1. Elaboration of Nanostructured Materials
The objective of this research line is to elaborate nanostructures through the usage of anodised aluminium oxide porous membranes, among others. This membranes is a thin film made up of highly ordered collinear pores with diameters in the range from 20 to 200nm. Since these films can be synthesized in microscopic areas (~cm2), it is possible to use them as masks to produce nanostrutures ordered matrices.
2. Hydrogen storage in metallic nanoclusters films.
In this research line we study hydrogen absorption in films made up of metallic nanolusters. These systems have two specific properties which make them potential candidates to be used in hydrogen storage processes:(i) increase in the internal surface and (ii) the possibility for the metallic cluster to absorb hydrogen, even though as material of large volume, does not do it.
In the Material Science LaboratoryFaculty of Physics methods to detect hydrogen absorption due to changes in the visile light transmission and films resistance have been developed.
3. Multiferroic Heterostructures
Multiferroic materials have at least two of the so-called “ferroic properties”: ferroelasticity, ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism. The potential applications in multifunctional devices are: magnetic field sensores, current measurement probes, transductors, filters, oscillators among others.
In these systems, ferromagnetic magnetization and ferroelectric polarization are switching. This has generated huge interest in recording industry since it is possible to codify information separately.
Our interest will be focused on the manufacturing process of magnetic nanostructures on ferroelectric substrates, with the aim of manipulating multiferroic parameters and structural discrepancy with substrates.
4. Modelling and Characterization of Magnetic Nanostructures
Ferromagnetic nanostructures are currently one of the most studied systems at the magnetism area. This, mainly because of their applications in information reading and storage devices and sensors (i.e. spin valves and random access memory).Progress in this wide research field has resulted in emergence of a new type of electronics based on electron spin manipulation known as Spintronics.
The activies of this research line will be focused on the experimental and theoretical properties of layers, on magnetic multilayers and on new structures modelling.
