Research Interests:

Thin films and heterostructures of metal-oxide films (perovskites in particular) provide an ideal platform for the study of interfacial and confinement effects on the properties of complex and correlated materials. Pulsed laser deposition (see recent review article) is used to grow epitaxial films of ferroelectrics, manganites and ruthenates, high-temperature superconductors, and electro-optic materials. Superlattices with atomically abrupt interfaces allow us to study the influence of strain and local asymmetry, as well as coupling at the nanoscale, on ferroelectric, transport, and magnetic properties.

Novel implementations of a continuous compositional-spread approach and of a temperature-gradient technique avoid limitations of earlier combinatorial approaches and are used as an efficient method to the discovery and optimization of materials. These approaches are not only applicable to epitaxial oxide layers but also to the study of catalysts for nanotube synthesis.

Pulsed electron deposition has been used as an alternative to pulsed laser deposition in the work on coated conductors (high-Tc superconducting tapes).

Education:

• M.S., Physics Engineering, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, 1991
• Ph.D., Physics, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1994

Professional Positions:

• 2006-Present, Leader, Thin Films and Nanostructures Group, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 2000-2006, Research Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 1999-2000, Program Manager, Microwave Microscopy, Neocera, Inc., Beltsville, MD
• 1997-1999, Staff Scientist, Neocera, Inc., Beltsville, MD
• 1994-1996, ORAU and Swiss NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
• 1991-1994, Research Assistant, IBM Research Division, Zurich Research Laboratory

Selected Publications: