Collaboration Opportunities Areas of Expertise

MATERIALS AND DEVICES


• Synthesis and single crystal growth of semiconducting intermetallic compounds (III-V, II-VI), oxidic compounds and Heussler alloys
  
• Growth of single crystalline GaAs of high quality for laser optics components
  
• Synthesis of low- and high-temperature superconductors
  
• Nanostructured thin films with photoconductive properties
  
• Ferroelectric thin films and multilayers
  
• Multiferroic materials and composites
  
• UV, Vis and IR detectors
  
• Deposition of thin films and structures by Magnetron Sputtering, CVD , sol-gel and thermal evaporation methods
  
• Thin films of hydroxyapatite and bioglass: preparation and characterization
  
• Preparation of Si based nanomaterials: 1D and 0D systems
  
• Deposition of alternate Langmuir-Blodgett films
  
• Chemical and electrochemical synthesis of: i) composites based on conducting polymers and carbon nanoparticles (carbon nanotubes, fullerene) and ii) inorganic semiconducting nanoparticles (PbI2, ZnO, CdS, etc.)
  
• Nanowires and nanotubes prepared by template method
  
• Thin films based on organic crystalline materials
  
• Preparation of insulating and semiconducting single crystals and nanostructures from melt (Bridgman, Czochralski, flux) and by wet chemical reactions.
  
• Non-conventional sample preparation methods – melt spinning, mechanical alloying, electric field assisted sintering and crystals grow in tri-arc furnace, r.f. sputtering, chemical (e.g. sol-gel) methods.
  
• Synthesis and characterization of new physical structures (bulk, nanopowders /films) obtained by solid phase reaction, solvothermal and mechano-chemical methods
  
• Semiconducting oxides for thermal sensors (PTC an NTC thermistors)
  
• Piezoelectric ceramic materials and sensors for high power transducers, nondestructive testing transducers, vibrations transducers, medical transducers for US therapy
  
• Hard and soft magnetic materials for thermal sensors used for temperature measurement and control;
  
• Photoactive semiconducting materials based on titanium dioxide or hematite to be used as photoelectrodes for water splitting and hydrogen generations in photoelectrochemical cells;
  
• Lead free piezoceramic materials.
  
• Gas sensors based on metal oxide heterojonctions
  
• New chalcogenide materials. Phase change materials
  
• Creation of core-shell nanoparticles with controlled shape and size allowing functionalization with metallic ions, molecules, organic ligands or radicals attached to the surface (applications to: targeted drug delivery, therapy agents, magnetic imaging , biomimetic systems, nanocatalysis, nanosensors, etc.)
  
• Engineering surface-functionalized templates serving as logic support for integrated 2D array of mono-dispersed, magnetic nanoparticles, QDs, islands, allowing addressing and manipulation of magnetic spin orientation (GMR or SDT effects)
  
  CHARACTERIZATION
  
  
• SHG study of GaAs/electrolite interface
  
• Characterization of high dielectric constant materials in 1–18GHz frequency range
  
• Electronic transport, thermal, and magnetic properties of superconductors
  
• Complex electric, ferroelectric and photoelectric characterization of semiconductor materials and structures, and of oxide materials and multilayers
  
• Trap investigation in semiconductor materials and heterostructures (p-n diodes, MOS diodes, etc.)
  
• Characterization of IR detectors
  
• Mossbauer spectroscopy techniques ( 57Fe, 119Sn and 151Eu for studying local electronic interactions and charge transfer phenomena , chemical configurations, local magnetic interactions and spin structures, magnetic relaxation phenomena, etc
  
• Complex magnetic characterization of thin films, nanoparticles, ferrofluids, nanogranular ribbons or polycrystalline materials.
  
• Conduction mechanisms in silicon-based nanomaterials and nanostructures
  
• Measurements in the field of semiconductor layers and quantum structures
  
• X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS)
  
• Extended x-ray absorption-edge fine structure (EXAFS) : local structure (coordination numbers, interatomic distances, structural disorder) around specified atomic species;
  
• X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) : information about density of the unoccupied states (above Fermi level), charge-transfer mechanisms in the chemical bonding;
  
• X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) : separate determination of the magnetic moments of each atomic species in complex materials; separate determination of the orbital and spin atomic moments.
  
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) : surface chemical analysis, consisting of the element composition (atomic concentrations) of the surface, chemical states of the atoms (valence states, nature of the chemical ligands), depth profiling of the composition (by Ar-ion etching of the surface).
  
• X-ray diffraction (XRD) : structural determinations (phase composition, crystallite mean sizes, unit-cell parameters, lattice distortions etc).
  
• Investigation of electrical transport, phototransport and trapping phenomena in nanomaterials and structures.
  
• Vibrational studies by Surface Enhanced Raman Spectrocopy (SERS), resonant Raman scattering and Fourier Transformed Infrared (FTIR) absorption spectroscopy
  
• Ultraviolet-visible-near infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) absorption spectroscopy
  
• Photoluminescence, cathode-luminescence, termo-luminescence and time resolved emission spectroscopy studies
  
• Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and EDX studies
  
• Ellipsometry studies in the UV-VIS range and electrical measurements
  
• Electrochemical studies: cyclic voltammetry, cronoamperometry, potentiostatic measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), battery, supercapacitors, etc.
  
• Broadband dielectric spectrometry
  
• Thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis measurements
  
• Electrical, dielectric and piezoelectric characterization of materials by impedance spectroscopy
  
• Structural, morphological and compositional characterization of materials by Conventional and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (CTEM/HRTEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM).
  
• Multiple and multifrequency Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy.
  
• Characterization of atomic properties of paramagnetic impurities in insulating and semiconducting single crystals, poly- and nanocrystals, glasses, catalysts and biomolecules by EPR and optical spectroscopy.
  
  THEORY AND MODELLING
  
  
• Vortex phase diagram and vortex dynamics in superconductors
  
• Theoretical models for frequency response, charge transport and kinetic of trapping levels
  
• 3-D electromagnetic modelling of RF and microwave devices by using FDTD method
  
• Modelling and simulation of spectral, transport and magnetic properties of mesoscopic systems
  
• Modelling related to energy structure of low dimensional systems (1D, 0D), electrical transport, phototransport, trapping processes
  
• Structural modelling of amorphous and nano-structured materials
  
• Modelling and simulation of point and extended defects in materials
  
• Modelling and simulation of defect kinetics in irradiated silicon-based materials