Research in the Chen laboratory focuses on developing novel materials ranging from nanoscopic to macroscopic scales and characterizing and elucidating their chemical and physical properties for energy, biological, optical and catalysis applications.

Semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots (QDs), are emerging as a class of unique materials due to their unparalleled features: a compact size, broad excitation band, large absorption cross section, tunable narrow/symmetric emission profile, superior photostability and solution processability. Research in the Chen laboratory focuses on developing novel QD-based materials ranging from nanoscopic to macroscopic scales and characterizing and elucidating their chemical and physical properties for energy, optical, optoelectronic, catalysis and biological applications.

1. See full publication list at: Chen Lab Publications and Ou Chen's Google Scholar
2. Y. Nagaoka, H. Zhu, D. Eggert, O. Chen "Single-Component Quasicrystalline Nanocrystal Superlattices through Flexible Polygon Tiling Rule" Science, 2018, 362, 1396-1400.
3. Y. Nagaoka, R. Tan, R. Li, H. Zhu, D. Eggert, Y. Wu, Y. Liu, Z. Wang, O. Chen “Superstructures Generated from Truncated Tetrahedron Quantum Dots” Nature, 2018, 561, 378-382.
4. H. Zhu, Z. Fan, Y. Yuan, M. A. Wilson, K. Hills-Kimball, Z. Wei, J. He, R. Li, M. Gruenwald, O. Chen “Self-Assembly of Quantum Dot-Gold Hetero-Dimer Nanocrystals with Orientational Order” Nano Letters, 2018, 18, 5049-5056.
5. M. Heine, A. Fischer, C. Schlein, C. Jung, L. Straub, K. Gottschling, N. Mangels, Y. Yuan, S. Nilsson, G. Liebscher, O. Chen, R. Schreiber, R. Zechner, L. Scheja, J. Heeren “Lipolysis triggers a systemic insulin response essential for efficient energy replenishment of activated brown adipose tissue in mice” Cell Metabolism, 2018, ASAP.
6. H. Zhu, T. Cai, M. Que, J-P. Song, B. M. Rubenstein, Z. Wang, O. Chen “Pressure-Induced Phase Transformation and Bandgap Engineering of Formamidinium Lead Iodide Perovskite Nanocrystals” J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2018, 9, 4199-4205.
7. F. Chen, H. Zhu, O. Chen, M. Zimmt “Reactive two-component monolayers template bottom-up assembly of nanoparticle arrays on HOPG” Chem. Comm., 2018, 54, 8056-8059.
8. Y. Chen, J. Cordero, H. Wang, D. Franke, O. Achorn, F. Freyria, I. Coroceanu, H. Wei, O. Chen, D. Mooney, M. G. Bawendi “A Ligand System for Flexible Functionalization of Quantum Dots via Click Chemistry” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2018, 130, 4742-4746.
9. J. Gao, A. Rao, H. Li, J. Zhang, O. Chen “Carrier Transport Dynamics in High Speed Black Phosphorus Photodetectors” ACS Photonics, 2018, 5, 1412-1417.
10. J. Lee, X. Feng, O. Chen, M. G. Bawendi, J. Huang “Stable, Small, Specific, Low-Valency Quantum Dots for Single-Molecule Imaging” Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 4406-4414.
