About Me

Sean Keuleyan

I'm a materials scientist and engineer with 17 years of experience spanning foundational research, government-funded R&D programs, commercial device development, and semiconductor manufacturing. My PhD work established the synthesis and device physics of HgTe colloidal quantum dots for mid-infrared detection, research that became a foundation for the field and remains widely cited. Since then I've led DARPA-funded programs as principal investigator, developed applied SWIR and MWIR sensors for commercial and defense applications, and managed materials engineering in high-volume semiconductor manufacturing. I started Keuleyan Scientific to bring that full-stack perspective to teams that need deep technical judgment without a full internal R&D organization.

Core Expertise
Project & program management
HgTe / PbS / PbSe colloidal quantum dots
SWIR and MWIR photodetectors and FPAs
Data analysis
Communication and reporting
Optical and electrical characterization
Government program management (DARPA, DOE, NASA)
SBIR proposal development
Materials supply chain and quality (ISO 9001)
Statistical process control
Lab safety program development
Technical writing and data analysis
Career
Keuleyan Scientific, LLC
Owner, Consultant
Independent technical consulting for SBIR programs, defense contractors, and research teams. Work spans technical proposal writing and editing, experiment and methods design, device modeling and data analysis, and teaming support through an established network of collaborators in the IR and semiconductor space.
Feb 2023 – Present
Eugene, OR
Entegris
Lead Engineer, Materials Engineering
Led a team of six engineers responsible for the raw materials supply chain supporting two semiconductor manufacturing plants. Managed supplier relationships and quality for critical raw material categories, including new supplier qualification efforts. Responsible for materials continuity underlying significant annual production revenue.
Sep 2023 – Mar 2025
Hillsboro, OR
Allegro MicroSystems
Principal Scientist
Led R&D group and site for 1550 nm LIDAR sensor development and government contract research. Established two new fabrication and characterization labs, developed SOPs and training programs, and managed project budgets, milestones, and roadmaps. Reduced experiment cycle time from three weeks to one while increasing sample throughput fourfold.
Aug 2020 – Feb 2023
Eugene, OR
Voxtel, Inc.
Lead Scientist / Senior Scientist / Lab Safety Officer
Served as principal investigator and technical lead on a DARPA Atoms to Products program (~$6M), authoring the technical proposal and managing execution including milestone presentations and program reviews. Co-authored more than $10M in awarded government funding across multiple programs. Led development of colloidal quantum dot SWIR and MWIR photodiodes and focal plane arrays, covering synthesis, device fabrication, and characterization. Collaborated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on IR detector fabrication research. Built and managed the company lab safety program for a 15-person organization. Voxtel was subsequently acquired by Allegro MicroSystems.
Oct 2014 – Aug 2020
Eugene, OR
Brown University
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Developed synthesis and characterization of Si₂Te₃ 2D layered materials using TEM, SEM, and Raman spectroscopy. Fabricated and characterized microelectronic devices.
Mar – Oct 2014
Providence, RI
Education
Ph.D., Physical Chemistry
University of Chicago · 2013
Dissertation research focused on the synthesis and optoelectronic device physics of HgTe colloidal quantum dots for mid-infrared photodetection, establishing size-dependent optical properties and room-temperature photoresponse across the 3 to 5 micron atmospheric window.
M.S., Chemistry
University of Chicago · 2009
B.S., Chemistry — double major: Film and Media Arts, cum laude
Temple University · 2008
Selected Publications
Mid-infrared HgTe colloidal quantum dot photodetectors
Nature Photonics 5 (8), 489–493 · 2011
572 citations
Synthesis of colloidal HgTe quantum dots for narrow mid-IR emission and detection
Journal of the American Chemical Society 133 (41), 16422–16424 · 2011
389 citations
Mercury telluride colloidal quantum dots: electronic structure, size-dependent spectra, and photocurrent detection up to 12 μm
ACS Nano 8 (8), 8676–8682 · 2014
211 citations
Mid-IR colloidal nanocrystals (invited review)
Chemistry of Materials 25 (8), 1272–1282 · 2013
98 citations
The rise of HgTe colloidal quantum dots for infrared optoelectronics (invited review)
Advanced Functional Materials 34 (39), 2405307 · 2024
80 citations
Full publication list →

I take on a limited number of engagements at a time. If you’re working on something related to infrared optoelectronics, colloidal quantum dots, SBIR project proposals and project execution, or supplier quality management, get in touch at info@keuleyanscientific.com.