SCHOOL OF NATURAL SCIENCES
PHYSICS
Dr. Binson Babu
Solvated Ionic Liquid-based sacrificial Sulfon Amide assisted Na-ion Capacitor (SILSACap)
Developing safe, high-power, and high-energy
Sodium ion Capacitor (NIC) with a target of cycling stability of > 15,000 cycles with > 90% capacity retention at the practical level through a holistic approach with systematic innovations of the electrode, electrolytes, and evaluation of the storage interfaces.
S C H O O L O F N A T U R A L S C I E N C E S
Dr Kenji Nishiwaki
Aspects of wave-packet quantum transitions
Both theoretical and experimental detailed aspects of quantum transitions of wave packets have been elucidated. In a recent paper, we resolved a long-standing discrepancy between experiments and theory regarding wave-packet nature of physical states without extra parameters.
S C H O O L O F N A T U R A L S C I E N C E S
PHYSICS
Bisweswar Santra, Ph.D. student
Study of metal oxide matrix based composite materials for optical and electrical applications
We explore ZnO@β-SiC composites, focusing on their structures and analyze the effects of annealing temperature and environment on composition, targeting luminescent phosphors and neuromorphic computing. Findings reveal air annealing-driven evolution of a zinc silicate phase at the ZnO/β-SiC interfaces, while the secondary phase formation has been prevented by vacuum annealing.
Paper publication:
(1)B. Santra et al. ACS Omega 2023, 8(26), 24113–24124
(2)B. Santra et al. ACS Appl. Opt. Mater. 2024, 2(4), 687–696
Patent publication:
(1)A method of preparing ZnO@b-SiC composite phosphor films (Application No. 202311089626)
(2) A method of development of nanoporous WO3/SiC heterostructure photoanodes for efficient solar hydrogen generation (Application No. 202311076026)
S C H O O L O F N A T U R A L S C I E N C E S
PHYSICS
Sourav Sain. Ph.D student
Development of Novel Carbon-Based Material: Selective and Sensitive Paraquat Detection in Food
Paraquat, banned in 32 nations, linked to Parkinson’s Disease reported by WHO, demands improved detection. Our innovation: Flexible Laser-Induced Graphene, BoronDoped Carbon Nanowall (B:CNWs), and B:CNWs/BDD composite electrodes detect Paraquat in tap water, Coconut Water, Tomato juice, and Apple Juice. We have achieved a LOD of 46 nM which is in the compliance limit set by WHO.
Dr. Sucheta Mondal
Study of the spin-wave dynamics and the spin-transport phenomena in magnetic devices by using ferromagnetic resonance technique
Electrical excitation and detection of the highfrequency precessional dynamics in the magnetic materials will be performed by using FMR technique. This project will involve sample fabrication, characterizations, data recording, computational studies, and finally publication of the scientific results in the emerging field of magnonics and spintronics.
S C H O O L O F N A T U R A L S C I E N C E S
PHYSICS
Dr. Arindam Chatterjee
Search for Dark Matter: In Direct Detection and CMB radiation
There has been ample evidence from different astrophysical and cosmological observations that about 26% of the energy budget of our Universe is made of Dark Matter (DM). In recent works, we have estimated some important quantum corrections to the DMnucleon scattering cross-section in the context of one of the well-motivated DM candidates, the lightest neutralino in the R-parity conserving supersymmetry. These processes play an important role in the search for DM in direct detection experiments. We are also working on finding signatures of DM, in particular DM-electron interactions, in the light of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation.
Ayesha Mualla
Photovoltaic properties of ABSe3 chalcogenide perovskites
In this project, we have performed a comprehensive study of opto-electronic, excitonic, and polaronic properties of ABSe3 (A = Ca, Sr, Ba; B = Zr, Hf) chalcogenide perovskites by employing state-of-the-art density functional theory and many-body perturbation theory. Our results reveal that all compounds have direct electronic bandgap (1.02-1.97 eV), smaller exciton binding energy (0.02-0.10 eV), higher charge carrier mobility, and excellent efficiency ( 17.5%-23%), which implies ABSe3 could be promising materials for photovoltaic applications.
S C H O O L O F N A T U R A L S C I E N C E S
PHYSICS
Dr. Santosh KumarRandom Matrix Theory and Its Applications to Complex & Chaotic Systems
Our research centers on the study of random matrix theory and its applications in Physics and related disciplines. We emphasize exploring the statistical characteristics of complex and chaotic systems. Our investigations span a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from quantum chaos and quantum transport to classical and quantum information theories
Publications, Project:-
1.Multifractal dimensions for orthogonal-to-unitary crossover ensemble, Chaos 34, 033121 (2024) [Featured Article]
2.Signatures of spectral crossovers in the short- and long-range spectral correlations of a disordered spin-chain with Kramers degeneracy, Physical Review B 107, 094205 (2023).
3.Analytical results for mean fidelity and variance of squared Bures distance, Physical Review E 107, 034206 (2023).
* DST-SERB Core Research Grant (CRG) Project: Applications of structured random matrix models to some problems in classical and quantum information theories (20232026).