Aditya Dash

Institute of graduation: National Institute of Technology Rourkela

Present position and institute: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellow ITN PhD,  Universität Heidelberg, Germany

Publications with SMART group:

1. Improved ultraviolet sensing, photo-stabilized visible transmission, and electrical conductance in Zn1−xGax/2Fex/2O.(https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2020.82)

2. Effect of Al3+/Si4+ codoping on the structural, optoelectronic and UV sensing properties of ZnO.(https://doi.org/10.1557/jmr.2020.83)

3. Oxygen vacancies assisting green light sensing in Ga/Fe doped ZnO.(https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0019531)

4. Optical properties and defects study in Zn(1-x) (CrGa)(x/2)O (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2020.04.213)

Experience at SMART group:

I worked as a research intern under Dr. Somaditya Sen to analyse the effect of doping in  ZnO nanoparticles on the structural, vibrational, optoelectronic and UV sensing properties. During that period, I have learned to do data analysis based on Rietveld refinement which triggered my mind towards simulations. The group inspired me to do theoretical research for correlating the experimental findings.

Dr. Somaditya Sen always encourages us to ask questions and think differently. The scientific explanations from the basics is one of his trademark features. The atmosphere and the work culture in the group motivated me to do good research. I’m really grateful to him for being my mentor throughout my career.

Igamcha Moirangthem

Amity Institute of Nanotechnology, Amity University, Noida

Current position: PhD Student, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taiwan

Experience with SMART group:

I joined SMART group in Jan 2018 and worked as an intern until Jul 2018. During this, I have gained a lot of valuable experiences that would stay with me for the rest of my career. Prof. Sen’s encouraging and inspiring persona has also influenced me to carry on with research works in the field of material science. Dr. Gaurav Bajpai and Dr. Rini E.G have also guided me and encouraged me throughout the internship. The results of the internship were compiled into my Master’s thesis. I also have the honor to co-author 3 papers with the SMART group.

Publications with SMART group:

1.     Multicomponent Zn(1-x)Fe0.8xNa0.2xO semiconductors: Effect of dopant concentration and ionic radius on structural, opto-electronics, magnetic and sensing properties, Materials Science in Semiconductor Processing, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mssp.2019.04.003

2.     Role of Li+ and Fe3+ in modified ZnO: Structural, vibrational, opto-electronic, mechanical and magnetic properties, Ceramics International, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceramint.2019.01.004

3.     Effect of ionic size compensation by Ag+ incorporation in homogeneous Fe-substituted ZnO: studies on structural, mechanical, optical, and magnetic properties, RSC Advances, https://doi.org/10.1039/C8RA02393J

Gautham Kumar

Institute of graduation: M. Sc Physics, St. Aloysius College, Mangalore University, Mangalore, India; M.S Electronics Engineering, Ming Chi University of Technology, Taiwan 

Present position and institute: PhD candidate at Department of Photonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taiwan

Experience at SMART group: When I joined this lab, I didn’t have any exposure to experimental research and it was a new challenge in my career. Here, I start to gain hands-on experience skills on synthesis, characterize and analyses results on fundamentals of material science and which hone myself problem solving skills and new path towards research career. Everyday with positive motive involving myself on experiments and work closely with professor had accomplished on learning several systems such as, CeO2, CuO, ABO3 and A2(BB’)O6. Aside these experimental skills, I learn to effectively communicate a way to pursue research ideas and to analyze and critique the work for its successful. I am thankful to Prof. Sen, for his thoughts, comments and advise in my research.

Publications with SMART group:

1.      Arun Kumar Yadav, Parasmani Rajput, Ohud Alshammari, Mahmud Khan, Gautham Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Parasharam M Shirage, Sajal Biring, Somaditya Sen, “Structural distortion, ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism in Pb (Ti1− xFex) O3”, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 701, 2017, 619-625. DOI: 10.1016/j.jallcom.2017.01.127.

2.      Mohd Nasir, Rakibul Islam, Md A Ahmed, Saniya Ayaz, Gautham Kumar, Sunil Kumar, CL Prajapat, Frederick Roussel, Sajal Biring, Somaditya Sen, “Cu1–xFexO: hopping transport and ferromagnetism”, Royal Society open science, 4(9), 2017, p170339. DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170339.

3.      Mohd Nasir, Gautham Kumar, Parasharam M Shirage, Somaditya Sen, “Synthesis, Morphology, Optical and Electrical Properties of Cu1− xFe xO Nanopowder”, Journal of nanoscience and nanotechnology, 17(2), 2017, 1345-1349. DOI: 10.1166/jnn.2017.12777.

Neha

Institute of graduation: Maitreyi College, University of Delhi. 

Present position and institute: PhD Scholar at IIT Madras. 

