Mircea Cotlet

Brookhaven National Laboratory

Center for Functional Nanomaterials
Bldg. 735, Room 2019
P.O. Box 5000
Upton, NY 11973-5000

(631) 344-7778
cotlet@bnl.gov

Expertise | Research | Education | Appointments | Publications | Highlights | Awards | Certifications

Expertise

• charge carrier transport, chirality in low dimensional materials.
• pump-probe ultrafast spectroscopy and microscopy, single nanostructure optical microscopy, low temperature photophysics. 

Research Activities

My research focuses on the investigation of light-matter interactions in low dimensional semiconductors and heterostructures, for example phenomena like interfacial charge transfer and energy transfer. We use ultrafast pump-probe and linear spectroscopy/microscopy methods to study the kinetics of electron and energy transfer in various heterostructures of 2D van Der Waals materials, with focus on interface control via chemistry and self assembly. Our research addesses needs in solar energy harvesting, storage and quantum information processing.  

Education

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Ph.D. 2002, Chemistry         

Professional Appointments

2014 –present  Senior Scientist (RS6) with continuous appointment, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory

2007 –2013      Scientist (S2-S3, term appointment), Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory

2006 – 2007    Technical Staff Member, Chemistry Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM

2004 – 2006    Director’s Postdoctoral Researcher, Bioscience Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos NM

2003                  Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher (European Science Foundation), Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Selected Publications

• Shrestha S, Li M, Park S, et al (2023) Room temperature valley polarization via spin selective charge transfer. Nature Communications 14:. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-40967-7
• Shrestha S, Cotlet M (2023) Interfacial Charge Transfer in Atomically Thin 2D Transition-Metal Dichalcogenide Heterostructures. ACS Applied Optical Materials 1:1192–1207. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsaom.3c00122
• Tsai H, Shrestha S, Vilá RA, et al (2021) Bright and stable light-emitting diodes made with perovskite nanocrystals stabilized in metal–organic frameworks. Nature Photonics 15:843–849. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41566-021-00857-0
• Li Q, Zhou D, Chai J, et al (2020) Structural distortion and electron redistribution in dual-emitting gold nanoclusters. Nature Communications 11:. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16686-8
• Ramakrishnan S, Song D, Xu Y, et al (2023) Solvent-Mediated Formation of Quasi-2D Dion-Jacobson Phases on 3D Perovskites for Inverted Solar Cells Over 23% Efficiency. Advanced Energy Materials 13:. https://doi.org/10.1002/aenm.202302240
• Chen J-S, Li M, Cotlet M (2019) Nanoscale Photoinduced Charge Transfer with Individual Quantum Dots: Tunability through Synthesis, Interface Design, and Interaction with Charge Traps. ACS Omega 4:9102–9112. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b00803
• Li M, Chen J-S, Cotlet M (2019) Light-Induced Interfacial Phenomena in Atomically Thin 2D van der Waals Material Hybrids and Heterojunctions. ACS Energy Letters 4:2323–2335. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsenergylett.9b01399

Research Highlights

Synergistic activities

2018–on   Member, Editorial Advisory Board Wiley Particle Journal (PPSC)

2018-2023 Member, Editorial Advisory Board, Photonics MDPI

Awards & Recognition

2021    The 519th Brookhaven Lecture 

2020    Brookhaven National Laboratory Science and Technology Award        

2019    Inventor of the Year Award, Battelle Corporation

Certifications

2010-2022 Adjunct Professor, Material Science and Chemical Engineering Department, Stony Brook University

2020-2022 Lecturer, Material Science and Chemical Engineering Department, Stony Brook University