Our mission

The use of conventional and/or novel materials at the nanoscale, with multi-functionalities (including metals, oxides, molecules, graphene) in form of single- or multi-layer magnetic structures, is nowadays triggering innovative concepts of spintronic devices and is at forefront of modern Nanomagnetism research on Spin-Orbitronics. Hence, the control of the surfaces and interfaces of low dimensional materials is of fundamental importance to understand their physics and is a prerequisite for designing new technological devices.

With such a premise, we focus the interest in the spin-dependent properties of novel magnetic thin film nanostructures with tailored interfaces.

The main topics of our research are:

a) Spin-Orbitronics functional interfaces [thin films and multilayers, as single ferromagnetic (FM), FM-antiferromagnetic (AFM), spin-valve, tunnel magnetic junction (TMJ), perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) systems]: study of the magnetization reversals vs. magneto-resistance responses, and element- and spatial-resolved magnetic studies of systems with in-plane and out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy.

b) New material for Spintronics. Investigating the influence of the surface/interface physical and chemical properties on the magnetism of new organic/metal heterostructures (coordinated molecules and graphene).

c) Transition Metal Oxides (TMOs). Tuning the functionalities of nanostructures based on perovskite oxides (half-metallic, dielectric, ferroelectric, multiferroic) by engineering artificially their surfaces/interfaces.