Frank Y. Gao

Professor Frank Gao will join the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of Chemistry as an assistant professor in August of 2026. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in chemical physics from the University of Toronto in 2015 and his Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2021.  He is currently a Texas Quantum Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin.

Professor Gao’s research explores how light can be used as a powerful and precise tool to control the behavior of matter. By designing specialized, extremely short light pulses in the visible, infrared, and terahertz spectral regimes, the Gao group aims to drive molecular and material systems into new dynamic regimes and reveal phenomena hidden under normal conditions. Rather than treating light as a passive probe, the approach leverages it as an active agent for manipulating material properties on demand.

One key focus is to improve energy transport in light-harvesting materials, such as those used in solar cells. Energy carriers in these systems propagate inefficiently, scattering randomly and dissipating before they can be harnessed. The Gao group will investigate how specially shaped light fields can suppress this disorder and steer energy flow along targeted pathways, with the goal of enhancing the efficiency of solar panels, photodetectors, and other optoelectronic devices.

A second core direction focuses on understanding how light initiates chemical and electrochemical reactions at interfaces — particularly those that convert sunlight into clean fuels. These reactions unfold on ultrafast timescales, often within picoseconds, and involve complex couplings between electronic, lattice, and spin degrees of freedom. By capturing and dissecting these transient processes, the group aims to reveal the microscopic mechanisms that govern photocatalytic activity and selectivity, providing a foundation for the rational design of advanced materials for solar fuel production and sustainable catalysis.