11. D. Dey, Y. Zhou, Y. Sun, J. Jenkins, D. Kriz, S. Suib, O. Chen, S. Zou, J. Zhao “Excitation Wavelength Dependent Photon Anti-Bunching/Bunching from Single Quantum Dots Near Gold Nanostructures” Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 1038-1046.
12. Y. Chen, D. Montana, H. Wei, J. Cordero, M. Schneider, X. Le Guevel, O. Chen, O. T. Bruns, M. G. Bawendi “Shortwave Infrared in vivo Imaging with Gold Nanoclusters” Nano Letters, 2017, 17, 6330-6334.
13. H. Zhu, Y. Nagaoka, K. Hills-Kimball, R. Tan, L. Yu, Y. Fang, K. Wang, R. Li, Z. Wang, O. Chen “Pressure-Enabled Synthesis of Hetero-Dimers and Hetero-Rods through Intraparticle Coalescence and Interparticle Fusion of QD-Au Satellite Nanocrystals” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, 139, 8408-8411.
14. R. Tan, Y. Yuan, Y. Nagaoka, D. Eggert, K. Wang, P. Guo, J. Zhao, O. Chen “Monodisperse Hexagonal Pyramidal and Bipyramidal Wurtzite CdSe-CdS Core-Shell Nanocrystals” Chemistry of Materials, 2017, 29, 4097-4108.
15. K. Hills-Kimball, Y. Nagaoka, C. Cao, E. Chaykovsky, O. Chen “Synthesis of Formamidinium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals through Solid-Liquid-Soild Cation Exchange” Journal of Materials Chemistry C, 2017, 5, 5680-5684.
16. O. T. Bruns, T. Bischof, D. Harris, D. Franke, Y. Shi, L. Reidemann, A. Bartelt, F. Jaworski, J. Carr, C. Rowlands, M. Wilson, O. Chen, R. Jain and M. G. Bawendi “Next Generation in vivo Optical Imaging with Short-Wave Infrared Quantum Dots” Nature Biomedical Engineering, 2017, 1, 0056.
17. Y. Nagaoka, K. Hills-Kimball, R. Tan, R. Li, Z. Wang, O. Chen “Nanocube Superlattices of Cesium Lead Bromide Perovskites and Pressure-Induced Phase Transformation at Atomic and Mesoscale Levels” Advanced Materials, 2017, 29, 1606666.
18. H. Wei, O. T. Bruns, M. G. Kaul, E. C. Hansen, M. Barch, A. Wisniowska, O. Chen, Y. Chen, N. Li, S. Okada, J. M. Cordero, M. Heine, C. T. Farrar, D. M. Montana, G. Adam, H. Ittrich, A. Jasanoff, P. Nielsen and M. G. Bawendi “Exceedingly Small Iron Oxide Nanoparticles as Positive MRI Contrast Agents” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2017, 114, 2325-2330.
19. R. Tan, H. Zhu, C. Cao and O. Chen “Multi-Component Superstructures Self-Assembled from Nanocrystal Building Blocks” Nanoscale, 2016, 8, 9944-9961.
20. D. Franke, D. Harris, O. Chen, O. T. Bruns, J. Carr, M. W. Wilson and M. G. Bawendi “Continuous Injection Synthesis of Indium Arsenide Quantum Dots for Short-Wavelength Infrared Imaging” Nature Communications, 2016, 7, 12749
21. R. Li, J. Zhang, R. Tan, F. Gerdes, Z. Luo, H. Xu, J. A. Hollingsworth, C. Klinke, O. Chen and Z. Wang “Competing Interactions between Various Entropic Forces toward Assembly of Pt₃Ni Octahedra into a Body-Centered Cubic Superlattice” Nano Lett., 2016, 16, 2792-2799.

