Career: New Materials for Photonics

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This CAREER award to Nicholas A. Kotov at Oklahoma State University is supported by the Advanced Materials Program in the Chemistry Division. The focus of the research is the synthesis and characterization of chemically modified semiconductor nanoclusters where the modification consists of coordinatively binding transition metal complexes to the chalcogenide atoms on the nanocluster surface. Specifically, stabilized cadmium chalcogenide nanoclusters will be prepared and surface modified by reaction with copper and ruthenium amine complexes. The chemically modified nanoclusters will be characterized by TEM, XRD, ESR, NMR, MS, and emission and absorption spectroscopy. Optical properties will be studied by time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy, pump-probe spectroscopy and Stark spectroscopy. Electronic interactions between the semiconductor nanocluster and the surface bound transition metal complex markedly effect the nonlinear optical properties of the nanoclusters including second and third harmonic generation. By adapting optical properties of nanoparticles to a particular application, chalcogenide modified systems will provide a new pathway for the preparation of novel light-emitting and nonlinear optical materials.The CAREER educational plan will integrate research and education in the area of photonics. Specifically, a curriculum will be developed in support of the new interdisciplinary Photonics Ph. D. program at Oklahoma State. Laboratory courses in optics, spectroscopy, microscopy and semiconductor synthesis will be formulated. These courses, in concert with industrial internships and a photonics business lecture series will prepare Ph.D. students with the necessary skills for meaningful careers either in the business or academic sectors.