Emory Chan
@emorychannano.bsky.social
Staff Scientist, The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Nanoparticles, materials, robotics
https://combinano.lbl.gov
@molecularfoundry.bsky.social
@berkeleylab.lbl.gov
https://combinano.lbl.gov
@molecularfoundry.bsky.social
@berkeleylab.lbl.gov
Love building microscopes? Looking for a #postdoc? Come work w/ me, Ed Barnard, Jim Schuck, Bruce Cohen & others @berkeleylab.lbl.gov developing a #photonAvalanching microscope for bio & environmental sensing! Description below: #jobs #nonlinear #optics #photonics
drive.google.com/file/d/1Qcof...
drive.google.com/file/d/1Qcof...
September 24, 2025 at 12:19 AM
Love building microscopes? Looking for a #postdoc? Come work w/ me, Ed Barnard, Jim Schuck, Bruce Cohen & others @berkeleylab.lbl.gov developing a #photonAvalanching microscope for bio & environmental sensing! Description below: #jobs #nonlinear #optics #photonics
drive.google.com/file/d/1Qcof...
drive.google.com/file/d/1Qcof...
2 #S25MRS talks down, 1 proposal submitted (internally). Time to take an ebike ride around Seattle before my flight!It's so nice here... great choice, MRS.
April 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
2 #S25MRS talks down, 1 proposal submitted (internally). Time to take an ebike ride around Seattle before my flight!It's so nice here... great choice, MRS.
Thinking of submitting a user proposal to the @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov or any other scientific user facility?
Here are my Top 10 tips for writing a Foundry proposal (due March 27th!).
These #ProTips should be relevant for most user facilities! 🧵
Here are my Top 10 tips for writing a Foundry proposal (due March 27th!).
These #ProTips should be relevant for most user facilities! 🧵
March 10, 2025 at 8:38 PM
Thinking of submitting a user proposal to the @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov or any other scientific user facility?
Here are my Top 10 tips for writing a Foundry proposal (due March 27th!).
These #ProTips should be relevant for most user facilities! 🧵
Here are my Top 10 tips for writing a Foundry proposal (due March 27th!).
These #ProTips should be relevant for most user facilities! 🧵
Read all 19 myths and mysteries about photon avalanching nanoparticles by clicking on one of the links below. @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov @berkeleylab.lbl.gov
Special thanks to co-*author @askripka.bsky.social!
RSC: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Open access: doi.org/10.26434/che...
Special thanks to co-*author @askripka.bsky.social!
RSC: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Open access: doi.org/10.26434/che...
March 5, 2025 at 11:34 PM
Read all 19 myths and mysteries about photon avalanching nanoparticles by clicking on one of the links below. @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov @berkeleylab.lbl.gov
Special thanks to co-*author @askripka.bsky.social!
RSC: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Open access: doi.org/10.26434/che...
Special thanks to co-*author @askripka.bsky.social!
RSC: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
Open access: doi.org/10.26434/che...
Myth #6: ANPs do not photobleach (which is bad for ANP imaging applications)
March 5, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Myth #6: ANPs do not photobleach (which is bad for ANP imaging applications)
Myth #5: The high nonlinearity of photon avalanching (PA) allows ANPs to break the resolution limit, i.e., achieve "super-resolution"
March 5, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Myth #5: The high nonlinearity of photon avalanching (PA) allows ANPs to break the resolution limit, i.e., achieve "super-resolution"
Myth #4: Photon avalanching nanoparticles (ANPs) amplify incident light.
March 5, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Myth #4: Photon avalanching nanoparticles (ANPs) amplify incident light.
OK, back to myths:
Myth #3: The giant nonlinearities of ANPs (>30) must mean they have huge anti-Stokes shifts and tiny quantum yields.
Myth #3: The giant nonlinearities of ANPs (>30) must mean they have huge anti-Stokes shifts and tiny quantum yields.
March 5, 2025 at 11:22 PM
OK, back to myths:
Myth #3: The giant nonlinearities of ANPs (>30) must mean they have huge anti-Stokes shifts and tiny quantum yields.
Myth #3: The giant nonlinearities of ANPs (>30) must mean they have huge anti-Stokes shifts and tiny quantum yields.
Mystery #4: What are avalanching nanoparticles good for?
March 5, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Mystery #4: What are avalanching nanoparticles good for?
Mystery #3: How does photon avalanching actually work?
March 5, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Mystery #3: How does photon avalanching actually work?
Mystery #2: Avalanching nanoparticles are some of the most nonlinear materials ever reported. Why should we care?
March 5, 2025 at 9:01 PM
Mystery #2: Avalanching nanoparticles are some of the most nonlinear materials ever reported. Why should we care?
OK, so maybe you're like, "Hold up, what is an avalanching nanoparticle?" So we answered many mysteries like that, too:
March 5, 2025 at 8:59 PM
OK, so maybe you're like, "Hold up, what is an avalanching nanoparticle?" So we answered many mysteries like that, too:
Myth #2: PA is a parametric nonlinear optical process and happens through virtual states.
