Cherie R Kagan Research Group
The Kagan group’s research is focused on studying the chemical and physical properties of nanostructured materials and in integrating materials with optical, electrical, magnetic, mechanical, and thermal properties for (multi-)functional devices. We combine the flexibility of chemistry and bottom-up assembly with top-down fabrication techniques to design materials and devices. We explore the properties of materials and measure the characteristics of devices using spatially- and temporally-resolved optical spectroscopies, AC and DC electrical techniques, electrochemistry, scanning probe and electron microscopies, and analytical measurements.
Announcements
- Congratulations to Akhila on being selected as a speaker in this year’s MAE Future Leaders Seminar!
Akhila will be speaking on Wednesday, May 4, from 3-4EST. Details about attending the seminar virtually can be found here (link)
- Congratulations to Cherie on being named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors!
Elected Fellows have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society. (read more)
- Congratulations to Cherie on being elected a 2022 Optica Fellow!
Fellows are Optica members who have served with distinction in the advancement of optics and photonics.
- Congratulations, Chavez!
Chavez Lawrence was named a National GEM Conference Finalist.
- Congratulations, Daniel!
Daniel Straus has won a Blavatnik Award for Young Scientists. video
- Welcome, Akhila!
Akhila Mallavarapu has joined our group as a postdoctoral researcher.
Research Highlights

Sub-5 nm Anisotropic Pattern Transfer via Colloidal Lithography of a Self-Assembled GdF3 Nanocrystal Monolayer Journal Article
In: Nano Letters, vol. 22, iss. 5, pp. 1992–2000, 2022.

Template-Assisted Self Assembly of Fluorescent Nanodiamonds for Scalable Quantum Technologies Journal Article
In: ACS Nano, 2022.

Chemical and Physical Properties of Photonic Noble-metal Nanomaterials Journal Article
In: Advanced Materials, 2021.

Heavy-Metal-Free Quantum Dot-Based Flexible Electronics Journal Article
In: Information Display, vol. 37, no. 6, pp. 24-32, 2021.

Ink-Lithography for Property Engineering and Patterning of Nanocrystal Thin Films Journal Article
In: ACS Nano, 2021.