Identified in a nationwide search by the College of Sciences, Prof. Sfeir is an established leader in laser spectroscopy applied to the characterization of photonic, (opto)electronic, semiconductor, and quantum materials. 

Electricity is the most useful form of energy in human society – how to generate and store it efficiently and without burning fossil fuels is among the most important challenges facing the world today. Two fundamental processes at the heart of this challenge are the conversion of light to electricity and the motion of electrons through matter. To understand and enhance them, one must be able to capture the effects on matter of light and electrons, two things that move very fast indeed. Thus, one needs very fast methods of detection, and this is the area of the Sfeir’s expertise.

Prof. Sfeir’s laboratory will complement highly active research at Georgia Tech in the areas of solar cells, energy conversion and storage, and quantum science, such as the efforts of the Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics (COPE). Partnering with those who make new light-harvesting and conductive polymers and solid-state materials, the Sfeir group will provide world-leading spectroscopic and materials characterization capabilities. 

Dr. Sfeir is a Web of Science highly cited researcher, which recognizes the world's most influential scientists, and has been recognized with awards such as the Moore Foundation’s 2023 Experimental Physics Investigator and as the 2018 Battelle Inventor of the Year. He has also served as the chair of the Energy subdivision of the American Chemical Society’s Physical Chemistry division. He received his undergraduate education from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. degree in 2005 from the Chemical Physics program at Columbia University. Dr. Sfeir then joined the Brookhaven National Laboratory as a postdoc in the Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department and subsequently as a Materials Scientist in the Center for Functional Nanomaterials where he led the Ultrafast and Nonlinear Spectroscopy Facility.  

Prof. Sfeir will join the Georgia Tech faculty in August, 2025. Learn more about him and his research program at https://sfeirlab.ws.gc.cuny.edu/