Overview
David Mitzi received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Engineering Physics from Princeton University in 1985 and his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University in 1990. Prior to joining the faculty at Duke in 2014, Dr. Mitzi spent 23 years at IBM’s T.J. Watson Research Center, where his focus was on the search for and application of new electronic materials, including organic-inorganic perovskites and inorganic materials for photovoltaic, LED, transistor and memory applications. For his final five years at IBM, he served as manager for the Photovoltaic Science and Technology Department, where he initiated and managed a multi-company program to develop a low-cost, high-throughput approach to deposit thin-film chalcogenide-based absorber layers for high-efficiency solar cells. Dr. Mitzi’s current research interests involve making emerging photovoltaic materials more effective, cost-efficient and competitive for the energy market. He holds a number of patents, and has authored or coauthored more than 300 papers and book chapters.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Recent Publications
Coexisting Rashba/Dresselhaus Spin Splitting in Solution-Processed Bournonite Films Using Circular Photogalvanic Effect
Journal Article Advanced Functional Materials · April 9, 2026 Spin-split electronic states, such as the Rashba and Dresselhaus effects, are central to the development of energy-efficient spintronic applications, enabling the manipulation of spin information without applying magnetic fields. While validating spin-spli ... Full text CiteThermally Activated Circularly Polarized Photoluminescence in a 2D Hybrid Perovskite with Giant Spin Splitting
Journal Article Advanced Functional Materials · March 16, 2026 Circularly polarized light generation and detection are critical for future spin-based technologies that inter-convert circularly polarized photons and electron spins. However, detailed mechanisms in such spin-photon interfaces are often either poorly unde ... Full text CiteHydrothermal Synthesis and Electronic and Optical Characterization of Ag<sub>2</sub>(NH<sub>4</sub>)AsS<sub>4</sub>.
Journal Article Inorganic chemistry · March 2026 Multinary chalcogenide semiconductors have the potential for use in various optoelectronic and energy-conversion applications. Understanding how to controllably synthesize these semiconductors is paramount to successful device integration. In this report, ... Full text CiteRecent Grants
REU SITE: Collaborative Research: Nanoscale Detectives -- Elucidating the Structure and Dynamics of Hybrid Perovskite Systems
Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2025 - 2028Collaborative Research: DMREF: Data-Driven Prediction of Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Structures
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Science Foundation · 2023 - 2027Center for Hybrid Organic-Inorganic Semiconductors for Energy (CHOISE)
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Renewable Energy Laboratory · 2019 - 2026View All Grants