Affiliation: North Carolina State University, Department of Chemistry

Yuan Gao is a research assistant at North Carolina State University, her research is focused on surface-enhanced Raman scattering and surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy. She received her BS in chemistry from Zhejiang University, China in 2017, and became a research assistant at Zhejiang University from 2016 to 2018 in Dr. Hong Xin’s lab. She will be receiving her PhD in chemistry at North Carolina State University in 2023, under the guidance of Dr. Stefan Franzen. Yuan’s research at Zhejiang University was mechanistic studies of transition metal catalyzed organic reactions with DFT calculations and molecular dynamics. Based on the curiosity of the interaction between the metal and the molecule, her PhD study is developing accurate and non-expensive classical models for surface-enhanced spectroscopy. The Classical Correlation Model, by introducing harmonic terms as the electron-phonon coupling and rotational-vibrational coupling, can reproduce the Kramers Heisenberg Dirac formula, as well as the fine structure of the rovibrational spectroscopy. Based on this model, the Raman excitation profile, Raman spectroscopies, and the enhancement factor for SEIRA can be predicted accurately. She dedicates to improve the understanding of the interaction of the metal and the molecule and therefore to facilitate and expand the scope of applications of the surface-enhanced spectroscopy.