Photothermal Microscopy and
Spectroscopy Webinar

Ultrafast optical stroboscopic scattering microscopy (stroboSCAT) is emerging as an incisive technique to probe not only photogenerated electronic excitations and their transport as a function of nanoscale material structure, but also to simultaneously and distinctly probe the thermal energy generated and its transport, with temperature change sensitivity down to 100 mK. This ability opens opportunities to not only properly characterize each form of coexisting energy, but also to investigate the coupling and interconversion of charge to heat and heat to charge. I will show a range of examples to support these abilities of interest for photothermal, thermoelectric and photoelectrochemical applications. I will show how structural armchair anisotropy in black phosphorus generates energy transport anisotropies useful for thermoelectrics and describe how these processes are altered in the 2D limit. I will also show a structure-transport relationships in candidate photoelectrode transition metal oxides for photocatalysis and in natural photosynthesis. Finally, I will show how a related approach also enables investigation of solution phase reaction products and their transport.