Thomas J. Sheehan

Thomas J. Sheehan is a PhD candidate whose research is focused on an emerging new class of semiconductors known as halide perovskite nanomaterials. The remarkable optical properties of these materials—including near-unity quantum yields, highly tunable emission wavelength, and narrow emission line widths—make them highly promising components for next-generation solar cells, light-emitting devices, television displays, lasers, and quantum information systems. As a MathWorks Fellow, Thomas will investigate the excited state energy transport in halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) and PQD assemblies, using transient photoluminescence microscopy. MATLAB tools enable analysis and visualization of the resulting multidimensional data sets and help Thomas to efficiently test new hypotheses for PQD behaviors. The early results of his research are extremely promising, offering insights into the fundamental physics underlying the optical behavior of these materials. By developing a deeper understanding of PQD assemblies, Thomas’s work may be an important step forward in the development of new optoelectronic devices and quantum information systems.