Experience at SMART group: 

Working as an intern at SMART group has given an integral direction to my research career. My interest has always been inclined towards research but I didn’t found a topic of my interest until I got into this group. I didn’t only acquire experimental skills but also a way to pursue research ideas. Discussions with the group members were always fruitful. I am really thankful to my guide, Prof. Somaditya Sen, for supporting me throughout. My interest in nano materials got enhanced while I developed a new enthusiasm for optoelectronic devices. This experience has led me to join a PhD offering research in developing optoelectronic devices using nano materials. 

Publications with SMART group: 

1. Ayaz, S., Sharma, N., Dash, A., & Sen, S. (2020). Effect of Al3 /Si4 codoping on the structural, optoelectronic and UV sensing properties of ZnO. Journal of Materials Research, 35(10), 1337-1345. doi:10.1557/jmr.2020.83

2. Aditya Dash, Neha, Prashant Mishra, and Somaditya Sen , "Oxygen vacancies assisting green light sensing in Ga/Fe doped ZnO", AIP Conference Proceedings 2270, 110008 (2020) https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0019531

Shikha Sakalley

Past Institute: BTech CDGI, Indore, India; MS, Materials Engg at Ming Chi University of Technology, Taiwan 

Present Institute: Post Doctoral Fellow, IISc Bangalore. 

Experience at SMART Group: During my Bachelor of Engineering final year, I joined the "Smart Lab" and enjoy working as a Research Intern in the field of Metallurgical Engineering and Material Sciences (MEMS) under the supervision of Dr. Somaditya Sen on semiconductor materials at Indian Institute of Technology Indore.

My internship time at IIT-Indore in SMART GROUP was one of the most memorable times of my life. I learned a lot because everyone from our lab helped me to learn and grow in every manner, whether it is related to experimental knowledge, or life lessons. That is all because of the backbone of our group Dr. Somaditya Sen Sir. You have always given us a platform and boosted all of us to do something new, learn, understand, help each other, spread and gather knowledge, behave nicely, respect everyone, and work hard and smart. And one more important person for me in our group is my Rini ma'am who, always cares for me and shows me the correct path to move on in every condition and never give up. And also, there was a big help from Anita ma'am because she taught me many things which are helpful to me over here in MCUT. Tulika ma'am also gave me moral support many a time. Everyone in our group helped me in some of the ways like Arun sir, Ruhul sir, Gaurav sir, Nasir sir, Nasima ma'am, Saniya ma'am, Prashant sir, and even interns also like Saurav, Jayanti, Athithya, Gyanendra, Himanshu, Faizan.

And thank you so much, Sir, for giving us a big U-Turn in our life. Doing a Master's from Taiwan is a great opportunity. Here people, weather, technology, knowledge, instrument facilities, and everything is just beyond my imagination. 

Himanshu Mishra

Institute of graduation: 

Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, India; Ming Chi University of Technology, Taiwan

Present position and Institute: Doctoral Candidate at Charles University in Czech Republic

Experience at SMART group: The first pedestal of my research journey started in SMART group. I enrolled as an intern at SMART group in domain of electrical and materials study. I am enthusiastic individual who loves to explore many stuffs and in this group I got opportunity to choose independently my research domain/topic. This helps me to acquire idea of how to choose research questions and start brainstorming over it. The research supervision of Prof. Sen and discussion with SMART groups members always fragmented deep insights knowledge over the table. 

Currently, I am working over Plasma and Space Plasma studies but I also use concept of thin film deposition for various technologies like dye synthesized solar cell and Plasmonic devices. The background of all this nano films study started in SMART group. The only difference was the fabrication procedure being deployed. My sincere gratitude to Prof. Somaditya Sen, SMART group members for encouraging and supporting me at microscopic level.

Research topic at SMART Group;

1.) Titanium dioxide and it's applications through sol-gel procedure.

2.) Design prototype of cyclic voltameter through Arduino.

3.) Acquired knowledge about Dielectric films and it's characterization techniques.

4.) Worked over Raman Spectroscopy, which later on became vital tool of study in my research journey.

Kiran Kishore Kesavan

Institute of graduation: Ming Chi University of Technology, Taiwan. MS (Electronic Engineering).

Current position and institution: Ph.D. Material Science and Engineering- National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan.

Experience at SMRT group: Working with the SMART group has enlightened my research interest and created an intense basement for research life. As an intern in the SMART group, I got an opportunity to learn about materials, their characteristics, synthesis approach, and comparative study of semiconductor materials with the suitable substitution for effectively tuning for an electronic application. Furthermore, effective guidance and discussion from Prof. Sen have paved and developed my cognitive thinking ability.

Research topic at SMART group:

» Bandgap tuning by Zn and La substituting on TiO2

» Studies on optical and electrical properties of ZnTiO3