David N. Beratan

About

David N. Beratan is the R.J. Reynolds Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Duke University, where he also holds positions as Professor of Chemistry, Professor of Biochemistry, and Professor of Physics. He is affiliated with the Duke Department of Biochemistry and is based at the 5311 French Science Center in Durham, North Carolina. His research focuses on biochemistry, chemistry, and physics, contributing to the understanding of complex biological and chemical systems through interdisciplinary approaches. As a faculty member, he is involved in teaching, research, and mentoring within the Duke community, advancing knowledge in his fields of expertise.

Research topics

• Physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Thermodynamics
• Engineering
• Photochemistry
• Chemical physics
• Mechanical engineering
• Materials science
• Inorganic chemistry
• Computational chemistry

Selected publications

• A Chirality-Based Quantum Leap

  ACS Nano · 2022 · 189 citations

  There is increasing interest in the study of chiral degrees of freedom occurring in matter and in electromagnetic fields. Opportunities in quantum sciences will likely exploit two main areas that are the focus of this Review: (1) recent observations of the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect in chiral molecules and engineered nanomaterials and (2) rapidly evolving nanophotonic strategies designed to amplify chiral light-matter interactions. On the one hand, the CISS effect underpins th…

  DOI

• Universal free-energy landscape produces efficient and reversible electron bifurcation

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 46 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding

  For decades, it was unknown how electron-bifurcating systems in nature prevented energy-wasting short-circuiting reactions that have large driving forces, so synthetic electron-bifurcating molecular machines could not be designed and built. The underpinning free-energy landscapes for electron bifurcation were also enigmatic. We predict that a simple and universal free-energy landscape enables electron bifurcation, and we show that it enables high-efficiency bifurcation with limited short-circuit…

  DOI

• Coherence in Chemistry: Foundations and Frontiers

  Chemical Reviews · 2024-10-23 · 42 citations

  reviewOpen accessSenior authorCorresponding

  Coherence refers to correlations in waves. Because matter has a wave-particle nature, it is unsurprising that coherence has deep connections with the most contemporary issues in chemistry research (e.g., energy harvesting, femtosecond spectroscopy, molecular qubits and more). But what does the word "coherence" really mean in the context of molecules and other quantum systems? We provide a review of key concepts, definitions, and methodologies, surrounding coherence phenomena in chemistry, and we…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Temperature Dependence of Charge and Spin Transfer in Azurin

  The Journal of Physical Chemistry C · 2021 · 40 citations

  The steady-state charge and spin transfer yields were measured for three different Ru-modified azurin derivatives in protein films on silver electrodes. While the charge-transfer yields exhibit weak temperature dependences, consistent with operation of a near activation-less mechanism, the spin selectivity of the electron transfer improves as temperature increases. This enhancement of spin selectivity with temperature is explained by a vibrationally induced spin exchange interaction between the…

  DOI

• Quantum simulation of spin-boson models with structured bath

  Nature Communications · 2025-04-29 · 25 citations

  articleOpen access

  The spin-boson model, involving spins interacting with a bath of quantum harmonic oscillators, is a widely used representation of open quantum systems that describe many dissipative processes in physical, chemical and biological systems. Trapped ions present an ideal platform for simulating the quantum dynamics of such models, by accessing both the high-quality internal qubit states and the motional modes of the ions for spins and bosons, respectively. We demonstrate a fully programmable method…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• CRC: Long-Range Electron Transfer in Hybrid Inorganic-Peptide Nucleic Acid Nanoscale Assemblies

  NSF · $297k · 2006–2010

• Collaborative Research: Infra-Red Control of Electron Transfer Mechanisms

  NSF · $285k · 2020–2024

• Collaborative Research: Electron Transfer and Storage in Assemblies Based on Nucleic Acids

  NSF · $300k · 2014–2017

Frequent coauthors

• Michael J. Therien

  Duke University

  74 shared

• Spiros S. Skourtis

  University of Cyprus

  71 shared

• Peng Zhang

  Duke University

  70 shared

• Igor V. Kurnikov

  68 shared

• David H. Waldeck

  University of Pittsburgh

  65 shared

• Peter Wipf

  University of Pittsburgh

  58 shared

• Shahar Keinan

  55 shared

• Ravindra Venkatramani

  Tata Institute of Fundamental Research

  48 shared

Similar researchers at Duke University

• Robert J. Lefkowitzh-328
• Paul Modrichh-148
• Patrick John Caseyh-109