March 5, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Myth #2: PA is a parametric nonlinear optical process and happens through virtual states.
Myth #1: Photon avalanches are avalanches of photons
(they're not -- they are avalanches of absorption or avalanches of excited states! The photons are just fun byproducts that come along for the ride...)
(they're not -- they are avalanches of absorption or avalanches of excited states! The photons are just fun byproducts that come along for the ride...)
March 5, 2025 at 8:53 PM
Myth #1: Photon avalanches are avalanches of photons
(they're not -- they are avalanches of absorption or avalanches of excited states! The photons are just fun byproducts that come along for the ride...)
(they're not -- they are avalanches of absorption or avalanches of excited states! The photons are just fun byproducts that come along for the ride...)
Breakfast under blue skies @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov
February 26, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Breakfast under blue skies @molecularfoundry.lbl.gov
#openAccess preprint here: chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
Direct @roysocchem.bsky.social link: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
January 22, 2025 at 11:17 PM
#openAccess preprint here: chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
Direct @roysocchem.bsky.social link: pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...
When annealed, thes metal-sulfide-coated UCNPs can transform into semiconductor-UCNP nanocomposites that we use for photodetectors. This is a powerful strategy for integrating insulating UCNPs into microelectronic devices:
January 22, 2025 at 10:55 PM
When annealed, thes metal-sulfide-coated UCNPs can transform into semiconductor-UCNP nanocomposites that we use for photodetectors. This is a powerful strategy for integrating insulating UCNPs into microelectronic devices:
What is IOB good for? The fact that we can optically switch these materials between on/off states w/ high contrast means that they could serve as optical transistors. In fact, we demonstrated switching of a prototype optical devices using 808 & 1064 nm light as the gate/bias.
January 16, 2025 at 10:28 AM
What is IOB good for? The fact that we can optically switch these materials between on/off states w/ high contrast means that they could serve as optical transistors. In fact, we demonstrated switching of a prototype optical devices using 808 & 1064 nm light as the gate/bias.
Every time a Nd3+ ion in an IOB NP wants to relax back to its ground state, it cross-relaxes (CR), resutling in 2 Nd3+ ions in their intermediate state. Each of those Nd ions can be re-excited back to its emitting state, where it can emit light or undergo this population amplification process again.
January 16, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Every time a Nd3+ ion in an IOB NP wants to relax back to its ground state, it cross-relaxes (CR), resutling in 2 Nd3+ ions in their intermediate state. Each of those Nd ions can be re-excited back to its emitting state, where it can emit light or undergo this population amplification process again.
When I was a junior in college, girls in our dorm were obsessed with this movie Sliding Doors (1998) with Gwyneth Paltrow. The movie follows her character in two parallel timelines, one in which she misses her train, and one in which she doesn’t.
January 16, 2025 at 10:22 AM
When I was a junior in college, girls in our dorm were obsessed with this movie Sliding Doors (1998) with Gwyneth Paltrow. The movie follows her character in two parallel timelines, one in which she misses her train, and one in which she doesn’t.
Which state the nanoparticle is actually in depends on its history rather than its structure or its conditions!
January 16, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Which state the nanoparticle is actually in depends on its history rather than its structure or its conditions!
@askripka.bsky.social figured we could increase this nonlinearity by cooling these nanoparticles down. At 77-160K, not only did we observe optical nonlinearities >200 (a record!), but even more surprisingly, we observed large hysteresis in the PA vs the laser pump power.
January 16, 2025 at 10:18 AM
@askripka.bsky.social figured we could increase this nonlinearity by cooling these nanoparticles down. At 77-160K, not only did we observe optical nonlinearities >200 (a record!), but even more surprisingly, we observed large hysteresis in the PA vs the laser pump power.
#ActuallyProud to share our latest work in @naturephotonics.bsky.social demonstrating intrinsic optical stability in photon avalanching nanoparticles!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Read on to learn how these nanoparticles are like Gwyneth Paltrow 👱♀️, and how that’s useful for optical computing.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Read on to learn how these nanoparticles are like Gwyneth Paltrow 👱♀️, and how that’s useful for optical computing.
January 16, 2025 at 10:11 AM
#ActuallyProud to share our latest work in @naturephotonics.bsky.social demonstrating intrinsic optical stability in photon avalanching nanoparticles!
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Read on to learn how these nanoparticles are like Gwyneth Paltrow 👱♀️, and how that’s useful for optical computing.
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Read on to learn how these nanoparticles are like Gwyneth Paltrow 👱♀️, and how that’s useful for optical computing.
#3) Forces modulate relative peak intensity ratios. Such mechanochromism is probably the most useful mode of ANP force sensing since peak ratios are self-normalized and don't require the measurements at different laser powers.
January 9, 2025 at 11:58 PM
#3) Forces modulate relative peak intensity ratios. Such mechanochromism is probably the most useful mode of ANP force sensing since peak ratios are self-normalized and don't require the measurements at different laser powers.