Paul Podsiadlo CNM Division
Supervisor: Elena Shevchenko
Summary of Research:
I am studying self-assembly of monodisperse colloidal nanoparticles into 2-D and 3-D ordered single- and multi-component superlattices (Murray et al., Science 1995, Shevchenko et al. Nature 2006). The nanoparticles of interest are semiconductor cores and core/shell materials (CdSe, CdS, InP, CdSe/CdS, CdSe/ZnS), metallic (Au, Ag, Pd), magnetic (PtFe, Fe2O3, CoPt3), and anisotropic in shape (CdSe or CdSe/CdS nanorods, LaF3 triangular plates). The first goal of my research is to advance the understanding of crystallization phenomena of the superlattices in order to achieve spatiotemporal control of nucleation and growth as well as directing crystal lattice phase formation. The second direction aims at characterization of collective physical properties of these superlattices. These include thermal stability, mechanical properties, and more importantly electronic, magnetic, and optical properties. The collective properties of binary lattices, e.g. from combinations of optically and magnetically active nanoparticles are expected to yield materials with novel properties not observed for either one of the components separately.
