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Seán Kavanagh

@kavanaghsean.bsky.social
168 followers 133 following 81 posts

sam-lab.net Computational chemist, physicist, material scientist? Who knows... Asst Prof in Simulation of Energy Materials at the University of Cambridge (Chemistry) Formerly Environmental Fellow @harvard.edu

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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
We discuss burgeoning efforts to use data-driven and machine learning methods for defect simulations; in our contribution to the 100 Years of Point Defects special collection in MRS Bulletin: Plenty of challenges and opportunities alike! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
link.springer.com
Accelerating point-defect simulations using data-driven and machine learning approaches - MRS Bulletin
Point defects in solid-state materials are now routinely simulated using large supercell structures, requiring efficient quantum mechanical solutions. Data-driven and machine learning (ML) models trai...
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Honoured to be named a Wiley Research Hero (Open Science Advocacy)! 👨‍💻 Open access data, software, papers etc are transforming research, esp computational materials science. Increasing recognition for community contributions will motivate young researchers to follow suit!👨‍💻📈
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
Defect simulations are notoriously sensitive to the many choices required 👨‍💻📊 In this Perspective, we highlight best practices in calculating 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 defect properties, hoping to establish guidelines for robust, transparent and reproducible defect simulations 🌟 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Guidelines for robust and reproducible point defect simulations in crystals - Nature Reviews Materials
Point defects critically influence material properties and require accurate computational modelling for reliable predictions. This Perspective outlines best practices for defect simulations using supe...
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Just spotted this editorial on the @apsphysics.bsky.social DCOMP Metropolis and Rahman awards! I was happy to share some thoughts with André Schleife & Koblar Alan Jackson who put this editorial-interview together, along with Chris Van de Walle. journals.aps.org/pre/abstract...
journals.aps.org
Editorial: DCOMP's 2025 Rahman and Metropolis Awards
Phys. Rev. E 112, 030001 (2025)
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Defect calculations have many pitfalls and key considerations for achieving good accuracy 🎯 In this perspective, we discuss these issues, how to avoid and how we can make defect simulations more reproducible – particularly important with more ML developments! 📊 chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...
chemrxiv.org
Guidelines for robust and reproducible point defect simulations in crystals
Many physical properties of functional materials are governed by their impurities rather than their bulk characteristics. Defects in crystals can activate electronic and ionic conductivity, create act...
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Alex Squires @agsquires.bsky.social · 13/03/2025
Very gracious for David to let me off the leash on this one. Kick-started an agyrodite obsession (though I may be a bit late to the party on this one)
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
The Dept of Chemistry at the University of Cambridge is hiring for an Assistant Professor in Theoretical Chemistry! www.ch.cam.ac.uk/job/52637
ch.cam.ac.uk
University Assistant Professor | Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry
Applications are invited for a University Assistant Professor to work in the area of theoretical chemistry, broadly defined, to be taken up in October 2026 (or earlier, by agreement). The successful a...
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IOP Publishing @ioppublishing.bsky.social · 01/09/2025
JPhys Energy proudly presents the 2025 Emerging Leaders Collection, a showcase of groundbreaking research from early-career scientists shaping the future of energy. Explore the collection and meet this year’s winners: ow.ly/74fs50WP55y
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
I will be joining the University of Cambridge as an Assistant Professor in the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry! 🧪🎉 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, and am very keen to support fellowship applications – visit our website for details! ⬇️
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
Thank you for the feature IOP Publishing! I'm honoured to be included in the Emerging Leaders collection. Article Link: (identifying split vacancy defects with electrostatics, DFT & MLIPs): lnkd.in/eEdrB2pk
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Machine learning can be powerful for modelling defects, but currently only in select cases. MLIPs (& geometric/electrostatic tools in doped) allow screening for challenging 'non-local' defect reconstructions (split vacancies) in all ICSD/MP solids, w/caveats iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1...
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Starting with a visit to London in 2023, Cibrán began a deep dive on defects in pnictogen chalcohalides (BiChX), finding the chalcogen vacancy to dominate recombination (similar to Sb2Se3!). He shows that selective anion substitutions can mitigate their effect! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
pubs.acs.org
Chalcogen Vacancies Rule Charge Recombination in Pnictogen Chalcohalide Solar-Cell Absorbers
Pnictogen chalcohalides (MChX) represent an emerging class of nontoxic photovoltaic absorbers, valued for their favorable synthesis conditions and optoelectronic properties. Despite their proposed def...
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arXiv bot (cond-mat) @krxiv-cond-mat.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Chalcogen Vacancies Rule Charge Recombination in Pnictogen Chalcohalide Solar-Cell Absorbers arxiv.org/pdf/2504.18089 Cibrán López, Seán R. Kavanagh, Pol Benítez, Edgardo Saucedo, Aron Walsh, David O. Scanlon, Claudio Cazorla.
