Post Doctoral Researcher, University of Pennsylvania, 3200 Walnut St. Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA 

PhD from IISER Mohali & INST, Mohali                                               2016 - 2022   

Thesis Title: “Ultrafast Plasmon Relaxation Dynamics in Gold (Au) and Near Infrared Active Semiconductor Nanocrystal” 

Advisor: Prof. Hirendra N. Ghosh, Director NISER, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, IN 

MSc from Tezpur University (Central University ), Tezpur, Assam 2013-2015

BSc from Panskura Banamali College, Vidyasagar University, WB 2010-2013

Synthesis: Proficient in various synthesis protocols, including hot injection methods, sol-gel technique, and thermal and RF deposition methods. 

Characterization: X-ray Diffraction spectrometer, Uv-Vis-NIR spectrometer, Photoluminescence (PL), time correlated single photon counting (TCSPC), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), etc. 

Spectroscopy: Familiarity with state-of-the-art spectroscopy systems, including Ultrafast Laser (Astrella, Coherent), Optical Parametric Amplifier (OPA, Light conversion), and Transient Spectrometer (Ultrafast System). 

Infrared Spectroscopy: Have knowledge on infrared transient absorption Spectroscopy, and steady state Raman spectroscopy. 

Terahertz Technology & Cryogenic Systems: Proficient in using Terahertz Time Domain (THz-TDS) spectrometer (New Port) for characterizing materials and studying their unique properties in the terahertz frequency range and Knowledgeable in utilizing Cryogenic Systems (300K-5K). 

Spectroelectrochemistry: Gain Knowledge to charge the quantum Materials in solution, and film, can perform spectroscopy measurements at the same time. 

Electrical Tools and Device Fabrication: Experienced in the fabrication of nanostructure devices such as photodiodes and phototransistors (FET), enabling the investigation of optoelectronic properties. 

Research: Extensive experience in conducting research projects, literature reviews, data analysis, and interpreting findings. Conducted cutting-edge research in ultrafast spectroscopy, focusing on plasmonic nanomaterials. Have great impact for establishing experimental setups, including ultrafast laser systems. 

Publications: Published 36 peer-reviewed articles in renowned scientific journals (JACS, Angew. Chem, Chem. Sc, Physical Review, Physical Chemistry etc.), showcasing novel findings and contributions to the field. 

Research Lab Establishment: First PhD student in new institute and help to build entire spectroscopy and synthesis research lab from scratch. 

Leadership: Strong leadership qualities, demonstrated through effective collaboration with colleagues, mentoring students, and leading research teams. 

Grant Writing and Communication: Proficient in developing grant applications, budgeting, and managing research projects. Good written and oral communication skills. 

Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA 

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER                                                                                                                        August 2025-Present 

DepartmentofChemistry,EmoryUniversity, Atlanta, Georgia, United States 

POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER (MENTOR: PROF. TIANQUAN "TIM" LIAN)                            August.2022 – July 2025 

IISER Mohali & Institute of Nano Science and Technology (INST), Mohali, India 

SENIOR RESEARCH FELLOW (MENTOR: PROF. HIRENDRA N. GHOSH)                                             Jan.2022-Apr.2022 

HONORSANDAWARDS 

2018    GATE Exam, For Ph.D. in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and IISERs 

2017    NET-LS, Eligibility Test for Lectureship in College in India             

2016    GATE Exam, For Ph.D. in IITs and IISERs 

2016     JEST Exam, For admission in Ph.D. in Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and IISER             

2010     Merit-Cum Means Scholarship, Awarded by State Govt. West Bengal for 3 years. 

Prof. Hirendra N. Ghosh, (Director NISER Bhubaneswar), Dr. Stephen Lee (University of Miami, USA), Dr. Arun Ashokan (Adelaide University, Australia), Dr. Somen Mondal (ICT Mumbai, India), Dr. Sachin Rondia (IISC, Bangaluru), Dr. Fengyi Zhao (Foshan Xianhu Laboratory) 

