Principal Investigator

Dr. Lakhan Bainsla is an experimental condensed matter physicist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, where he leads the Quantum Spintronics Group. His research focuses on quantum materials, magnetism, spintronics, Heusler alloys, magnetic tunnel junctions (MTJs), spin–orbit torque phenomena, spin Hall nano-oscillators, and van der Waals heterostructures for next-generation low-power spintronic, magnetic random access memory (MRAM) and neuromorphic technologies.

Dr. Bainsla received his Ph.D. in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 2016. During his Ph.D., he worked on highly spin-polarized Heusler alloys and spin-gapless semiconductors for spintronic applications such as MRAM and spin-based logic devices. He also reported the first experimental realization of spin-gapless semiconducting behavior in quaternary Heusler compounds, opening new directions in spintronics research. His doctoral work received the “Excellence in Ph.D. Thesis Work” award from IIT Bombay. After his Ph.D., he joined Tohoku University as a postdoctoral researcher under the prestigious JSPS Fellowship. He later received the Marie-Curie Individual Fellowship from the European Commission and the Ramanujan Fellowship from SERB, Government of India, for his research contributions in quantum spintronics and magnetic materials.

Dr. Bainsla has collaborated with leading research groups in Japan, Sweden, and USA on advanced spintronic devices, topological quantum materials, and nanoscale magnetic dynamics. His current research at IIT Ropar includes magnetization dynamics in van der Waals magnetic materials, spin–orbit torque studies in heterostructures, thin-film multilayers and MTJs for MRAM, spin Hall nano-oscillators, and multifunctional Heusler alloy thin films for spintronic applications.

He has published numerous research articles in leading journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, Advanced Functional Materials, Physical Review Applied, and Applied Physics Reviews. His review article on equiatomic quaternary Heusler alloys is widely recognized in the spintronics community.

Since joining the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, Dr. Bainsla has secured several prestigious research grants in quantum materials and spintronic technologies. His funded projects include the prestigious Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) Ramanujan Fellowship, a MeitY–NSF international research grant, participation as Co-PI in the DREAMS consortium from ANRF PAIR program, and the Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant for next-generation neuromorphic and RF nano-oscillator technologies. 

His research group at IIT Ropar works on developing multifunctional quantum materials and scalable spintronic devices for future information technologies, while training young researchers in experimental condensed matter physics, nanoscience, and device engineering.