Research area: Functional oxide thin films & interfaces, defect-mediated symmetry engineering, and electromechanical energy conversion
My current research focuses on exploring the multifunctional properties and applications of thin oxide films for energy conversion and storage. The discovery of new electromechanical/piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and ferroelectric materials for high-efficiency energy conversion is a cutting-edge research area and in the forefront of materials science. The impact of extending the range of piezoelectric and pyroelectric materials with centrosymmetric crystals is a huge leap towards new science and future novel electronic/energy applications. My objective is to contribute to the development of sustainable and highly efficient energy technologies through finding new electromechanical and pyroelectric materials (e.g., doped ceria, high-k/soft dielectrics with ionic defects, and metal-insulator transition metal oxides). This can be achieved, for instance, by converting centrosymmetric materials to new non-centrosymmetric ones through the effective control of defect-mediated symmetric breaking.
Start date of employment: 01-08-2023