Justin Johnson received his bachelor's degree in chemistry and physics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1999. His undergraduate research involved performing classical trajectory calculations for determining the rates of ion-dipole reactions of small molecules in the gas phase. He received his doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2004, with Professor Richard Saykally as his thesis adviser. Johnson's thesis work included experiments involving near-field microscopy and ultrafast spectroscopy of single semiconductor nanowires, with a focus on determining the optical properties of various shapes of individual nanolasers. He joined Arthur Nozik's group at NREL as a postdoctoral researcher through a collaboration with Professor Josef Michl at the University of Colorado, Boulder, in October 2004. Johnson's research includes discovery of novel molecules for singlet fission and developing a mechanistic understanding of multiple exciton generation (MEG). He joined the research staff in 2008 and is currently a senior scientist in the Spectroscopy and Photoscience group. Johnson's recent research interests include using spectroscopic tools to investigate singlet fission (SF) in organic molecular systems and its consequences for photovoltaic devices. In addition, he is using novel femtosecond techniques to investigate the ultrafast dynamics associated with the processes of exciton delocalization and charge transfer and transport in quantum dots, quantum-confined heterostructures, and arrays of such nano-sized objects.
- Law, M.; Greene, L. E.; Johnson, J. C.; Saykally, R.; Yang, P. D. (2005). "Nanowire dye-sensitized solar cells." Nature Materials (4); pp. 455-459.
- Law, M.; Sirbuly, D.; Johnson, J.C.; Goldberger, J.; Saykally, R.J.; Yang, P. (2004). "Nanoribbon waveguides for subwavelength photonics integration." Science (305); p. 1269.
- Johnson, J. C.; Knutsen, K. P.; Yan, H. Q.; Law, M.; Zhang, Y. F.; Yang, P. D. (2002). "Ultrafast carrier dynamics in single ZnO nanowire and nanoribbon lasers." Nano Letters (4); pp. 197-204.
- Johnson, J.C.; Choi, H.-J.; Knutsen, K.P.; Schaller, R.D.; Yang, P.; Saykally, R.J. (2002). "Single Gallium Nitride Nanowire Lasers." Nature Materials (1:2); pp. 106-110.
- Johnson, J. C.; Yan, H. Q.; Schaller, R. D.; Petersen, P. B.; Yang, P. D.; Saykally, R. J. (2002). "Near-field imaging of nonlinear optical mixing in single zinc oxide nanowires." Nano Letters (2); pp. 279-283.
- Johnson, J. C.; Yan, H.; Schaller, R. D.; Haber, L.H.; Yang, P.; Saykally, R.J. (2001). "Single Nanowire Lasers." J. Phys. Chem. B (105); pp. 11387-11390.