Rafaela’s research focuses on understanding the photophysical properties of solid-state thin film superlattices through probing their optical properties. As a joint student between Prof. Paul Alivisatos and Prof. Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Rafaela will spend her PhD investigating both quantum dots and ferroelectric materials. Through conducting optical measurements such as time-resolved photoluminescence and photoluminescence quantum yield, she can study the fundamental properties of these materials to evaluate them as potential candidates for quantum information applications.

As a Kavli ENSI Philomathia fellow, Rafaela will collaborate with the Ginsberg group to study the quantum phenomena of cesium lead halide perovskite nanocrystal superlattices by improving the stability of each perovskite nanocrystal through the incorporation of an alumina shell that locks the ligand on the nanocrystal’s surface, preventing degradation. By synthesizing perovskite nanocrystals with better colloidal stability, we can probe the exciton dynamics of these superlattices to understand how energy naturally propagates through this nanoscale system.