Skip to main content

Donghee Son

Yonsei University · Materials Science

About the Lab

Professor Donghee Son's research lab specializes in the design, synthesis, and application of advanced nanomaterials for next-generation electronic and biomedical devices. The lab focuses on colloidal nanocrystal synthesis—particularly perovskite and transition metal dichalcogenide nanomaterials—with an emphasis on precise size control, doping strategies, and defect engineering. Key research directions include the development of functional nanomaterials for flexible and wearable electronics, implantable bioelectronics, and quantum dot-based optoelectronic systems. The lab also explores fundamental mechanisms of nanoscale processes such as cation exchange and nucleation dynamics to enable rational materials design.

nanomaterialsperovskite nanocrystalsbioelectronicsflexible electronicsquantum dots

Research Overview

Papers
126
Total Citations
8,535
Papers (5y)
27
Primary Field
Materials Science

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
27total
2022
2023
2024
2025
2026
Citations per year (5y)
188total
20222023202420252026

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|1,264 citations·2004
Cation Exchange Reactions in Ionic Nanocrystals
Dong Hee Son, Steven M. Hughes, Yadong Yin, A. Paul Alivisatos
SJR Q1Science

Cation exchange has been investigated in a wide range of nanocrystals of varying composition, size, and shape. Complete and fully reversible exchange occurs, and the rates of the reactions are much faster than in bulk cation exchange processes. A critical size has been identified below which the shapes of complex nanocrystals evolve toward the equilibrium shape with lowest energy during the exchange reaction. Above the critical size, the anion sublattice remains intact and the basic shapes of th

CatalysisChemical Engineering
2
Article|664 citations·2016
Exciton-to-Dopant Energy Transfer in Mn-Doped Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals
David Parobek, Benjamin J. Roman, Yitong Dong, Ho Jin, Elbert Lee, Matthew Sheldon, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Nano Letters

We report the one-pot synthesis of colloidal Mn-doped cesium lead halide (CsPbX 3 ) perovskite nanocrystals and efficient intraparticle energy transfer between the exciton and dopant ions resulting in intense sensitized Mn luminescence. Mn-doped CsPbCl 3 and CsPb(Cl/Br) 3 nanocrystals maintained the same lattice structure and crystallinity as their undoped counterparts with nearly identical lattice parameters at ∼0.2% doping concentrations and no signature of phase separation. The strong sensiti

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
3
Article|557 citations·2018
Precise Control of Quantum Confinement in Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Quantum Dots via Thermodynamic Equilibrium
Yitong Dong, Tian Qiao, Do Yun Kim, David Parobek, Daniel Rossi, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Nano Letters

Cesium lead halide (CsPbX<sub>3</sub>) nanocrystals have emerged as a new family of materials that can outperform the existing semiconductor nanocrystals due to their superb optical and charge-transport properties. However, the lack of a robust method for producing quantum dots with controlled size and high ensemble uniformity has been one of the major obstacles in exploring the useful properties of excitons in zero-dimensional nanostructures of CsPbX<sub>3</sub>. Here, we report a new synthesis

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
4
Article|224 citations·2018
Direct Hot-Injection Synthesis of Mn-Doped CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals
David Parobek, Yitong Dong, Tian Qiao, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Chemistry of Materials

We report the direct hot-injection synthesis of Mn-doped cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) perovskite nanocrystals. In contrast to Mn-doped CsPbCl3 nanocrystals, where doping of Mn under typical hot-injection synthesis condition has been relatively straightforward, extending the same approach to CsPbBr3 has been very difficult. Here, we achieved the synthesis of Mn-doped CsPbBr3 nanocrystals via the formation of an intermediate structure (L2[Pb1–xMnx]Br4, L = ligand) before the hot-injection of the

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
5
Article|222 citations·2017
Photoinduced Anion Exchange in Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals
David Parobek, Yitong Dong, Tian Qiao, Daniel Rossi, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Journal of the American Chemical Society

