Keren Gilmore (physicist)

Keren Gilmore (physicist) is an American physicist specializing in the development and application of ultrafast X-ray spectroscopic techniques to probe electronic and structural dynamics in quantum materials. Her research, conducted primarily at the University of California, Santa Barbara and major facilities like the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, focuses on understanding light-induced phenomena in materials such as hybrid perovskites and complex transition metal oxides. Gilmore's work bridges condensed matter physics, physical chemistry, and photon science, providing fundamental insights critical for advancing next-generation optoelectronics and quantum information science.

Biography

Keren Gilmore earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She subsequently pursued her doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where she worked under the supervision of Professor Naomi Ginsberg in the Department of Chemistry. Her PhD dissertation involved pioneering experiments using ultrafast X-ray free-electron laser pulses at the Linac Coherent Light Source to track charge carrier dynamics in methylammonium lead iodide and other perovskite solar cell materials. Following her doctorate, she was awarded a prestigious Miller Research Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral work at UC Berkeley before joining the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara as an assistant professor.

Research and career

Gilmore's research program centers on using time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray emission spectroscopy to capture atomic-scale movies of how materials transform under optical excitation. A major thrust of her work investigates the photophysics of lead halide perovskites, seeking to unravel the mechanisms behind their exceptional performance in solar cells and light-emitting diodes. Her team develops novel experimental methods at synchrotron user facilities like the Advanced Light Source and free-electron lasers such as the Linac Coherent Light Source and the European XFEL. These techniques are also applied to study strongly correlated electron systems, including nickelates and manganites, where light can induce dramatic changes in electronic structure and magnetic order. Her career has been supported by major grants from the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation, and she actively contributes to the scientific community through roles on advisory panels for facilities like the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource.

Awards and honors

Throughout her career, Keren Gilmore has received significant recognition for her innovative research. She is a recipient of the Department of Energy Early Career Research Award, which supports her investigations into light-driven phenomena in quantum materials. She was also honored with the American Physical Society Maria Goeppert Mayer Award, which acknowledges outstanding achievement by a woman in the early years of her career in physics. Earlier accolades include the Miller Research Fellowship from the Miller Institute for Basic Research in Science at UC Berkeley and a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. Her work has been featured in high-impact journals including Nature Materials, Science Advances, and Physical Review Letters.

Selected publications

* "Direct Observation of Electron-Phonon Coupling and Slow Vibrational Relaxation in Hybrid Perovskites" – *PNAS* (2022) * "Ultrafast X-ray Spectroscopy Reveals a Light-Induced Spin Crossover in a LaCoO₃ Thin Film" – *Nature Communications* (2021) * "Tracking Photoexcited Carriers in Hybrid Perovskite Crystals with Ultrafast X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy" – *Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters* (2019) * "Coherent Phonon Generation and Non-thermal Melting of Charge Order in a Manganite" – *Physical Review B* (2018) * "Resonant X-ray Emission Spectroscopy Reveals Local Spin Dynamics in Photoexcited NiO" – *Science Advances* (2017)

Category:American physicists Category:University of California, Santa Barbara faculty Category:21st-century American women scientists