arxiv.org
https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.18089
arXiv abstract link
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 18/06/2025
doped (3.1.0) and ShakeNBreak (3.4.2) have had new releases! - Streamlined chemical potential handling - Auto-compatibility checks w/competing phases calculation settings (as for defects) – common pitfall - Directly parse spin magnetisation (incl SOC) ... github.com/SMTG-Bham/do...
github.com
Release 3.1.0 · SMTG-Bham/doped
Update chemical potentials code: Handle recent breaking changes in pymatgen (Apr 2025). Auto check compatibility of INCAR\s and POTCAR\s in competing phases calculations (as already done for super...
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
Intrinsic & extrinsic (dopant) defect chemistry of trigonal Selenium for PV, incl metastable states & non-radiative recombination ⬇️ Combined theory & expt analysis, we find an intrinsic tolerance to 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 defects, with GBs/interfaces the limiting factor for PV 📈 pubs.rsc.org/en/Content/A...
pubs.rsc.org
Intrinsic point defect tolerance in selenium for indoor and tandem photovoltaics
Selenium has reemerged as a promising absorber material for tandem and indoor photovoltaic (PV) devices due to its elemental simplicity, unique structural features, and wide band gap. However, despite...
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Reposted by Seán Kavanagh
Marina Freitag @proffreitag.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
🌟New #PhDposition @NewcastleUni! Join us in developing innovative low-light photovoltaic devices for IoT applications. Working with amazing colleagues including @lucywhalley.bsky.social on next-gen PV. Apply/Share: www.findaphd.com/phds/project... #AcademicTwitter #STEM #Sustainability #AI
findaphd.com
PhD Studentship in Development of Low-Light and Ambient Photovoltaic Devices for IoT Applications at Newcastle University on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - PhD Studentship in Development of Low-Light and Ambient Photovoltaic Devices for IoT Applications at Newcastle University, listed on FindAPhD.com
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Alex Squires @agsquires.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Seán's efforts with doped are heroic. I can only apologise for some of my commits 👀 But it's now never been easier to start charging about in chemical potential space to find out what your defects are doing!
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
The latest version of 𝙙𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙙 (and 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒌𝒆𝑵𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌), our defect modelling python packages, have been released! Incl: - Major efficiency updates - Advanced defect/carrier thermodynamics w/custom constraints - Auto shallow defect handling - CC diagram generation ...🧵👇
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Was a fun experience giving my first proper* invited conference talk for @roysocchem.bsky.social Next Gen PV! Despite some severe technical difficulties and a ̶f̶i̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶a̶r̶m̶ ̶ unplanned intermission... 😅 Thanks for the invitation! @proffreitag.bsky.social #compchem
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Marina Freitag @proffreitag.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Next @kavanaghsean.bsky.social giving a homecoming talk on modelling of defects in CdTe! #ECRs @harvard.edu 👏🏻⚡️ @roysocchem.bsky.social
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Marina Freitag @proffreitag.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Next in line Romain Claes, from @davidscanlon.bsky.social group!! 🌈⚡️🌈
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
ML can be powerful for understanding defects, but currently sufficient only in select cases MLFFs (& geometric/electrostatic tools in doped) allow screening challenging 'non-local' defect reconstructions (split vacancies) in all ICSD/MP solids, w/caveats arxiv.org/abs/2412.19330 #CompChem #chemsky
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Seán Kavanagh @kavanaghsean.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
ML can be powerful for understanding defects, but currently sufficient only in select cases MLFFs (& geometric/electrostatic tools in doped) allow screening challenging 'non-local' defect reconstructions (split vacancies) in all ICSD/MP solids, w/caveats arxiv.org/abs/2412.19330 #CompChem #chemsky
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Aron ⇋ e⁻ @aronwalsh.github.io · 02/01/2025
Point defects in crystals act as molecules with distinct local structures & excitations. Following “Imperfections are not 0 K" doi.org/10.1039/D3CS..., Irea has trained ML force fields to explore the impact of temperature on defect thermodynamics #CompChem preprint at: arxiv.org/abs/2412.16741
(Left) a plot of the free energy of defect formation vs T
(Right) a plot of the equilibrium defect concentration vs T
The main point is that vibrational contributions are significant.
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Aron ⇋ e⁻ @aronwalsh.github.io · 19/12/2024
A pint of defect chemistry, a dash of #CompChem, and a sprinkle of Sah-Shockley statistics. The final PhD work from Xinwei Wang just appeared in #ACSEnergyLett, connecting github.com/WMD-group/Ca... with the solar cell performance of Sb₂S₃ 🌞 pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
An extended graphical abstract showing predicted solar cell efficiency vs growth conditions
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Aron ⇋ e⁻ @aronwalsh.github.io · 19/12/2024
It makes use of two other #OpenSource packages we have been actively developing with @kavanaghsean.bsky.social and @scanlond81.bsky.social: github.com/SMTG-Bham/Sh... and github.com/SMTG-Bham/do....
github.com
GitHub - SMTG-Bham/ShakeNBreak: Defect structure-searching employing chemically-guided bond distortions
Defect structure-searching employing chemically-guided bond distortions - SMTG-Bham/ShakeNBreak
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