Join the Department of Chemistry and the Notre Dame Radiation Laboratory for a Nieuwland lecture by George C. Schatz, Charles E. and Emma H. Morrison Professor of Chemistry and of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University.

Research Statement

Our research involves theory and computation as applies to problems in nanotechnology, properties of materials, macromolecular structures and dynamics, molecular self-assembly, optics, plasma science, materials physics and biophysics. We are also interested in electronic structure methods, in quantum and classical theories of dynamical processes, in methods that combine electronic structure and electrodynamics, and in using these methods to study the reactions of molecules at interfaces.

A major interest is in the optical properties of metal nanoparticles and aggregates of nanoparticles, including applications in extinction and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy, Rayleigh scattering and a variety of nonlinear optical properties, and in plasmon-driven photocatalysis. Much of our optical property work is concerned with classical electrodynamics, where we have developed new methods for describing light scattering and absorption, and methods for extending electrodynamics down to small structures. We are also learning to use electronic structure methods to describe nanoparticle optical properties, and in combining electronic structure theory and quantum electrodynamics.

We are actively studying the properties of nanostructured materials. Past work has considered plasmonic metal nanoparticle optical properties, and the structural and thermodynamics properties of particles that are linked by polymers such as DNA or peptides. The DNA and peptide work includes molecular dynamics studies, and the statistical mechanics of aggregate formation. A related interest is in the properties of arrays of plasmonic particles which exhibit lattice polariton modes. A recent activity has involved studies of photo-induced chemical reactions on the surface of plasmonic particles.

Another direction of interest is quantum science, as is concerned with the interaction of entangled photons with molecules, and in the properties of materials that make single photon emitters.

We are also involved in studies of aqueous interfaces that are used in ion uptake and transport experiments. This includes both electronic structure and molecular dynamics studies, with an emphasis on multiply charge metal cations interaction with transition metal dichalcogenide layers.

Another area of interest is chemical processes that take place under nonthermal conditions, including processes in the gas phase, at surfaces, and in liquids. Here we are performing electronic structure and molecular dynamics calculations to characterize the reactions of radicals, excited atoms and molecules with other atoms and molecules, to determine the reaction mechanisms under unusual conditions.