
The Cooper Lab
Growth, Optoelectronics, and Ultrafast Photodynamics of Semiconductors and Catalysts for Solar Fuels Generation
The economies of the future and the sustainability of the planet’s ecosystems will rely on green energy technologies such as the capture and conversion of sunlight to drive chemical transformations. My group’s research investigates light-initiated energy transformation processes in emerging semiconductor and plasmonic systems and couples those processes to catalytic reactions. Our approach spans materials growth and characterization to test-bed devices but principally focuses on connecting electronic structure to emergent material properties. Ultimately we seek to understand fundamental physical processes with the goal of to improving efficiency, stability, and selectivity of key intermediate steps.
These intermediate steps begin with the absorption of a photon and conclude with the chemical transformation of target molecules which spans time scales from femtoseconds to seconds. Employing a variety of steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic tools in conjunction with theoretical modeling, x-ray spectroscopies, and electrochemical methods; we seek to connect the sequence of processes which occur on that vast time scale. By understanding how these sequences evolve we can ideally improve on and intervene in the electronic cascade of energy flow.
Ultimately our work aims to inspire technologies for the emerging solar age.
7/16/2021
Check out our recent feature in the Berkeley Lab Next 90. https://berkeleylabnext90.lbl.gov/
11/1/2020
Join me for a tour of the Labs and an overview of our research.
8/11/2020
Listen to a panel discussion on future science and technology in solar fuels Moderated by John Gregoire with panel discussion by Oyinkansola Romiluyi, Shane Ardo, and Jason Cooper.
4/1/2019
My research seeks to understand and connect the kinetic chain of events spanning photogeneration to chemical transformation.

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