School of Humanities and Sciences
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Richard Zare
Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor of Natural Science and Professor, by courtesy, of Physics
Current Research and Scholarly InterestsMy research group is exploring a variety of topics that range from the basic understanding of chemical reaction dynamics to the nature of the chemical contents of single cells.
Under thermal conditions nature seems to hide the details of how elementary reactions occur through a series of averages over reagent velocity, internal energy, impact parameter, and orientation. To discover the effects of these variables on reactivity, it is necessary to carry out studies of chemical reactions far from equilibrium in which the states of the reactants are more sharply restricted and can be varied in a controlled manner. My research group is attempting to meet this tough experimental challenge through a number of laser techniques that prepare reactants in specific quantum states and probe the quantum state distributions of the resulting products. It is our belief that such state-to-state information gives the deepest insight into the forces that operate in the breaking of old bonds and the making of new ones.
Space does not permit a full description of these projects, and I earnestly invite correspondence. The following examples are representative:
The simplest of all neutral bimolecular reactions is the exchange reaction H H2 -> H2 H. We are studying this system and various isotopic cousins using a tunable UV laser pulse to photodissociate HBr (DBr) and hence create fast H (D) atoms of known translational energy in the presence of H2 and/or D2 and using a laser multiphoton ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer to detect the nascent molecular products in a quantum-state-specific manner by means of an imaging technique. It is expected that these product state distributions will provide a key test of the adequacy of various advanced theoretical schemes for modeling this reaction.
Analytical efforts involve the use of capillary zone electrophoresis, two-step laser desorption laser multiphoton ionization mass spectrometry, cavity ring-down spectroscopy, and Hadamard transform time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We believe these methods can revolutionize trace analysis, particularly of biomolecules in cells. -
Mike Ziebel
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
BioMike Ziebel is an assistant professor in the department of chemistry at Stanford University. The Ziebel research group works at the interface of chemistry, physics, and materials science, focusing on using understanding of local electronic structure in inorganic solid-state materials to identify and synthesize new compounds hosting unconventional electronic and magnetic ground states. In particular, the group leverages manipulation techniques developed by the 2D materials community—namely the ability to stack, twist, and strain van der Waals materials near the few-layer limit—as a new design parameter to access electronic and magnetic behavior that would be inaccessible using conventional synthetic tools. By combining these methods with local structural and electronic probes, as well as bulk property measurements, the group works towards its ultimate goal to achieve on-demand control of lattice, charge, and spin degrees of freedom in quantum materials, for the development of more energy-efficient electrical and magnetic devices.
Prior to joining Stanford, Prof. Ziebel was a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University, working jointly between the labs of Xavier Roy and Cory Dean to study correlated electron phases in new two-dimensional materials. He received his B.A. in chemistry from Northwestern University, where he pursued the synthesis of molecular electron donors for organic photovoltaic devices with Prof. Samuel Stupp, and his PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked with Prof. Jeff Long on electrically conductive metal–organic frameworks. -
Alfred Zong
Assistant Professor of Physics and Applied Physics
BioI am an assistant professor in the Departments of Physics and of Applied Physics, and my group focuses on the study of light-induced non-equilibrium phenomena in quantum materials. To capture the ultrafast dynamics on the nanoscale, we develop a variety of techniques such as ultrafast electron diffraction and microscopy, attosecond transient absorption spectroscopy, and coherent diffraction imaging. These time-resolved probes are integrated with a complex sample environment such as in-situ strain and electrostatic gating in order to design, discover, and understand non-equilibrium phases of quantum materials.
We are seeking motivated undergraduates, graduate students, and postdocs to join the group. Please email me directly to discuss opportunities.
For more details, check out the group website at https://zonglab.stanford.edu/ -
Tijana Zrnic
Assistant Professor of Statistics, of Management Science and Engineering and, by courtesy, of Computer Science
BioTijana Zrnic is an Assistant Professor at Stanford University, jointly appointed between Statistics, Management Science & Engineering, and, by courtesy, Computer Science. She works on foundational questions in machine learning, statistics, and data-driven decision-making. Example topics of interest include AI-assisted statistical inference and data collection, performative prediction, and studying selection bias.
