Jane Nelson

Department: Chemistry
Faculty Adviser: Marissa Weichman
Year of Study: G3
Undergraduate School: Middlebury College
Undergraduate Major: Chemistry

Personal Bio

I grew up in Hopkins, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis but I went to college at Middlebury in Vermont. I wasn't sure I wanted to be a chemist until college and didn't know what doing scientific research looked like until around the same time.

I did a lot of different things during undergrad -- including taking time off to work harvest for a winery -- but the physical chemistry research I did is what directed me towards graduate school at Princeton. I studied unimolecular thermal decomposition pathways using density functional theory in a lab that investigates pyrolysis products and pathways via high-vacuum matrix-isolation infrared spectroscopy.

I like to run on the Princeton tow path, go to the shore (and play beach volleyball), and thrift/upcycle.

Fun Fact

If I could eat ice cream for every meal, every day I would. And, I am always open to debating the best ice cream place in Princeton (or trying somewhere new)!

Research Pitch

In Prof. Weichman's physical chemistry lab, I study the interaction of light and matter with gas-phase molecules. Polaritons, specifically, are the hybrid light-matter states that I am studying and they result from the coupling of an atomic or molecular energy transition to the resonant frequency of light between to mirrors. Previous research has found polaritons can change reaction rates and outcomes which opens up this field to the possibility of chemical reaction control with light.

Control of chemical reactions and their outcomes is at the core of organic synthesis, catalysis, and energy conversion. Polaritons present an exciting way to approach control and could lead to applications in these broadly defined fields and more.

Gas-phase molecular polaritons have not been previously demonstrated and this platform presents a system, free of complications from solvents, that could make more useful and specific quantum models possible. We direct a laser through a gas cell that's cooled with liquid nitrogen, placed between two mirrors, and enclosed in a vacuum chamber so optics (mirrors, lenses, beam splitters, etc), lasers, oscilloscopes, and instrument design are our core experimental methods. We also have to process our data and model our results making coding, data analysis, and theoretical exploration essential to our work as well.

Upcoming Programs That I Am Attending:

Plans for Summer 2025

Interested in participating in Summer 2025 ReMatch+ program.