Matthew C. Beard

Matthew C. Beard serves as a Senior Research Fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the Materials, Chemical, and Computational Science division, specializing in Chemistry and Nanoscience. He directs the Center for Hybrid Organic Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE), an Energy Frontier Research Center funded by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science.

Dr. Beard received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Physical Chemistry from Brigham Young University, and his PhD in Physical Chemistry from Yale University. His research program focuses on developing novel quantum dot systems for solar energy harvesting and conversion, as well as spectroscopic probes of charge-carrier dynamics in semiconductor materials.

His research interests span quantum-confined semiconductor nanocrystals, ultrafast spectroscopy of carrier dynamics, noncontact probes of charge transport, and novel quantum materials for energy technologies. Recent work has particularly emphasized chiral materials and their applications in spintronics and optoelectronics, with significant contributions to understanding spin-charge-light interactions in perovskite semiconductors.

Dr. Beard is funded through the Solar Photochemistry program within the Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences. The CHOISE center under his direction aims to accelerate discovery and elucidate design principles for unprecedented control over emergent properties involving spin, charge, and light-matter interactions, leading to new energy-efficient advanced technologies.

• Quantum-confined semiconductor nanocrystals for solar energy conversion
• Ultrafast spectroscopy of carrier dynamics in solar photoconversion schemes
• Noncontact probes of carrier dynamics and charge transport
• Novel quantum materials for energy technologies