Professor
Department of Physics, Department of Chemistry, James Franck Institute and the College
- Address:
- GCIS E111
- Phone:
- (773)702-7461
- Email:
- pgs@uchicago.edu
- Website:
- http://pgslab.uchicago.edu/
Background
The Guyot-Sionnest laboratory began with a focus on nonlinear optics and surface physical chemistry before turning to the then-nascent field of inorganic colloidal semiconductor nanoparticles, known as colloidal quantum dots. The group pioneered the core/shell approach to bright, stable quantum dot emitters, which has since become central to their widespread use in display technology and bioimaging. The group also pioneered charge-transfer doping and solid-state ligand exchange to achieve ohmic conductivity in quantum dot films, enabling their study and use as photoconductors and solar cells.
The laboratory's current focus is the mid-infrared optical properties — absorption and photoluminescence — of colloidal quantum dots. Nanoparticle films are integrated with microfabricated optically enhancing structures designed to achieve high-performance mid-infrared photodetectors and emitters. Alongside device development, the group investigates the fundamental electronic, thermal, thermoelectric, and noise properties of quantum dot solids, and uses picosecond time-resolved laser spectroscopy to probe non-radiative recombination processes directly.