22. Publications prior to Brown    

23. R. Jensen, I. Huang, O. Chen, J. Choy, T. Bischof, M. Loncar, M. G. Bawendi “Optical Trapping and Two-Photon Excitation of Colloidal Quantum Dots using Bowtie Apertures” ACS Photonics, 2016, 3, 423-427.
24. J. Cui, A. P. Beyler, I. Coropceanu, L. Cleary, T. R. Avila, Y. Chen, J. M. Cordero, S. L. Heathcote, D. K. Harris, O. Chen, J. Cao and M. G. Bawendi “Evolution of the Single-Nanocrystal Photoluminescence Linewidth with Size and Shell: Implications for Exciton–Phonon Coupling and the Optimization of Spectral Linewidths” Nano Lett. 2016, 16, 289-296.
25. S. Dey, Y. Zhou, X. Tian, J. A. Jenkins, O. Chen, S. Zou and J. Zhao “An Experimental and Theoretical Mechanistic Study of Biexciton Quantum Yield Enhancement in Single Quantum Dots Near Gold Nanoparticles” Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 6851-6858.
26. P. D. Chowdary, D. L. Che, L. Kaplan, O. Chen, K. Pu, M. G. Bawendi and B. Cui “Nanoparticle-Assisted Optical Tethering of Endosomes Reveals the Cooperative Function of Dyneins in Retrograde Axonal Transport” Scientific Reports, 2015, 5, 18059.
27. X. Zhang, A. Shamirian, A. M. Jawaid, Ch. M. Tyrakowshki, L. E. Page, A. Das, O. Chen, A. Isovic, A. Hassan and P. T. Snee “Monolayer Silane-Coated, Water-Soluble Quantum Dots” Small 2015, 45, 6091-6096.
28. M. Abolhasani, C. W. Coley, L. Xie, O. Chen, M. G. Bawendi, K. F. Jensen “Oscillatory Microprocessor for Growth and in Situ Characterization of Semiconductor Nanocrystals” Chem. Mater. 2015, 27, 6131-6138
29. G. Satat, B. Heshmat, C. Barsi, D. Raviv, O. Chen, M. G. Bawendi and R. Raskar “Locating and Classifying Fluorescent Tags Behind Turbid Layers Non-Invasively Using Sparsity-Based Time-Resolved Inversion” Nature Communications 2015, 6, 6796.
30. O. Chen, L. Riedemann, F. Etoc, H. Herrmann, M. Coppey, M. Barch, C. T. Farrar, J. Zhao, O. Bruns, H. Wei, P. Guo, J. Cui, R. Jensen, Y. Chen, D. Harris, J. Cordero, Z. Wang, A. Jasanoff, D. Fukumura, R. Reimer, D. Dahan, R. Jain, and M. G. Bawendi “Magneto-Fluorescent Core-Shell Supernanoparticles” Nature Communications 2014, 5, 5093. (Highlighted in the MIT News)
31. O. Chen, H. Wei, A. Maurice, M. G. Bawendi and P. Reiss “Pure Colors from Core-Shell Quantum Dots” MRS Bulletin 2013, 38, 696-702. (Invited)
32. J. Cui, A. Beyler, L. Marshall, O. Chen, D. Harris, D. Wanger, X. Brokmann and M. G. Bawendi “Direct Probe of Spectral Inhomogeneity Reveals Synthetic Tunability of Single-Nanocrystal Spectral Linewidths.” Nature Chemistry 2013, 5, 602-606.
33. O. Chen, J. Zhao, V. P. Chauhan, J. Cui, C. Wong, D. Harris, H. Wei, H. S. Han, D. Fukumura, R. K. Jain and M. G. Bawendi “Compact High-Quality CdSe-CdS Core-Shell Nanocrystals with Narrow Emission Linewidths and Suppressed Blinking” Nature Materials 2013, 12, 445-451. (Highlighted on the MIT homepage)
34. H. Wei, O. Bruns, O. Chen and M. G. Bawendi “Compact Zwitterion-Coated Iron Oxide Nanoparticles for in vitro and in vivo Imaging” Integr. Biol. 2013, 5, 108-114.
35. J. Zhao, O. Chen, D. B. Strasfeld and M. G. Bawendi “Biexciton Quantum Yield Heterogeneities in Single CdSe (CdS) Core (Shell) Nanocrystals and Its Correlation to Exciton Blinking” Nano Lett. 2012, 12 (9), 4477-4483.
36. V. P. Chauhan, T. Stylianopoulos, J. D. Martin, Z. Popović, O. Chen, W. S. Kamoun, M. G. Bawendi, D. Fukumura and R. K. Jain “Normalization of Tumor Blood Vessels Improves the Delivery of Nanomedicines in A Size-Dependent Manner” Nature Nanotechnology 2012, 7, 383-388.
37. T. Wang, J. Zhuang, J. Lynch, O. Chen, Z. Wang, X. Wang, D. LaMontagne, H. Wu, Z. Wang and Y. C. Cao “Self-Assembled Colloidal Superparticles from Nanorods." Science 2012, 338 (6105), 358-363.
38. V. P. Chauhan, Z. Popović, O. Chen, J. Cui, D. Fukumura, R. K. Jain and M. G. Bawendi “Fluorescent Nanorods and Nanospheres for Real-Time in vivo Probing of Nanoparticle Shape-Dependent Tumor Penetration” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 11417-11420.
