{"690335":{"#nid":"690335","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Proposal by Tanya Alexandra Balandin","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETanya Alexandra Balandin\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EAdvisor: Prof. Jason Azoulay\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ewill propose a doctoral thesis entitled\u003C\/em\u003E,\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESpin by Design: Organic Donor-Acceptor-Donor Diradicaloids as Tunable Spin Materials for Quantum and Electronic Applications\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cem\u003EOn\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EWednesday, May 20th at 1:00 p.m.\u003Cbr\u003EMoSE Room 1224\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003Eand\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;Virtually via MS Teams\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/meet\/236993707059203?p=CRYrqctkRiNTJb2eaV\u0022 title=\u0022Meeting join\u0022\u003Ehttps:\/\/teams.microsoft.com\/meet\/236993707059203?p=CRYrqctkRiNTJb2eaV\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EProf. Jason Azoulay \u2013 School of Materials Science \u0026amp; Engineering, Chemistry \u0026amp; Biochemistry (advisor)\u003Cbr\u003EProf. Matthew Sfeir \u2013 School of Materials Science \u0026amp; Engineering, Chemistry \u0026amp; Biochemistry\u003Cbr\u003EProf. Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena \u2013 School of Materials Science \u0026amp; Engineering, Chemistry \u0026amp; Biochemistry\u003Cbr\u003EProf. Scott Danielsen \u2013 School of Materials Science and Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Prof. Martin Mourigal \u2013 School of Physics\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAbstract\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOrganic molecules and polymers with open-shell diradical character (\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003Ey\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E) contain two weakly paired electron spins that interact across their \u03c0-conjugated frameworks.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/strong\u003EThey offer a significant opportunity to engineer spin-active electronic states directly into a\u0026nbsp;p-conjugated backbone, providing novel optoelectronic, spintronic, magnetic, and quantum functionalities. Understanding the underlying molecular structure and solid-state physics of these materials is important for exploiting the spin degree of freedom in emerging spintronic and magneto-electronic devices. However, there is a lack of a unifying description of the electronic structure and its correlation to material properties. In donor-acceptor-donor (DAD) diradicaloids, open-shell character, small singlet-triplet energy gaps (D\u003Cem\u003EE\u003C\/em\u003EST), and tunable spin-spin interactions result in material properties that are highly sensitive to chemical structure, morphology, and packing. The latter motivates my research, which focuses on understanding the structure-spin-property relationships in DAD diradicaloids from isolated molecules to solid-state materials and single-molecule devices. I will use variable-temperature and multi-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), pulsed EPR, superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry, and single-molecule transport measurements to connect molecular design with magnetic exchange, spin coherence, and charge\/spin-state energetics. First, I will determine how donor\/acceptor strength, conjugation length, backbone planarity, side-chain structure, and solid-state packing govern intermolecular exchange and magnetic response. Second, I will evaluate whether thermally accessible triplet states in specified DAD diradicaloids can function as high-operating-temperature molecular spin-qubit candidates by measuring relaxation times, coherent spin manipulation, and identifying decoherence pathways. Third, I will investigate how open-shell electronic structure manifests in single-molecule junctions through charge-state addition spectra and excited-state resonances. By establishing design rules that connect diradicaloid chemistry to magnetism, spin coherence, and device-relevant charge transport, this work will advance DAD diradicaloids as tunable organic materials for future magneto-electronic, spintronic, and quantum technologies.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESpin by Design: Organic Donor-Acceptor-Donor Diradicaloids as Tunable Spin Materials for Quantum and Electronic Applications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Spin by Design: Organic Donor-Acceptor-Donor Diradicaloids as Tunable Spin Materials for Quantum and Electronic Applications"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-05-18 15:53:27","changed_gmt":"2026-05-18 15:53:57","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-05-20T13:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-05-20T15:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-05-20T15:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-05-20 17:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-05-20 19:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-05-20 19:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"MoSE Room 1224 and  Virtually via MS Teams","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"102851","name":"Phd proposal"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}