 
36. McGuigan, S.; Tereniak, S.; Smith, A.; Jana, S.; Donley, C.; Collins, L.; Ghorai, N.; Xu, Y.; Fosu, E. A.; Suhr, S.; Margavio, H. R. M.; Yang, H.; Parsons, G. N.; Holland, P. L.; Jakubikova, E.; Lian, T.; Maggard, P. Illuminating the Mechanistic Impacts of an Fe-Quaterpyridine Functionalized Crystalline Poly(triazine imide) Semiconductor for Photocatalytic CO₂ Reduction. Inorg. Chem. Front. 2025.

35. He, S.; Ghorai, N.; Ashokan, A.; Gebre, S. T.; Yang, Z.; Lian, T. In Situ Studies of Multi-Carrier Dynamics in Electrochemically Charged Colloidal CdSe/CdS Core/Shell Quantum Dots. Angew. Chemie 2025, e202503972.

34. Sachdeva, M.; Kharbanda, N.; Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Unveiling the Carrier Dynamics in Plasmonic and Nonplasmonic CuxInyS Nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2025, 16, 3302−3308.

33. Ghorai, N.; Yang, Z.; Gebre, S. T.; Wu, S.; Zhao, F.; Ivanov, I. N.; Lian, T. Efficient Size-Dependent Hot Electron Transfer from Au to TiO₂ Nanoparticles. Nano Lett. 2025, 25, 3253-3258.

32. Yang, Z.; Ghorai, N.; Wu, S.; He, S.; Lian, T. Direct and Indirect Interfacial Electron Transfer at a Plasmonic p-Cu7S4/CdS Heterojunction. ACS Nano 2025, 19, 1447-1456.
 
 

 
31. Zhao, F.; Cheng, T.; Lu, X.; Ghorai, N.; Yang, Y.; Geletii, Y. V.; Musaev, D. G.; Hill, C. L.; Lian, T. Charge Transfer Mechanism on a Cobalt-Polyoxometalate-TiO₂ Photoanode for Water Oxidation in Acid. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2024, 146, 14600-14609.

30. Kharbanda, N.; Sachdeva, M.; Ghorai, N.; Kaur, A.; Kumar, V.; Ghosh, H. N. Plasmon-Induced Ultrafast Hot Hole Transfer in Nonstoichiometric CuxInyS/CdS Heteronanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2024, 128, 20450–20458.

29. Dagar, P.; Ghorai, N.; Bungla, M.; Ghosh, H. N.; Ganguli, A. K. Understanding the Charge Transfer Dynamics of the Cu₂WS₄–CNT–FeOOH Ternary Composite for Photo-Electrochemical Studies. J. Phys. Chem. C 2024, 128, 12345–12356.
 
 

 
28. Sachdeva, M.; Kharbanda, N.; Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Ultrafast Plasmonic Hot Hole Transfer and Plasmon Dynamics in a Dual Plasmonic Au@p-Cu₂−xSe Heterostructure. Adv. Opt. Mater. 2023, 127, 17960–17968.

27. Dey, A.; Ghorai, N.; Das, A.; Ghosh, H. N. Effects of Hydrogen Bonding on Intramolecular/Intermolecular Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer Using a Ruthenium–Anthraquinone Dyad in Ultrafast Time Domain. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 2023, 441, 114709.

26. Ghorai, N.; Sachdeva, M.; Kharbanda, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Harvesting Plasmonic Near Infrared Photon by Hot Hole Transfer in Semiconductor Plasmonic p–n Heterojunction. ACS Photonics 2023, 10, 733–742.
 
 

 
25. Burai, S.; Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N.; Mondal, S. Discerning the Ultrafast Charge Dynamics in Photostable Perovskite–Carbon Dot Composite Systems: Role of Doped Carbon Dots. J. Phys. Chem. C 2022, 126, 20092–20100.

