DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY AND BIOCHEMISTRY PRESENTS
Molecular DNA Nanomaterials for Quantum Information Systems
Dr. Olga Mass
Boise State University
1:30 – 2:20 pm
February 4th, 2022
EDUC 112 and Zoom meeting link
Abstract
Molecular DNA nanomaterials are central for emerging technologies such as quantum information systems (QIS). In the heart of QIS lies the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. The inspiration for the molecular DNA nanomaterials comes from the chlorophyll dyes’ organization in natural photosynthetic antenna, where a remarkably efficient transfer of sunlight energy is believed to be driven by quantum entanglement sustained at room temperature. Motivated by Nature’s example, synthetic dyes have been attached to a highly programmable DNA scaffold to form dye aggregates and promote the desired dye interactions with light and each other that lead to entanglement. The first part of this presentation will describe how such dye-DNA materials are created and characterized. The second part of the presentation will show how synthetic chlorophyll dyes with advanced chemical and photophysical properties have been obtained via de novo methods to provide various mimics of chlorophyll function for future man-made architectures and devices including QIS.
Zoom Meeting ID: 914 4559 6025
Presenter
Dr. Olga Mass joined the Micron School of Materials Science & Engineering at Boise State University in September 2019 as a Research Scholar working in the Nanoscale Materials and Device group with Profs. Bill Knowlton and Bernard Yurke. Her previous work included an appointment as an organic chemistry lecturer at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Boise State (2013-2017) and as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the research group of Prof. Lisa Warner in the Biomolecular Research Center, Boise State (2017-2019). Olga has extensive expertise in design, multistep synthesis, and characterization of small organic molecules, macromolecules, and dyes.