Physical Chemistry Seminar: Professor Martin Zanni, University of Wisconsin

Physical Chemistry Seminar: Professor Martin Zanni, University of Wisconsin
Date
Tue November 28th 2017, 4:30 - 5:30pm
Location
Sapp Center Lecture Hall

Physical Chemistry Seminar: Professor Martin Zanni, University of Wisconsin (Host: Mike Fayer)

"Exciton transfer in photovoltaic materials studied with ultrafast 2D White-Light Microscopy"

About the Seminar

Understanding the movement of excitons and charges in thin films is central to developing next generation photovoltaics, photodetectors, and other devices. Most of these materials absorb across enormous wavelength ranges, which makes them challenging to study with standard time-resolved spectroscopies like transient absorption. I will report ultrafast 2D spectroscopy experiments in which white-light is used as both the pump and probe pulses. These continuum pulses span the visible and near-infrared, producing 2D White-Light spectra that capture the broad photoexcitation dynamics of these materials.  Results will be presented on exciton transfer in newly available mesoscale thin films of semiconducting carbon nanotube thin films. The spatial variation of singlet fission in pentacene crystals will also be shown, collected using a new microscope coupled to a 2D White-Light spectrometer. Surprising details of energy transfer have been found that have helped inform new device design. 

About the Speaker

Martin T. Zanni is the Meloche-Bascom Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He received his PhD from the University of California-Berkeley, working with Dan Neumark, and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania with Robin Hochstrasser. He is one of the early innovators of 2D IR spectroscopy and has made many technological innovations in 2D IR, 2D Visible, and 2D SFG spectroscopy that has broadened the capabilities and scope of multidimensional spectroscopies. He utilizes these new techniques to study topics in biophysics, chemical physics, photovoltaics, and surface science. He has received many national and international accolades for his research, including the Research Initiatives Award from the National Academy of Sciences for his work in optics, the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize from Tel Aviv University for his work in multidimensional spectroscopy, and the Early Career Scholar Award from the NIH/NIDDK for his work on Type 2 diabetes. He founded PhaseTech Spectroscopy Inc., which is the first company to commercialize 2D IR and 2D Visible spectroscopies.