24. Bhatt, H.; Goswami, T.; Yadav, D. K.; Ghorai, N.; Shukla, A.; Kaur, G.; Kaur, A.; Ghosh, H. N. Ultrafast Hot Electron Transfer and Trap-State Mediated Charge Carrier Separation toward Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity in g-C₃N₄/ZnIn₂S₄ Heterostructure. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2022, 12, 11865–11872.

23. Babu, K. J.; Kaur, G.; Shukla, A.; Kaur, A.; Bhatt, H.; Ghorai, N.; De, G.; Ghosh, H. N. In Situ CsPbBr₃ Architecture Engineered in Electrospun Fibers and Its Ultrafast Charge-Transfer Dynamics. Mater. Adv. 2022, 3, 6566-6576.

22. Ghorai, N.; Bhunia, S.; Burai, S.; Ghosh, H. N.; Mondal, S. Ultrafast Insights into Full-Colour Light-Emitting C-Dots. Nanoscale 2022, 15812-15820.

21. Ghorai, N.; De, G.; Ghosh, H. N. Plasmon Mediated Electron Transfer and Temperature Dependent Electron–Phonon Scattering in Gold Nanoparticles Embedded in Dielectric Films. ChemPhysChem 2022, 23, e202200181.

20. Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Chemical Interface Damping in Plasmonic Nanomaterials: Effect of Surrounding Environment. Langmuir 2022, 38, 5339-5350.
 
 

 
19. Dagar, P.; Ghorai, N.; Ojha, K.; Ghosh, H. N.; Ganguli, A. CdS-CNT-CoPi Heterostructures for Simultaneous Exciton Separation: Ultrafast and Photoelectrochemical Studies. J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 8684-8695.

18. Goswami, T.; Bhatt, H.; Babu, K. J.; Kaur, G.; Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Ultrafast Insights into High Energy (C, D) Excitons in Few-Layer WS₂. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2021, 12, 6526–6534.

17. Babu, K. J.; Kaur, G.; Shukla, A.; Kaur, A.; Goswami, T.; Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Concurrent Energy and Electron-Transfer Dynamics in Photoexcited Mn-Doped CsPbBr₃ Perovskite Nanoplatelet Architecture. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2021, 302–309.

16. Mondal, S.; Ghorai, N.; Bhunia, S.; Ghosh, H. N.; Amdursky, N. Long-Range Light-Modulated Charge Transport across the Molecular Heterostructure Doped Protein Biopolymers. Chem. Sci. 2021, 12, 8731-8739.

15. Bhunia, S.; Ghorai, N.; Purkayastha, P.; Ghosh, H. N.; Mondal, S. Unravelling the Carrier Dynamics and Photocatalytic Pathway in Carbon Dots and Pollutants of Wastewater System. J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 27252-27259.

14. Singh, P.; Ghorai, N.; Thakur, …; Ghosh, H. N. Temperature Dependent Ultrafast Charge Carrier Dynamics in Amorphous and Crystalline Sb₂Se₃ Thin Films. J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 5197-5206.

13. Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Effect of Surface Ligand on Chemical Interface Damping in Non-Stoichiometric Cu₂-xS Semiconductor Nanocrystals: A Direct Correlation between Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics and Photoconductivity. J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 23250-23258.

12. Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Ultrafast Plasmon Dynamics in Near Infrared Active Non-Stoichiometric Cu₂-xSe Nanocrystals and Effect of Chemical Interface Damping. J. Phys. Chem. C 2021, 125, 11468–11477.
 
 

 
11. Maity, P.; Ghorai, N.; Dana, J.; Ghosh, H. N. Impact of One-Step Alloying on the Carrier Relaxation and Charge Separation Dynamics of CdxZn1-xSe Graded Nanocrystals. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A: Chem. 2020, 388, 112131.

