In its second edition, this symposium aims to showcase the latest advances in the field of colloidal quantum confined materials, fostering discussion on their fundamental physics and new frontiers in technology. We welcome contributions from all relevant material classes, from classical II-VI and IV-VI semiconductors, exciting metal-halide perovskites, to emerging eco-friendly nanomaterials, and other low-dimensional materials. Despite significant progress, critical questions about their photophysical behavior and integration into devices remain unanswered, driving an interdisciplinary push to address these challenges.
This symposium will gather the broad nanoscience community to exchange the latest advances in nanomaterial synthesis, manipulation, photophysics, and device integration covering the broad range of applications of these materials in photovoltaics, light-detection, and light-emission, among other optoelectronic devices. Discussions will focus on how chemical composition, synthetic strategies, and defect engineering influence nanocrystal properties and device performance, with a strong emphasis on connecting experimental findings with computational models.
- Advances in nanocrystals synthesis and polymer embedding
- Nanocrystals fundamentals: photophysics, theory, and simulations.
- Nanocrystals applications: deposition and device integration.
- Optoelectronic devices: photodetectors, photovoltaics, light-emitting diodes, upconversion, sensors.
Zhuoying Chen is a CNRS researcher (Chargé de recherche) working in the Laboratoire de Physique et d’Etude des Matériaux (LPEM, CNRS-UMR 8213) at ESPCI Paris, a unit of Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL) University in France. She received her Ph.D at Columbia University in the city of New York. After being a postdoc researcher in the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University, she joined CNRS in 2010. Her main research field is on optoelectronic devices (e.g. solar cells and photodetectors) based on colloidal and organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials synthesized from bottom-up approaches.
Matteo Zaffalon is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Materials Science of the University of Milano-Bicocca (IT), where he earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Nanotechnology in 2022. In 2020 he collaborated with the Nanotechnology & Advanced Spectroscopy group at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (NM, USA) working on the spectroscopic investigation of solution grown functional nanostructures for application in photonic and optoelectronic devices. His research is now focused on the spectroscopic investigation and development of novel nanomaterials for the ultrafast detection and conversion of ionising radiation for energy and medical imaging applications.
Dr. Francesco Di Stasio obtained a Ph.D. in Physics at University College London (UK) in 2012. He then worked as a research Scientist at Cambridge Display Technology (Sumitomo Chemical group, UK) until he undertook postdoctoral research at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT, Italy). In 2015 he was awarded a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship at the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO, Spain). Since 2020 he is Principal Investigator of the Photonic Nanomaterials group at IIT after being awarded an ERC Starting grant. Francesco is a materials scientist with more than 10 years of research experience in optoelectronics.
Current research interests and methodology: Nanomaterials for classical and non-classical light-sources: This research activity focuses on the investigation of synthetic routes to obtain highly luminescent semiconductor colloidal nanocrystals and exploit such material in light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Here, we study how chemical treatments of colloidal nanocrystals can promote enhanced performance in devices, and physico-chemical properties of nanocrystals (e.g. self-assembly and surface chemistry) can be exploited to fabricate optoelectronic devices with innovative architectures. Novel methods and materials for light-emitting diodes: The group applies materials science to optoelectronics by determining which fabrication parameter lead to enhanced performance in LEDs. In order to transition from classical to non-classical light-sources based on colloidal nanocrystals, the group is developing novel methods for controlling the deposition and positioning of an individual nanocrystals in the device. Both “top-down” and “bottom-up” approaches are investigated.
Prof. Z. Hens received his PhD in applied physics from Ghent University in 2000, worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Utrecht University and was appointed professor at the Ghent University department of inorganic and physical chemistry in 2002. His research concerns the synthesis, processing and characterization of colloidal nanocrystals.
Maksym Kovalenko has been a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at ETH Zurich since July 2011 and Associate professor from January 2017. His group is also partially hosted by EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology) to support his highly interdisciplinary research program. He completed graduate studies at Johannes Kepler University Linz (Austria, 2004-2007, with Prof. Wolfgang Heiss), followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Chicago (USA, 2008-2011, with Prof. Dmitri Talapin). His present scientific focus is on the development of new synthesis methods for inorganic nanomaterials, their surface chemistry engineering, and assembly into macroscopically large solids. His ultimate, practical goal is to provide novel inorganic materials for optoelectronics, rechargeable Li-ion batteries, post-Li-battery materials, and catalysis. He is the recipient of an ERC Consolidator Grant 2018, ERC Starting Grant 2012, Ruzicka Preis 2013 and Werner Prize 2016. He is also a Highly Cited Researcher 2018 (by Clarivate Analytics).
Emmanuel is an ESPCI engineer and hold a master degree from universite Pierre and marie Curie in condensed matter physics. He did his PhD under supervision of Emmanuel Rosencher on the transport properties of superlattices used as infrared detector. He then did post doc in the group of Guyot Sionnest and Dubertret, working on the optoelectronic properties of nanocrystals. Since 2015 he is a CNRS researcher at Insitute for Nanoscience at Sorbonne Université. His team is dedicated to optoelectronic of confined nanomaterials
Prof. Qing Shen received her Bachelor’s degree in physics from Nanjing University of China in 1987 and earned her Ph.D. degree from the University of Tokyo in 1995. In 1996, she joined the University of Electro-Communications, Japan and became a full professor in 2016. In 1997, she got the Young Scientist Award of the Japan Society of Applied Physics. In 2003, she got the Best Paper Award of the Japan Society of Thermophysical Properties and the Young Scientist Award of the Symposium on Ultrasonic Electronics of Japan. In 2014, she got the Excellent Women Scientist Award of the Japan Society of Applied Physics. Her current research focuses on three interconnected areas: (1) the synthesis, optical properties, and optoelectronic applications of nanocrystal quantum dots; (2) mechanistic investigations into photoexcited carrier dynamics—such as hot carrier relaxation, multiple exciton generation, interfacial charge transfer, and recombination—to improve the efficiency of quantum dot, perovskite, and organic solar cells, as well as light-emitting devices (LEDs); (3) interface engineering for enhancing the performance of photovoltaics and LEDs. Over the past five years, she has published more than 100 high-impact papers in leading journals such as Nature Energy, Chemical Society Reviews, Advanced Energy Materials, Advanced Materials, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and Angewandte Chemie International Edition, which have been cited over 12,000 times.
Mark W.B. Wilson (he/him) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Toronto, where his team strives to understand the synthesis, structure, and photophysics of colloidal quantum dots (and functionalized, hybrid architectures) to advance their use in photonic & optoelectronic applications. A present focus is advancing nanocrystal-sensitized triplet-fusion upconversion. His first degrees were in Engineering Physics and History at Queen’s University (Kingston). He next received a PhD in Physics (2012) from the University of Cambridge under the supervision of Prof. Sir Richard Friend. Then, as a member of the Centre for Excitonics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he pursued postdoctoral studies (2012-2016) with Prof. Moungi Bawendi (Chemistry), before starting his independent career.