Latest News

Nov

.

The group presented some of our recent results at the Fall Materials Research Society (MRS) Meeting in person and virtual. Marina gave two invited talks, Margaret presented her work on refractory materials for high-temperature photonics, and Abby gave a talk on the potential of machine learning to forecast the behavior of perovskites.

Nov

.

Congrats to Margaret on advancing to candidacy. Well done Margaret!

Oct

.

Marina presents an invited talk on machine learning applied to perovskites at the nanoGe meeting. Thanks Qiang, for the invitation - it was awesome to be back to in-person meetings!

Oct

.

Marina presents the group's work on photonics at the FiOS - Frontiers in Optics + Laser Science. Thanks Willie for the kind invitation!

Sep

.

Leite Lab members Abby, Ece, Mansha, and Peifen attend the UC Davis CHMS Graduate Research Symposium, where Peifen is awarded the Best Poster Presentation award. Congratulations!

Aug

.

Marina gives a Keynote talk at the LAOP - Latin American Optics and Photonics Conference. Thank you Anderson for the kind invitation!

Aug

.

Congrats to Peifen for advancing her candidacy. Well done Peifen!

Jun

.

Marina is elevated to the grade of IEEE Senior member.

Jun

.

Congrats to Peifen for being awarded the Summer Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) Award for summer 2022-23!

May

.

Marina delivers an invited talk on thermophotovoltaics at the Spring MRS Meeting.

May

.

Meghna is awarded the College of Engineering Jeffrey Gibeling Best Master’s Thesis Award. Well done Meghna!

May

.

Richa successfully defends her Ph.D. dissertation. Congratulations Dr. Lahoti!

Apr

.

Peifen and Tao’s paper on Transient Structural Colors with Magnesium-Based Reflective Filters has been published in Advanced Optical Materials. Check the article here.

Apr

.

Our paper on hot-carrier dynamics in near-infrared photocatalytic metals is published in Physical Review B.

Apr

.

Margaret is awarded the prestigious NSF-GRFP. Congrats Margaret!

Mar

.

John’s paper on machine learning applied to halide perovskites is published in the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Jan

.

Leite is nominated a UC Davis Chancellor’s Fellow!

Jan

.

The Leite Lab is awarded the University Partnerships Investment Area Team, a collaboration with Dr. Kenny Chowdhary from Sandia National Laboratories. Together, we will implement machine learning methods to unravel degradation mechanisms in perovskite solar cells.

Dec

.

The group welcomes Mansha and Abby, new grad students!

Nov

.

The Leite Lab takes Fall MRS by storm! Ece, Richa, and Meghna present their results on solid-state batteries and halide perovskites for solar cells at the in-person meeting. Peifen and Margaret shared their findings on transient photonics and thermophotovoltaics during the online meeting. MSL was one of the meeting Chairs. Thanks MRS, for a fantastic meeting!

Oct

.

Leite presents invited talks at the AVS 67 and the XXXV Brazilian North and Northeast Regional Physics Meeting.

Sep

.

Leite presents a Colloquium at the Department of Physics, Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil). Thanks Carol, for the kind invitation. It was great seeing several old friends and colleagues!

Sep

.

John and Erica’s paper on perovskites’ dynamic response to humidity and light is highlighted on the front cover of Adv. Optical Materials.

Sep

.

Leite and Dr. Míguez (from the Institute of Materials Science of Seville) co-edit a special issue on “Photophysical Processes in Metal Halide Perovskites” for Adv. Optical Materials.

Aug

.

Leite becomes an SPIE Senior Member.

Aug

.

Meghna’s paper on machine learning for perovskite solar cells is now published on J. Phys. Chem. Letters. Good job Meghna!

Aug

.

Leite presents an invited talk on materials for thermophotovoltaics at SPIE.

Aug

.

Leite gives an invited talk on transient photonics at the RAPID Meeting.

Jul

.

John’s article on Emission Dynamics in Triple-Cation Halide Perovskites is published in Adv. Optical Materials. Well done John!

Jul

.

Leite presents an invited talk at META.

Jun

.

Leite shares the groups’ latest results on perovskites for optoelectronics with an invited talk at the 2021 Photonics North meeting.

May

.

Tom's article on selective etching properties of Mg thin films is published in Optical Materials Express. Good job!

Apr

.

