Welcome to
The Peteanu Group

About our group

Our group is interested in how bulk properties of materials emerge from interactions between the individual constituent molecular subunits (i.e. aggregation) and the local environment.  This understanding can then be used to design systems with optimal spectral and dynamical properties for light emission, energy transfer, and charge transport for a variety of applications including optoelectronic devices such as organic photovoltaics (OPVs) and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). 

The primary tool we use is fluorescence microscopy which yields spectral and temporal information for molecules in solution and in thin films at concentrations ranging from single molecules to bulk.  We continue to benefit from numerous collaborations, both within CMU and beyond, with talented synthetic chemists who are designing exciting new materials.  Our current work focuses primarily on materials ranging from emissive conjugated oligomers and polymers to atomically precise nanoclusters with unique optical and magnetic properties.  We are also very interested in the effects of externally applied electric and magnetic fields on excited electronic states and we are pursuing a program to use plasmonic fields to enhance the stability of molecules in thin films.  The near-term goal is to enhance the resolution of fluorescence images by increasing the photon count per molecule.  Ultimately, this strategy may increase the useful lifetimes of molecules in the organic devices. 

Research Focus

 

  • Optical Properties and Quantum Emission Studies of Metal Nanoclusters
  • Electronic Properties Studies of Molecules Used for Opto-electronic Devices
  • Fluorescence Microscopy of Organic Semi-conducting Materials: From Single Molecules to Aggregates
  • Single-Molecule Studies of Heterogeneous Solvation in Ionic Liquids
  • Energy Transfer Studies in DNA-based Dye Arrays

News & Announcements

Join the Peteanu Group!

Post-Doc position available

Highly motivated and specialized candidates in laser spectroscopy techniques and nanomaterials with decent publications and mentoring records are encouraged to write to Dr. Linda Peteanu at peteanu@andrew.cmu.edu

Join the Peteanu Group!

Ph.D. positions available

We are looking for energetic and highly motivated students interested in physical chemistry and spectroscopy. Interested candidates should write to Prof. Linda Peteanu and apply to the CMU Department of Chemistry.

Contact us

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Department of Chemistry
4400 Fifth Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15213