The School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering Seminar Series, “Emergent Phenomena in Old Materials” Presented by Dr. Kevin Kittilstved

About the event

Emergent Phenomena in Old Materials

Presented by

Dr. Kevin Kittilstved, Professor, Department of Chemistry, Washington State University

Abstract:

The electronic structure and functionality of semiconductors is largely dictated by the presence of defects in the lattice. Aliovalent transition metal dopants in bulk oxide semiconductors are well-known multifunctional materials with potential application in visible light photocatalysis, spintronics and optoelectronics. However, these types of materials have received little attention as nanocrystalline materials. In this talk, I will present our recent work on the synthesis and characterization of transition-metal dopants in colloidal metal oxide nanocrystals, namely strontium titanate and barium titanate. We have discovered unique electronic structures that can be easily exploited in these aliovalent diluted magnetic semiconductors through the introduction of charge carriers using UV excitation in the presence of sacrificial reducing agents. I will also demonstrate the tunability and reversibility of this post-synthetic modification of the nanocrystals to study the interactions between dopants and free carriers that are enhanced in these nanomaterials. In conclusion, I will compare these aliovalent DMSs to the more common isovalent DMSs.

Biography:

Born in Spokane

BS Chemistry Gonzaga University

PhD Chemistry University of Washington

Postdoc at University of Geneva

Assistant/Associate/Full Professor of Chemistry at UMass Amherst until 2024

Started at WSU Chemistry in Fall 2024.