Renewable energy technology, more so than ever before, is critical to the survival of humanity. For decades, concentrated efforts into designing and developing such novel devices resulted in the innovation of solar-driven photovoltaics that were competitive with nonrenewable alternatives. This thesis explores the dynamic behavior of alternative material candidates that...
The unique ability of plasmonic nanoparticles to localize and enhance resonant electromagnetic fields has enabled a wealth of discoveries from enhanced spectroscopies to driving chemical reactions on the nanoscale. In this thesis, we strive to both drive and observe chemistry on plasmonic surfaces. First, we examine the possibility of driving...
Single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) has significantly stimulated the development of methods to quantitatively visualize and characterize biomolecules in vitro and in situ. SMLM is a class of super-resolution microscopy (SRM) techniques, which exploits the “on-off” switching of individual fluorescent molecules to estimate their location with nanometer precision and offers spatial...
Extensive study of nanomaterial chemical and optical properties has enabled their integration into a variety of applications. However, less thoroughly investigated are the heat generation and dissipation processes of nanomaterials following optical excitation. These phenomena are of immense importance as thermal energy can distort a material’s structure, which has profound...
The study of the translucent interstellar medium (ISM) is important for understanding the behavior of the ISM as it transitions from hot, tenuous gas to dense, star-forming regions. This regime is know to be associated with the initial formation of persistent molecular material, and thus represents the first stages of...
Composites of metal nanoparticles encapsulated by metal-organic frameworks (NP@MOFs) have recently emerged as intriguing heterogeneous catalysts for regioselective reactions. Sharing qualities of both zeolites and enzymes, these catalysts employ the pore system of a MOF to direct reactant access to the surface of nanoparticles. This dissertation seeks to better understand...
The work presented in this dissertation examines the interplay between electron transfer reactions and electron spin in photoactive organic molecules. Organic compounds that undergo electron transfer reactions after absorbing light are important in natural photosynthesis, photobiology, and synthetic photovoltaics. These electron transfer reactions depend on the spin states of the...
This dissertation presents some development of the single molecular ion precision spectroscopy experiment including construction of the project, spectroscopy state readout, and production of ultracold molecules. Such molecular ion spectroscopy aims at testing fundamental physics such as probing the time variation of electron-proton mass ratio.
The theories and characterization of...
It is becoming increasingly evident that the nanoscale organization and structure of macromolecules play a significant role in determining the function and properties of biological systems. To understand the relationships between biological structure and function at nanometer length scales, there is a need for methods which enable imaging of intact...