Researcher Summary
My research focuses on functional oxides including ferroelectrics, multiferroics, and (anti-)ferromagnets. These materials show great promise in next generation low energy devices for computing and spintronics. We grow very thin (10-200 nm) layers of these materials on single crystal substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) and work out how the substrate-imposed mechanical boundary conditions modify the physics, and ultimately, the functional response. Imagine a material that changes from magnetic to non-magnetic, or conductive to insulating, depending on the way we fabricate it or applied external stimulus (including strain, illumination with light, etc.). The aim is to use these functionalities in future electronics- to reduce energy consumption, and make faster, smaller devices.
