Pavel Shapturenka

My research interests are broadly motivated by the potential of complex fluid and colloidal systems to support a sustainable, low-footprint digital future in sensing, communication, and computation. On the backdrop of inherent economic advantages in solution processing, an ever-expanding taxonomy of soft matter systems under active study promise to reach an enabling level of sophistication in structure and pattern formation, while also enriching investigations in soft condensed matter physics.

By interrogating the interactions and actively modulating the assembly dynamics of colloidal, mesogenic, and macromolecular entities, I seek to sustainably develop electromagnetically useful and exotic structures to realize high-value, low-footprint device architectures.

Current Research

I am currently developing automated and autonomous experimental methods to interrogate, actuate, and ultimately structure complex fluids with optical means. The ability to, for instance, deliver optical energy with greater spatiotemporal versatility and precision will enable improved understanding and control over a broad range of physico-chemical interactions, expanding rational design of processing trajectories and novel means of shaping arbitrary soft material systems.

Past research

In my time as a NASEM Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, I developed processing workflows for and investigated the assembly behavior of highly purified carbon nanotube populations, spectroscopically probing globally aligned thin films to evaluate viability for electronic and plasmonic metasurfaces, as well as single-photon sources for supplying quantum photonic circuitry.

My dissertation work explored the integration of colloidal nanopatterning with standard nanofabrication techniques to enable bio-inspired photonic, optoelectronic, and surface wetting functionality in silicon and III-V semiconductor platforms.