Member of the Board of Directors M.S, Ph.D. in Materials Science, B.E. in Metallurgy, Indian Institute of Science, B.S. in Chemistry,
Dr. Professor
Ramesh - Lead Scientist for UCB
Professor,
Professor, Distinguished University Professor,
Associate Professor,
Member
of Technical Staff, Bell Communications Research, Red Bank
Postdoctoral
Associate, NCEM,
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Thin film growth and materials physics of complex oxides: Structure-Property-Processing
interrelationships ; Crystalline Oxides on
Semiconductors ; Functional metal oxide thin film deposition and processing for
microelectronic, magneto-electronic, optical and high frequency applications.
Oxide thin film heterostructures : growth
mechanisms and defect structures; physics of magneto-transport and
electro-transport ; half-metallic ferromagnets; transport phenomena in highly
correlated systems ; Multiferroic oxide heterostructures ; size effects ;
self-assembled oxide nanostructures.
Nanoscale Characterization : Understanding
Materials Physics at the nanoscale using Scanned Probes ;
Applications of scanning force microscopy to study domains, switching and
polarization dynamics
in ferroic thin films ; scaling studies using electric and magnetic force
microscopy.
Application
of TEM techniques to solving materials problems; high resolution imaging of
defect and crystal structure; analytical electron microscopy and
micro-diffraction techniques; Lorentz imaging of domains.
Materials Processing for Devices :
Nano-fabrication technologies; novel physical phenomena in complex electronic
and magnetic materials with shrinking dimensions; dry etching technologies for
device fabrication.
Information Technologies : Non-volatile
information storage technologies ; Ferroelectric Memories ; Dynamic Random
Access Memories ; Field effect devices ; Thin film magnetic and
magneto-resistive devices; CMR thin films and heterostructures ; oxide spin
valves and magnetic tunnel junctions.
ACADEMIC HONORS AND PROFESSIONAL AWARDS
Distinguished
University Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, 2003 ; Fellow,
American Physical Society, 2001 ; A. James Clark School of Engineering Faculty
Outstanding Research Award, 2001 ; Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist
Prize, 2001 ; International Symposium on Integrated Ferroelectrics, Award for
Outstanding Achievement in Integrated Ferroelectrics, 2000 ; Distinguished
Research Faculty Fellow, University of Maryland 1999-2000; Bellcore Corporate Award,
1994, 1993, 1992 ; Earl R. Parker Fellowship, American Society for Metals,
1987; Graduate Student Award, Materials Research Society , 1987 ; Ross M.
Tucker Award, Intel Corporation and N. California Chapter of AIME, 1986-1987 ;
James Monroe McDonald Scholarship, 1986-1987 ; Regent's Fellowship, University
of California, Berkeley, 1984-1985; Vidya Bharati Award in Metallurgy, Indian
Institute of Metals, 1983 ; K.K.Mullick Gold Medal in Metallurgy, 1983 ;
National Merit Scholarship during B.E., 1980-1983 ; College Gold Medal, 1980 ;
National Merit Scholarship during B.Sc, 1977-1980.
PUBLICATIONS, TALKS AND PATENTS
Over
250 papers, reviews and monographs covering magnetic materials, recording
materials, magnetic and magnetoresistive metal oxides, high temperature
superconductors, ferroelectrics, dielectrics, piezoelectrics and relaxors,
semiconductor heterostructures and advanced transmission electron microscopy
techniques applied to materials characterization. Over 8000 citations that place him in the top-300
(among approximately 270,000 worldwide).
Journals
include Science, Nature, Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Applied Physics,
Journal of Materials Research, Integrated Ferroelectrics, Journal of Magnetism
and Magnetic Materials, Annual Reviews of Materials Science, Physical Review
Letters, Physical Review B, Materials Science and Engineering B, Jl. of
Electronic Materials, Journal of Electroceramics
Presented over 50 Invited talks at International
Conferences, Symposia and Workshops.
