Short CV
Professor of Materials Physics, University of Cambridge where she leads a research group in Molecular Engineering. Her research and leadership are collaborative, international, interdisciplinary, and innovative as recognized by the: Warren Diffraction Physics Award 2021; Royal Society Clifford Paterson Medal, 2020; 1851 Royal Commission Design Fellowship (2015-8), Fulbright Award (2013-4); Royal Society URF (2001-11); Royal Society of Chemistry SAC Silver Medal (2009); Brian Mercer Feasibility Award (2007); 18th Franco-British Science prize (2006); Senior and Junior Research Fellowships (1999-2009), St Catharine’s College, Cambridge; BCA Chemical Crystallography Prize (2000); London Business School (LBS) Diversity in Leadership Award (2021); LBS Social Good Award (2023). She also led an AI for Materials project team of 89 collaborators, that led to the entire team being awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry Materials Horizon Prize (2025). She holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Cambridge and a PhD (and BSc) in Chemistry from the University of Durham; a BSc in Mathematics, Diploma in Statistics, Diploma in Physics, BEng in Engineering, from the Open University; an MBA from London Business School, and an MSc in International Strategy and Diplomacy from the London School of Economics.
Lecture 60: Jacqueline M. Cole
Discovery of Single-Crystal Optical Actuators for Quantum Sensing
Jacqueline M. Cole, Cavendish Laboratory,
University of Cambridge, UK
A growing portfolio of single-crystal optical actuators is creating a new class of photonic materials that hold significant prospects for quantum sensing and nanotechnology. Crystals once thought to be highly stable forms are being found to bend, peel, twist, crack, or even explode upon the application of visible light. Very striking is their thermally reversible nature. Thus, one could envision such crystals as photo-induced nano-mechanical levers, or light-driven (on/off) quantum sensors.
These macroscopically observed photomechanical phenomena have molecular origins that need to be understood through advanced materials characterisation. This talk shows how photo-crystallography[1,2] is helping to identify light-induced structural changes in crystals that exhibit these phenomena.[3-5] It will also describe custom-built in-situ light-induced, concerted, single-crystal optical-absorption spectroscopy and microscopy,[4] have been applied to corroborate the photocrystallography results. This concerted approach will be highlighted by showing how it has enabled the discovery of a single-crystal optical actuator with ternary molecular switching.[5]
References
[1] J. M. Cole, “Single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies of photo-induced molecular species”, Chem. Soc. Rev. (2004) 33, 501-513
[2] J. M. Cole, “Photocrystallography”, Acta Crystallogr. A64 (2008) 259-271
[3] J. M. Cole, J. de J. Velazquez-Garcia, D. J. Gosztola, S-Y. G. Wang, Y-S. Chen, “Light-Induced Macroscopic Peeling of Single-Crystal Driven by Photoisomeric Nano-Optical Switching”, Chem. Mater. (2019) 31, 4927-4935
[4] J. M. Cole, D. J. Gosztola, J. de J. Velazquez-Garcia, Y-S. Chen, Systems Approach of Photoisomerization Metrology for Single-Crystal Optical Actuators: A Case Study of [Ru(SO2)(NH3)4Cl]Cl, J. Phys. Chem. C (2020) 124, 28230–28243.
[5] J. M. Cole, G. J. Gosztola, J. Velazquez-Garcia, J. R. Guest, “Ternary Molecular Switching in a Single-Crystal Optical Actuator with Correlated Crystal Strain”, Nature Communications (2025) 16, 1546. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56795-w