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, energy transfer and chirality in low dimensional materials and at interfaces: quantum dots, van Der Waals materials, perovskites and conductive polymers.
• 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 related heterostructures, for example phenomena like interfacial charge transfer and energy transfer. I use ultrafast pump-probe and linear spectroscopy/microscopy methods to study the kinetics of electron and energy transfer in various heterostructures based on 2D van Der Waals materials. We develop assembly methods to control interface interactions in such heterostructures for applications in light harvesting, photodetection and quantum information processing.  

Education

Al.I.Cuza University of Iassy, Romania, B.S. 1995 Physics                       

Al.I.Cuza University of Iassy, Romania, MsC 1996 Optics and Plasma Physics                            

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, Ph.D. 2003 Chemistry         

Professional Appointments

2014 –present  Scientist S4 (RS6) with continuous appointment, Center for Functional Nanomaterials, Brookhaven National Laboratory

2007 –2013      Scientist S2 through 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

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