Cesium lead halide (CsPbX 3 ) perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) possess the unique capability of post-synthesis anion exchange providing facile tunability of the optical properties, which is usually achieved by mixing NCs with reactive anion precursors. In this work, we show that the controllable anion exchange can be achieved in a dihalomethane solution of CsPbX 3 NC in the absence of any spontaneously reacting anion source using photoexcitation of CsPbX 3 NCs as the triggering mechanism for the ha

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
6
Article|207 citations·2017
Dynamics of Exciton–Mn Energy Transfer in Mn-Doped CsPbCl3 Perovskite Nanocrystals
Daniel Rossi, David Parobek, Yitong Dong, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Recent success in Mn 2+ ion doping in cesium lead halide (CsPbX 3 ) nanocrystals opened the door to exploring new optical, magnetic and charge carrier transport properties mediated via exciton–dopant exchange coupling in this new family of semiconductor nanocrystals. Here, we studied the dynamics of energy transfer from exciton to Mn 2+ ions in Mn-doped CsPbCl 3 nanocrystals to gain an insight into the relative strength of exciton–Mn exchange coupling compared to more extensively studied Mn-dope

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
7
Article|194 citations·2011
Doping Location-Dependent Energy Transfer Dynamics in Mn-Doped CdS/ZnS Nanocrystals
Hsiang‐Yun Chen, Sourav Maiti, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1ACS Nano

Dynamics of energy transfer and charge carrier localization in Mn-doped CdS/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals correlated with doping location and concentration are studied via transient absorption measurement of exciton relaxation dynamics. The strong dependence of exciton-Mn energy transfer rate on doping location was directly resolved in the transient bleach recovery and electron intraband absorption data by using layer-by-layer synthesized Mn-doped nanocrystals. With 1.2 nm decrease in doping radiu

Materials ChemistryMaterials Science
8
Article|172 citations·2008
Evaporation-Induced Assembly of Quantum Dots into Nanorings
Jixin Chen, Wei‐Ssu Liao, Xin Chen, Tinglu Yang, Stacey E. Wark, Dong Hee Son, James D. Batteas, Paul S. Cremer
SJR Q1ACS Nano

Herein, we demonstrate the controlled formation of two-dimensional periodic arrays of ring-shaped nanostructures assembled from CdSe semiconductor quantum dots (QDs). The patterns were fabricated by using an evaporative templating method. This involves the introduction of an aqueous solution containing both quantum dots and polystyrene microspheres onto the surface of a planar hydrophilic glass substrate. The quantum dots became confined to the meniscus of the microspheres during evaporation, wh

Materials ChemistryMaterials Science
9
Article|125 citations·2009
Using Patterned Arrays of Metal Nanoparticles to Probe Plasmon Enhanced Luminescence of CdSe Quantum Dots
Yang‐Hsiang Chan, Jixin Chen, Stacey E. Wark, Stephanie L. Skiles, Dong Hee Son, James D. Batteas
SJR Q1ACS Nano

Here we present a simple platform for probing plasmon enhanced photoluminescence (PL) of quantum dots by confocal microscopy. In this study, self-assembled monolayers of silane-derivative molecules were patterned onto the oxidized GaAs surfaces to direct the attachment of Au or Ag nanoparticles onto the surface. Following the directed binding of metal nanoparticles (MNPs), a layer-by-layer deposition of oppositely charged polymers was used to create films with varying thickness by controlling th

Electronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsMaterials Science
10
Article|123 citations·2015
Hot Electrons Generated from Doped Quantum Dots via Upconversion of Excitons to Hot Charge Carriers for Enhanced Photocatalysis
Yitong Dong, Julius Choi, Hae‐Kwon Jeong, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Journal of the American Chemical Society

