SSCU Seminar
Name: Ms. Sanhita Pal
Title: Controlling Ions with Light
Date & Time: Thursday, 24th September 2026 at 04.00 p.m.
Venue: Rajarshi Bhattacharyya Memorial Lecture Hall, Chemical Sciences Building
Abstract:
Optoionics probes and controls ionic transport in solid-state materials using light. While ion migration has traditionally been studied and manipulated through electric fields, temperature, or chemical dopants, recent work shows that photoexcitation can significantly alter ionic mobility, defect concentration in ion-conducting materials.1
In my presentation, I will introduce the fundamentals of optoionics: what distinguishes light as a stimulus, and why probing ion transport in presence of light offers unique mechanistic insight.2 Herein, I will discuss its connections to optoelectronics and learn how coupling and detailed balance between photogenerated electronic charge carriers and the ionic species gives rise to distinct material properties. The discussion focuses on the underlying physical mechanisms linking light and ion motion, providing a foundation for understanding this developing area of research.3
References:
1. Senocrate, A.; Kotomin, E.; Maier, J. Helv. Chim. Acta 2020, 103 (7), e2000073.
2. Kim, G. Y.; Senocrate, A.; Yang, T.-Y.; Gregori, G.; Grätzel, M.; Maier, J. Nat. Mater. 2018, 17, 445-449.
3. Viernstein, A.; Kubicek, M.; Morgenbesser, M.; Walch, G.; Brunauer, G. C.; Fleig, J. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2019, 29 (23), 1900196.