This is part of an ongoing series about new MTL core faculty members.
Prof. Moungi Bawendi joined the faculty at MIT in 1990. He has followed an interdisciplinary research program that aims at probing the science and developing the technology of chemically synthesized nanocrystals. Dr. Bawendi's focus is on creating zero dimensional semiconductor and magnetic quantum materials, and understanding the physical characteristics of molecular devices, including the chemistry, physics, applications and assembly of nanostructures.
The Bawendi group focuses on the science and applications of nanocrystals, especially semiconductor nanocrystal (aka quantum dots). Their research ranges from the very fundamental to applications in electro-optics and biology. There is an ongoing synthetic effort underlying all of this to address the challenges of making new compositions and morphologies of nanocrystals and nanocrystal heterostructures, and new ligands so that the nanocrystals can be incorporated into hybrid organic/inorganic devices, or biological systems.