Aaron Rury

Aaron Rury is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Wayne State University, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His research focuses on ultrafast dynamics of emerging materials using vibrational spectroscopy and ultrafast laser techniques. The Materials Structural Dynamics Laboratory (MSDL) under his leadership explores structure-property relationships in materials for next-generation electronics, photonics, and information science.

Education:

• B.S. Physics (Minor in Chemistry), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004
• Ph.D. Applied Physics, University of Michigan, 2012
• Caltech Postdoc at JPL, 2012-2014
• Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Southern California, 2014-2017

Research Interests: His work combines experimental, theoretical, and computational methods to study charge/energy transport in semiconductors, quantum control of molecular systems, and dynamics near ferroelectric phase transitions. The MSDL uses ultrafast laser spectroscopy (sub-femtosecond pulses) to probe nonlinear optical phenomena, quantum coherence, and material dynamics. Key areas include defect engineering in 2D perovskites, cavity polaritons, and THz spectroscopic characterization of metastable defects.

Grants & Awards:

• NSF CAREER Award (2023)
• Air Force Young Investigator Award (2018)
• ACS Petroleum Research Fund Award (2018)

Teaching: He instructs advanced courses such as Molecular Spectroscopy (CHM7480), Chemical Kinetics (CHM7430), and Seminar in Physical Chemistry (CHM8830).

Labs/Teams: The Materials Structural Dynamics Laboratory (MSDL) is a multidisciplinary group focused on material discovery and tool development for emerging technologies. Current projects investigate semiconductor transport mechanisms, light-matter interactions, and phase transition dynamics using ultrafast spectroscopic techniques.