We show that hot electrons exhibiting the enhanced photocatalytic activity in H2 production reaction can be efficiently generated in Mn-doped quantum dots via the "upconversion" of the energy of two excitons into the hot charge carriers. The sequential two-photon-induced process with the long-lived Mn excited state serving as the intermediate state is considered as the pathway generating hot electrons. H2 production rate from doped quantum dots is significantly higher than that from undoped quan

Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the EnvironmentEnergy
11
Article|117 citations·2018
Light-Induced Activation of Forbidden Exciton Transition in Strongly Confined Perovskite Quantum Dots
Daniel Rossi, Hua Wang, Yitong Dong, Tian Qiao, Xiaofeng Qian, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1ACS Nano

We report the strong light-induced activation of forbidden exciton transition in CsPbBr<sub>3</sub> perovskite quantum dots mediated by the symmetry-breaking polaron that modifies the optical selection rule of the confined exciton transition. The activated forbidden transition results in an intense pump-induced absorption in the transient absorption spectra above the bandgap, where the original parity-forbidden transition was located. In contrast to many other semiconductor quantum dots, photoex

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
12
Article|89 citations·2020
Size- and temperature-dependent photoluminescence spectra of strongly confined CsPbBr3 quantum dots
Oscar Hsu-Cheng Cheng, Tian Qiao, Matthew Sheldon, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Nanoscale

QDs shows an opposite dependence on temperature, with weaker dependence overall. On the other hand, the PL linewidth is much more sensitive to the temperature and size of the QDs compared to II-VI QDs, indicating much stronger coupling of excitons to the vibrational degrees of freedom both in the lattice and at the surface of the QDs.

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
13
Article|77 citations·2021
Synthesis and Properties of Strongly Quantum-Confined Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Nanocrystals
Tian Qiao, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Accounts of Chemical Research

ConspectusSemiconducting metal halide perovskite (MHP) nanocrystals have emerged as an important new class of materials as the source of photons and charges for various applications that can outperform many other semiconductor nanocrystals utilized for the same purposes. However, the majority of the studies of MHP nanocrystals focused on weakly or nonconfined systems, where the quantum confinement giving rise to various size-dependent and confinement-enhanced photophysical properties cannot be e

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
14
Article|75 citations·2020
Intense Dark Exciton Emission from Strongly Quantum-Confined CsPbBr3 Nanocrystals
Daniel Rossi, Xiaohan Liu, Yangjin Lee, Mohit Khurana, Joseph Puthenpurayil, Kwanpyo Kim, А. В. Акимов, Jinwoo Cheon, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1Nano LettersOA

Dark exciton as the lowest-energy (ground) exciton state in metal halide perovskite nanocrystals is a subject of much interest. This is because the superior performance of perovskites as the photon source combined with long lifetime of dark exciton can be attractive for many applications of exciton. However, the direct observation of the intense and long-lived dark exciton emission, indicating facile access to dark ground exciton state, has remained elusive. Here, we report the intense photolumi

Electrical and Electronic EngineeringEngineering
15
Article|72 citations·2010
Measurement of Energy Transfer Time in Colloidal Mn-Doped Semiconductor Nanocrystals
Hsiang‐Yun Chen, Tai‐Yen Chen, Dong Hee Son
SJR Q1The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

The exciton−dopant energy transfer time in colloidal Mn-doped CdS/ZnS core/shell nanocrystals was investigated via pump−probe transient absorption measurements. The energy transfer time was obtained from the comparative analysis of the dynamics of exciton relaxation in undoped and doped nanocrystal samples with well-defined doping radius and concentration. For this purpose, the transient absorption was measured in the near-IR region probing primarily intraband transition of excitons without sign

Materials ChemistryMaterials Science

Research Areas

Materials ChemistryElectrical and Electronic EngineeringAtomic and Molecular Physics, and OpticsMolecular BiologyElectronic, Optical and Magnetic MaterialsRenewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

Dive deeper into Donghee Son's research on Nubint

Open this lab's papers in the app to read with AI, summarize, and cite in your writing.