Dr. Ghadiri’s research focuses on developing and applying ultrafast time-resolved optical spectroscopy and microscopy to understand excited-state dynamics in complex and spatially heterogeneous materials. Her group investigates how charge carriers and excited states are generated, transported, trapped, and recombined across nanometer-to-micrometer length scales and femtosecond-to-nanosecond time scales. A major emphasis is the development of transient absorption and diffuse-reflectance microscopy and spectroscopy to directly visualize spatial variations in carrier dynamics that are hidden in conventional ensemble measurements. The group synthesizes sustainable and earth-abundant semiconductors for photophysical investigations. The broader impact of these ultrafast approaches is emerging semiconductor and quantum materials, as well as biomimetic and biological systems for energy conversion, optoelectronics, quantum technologies, and biomedical applications.

Awards and Recognitions

National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2023)

Research article featured in Rising Star in Photonics, ACS Photonics (2025)

Best Paper Award, Innovation awards in Quantum Sensing and Nanoelectronics and Photonics, SPIE Photonics West (January 2025)

Research article featured, Emerging Investigators issue of Journal of Materials Chemistry C (2024)

WFIRM-TERMIS Young Investigator Award[GE1] , Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society (TERMIS), TERMIS-AM meeting in Charlotte, NC, December 3-6, U.S. (2017)

Huo, R.; Ma, X.; Ghadiri, E*. Electrochemical properties in Eumelanin Nanoparticle-TiO2-based Bilayer Electrodes. Accepted as of April 2026, ACS Omega 2026.

Sharif, M.; Ma, X.; Moossavi, M.; Doughan,D. Ghadiri, E*. Visualizing Ultrafast Spectral and Spatial Heterogeneity in Photoexcited Energy Materials via Broadband Transient Absorption Microscopy. ACS Photonics 2025, 8. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.4c02400Sharif, M.; Ma, X.; Ghadiri, E.* Visualization and Deconvolution of Carrier Kinetics within Grains of Cu 2 ZnSnS 4− x Se x Using Ultrafast Diffuse Reflectance Microscopy. J. Mater. Chem. C 2024, 10.1039.D4TC01512F. https://doi.org/10.1039/D4TC01512F.

Luebbering, H.; Shafiee, A.; Teymur, B.; Kim, Y.; Mitzi, D. B.; Ghadiri, E.* Ultrafast Microscopy and Image Segmentation of Spatially Heterogeneous Excited State and Trap Passivation in Cu2BaSnSSe3. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. 2023, 101601. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101601.                                                                  

DeMarco, M.; Ballard, M.; Grage, E.; Nourigheimasi, F.; Getter, L.; Shafiee, A.; Ghadiri, E.* Enhanced Photochemical Activity and Ultrafast Photocarrier Dynamics in Sustainable Synthetic Melanin Nanoparticle-Based Donor–Acceptor Inkjet-Printed Molecular Junctions. Nanoscale2023, 15 (35), 14346–14364. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3NR02387G.                                                                           

Ghadiri, E.*; Moser, J.-E. Nanosecond Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy for In-Situ Analysis of Electron Back-Recombination and Dye Regeneration in Fully Functional, Highly Efficient, Opaque Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Devices. J. Phys. Chem. C 2023, 127 (48), 23285–23295. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.3c05382.

Ghadiri, E.*; Shin, D.; Shafiee, A.; Warren, W. S.; Mitzi, D. B. Grain-Resolved Ultrafast Photophysics in Cu2BaCu2BaSnS4–xSexconductors Using Pump–Probe Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy and Microscopy. ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2018, 10 (46), 39615–39623. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.8b12307.         

Ballard, M.; Shafiee, A.; Grage, E.; DeMarco, M.; Atala, A.; Ghadiri, E.* Inkjet Printing of Synthesized Melanin Nanoparticles as a Biocompatible Matrix for Pharmacologic Agents. Nanomaterials 2020, 10 (9), 1840. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano10091840. 

Shafiee, A.; Ghadiri, E.; Atala, A. Pixel-Based Drug Release System: Achieving Accurate Dosage and Prolonged Activity for Personalized Medicine. Med. DEVICES Sens. 2020, 3 (4), e10104.https://doi.org/10.1002/mds3.10104