We welcome David, a new undergraduate student that will be working on perovskite solar cells!

Apr

.

Leite gives an invited talk at the Spring MRS Meeting, Frontier Energy Science in Halide Perovskite Symposium. Thanks for the organizers for the kind invitation!

Mar

.

Congrats to Meghna for receiving the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship award!

Mar

.

Richa presents a talk at the 2021 American Physical Society (APS) March Meeting!

Mar

.

Tao and Meghna present talks at the 2021 SPIE Photonics West Meeting.

Mar

.

Leite presents an invited talk about the group’s most recent work on perovskites at the NanoGe Spring Meeting.

Feb

.

Leite is a speaker for the “Professional development in Materials Science series of talks, as part of the Materials Outreach Corporation - an MSE/UC Davis undergraduate organization.

Dec

.

Welcome Margaret Duncan, a new PhD student in the group!

Dec

.

Congrats to Meghna for winning the best poster award at the Fall MRS Meeting!

Dec

.

Leite presents three invited talks at the 2020 Fall MRS Meeting!

Dec

.

Leite gives an invited talk at the Pacifichem 2020. Thanks to Mihri Özkan for the kind invitation.

Oct

.

Tao and Peifen’s invited review article is published in Adv. Optical Materials. Good job Tao and Peifen!

Oct

.

The Leite group, in collaboration with Prof. Munday (ECE) and Prof. McCormick (MSE), is awarded a DARPA grant to realize materials for ultra-high temperature photonics!

Aug

.

We are delighted to have Prof. M. Dias joining us at UC Davis for her sabbatical.

Jul

.

New invited review article on Imaging Metal Halide Perovskites Material and Properties at the Nanoscale is on the cover of Adv. Energy Materials. Great job, John and Richa!

Jun

.

Leite Lab is awarded an NSF grant to advance the understanding of environmental stressors on perovskite’s stability. Thanks NSF!

May

.

Our collaboration with J. Munday and A. Rocha is published in ACS Photonics and featured as a supplementary cover. Check the article here

Apr

.

New paper on correlative microscopy of perovskite solar cells is published and highlighted on the front cover of Adv. Materials Interfaces.

Feb

.

Paper about the ISOS Protocols for Stability Assessment and Reporting for Perovskite Photovoltaics is published in Nature Energy.

Jan

.

Leite is featured on the “Women Scientists at the Forefront of Energy Research: A Virtual Issue, Part 2” of ACS Energy Letters.

Jan

.

Paper about perovskite photovoltaics is published in Nature Energy!

Jan

.

Our most recent review paper on perovskite solar cells is now published in Adv. Energy Materials.

Jan

.

Leite is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of ACS Energy Letters!

Jan

.

Welcome Dr. Tao Gong, new post-doc in the group!

Nov

.

John is awarded Best Poster at the Fall MRS Meeting for his work on machine learning applied to perovskite solar cells. Congrats John!

Nov

.

Our paper on PdxAu1−x alloys is on ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

Nov

.

Our latest paper on perovksite solar cells is published on the cover of Chemistry of Materials!

Nov

.

Big welcome to 3 new PhD students: Peifen, Meghna, and Ece!

Oct

.

Our invited review on metal alloys is featured as a supplementary cover in ACS Accounts of Chemical Research!

Sep

.

The Leite Lab moves to UC Davis! We are looking forward to the upcoming years in sunny CA…

Sep

.

Leite gives an invited presentation about the group’s work on perovskite materials and the opportunities in machine learning at SPIE Optics + Photonics, in San Diego.

Jul

.

Leite presents an invited talk at META (International Conference on Metamaterials, Photonic Crystals and Plasmonics), in Lisbon.

Jun

.

Our invited review paper on metallic alloys is now published on ACS Accounts of Chemical Research. Great job Mariama!

Jun

.

Leite gives an invited talk at the TechConnect World Innovation, in Boston.

May

.

Our ongoing collaboration with ARL (in Adelphi, MD) and the Institute for Theroretical Physics (in Brazil) related to Pd-Au alloys and their promise for catalysis is now published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces!

May

.

Leite is promoted to Associated Professor at UMD.

May

.

Sabrina’s work on stretchable Si for electronics is published online on Adv. Electronic Materials. Good job Sabrina!

Apr

.

Leite delivers an invited talk at the WiTec Confocal Imaging Workshop at George Washington University, in DC.

