The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering is pleased to present a seminar by Matthew Crane, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Department of Materials Science at the Colorado School of Mines.

Dr. Crane will present a seminar titled "Harvesting infrared photons with semiconductor plasmonic nanocrystals."

Doped semiconductor nanomaterials are a promising platform to manipulate the energy and information contained in light, with applications ranging from photocatalysis to quantum information. In these materials, the control over light absorption, energy relaxation, and dimensionality offer a unique platform at the intersection of light, matter, charge, and spin to understand how light modifies materials and in turn, how materials may modify light. We focus on understanding the first steps in light absorption, charge separation, and spin dephasing in these semiconductor nanocrystals in active environments to realize emerging energy and computing technologies. In this seminar, I will present recent work from my lab on the synthesis and photophysics of semiconductor plasmonic nanocrystals, focusing on how we may use these to overcome challenges in infrared energy harvesting. I will also describe a new approach to pattern colloidal nanomaterials.

Dr. Matthew Crane is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Department of Materials Science at the Colorado School of Mines. He also holds a Joint Appointment at the National Lab of the Rockies. Matthew received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Washington, where he was a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Research Fellow. He then trained as a Washington Research Foundation and Cottrell Postdoctoral Fellow in the Chemistry Department at the University of Washington, where he co-founded a startup company, BlueDot Photonics. At Colorado School of Mines and NLR, the Crane group uses ultrafast spectroscopies to understand how nanomaterials behave in active environments to ensure that next-generation computing is low-energy and powered by sustainable resources. Matthew was named 35 under 35 in materials by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.