and Heterostructural-Based Optoelectronics”. Dr. Kelley will join national institute of standards and technology (NIST) as a postdoctoral research associate .
Congratulations to Preecha Kittikhunnatham
He defended his PhD thesis on “Semiconductor Nanowire Doping: Controlling Magnetic and Electronic Properties of Semiconductor Nanowires”. Dr. Kittikhunnatham will join Natalia Shustova’s group as a postdoc.
Congratulations to Megan Gee
She defended her PhD thesis on “CdSe Quantum Dot Surface Chemistry Thermodynamics via Isothermal Titration Calorimetry.
Greytak to become Nanoscience subdivision chair
Prof. Greytak is chair-elect for the Nanoscience subdivision of the American Chemical Society’s Division of Inorganic Chemistry. He will serve in 2020. Join us at the upcoming ACS meetings in Philadelphia and San Francisco.
Greytak recognized as “Breakthrough Star” by USC Office Research
USC’s Office of the Vice President for Research has named Prof. Greytak among the 2019 Breakthrough Stars for research and scholarship. Congratulations to the group for making this possible.
Dr. Bobby Barker to Augusta Univeristy
Congratulations and best wishes to former group member Dr. Bobby Barker on his appointment as a lecturer at Augusta University’s Department of Chemistry and Physics.
Purification Review Most Downloaded Paper
Yi and Megan’s Feature Article on “Purification Technologies for Colloidal Nanocrystals” was listed among the ChemComm "Most downloaded articles of 2017: Physical and Environmental Chemistry".
Congratulations Bobby Barker
Bobby Barker received his PhD! Dr. Barker defended his thesis on “Spatial Dependence Of Carrier Dynamics In Semiconductor Optoelectronic Devices” based on his work here and in his IGERT internship at Kenjiro Miyano’s lab at NIMS. He will join Prashant Kamat’s group at Notre Dame as a postdoc.
Congratulations to Megan Gee
Megan spoke April 3 at the Spring 2018 Materials Research Society meeting in Phoenix, AZ. Her talk on isothermal titration calorimetry won a “Best Talk Award” in her symposium (NM12: Transitioning Quantum Dots from Benchtop to Industry). Congratulations, Megan!
Congratulations to Preecha Kittikhunnatham
Preecha Kittikhunnatham receives SPARC Graduate Research Grant from the Office of the Vice President for research. Preecha’s project will investigate doping in colloidal semiconductor nanowires.
Congratulations to Prof. Greytak
Prof. Greytak and Prof. MVS Chandrashekhar of USC Electrical Engineering received a grant for their project entitled, "Minority Carriers in Graphene/SiC Schottky Emitter Bipolar Phototransistors for High Gain Visible Blind UV Detection", funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a total amount of $369,999.
Congratulations to Prof. Greytak
Prof. Greytak and co-PI Prof. Thomas Makris received ASPIRE funding (ASPIRE III: Infrastructure Recipients) to establish USC Calorimetry Facility and Research Network with state of the art isothermal titration calorimetry equipment.
Congratulations on Abigail Loszko's graduation
Abigail Loszko joined the Greytak group in 2015. She graduated in Spring 2017 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. She is going to pursue her medical degree at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine starting this Fall. We wish her best of luck.
Congratulations to Cole Love-Baker
Cole Love-Baker received a grant from Magellan Scholar program.
Congratulations to Abigail Loszko
Abigail Loszgo received funding from Megellan scholarship.
Congratulations to Prof. Greytak
Prof. Greytak received a grant for his project entitled, "Equilibrium Thermodynamics of Semiconductor Nanocrystal Ligands and Ion Exchange via Calorimetry", funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) for a total amount of $409,200.00.
Megan Gee and Prof. Andrew Greytak received a SPARC Graduate Research Grant
They have received SPARC Graduate Research Grant, for a total amount of $5,000.00, for their project entitled, "Solvent Effect on Ligand Dynamics in Colloidal QD systems."
Congratulations on Pravin Paudel's Graduation
Pravin Paudel joined the Greytak group in 2010. He graduated in Fall 2015. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University. We wish him best of luck.
Congratulations on Yi Shen's Graduation
Yi Shen joined the Greytak group in 2010. He graduated in Fall 2015. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We wish him best of luck.