39. Y. Nagaoka, O. Chen, Z. Wang and Y. C. Cao “Structure Control of Nanocrystal Superlattices Using Organic Guest Molecules” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 134 (6), 2868-2871.
40. O. Chen, Y. Yang, T. Wang, H. Wu, C. Niu, J, Yang and Y. C. Cao “Surface-Functionalization-Dependent Optical Properties of II-VI Semiconductor Nanocrystals” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133 (43), 17504-17512.
41. H. Wu, O. Chen, J. Zhuang, J. Lynch, D. LaMontagne, Y. Nagaoka and Y. C. Cao “Formation of Heterodimer Nanocrystals: UO₂/In₂O₃ and FePt/In₂O₃” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133 (43), 14327-14337.
42. O. Chen, D. Shelby, Y. Yang, J. Zhuang, T. Wang, C. Niu, N. Omenetto and Y. C. Cao “Excitation-Intensity-Dependent, Color-Tunable, Dual Emissions from Mn-Doped CdS/ZnS Core/Shell Nanocrystals” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 10132-10135. (Selected as a “Hot paper”)
43. Z. Wang, O. Chen, Y. C. Cao, K. Finkelstein, D. Smilgies, X. Lu and W. A. Bassett “Integrating In-situ High Pressure Small and Wide Angle Synchrotron X-ray Scattering for Exploiting New Physics of Nanoparticle Supercrystals” Rev. Sci. Instru. 2010, 81, 093902-1-5.
44. O. Chen, J. Zhuang, F. Guzzetta, J. Lynch, A. Angerhofer and Y. C. Cao “Synthesis of Water-Soluble 2,2’-Diphenyl-1-Picrylhydrazyl Nanoparticles: A New Standard for Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131 (35), 12542-12543.
45. J. Zhuang, A. Shaller, J. Lynch, H. Wu, O. Chen, A. D.Q. Li and Y. C. Cao “Cylindrical Superparticles from Semiconductor Nanorods” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2009, 131(17), 6084-6085.
46. Y. Yang, O. Chen, A. Angerhofer and Y. C. Cao “Radio-Position-Controlled Doping of CdS/ZnS Core/Shell Nanocrystals: Surface Effects and Position-Dependent Properties” Chem. Eur. J.  2009, 15, 3186-3197.
47. O. Chen, X. Chen, Y. Yang, J. Lynch, H. Wu, J. Zhuang and Y. C. Cao “Synthesis of Metal-Selenide Nanocrystals Using Selenium Dioxide as the Selenium Precursor” Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 8638-8641. (Selected as a “Very Important Paper”)
48. Y. Yang, O. Chen, A. Angerhofer and Y. C. Cao “On Doping CdS/ZnS Core/Shell Nanocrystals with Mn” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2008, 130 (46), 15649-15661.
49. Y. Yang, O. Chen, A. Angerhofer and Y. C. Cao “Radial-Position-Controlled Doping in CdS/ZnS Core/Shell Nanocrystals” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2006, 128 (38), 12428-12429.
50. S. Yin, S. Wei, G.  Xie, Q. Bian, J. Zhang, O. Chen and H. Yang “XAFS and XRD Studies on Structures of Nd₉Fe_85-xMn_xB₆ Nanocomposites” Phys. Scr. 2005, T115, 658-660.

Emerging Investigator by Nanoscale

Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award

Sloan Research Fellowship Award

3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award

NSF CAREER Award

Emerging Investigor by Journal of Chemical Physics

Young Star Editor Award by Nano Research 

Rising Star by Frontiers in Chemistry

Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh Starter Grant Award                                        

Institute for Molecular and Nanoscale Innovation Seed Grant Award                                                                                          

Emerging Investigator by Royal Society of Chemistry                                                                      

Xerox University Affairs Committee Award          

Richard B. Salomon Faculty Research Award                                                                                                                                                                    

American Chemical Society, Materials Research Society