About

Professor Naomi S. Ginsberg leads the Ginsberg Group at the University of California, Berkeley, where the research focuses on innovating, building, measuring, and reflecting on scientific projects related to complex material formation and transformation. The group employs advanced techniques such as X-ray scattering, stroboscopic interferometric scattering microscopy (stroboSCAT), and optical label-free imaging to elucidate nanoscale dynamics and energy flow in materials. The research spans chemistry and physics disciplines, aiming to understand and resolve energy transport and material behavior at the nanoscale. Professor Ginsberg's group actively mentors graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, undergraduates, and visiting scholars, fostering a collaborative environment dedicated to advancing knowledge in material science and spectroscopy. Contact information and student offices are located in D62 Hildebrand Hall at UC Berkeley.

Research topics

• Chemical physics
• Chemistry
• Physical chemistry
• Nanotechnology
• Materials science
• Chemical engineering

Selected publications

• diffpy.morph: Python tools for model independent comparisons between sets of 1D functions

  ArXiv.org · 2026-01-27

  articleOpen access

  diffpy$.$morph addresses a need to gain scientific insights from 1D scientific spectra in model independent ways. A powerful approach for this is to take differences between pairs of spectra and look for meaningful changes that might indicate underlying chemical, structural, or other modifications. The challenge is that the difference curve may contain uninteresting differences such as experimental inconsistencies and benign physical changes such as the effects of thermal expansion. diffpy$.$morph allows researchers to apply simple transformations, or "morphs", to one of the datasets to remove the unwanted differences revealing, when they are present, non-trivial differences. diffpy$.$morph is an open-source Python package available on the Python Package Index and conda-forge. Here, we describe its functionality and apply it to solve a range of experimental challenges on diffraction and PDF data from x-rays and neutrons, though we note that it may be applied to any 1D function in principle.

  PublisherOA PDF

• diffpy.morph: Python tools for model independent comparisons between sets of 1D functions

  Open MIND · 2026-01-27

  preprint

  diffpy$.$morph addresses a need to gain scientific insights from 1D scientific spectra in model independent ways. A powerful approach for this is to take differences between pairs of spectra and look for meaningful changes that might indicate underlying chemical, structural, or other modifications. The challenge is that the difference curve may contain uninteresting differences such as experimental inconsistencies and benign physical changes such as the effects of thermal expansion. diffpy$.$morph allows researchers to apply simple transformations, or "morphs", to one of the datasets to remove the unwanted differences revealing, when they are present, non-trivial differences. diffpy$.$morph is an open-source Python package available on the Python Package Index and conda-forge. Here, we describe its functionality and apply it to solve a range of experimental challenges on diffraction and PDF data from x-rays and neutrons, though we note that it may be applied to any 1D function in principle.

  DOI

• Coherent and Dynamic Small Polaron Delocalization in CuFeO ₂

  The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters · 2026-01-02

  articleOpen access

  Small polarons remain a bottleneck in realizing efficient transition metal oxide devices. Routes to engineer small polaron coupling to electronic states and lattice modes to control carrier localization remain unclear. Here, we measure small polaron formation in CuFeO2 using transient extreme ultraviolet reflection spectroscopy and compare to theoretical predictions in realistically parametrized Holstein models, demonstrating that polaron localization depends on coupling to high-frequency versus low-frequency phonon bath components. We measure small polaron formation on a comparable ∼100 fs timescale to other Fe(III) compounds. Dynamic delocalization of the polaron follows formation through a coherent lattice expansion between Fe–O layers and charge-sharing with surrounding Fe(IV) states. Simulations reveal two major factors dictate polaron formation timescales: phonon density and reorganization energy distributions between acoustic and optical modes, matching experimental findings. Our work shows how electronic-structural coupling in a polaron-host material can be leveraged to suppress polaronic effects for various applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Following and controlling formation of bottom-up assembled nanomaterials

  2025-07-21

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Interferometric scattering microscopy

  Nature Reviews Methods Primers · 2025-04-10 · 32 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Enhancing nanoscale charged colloid crystallization near a metastable liquid binodal

