Ding-Shyue Yang
University of Houston, TX·Chemistry
When light hits a thin film of molecules sitting on a solid surface, the energy spreads and the molecules move. These motions are tiny, smaller than an atom's width, and very fast, which makes them hard to watch.
- Fields
Chemistry
Physics
Materials Science
- Topics
ultrafast electron diffraction
time-resolved structural dynamics
energy transport
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Use ultrafast electron diffraction to directly image laser-induced molecular motions at sub-Angstrom scale in nanoscale molecular films on solid substrates.
- Test how differing strengths of intermolecular forces in deposited molecular films change their structure and the speed and mechanism of energy transport after light excitation.
- Compare self-assembled monolayers with different packing orders to establish how assembly order determines energy transport dynamics at solid-molecule interfaces.
More about the research
Small differences in how molecules pack in such films can change how fast energy moves and even the mechanism by which it moves. Understanding this matters for solid-liquid interfaces used in clean energy generation and storage, and for managing heat at the nanoscale.
Why it matters
Knowing how molecular packing controls energy flow at surfaces could guide the rational design of solid-liquid interfaces in clean energy generation and storage devices. It could also improve heat management in nanoscale technologies. The structure-behavior rules found may also apply to other materials with similar structures.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
T Randall Lee
University of Houston, TX·Chemistry
Design multidentate adsorbates that combine phase-incompatible or structurally dissimilar parts, and test whether they form stable, evenly mixed films that could serve as nanoscale anti-fouling coatings.
Kenneth Knappenberger
Pennsylvania State University, PA·Chemistry
Test whether the lifetimes of excited electronic states in atomically precise metal nanoclusters can control how their acoustic modes (whole-particle vibrations) are excited, using coherent multidimensional laser spectroscopy and theory.
David Nesbitt
University of Colorado Boulder, CO·Chemistry
Measure how fast molecules such as HCl, DCl, CO, CO2, OCS and NO scatter from liquids including water, salty water, glycerin and oils, using supersonic molecular beams and high-resolution laser spectroscopy.
The school
University of Houston: 21 labs on PI Pages, $239M a year on research, 374 research doctorates a year.
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