Ziyad Thekkayil, ziyad.thekkayil@temple.edu
I joined The Borguet group at Temple University as a graduate student in summer 2022, via the Dual Masters Doctoral Degree (DMDD) program, a joint initiative between the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, India and Temple University.
I was admitted to IISER Pune in 2018 as BSMS student. I am a fellow of the INSPIRE-SHE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research – Scholarship for Higher Education) program by Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. From summer 2019, I worked as an undergraduate research student under the guidance of Dr. Pankaj Mandal at IISER Pune, focusing on the nonlinear optical properties of lead halide perovskites. I achieved hands-on experience in THz spectroscopy and nonlinear spectroscopy, as well as analysis of ultrafast Optical Kerr Effect and Pump-Probe THz spectra.
I joined as a PhD student in the Borguet group in Fall 2022, and currently leads the nonlinear optics team within the Borguet group. I study the structure and dynamics at oxide/water interfaces using nonlinear vibrational spectroscopy. I primarily work on understanding the H-bond network and vibrational energy transfer dynamics of water and surface hydroxyl groups at the interface, and how they are affected by factors like pH, ionic strength and isotopic dilution. Apart from these I am also involved in projects focused on using vibrational spectroscopy for detection of guest species in metal organic frameworks, to probe the role of water and other confined species on the catalytic properties of layered materials.