Education
BS Physics (Intensive), Yale 2013; MPhil Materials Science & Metallurgy, University of Cambridge 2014; PhD Materials Science and Engineering, MIT 2019
Rachel Kurchin
Carnegie Mellon University
Materials Science & Engineering
Research Summary
Rachel Kurchin uses simulation from the atomistic to the device scale as well as data-driven methods such as Bayesian parameter estimation and science-informed machine learning to glean physical insights about and design next-generation materials for carbon-free energy generation and storage. She has experience with point defect modeling in semiconductors, photovoltaic device simulation, machine learning, electrochemical reaction rate modeling, and open-source software development, among other areas.
Most Cited Publications
"Methylammonium bismuth iodide as a lead‐free, stable hybrid organic–inorganic solar absorber." Robert LZ Hoye, Riley E Brandt, Anna Osherov, Vladan Stevanović, Samuel D Stranks, Mark WB Wilson, Hyunho Kim, Austin J Akey, John D Perkins, Rachel C Kurchin... Chemistry–A European Journal 22 (8), 2605-2610. 2016.
"Searching for “defect-tolerant” photovoltaic materials: combined theoretical and experimental screening." RE Brandt, JR Poindexter, P Gorai, RC Kurchin, RLZ Hoye, L Nienhaus, ... Chemistry of Materials 29 (11), 4667-4674. 2017.
"Investigation of Bismuth Triiodide (BiI3) for Photovoltaic Applications." RE Brandt, RC Kurchin, RLZ Hoye, JR Poindexter, MWB Wilson, ... The journal of physical chemistry letters 6 (21), 4297-4302. 2015.
"Strongly enhanced photovoltaic performance and defect physics of air‐stable bismuth oxyiodide (BiOI)." RLZ Hoye, LC Lee, RC Kurchin, TN Huq, KHL Zhang, M Sponseller, ... Advanced Materials 29 (36), 1702176. 2017.
Recent Publications
"Non-equilibrium Electrochemical Phase Diagrams with Automatic Differentiation." R Kurchin, D Gandhi, V Viswanathan. Bulletin of the American Physical Society. 2022.
"Design of Defect-Tolerant Materials for Photovoltaic Applications." R Kurchin. Bulletin of the American Physical Society. 2022.
"A minimal information set to enable verifiable theoretical battery research." A Mistry, A Verma, S Sripad, R Ciez, V Sulzer, F Brosa Planella, R Timms, ... ACS Energy Letters 6 (11), 3831-3835. 2021.
"Marcus–Hush–Chidsey kinetics at electrode–electrolyte interfaces." R Kurchin, V Viswanathan. The Journal of Chemical Physics 153 (13), 134706. 2020.
"How much physics is in a current–voltage curve? Inferring defect properties from photovoltaic device measurements." RC Kurchin, JR Poindexter, V Vähänissi, H Savin, C del Cañizo, ... IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics 10 (6), 1532-1537. 2020.