2024-2025 Kavli Heising-Simons Junior Fellow
Faculty Advisor: Professor Peidong Yang
Yuxin Jiang is a 3rd year Chemistry Ph.D. student in Prof. Peidong Yang’s group and is a member of the Nanowire subgroup. Yuxin studies the synthesis, structures, and light-matter interactions of perovskite-based nanowires. Before attending UC Berkeley, Yuxin received her B.A. in Chemistry from Mount Holyoke College. She enjoys jigsaw puzzle challenges, photography, and calligraphy.
Yuxin’s research focuses on studying optoelectronic properties of perovskite materials at both micrometer nanometer scales. In a recent study, Jiang et al. designed the synthesis of halide perovskite-based high entropy semiconductor single crystals at an unprecedented mild temperature and investigated their optical properties. However, the structural instability of halide perovskites, due to its intrinsic low cohesive energy, presents a critical challenge for the further development of this class of materials. In contrast, chalcogenide perovskites—structural analogs of prototypical ABX3 perovskites—are much more stable because of the increased covalency in the metal-anion bonds, where the X site is chalcogen anions such as S2- and Se2-. Therefore, future efforts will focus on studying the structures and optical properties of chalcogenide perovskites, with an emphasis on nanowires. Through chemical vapor transport (CVT) in a sealed quartz tube, Yuxin has developed a preliminary protocol for preparing samples with four different compositions. Selected compositions exhibit luminescence of various colors, showcasing their potential for use in optoelectronic devices, including LEDs and nanowire lasers. Fundamental physics, such as carrier dynamics, in this new class of material will also be explored.