Apr

.

Leite gives an invited talk at the Spring MRS meeting (“Perovskites’ Recovery and Degradation from the Macro- to the Nanoscale“). PhD student Tom presents a talk on his research on optical materials (related to our recent publication in ACS Photonics).

Apr

.

Leite will be one of the 2021 Fall MRS Meeting Chairs. Stay tuned for news about the meeting!

Apr

.

One more award to John! He has been selected for the UMD Graduate Student Summer Research Fellowship.

Apr

.

Alumni Brady (now PhD student at Princeton) is awarded an NSF-GRF. Well done Brady!

Apr

.

Congrats to John, awarded the UMD Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship (Fall 2019).

Mar

.

Leite presents an invited talk at APS March Meeting!

Feb

.

John’s invited Perspective in on the cover of Joule!

Feb

.

Our latest paper on perovskite solar cells is on the cover of ACS Nano!

Feb

.

Welcome Richa Lahoti, new PhD student in the group!

Feb

.

Alumni PhD student Elizabeth is awarded the Marie Sklodowska-Curie post-doc fellowship. Congrats Beth!

Feb

.

Leite gives an invited talk at the SPIE Photonics West Meting, in San Francisco, as part of the “Physics, Simulation, and Photonic Engineering of Photovoltaic Devices VIII” Symposium. Thank you L. Lombez (CNRS) for the invitation.

Jan

.

Tom’s first paper is on the cover of ACS Photonics! See our work on Transient Photonics here (PDF).

Jan

.

Leite presents an invited talk at the Perovskite and Organic Photovoltaics and Optoelectronics International Conference (IPEROP19), in Kyoto.

Jan

.

Leite presents an invited talk at the 46th Conference on the Physics and Chemistry of Surfaces and Interfaces (PCSI-46) Meeting, in Santa Fe. Thanks L. Lauhon (Northwestern) and C. Palmstrøm (UCSB) for the kind invitation.

Jan

.

Our paper “Cesium-Incorporated Triple Cation Perovskites Deliver Fully Reversible and Stable Nanoscale Voltage Response” is now available online.

Nov

.

Leite gives two invited talks at Fall MRS (photonic materials and perovskites symposia), and John presents our work on pervoskites’ dynamics, including our new Joule perspective paper on machine learning, and on tomography of carrier recombination in solar cell materials.

Nov

.

Leite presents invited talk at the OSA LAOP meeting, in Lima. Thanks A. Silva (Samsung) and G. Wiederhecker (UNICAMP), for the very kind invitation. Loved Peru!

Oct

.

Leite presents the MSE/Penn Seminar. Thank you Prof Karen Winey (Chair) for the kind invitation!

Oct

.

We thank NSF-ECCS for the new MRI grant that aims the “Development of Ultrafast Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope”.

Oct

.

Leite presents the MSE/Penn Seminar. Thank you Prof Karen Winey (Chair) for the kind invitation!

Oct

.

We thank NSF-ECCS for the new MRI grant that aims the “Development of Ultrafast Near-Field Scanning Optical Microscope”.

Oct

.

John is awarded the Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant from UMD. He will present 2 talks and and 1 poster at Fall MRS. Congrats John!

Oct

.

Leite presents the MSE seminar at UMD.

Sep

.

Leite gives an invited presentation at the ICTMC-21 meeting (21st International Conference on Ternary and Multinary Compounds), in Colorado.

Sep

.

Chen’s paper on “Band Structure Engineering by Alloying for Photonics” is highlighted on the front cover of Adv. Optical Materials. Well done Chen! And thank you to our collaborators from ARL and from IFT/Brazil.

Sep

.

Leite presents an invited talk at The 2nd Annual Energy Harvesting Society Meeting in Philadelphia.

Sep

.

Welcome Nick Dzuricky (new PhD student) and John Hoerauf (undergrad)!

Aug

.

Joe’s paper on “Multiscale Functional Imaging of Interfaces through Atomic Force Microscopy Using Harmonic Mixing” is published in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces!

Aug

.

Leite gives invited talk at the IEEE RAPID (Research and Applications of Photonics In Defense Conference) in Florida. Thanks Jake Fontana, for the kind invitation!

Aug

.

Leite presents plenary talk at “SPMonSPM” meeting in Leuven, Belgium.