10. Dey, A.; Ghorai, N.; Das, A.; Ghosh, H. N. Proton-Coupled Electron Transfer for Photoinduced Generation of Two-Electron Reduced Species of Quinone. J. Phys. Chem. B 2020, 124, 11165–11174.

9. Kaur, A.; Goswami, T.; Babu, K. J.; Ghorai, N.; Kaur, G.; Shukla, A.; Rondiya, S. R.; Ghosh, H. N. Probing Ultrafast Charge Separation in CZTS/CdS Heterojunctions through Femtosecond Transient Absorption Spectroscopy. J. Phys. Chem. C 2020, 124, 19476–19483.

8. Shukla, A.; Kaur, G.; Babu, K. J.; Ghorai, N.; Goswami, T.; Kaur, A.; Ghosh, H. N. Effect of Confinement on the Exciton and Biexciton Dynamics in Perovskite 2D-Nanosheets and 3D-Nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2020, 11, 6344–6352.

7. Singh, P.; Kaur, G.; Ghorai, N.; Goswami, T.; Thakur, A.; Ghosh, H. N. Temperature-Dependent Trap-Assisted Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics in Amorphous and Crystalline In₂Se₃ Thin Films. Phys. Rev. Appl. 2020, 14, 14087.
 
 

 
6. Kaur, G.; Babu, K. J.; Ghorai, N.; Goswami, T.; Maiti, S.; Ghosh, H. N. Polaron-Mediated Slow Carrier Cooling in a Type-I 3D/0D CsPbBr₃@Cs₄PbBr₆ Core–Shell Perovskite System. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2019, 10, 5302–5311.

5. Mondal, S.; Yucknovsky, A.; Akulov, K.; Ghorai, N.; Schwartz, T.; Ghosh, H. N.; Amdursky, N. Efficient Photosensitizing Capabilities and Ultrafast Carrier Dynamics of Doped Carbon Dots. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 15413–15422.

4. Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Ultrafast Plasmon Dynamics and Hole–Phonon Coupling in NIR Active Nonstoichiometric Semiconductor Plasmonic Cu₂-xS Nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. C 2019, 123, 28401–28410.
 
 

 
3. Mondal, S.; Aepuru, R.; Dana, J.; Ghorai, N.; Ghosh, H. N. Biexciton Dissociation Dynamics in Nanohybrid Au–CuInS₂ Nanocrystals. J. Phys. Chem. C 2018, 122, 28497–28505.

2. Maiti, S.; Ghorai, N.; Dana, J.; Ghosh, H. N. Disentangling the Electron and Hole Dynamics in Janus CdSe/PbSe Nanocrystals through Variable Pump Transient Absorption Spectroscopy. J. Phys. Chem. C 2018, 122, 29075–29079.

1. Aepuru, R.; Mondal, S.; Ghorai, N.; Kumar, V.; Panda, H. S.; Ghosh, H. N. Exploring the Carrier Dynamics in Zinc Oxide–Metal Halide-Based Perovskite Nanostructures: Toward Reduced Dielectric Loss and Improved Photocurrent. J. Phys. Chem. C 2018, 122, 27273–27283.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 

2021      Oral, 7th Theme Meeting on Ultrafast Science (UFS), UM-DAE, Mumbai, India 

2021      Oral, Chem@Nano, INST Mohali, Punjab, India (Best Oral Presentation)                                                                                                   
2020      Poster, ICONSAT, Kolkata, India (Best Poster Presentation) 

2019      Poster, Indian International Science Festival (IISF), Kolkata, India 

2019      Workshop, DST & ACS workshop, NST Mohali, Mohali, India 

2019      Exhibition, Mega Science, Technology & Industry Expo, Kolkata, India 

2017      Poster, Recent Advances in Nano Structured Powder, Films and Device, Himachal Pradesh, India 

2012      Workshop, Summer Workshop on Experimental Physics, Midnapore, India