16
Patents issued and 11 filed.
PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
Member: Materials Research Society, American
Physical Society, ASM/TMS;
Editorial Board: "Integrated
Ferroelectrics" Journal of Electroceramics ; International Advisory Board
for the International Symposium on Integrated Ferroelectrics ; Member of
Editorial Board, Journal of Applied Physics and Applied Physics Letters
(1998-2001) ; Jl. of Electroceramics ; Journal of Materials Research.
Member
of TMS John Bardeen Award Committee
Journal Review : Science, Nature, Jl. of Appl.
Phys., Appl. Phys. Lett., Jl. of Materials Research, Jl. of Electronic
Materials ; Jl. of Electroceramics ; Thin Solid Films.
Symposium Co-Organization: International
Conference on Electronic Materials, 1990; MRS Symposia" Defect structure
in oxide thin films", April 1992; " Epitaxial oxide thin films and
heterostructures", April 1994; " Ferroelectric thin films IV",
December 1994; " Ferroelectric thin films V", April 1996 ;
International Oxide Electronics Workshop, 1997, 1998 and 1999 ; APS March
Meeting Focus Topic Symposium on Dynamics in Ferroelectrics and Dielectrics,
2001 and 2002 ; MRS Fall Symposium on Polarization Dynamics in Ferroic
Materials, 2001 ;
Technical
Program Chair, International Symposium on Integrated Ferroelectrics-1999, 2003
Program Review : National
Science Foundation SBIR Programs ; MRSEC Programs ; Program for Women in
Engineering ; International Programs ; Department of Energy Program Reviews
Consultant : Bellcore,
Motorola, Candescent, Inc., Tachyon Semiconductor, Intematix Corporation,
Sponsera, Inc., Fujitsu, Solid State Photonix, Spectalis, Inc.
SUMMARY OF KEY RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Professor
Ramesh’s work over the past 10+ years has spanned a broad range of novel metal
oxide materials, with a specific focus on the Science and Technology of
functional multicomponent perovskites. He has made numerous pioneering
contributions pertaining to thin film growth by pulsed laser deposition,
creation of novel device structures and their characterization using advanced
probes. In 1988-89, his effort was among the first to identify the atomic
structure of defects in YBCO thin films and the structure and chemistry of the
"2223" BSCCO superconductor. His original electron microscopy studies
led to the template approach for the growth of a-axis oriented YBCO films.
His
landmark contributions in ferroelectric perovskites came through the
recognition that conducting oxide electrodes are the solution to the
problem of polarization fatigue, which for 30 years, remained an enigma and
unsolved problem. This contribution is now recognized worldwide with many
industrial and research laboratories implementing such an approach. His
original demonstration came through the use of epitaxial perovskite thin films
deposited by pulsed laser deposition. He soon extended this to polycrystalline
films, deposited by pulsed laser deposition as well as by sputtering, thus
paving the way for a commercially viable, reliable ferroelectric memory
technology. His subsequent work in the area of ferroelectric thin films has led
to several highly cited, seminal contributions, including : novel template
approaches to control the crystallographic orientation of cubic perovskites ;
the understanding of the impact of point defects on ferroelectric properties ;
on the use of piezo force microscopy (PFM) to understand the nanoscale origins
of polarization relaxation in single grains, and a very unique combination of
PFM and focused ion beam lithography (FIB) to enable an understanding of the
scaling laws governing the ferroelectric polar state. He currently leads a
MRSEC Interdisciplinary Research Group that is focused on understanding the
materials physics and polarization dynamics in ferroelectric and dielectric
thin films.
In
1994, in collaboration with S. Jin (Lucent Technologies), he initiated research
into manganite thin films and they coined the term, Colossal Magnetoresistive
(CMR) Oxides ; the paper published in Science is the
4th highest cited paper (more than 1500 citations). This work was the starting point
for an intense international R&D effort on these materials, with several
promising approaches for new devices. At