  Nature Physics · 2025-08-26 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Spatiotemporally dissecting the full complexity of transduction, transport & dissipation in energy materials at the nanoscale

  2025-07-21

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Coherent and Dynamic Small Polaron Delocalization in CuFeO$_{2}$

  ArXiv.org · 2025-10-17

  preprintOpen access

  Small polarons remain a significant bottleneck in the realization of efficient devices using transition metal oxides. Routes to engineer small polaron coupling to electronic states and lattice modes to control carrier localization remain unclear. Here, we measure the formation of small polarons in CuFeO$_{2}$ using transient extreme ultraviolet reflection spectroscopy and compare it to theoretical predictions in realistically parameterized Holstein models, demonstrating that polaron localization depends on its coupling to the high-frequency versus low-frequency components of the phonon bath. We measure that small polaron formation occurs on a comparable ~100 fs timescale to other Fe(III) compounds. After formation, a dynamic delocalization of the small polaron occurs through a coherent lattice expansion between Fe-O layers and charge-sharing with surrounding Fe(IV) states. Our simulations of polaron formation dynamics reveal that two major factors dictate polaron formation timescales: phonon density and reorganization energy distributions between acoustic and optical modes, matching experimental findings. Our work provides a detailed, real-time observation of how electronic-structural coupling in a polaron-host material can be leveraged to suppress polaronic effects for various applications.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• In-situ imaging of solute reactions and transport within electrochemical cells for enhanced CO2 reduction

  2025-07-21

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Origins of suppressed self-diffusion of nanoscale constituents of a complex liquid

  arXiv (Cornell University) · 2024-04-27 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access

  Understanding and ultimately controlling the transformations and properties of nanoscale systems, from proteins to synthetic nanomaterial assemblies, is limited by the inability to uncover their dynamics on their characteristic length and time scales. Here, we nevertheless demonstrate this ability using MHz X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) -- directly elucidating the characteristic microsecond-dynamics of density fluctuations of semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs), not only in a colloidal dispersion but also in a liquid phase consisting of densely packed, yet mobile, NCs with no long-range order. We find the wavevector-dependent fluctuation rates in the liquid phase are suppressed relative to those in the colloidal phase and relative to observations of densely packed repulsive particles. We show that the suppressed rates are due to a substantial decrease in the self-diffusion of NCs, which we attribute to explicit attractive interactions. Using coarse-grained simulations, we find that the extracted shape and strength of the interparticle potential explains the stability of the liquid phase, in contrast to the gelation observed via XPCS in many other charged colloidal systems. This work opens the door to elucidating fast, condensed phase dynamics in complex fluids and other nanoscale soft matter, such as densely packed proteins and non-equilibrium self-assembly processes, in addition to designing microscopic strategies to avert gelation.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• IDBR: Development of cathodoluminescent near-field energy transfer microscopy for high frame-rate, nanoscale, non-invasive observation of aqueous biodynamics

  NSF · $522k · 2012–2016

Frequent coauthors

• Peidong Yang

  University of California, Berkeley

  60 shared

• David T. Limmer

  Material Sciences (United States)

  57 shared

• Dmitri V. Talapin

  45 shared

• Graham R. Fleming

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  45 shared

• Connor G. Bischak

  University of Utah

  45 shared

• James K. Utterback

  Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

  44 shared

• H. Weaver

  University of Edinburgh

  32 shared

• Tessa R. Calhoun

  University of Tennessee at Knoxville

  30 shared

Labs

• Ginsberg GroupPI

  The Ginsberg Group is always on the lookout for highly motivated graduate students/postdocs interested in innovating, building, measuring, and reflecting on the scientific projects outlined here.

Education

• Glenn T. Seaborg Postdoctoral Fellow , Physical Biosciences Division

  Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

  2010

• PhD, Physics

  Harvard University

  2007

• B.A.Sc., Engineering Science

  University of Toronto

  2000

Awards & honors

• Packard Fellowship for Science and Engineering (2011)
• DARPA Young Faculty Award (2012)
• Department of Chemistry Teaching Award (2013)
• Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2015)
• Donald Sterling Noyce Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate…