Dr. Ramki Kalyanaraman
Associate Professor
Ph.D., Raleigh: Thin film growth and characterization; phase transformation and self-organization; energetic beam processing; and functional nanostructures and nanocomposites.
Brief Bio
Dr. Kalyanaraman earned his undergraduate degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1991, his Master of Technology degree in Materials Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1994 and his Ph.D degree in Materials Science and Engineering from North Carolina State University in 1998. His dissertation research included thin film deposition of oxide materials, their microstructure characterization, and modeling of grain boundary structure in thin films of the high-temperature supercondutor YBCO. In 1999, Dr. Kalyanaraman began a joint post doctoral position between Oak Ridge National Lab and (then) Lucent Technologies Bell Labs under a CRADA (cooperative research and development agreement) grant. His work there was to understand vacancy defects (and the vacancy implanter) resulting from high energy ion implantation into Si. In 2001 he joined the Department of Physics at Washington University as an Assistant Professor. His research there was on the topic of nanosecond laser-induced pattern formation and self-organization in thin films, nanocomposite materials for optical applications and nanoscale magnetic materials. There he also taught courses on thin film phsyics, solid state physics and optics. In 2008, Dr. Kalyanaraman joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville as an Associate Professor with a joint appointment between Materials Science and Engineering & Chemical and Biomolecular engineering. His research will be in the areas of nanosecond laser processing, phase transformation, self-organization, nanomaterials for plasmonc and magnetic applications and multifunctional nanocomposite materials. Dr. Kalyanaraman has authored or co-authored over 60 technical papers (5 book chapters and review articles) and has contributed to over 65 (including over 20 invited) technical presentations at national and international conferences and Universities. He has also organized international conference symposium and workshops. Dr. Kalyanaraman is the recipient of a 2005 National Science Foundation CAREER award and several of his collaborative research activities have been highlighted by news media and have appeared in the American Institute of Physics Virtual Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology.
Research Areas
See http://web.utk.edu/~ramki/research.html
Thin film growth and Characterization: Nucleation, growth and pattern formation in metal and oxide thin films grown on amorphous or crystalline substrates ; Multilayer film deposition for 1, 2 or 3-dimensional nanocomposites; Characterization of microstructure and morphology; Physical vapor deposition and sol-gel processing.
Fig 1: Moire fringes from epitaxial TiBx on Si
Phase transformation and Self-organization: Pattern evolution and length scale selection in unstable systems; Non-equilibrium processing of surfaces and thin films utilizing pulsed lasers; Nucleation processes in bulk and thin films.
Fig 2: Theoretical validation of the maximum undercooling in metals
Functional nanostructures and nanocomposites for plasmonics, magnetics and nanophotonics: Design, fabrication and characterization of surfaces and materials for functional materials, including, solar energy harvesting, Raman scatterers (SERS) for biological/environmental sensing, and Hydrogen detection; Nanocomposites for linear and nonlinear optics, magnetic storage and sensing and spintronics.
Fig 3: Magnetic Co nanoarrays
Energetic beam processing of electronic materials: Dynamic interactions of thin film with energetic beam (laser, ion beam) during nucleation and growth; Laser- and ion beam-material interactions; Electronic properties resulting from non-equilibrium processing utilizing lasers and/or ion beams.
Fig 4: Novel self-organized length scales from ns laser patterning
Selected Awards and Honors
2005 NSF CAREER Award
1999 CRADA joint post-doctoral fellowship, ORNL and Lucent Bell Labs
1998 Elected to Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society
Professional Activities
Member of MRS, APS, SPIE, OSA, TMS professional societies
Co-organizer: MRS Symposium “Self-assembly of Nanostructures by Photon and Ion Beams: Fundamentals and Applications”, 2006.
Co-organizer International Workshop on “Nanopatterning via Ions, Photon beams and Epitaxy”, 2007
Selected Publications
(http://web.utk.edu/~ramki/publications.html)
R. Kalyanaraman, "Nucleation energetics during homogeneous solidification in elemental metallic liquids," J. Appl. Phys. 104, 033506, (2008). Free AIP access at http://link.aip.org/link/?JAP/104/033506
J. Trice, C. Favazza, D. Thomas, R. Kalyanaraman, R. Sureshkumar, "Novel self-organization mechanism in ultrathin liquid films: theory and experiment," Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 017802 (2008).
H. Krishna, C. Miller, L. Spoor, Z. Nussinov, A. K. Gangopadhyay and R. Kalyanaraman, "Unusual size-dependent magnetization in near hemispherical Co nanomagnets on SiO2 from fast pulsed laser processing," J. Appl. Phys. 103, 073902 (2008).
J. Trice, D. Thomas, C. Favazza, R. Sureshkumar, and R. Kalyanaraman, "Pulsed-laser-induced dewetting in nanoscopic metal films: Theory and experiments," Phys. Rev. B, 75, 235439 (2007).
A.K. Gangopadhyay, H. Krishna, C. Favazza, C. Miller, and R. Kalyanaraman, "Heterogeneous nucleation of amorphous alloys on catalytic nanoparticles to produce 2D patterned nanocrystal arrays," Nanotechnology, 18, 485606 (2007).
H.Garcia, H.Krishna, and R. Kalyanaraman, "A new figure of merit for photonic applications of metal nanocomposites," Appl. Phys. Lett. 89, 141109-11 (2006).
W. Zhang, C. Zhang and R. Kalyanaraman, "Dynamically ordered thin film nanoclusters," J. Vac. Sci. Tech. B 23, L5-L8 (2005).
S.P. Withrow, C.W. White, J.D. Budai, L.A. Boatner, K.D. Sorge, J.R. Thompson, and R. Kalyanaraman, "Ion beam synthesis of magnetic Co-Pt alloys in Al2O3," J. Mag. Mag. Mat. 260, 319-329 (2003).
R. Kalyanaraman, V.C. Venezia, L. Pelaz, T.E. Haynes, H.-J.L. Gossmann and C.S. Rafferty, "Enhanced Low Temperature Activation of B in Si," Appl. Phys. Lett. 82, 215-217 (2003).
R. Kalyanaraman, T.E. Haynes, O.W. Holland, H.-J.L. Gossmann, C.S. Rafferty, and G.H. Gilmer, "Binding energy of vacancies to clusters formed in Si by high-energy ion implantation," Appl. Phys. Lett. 79, 1983-1985 (2001).
Selected Patents
A new process for fabrication of semiconductor devices on Si-on-insulator substrates V.C. Venezia, L. Pelaz, R. Kalyanaraman, T.E. Haynes, H.-J.L. Gossmann, and C.S. Rafferty, US Patent # US Pat No 6,632,728
Contact
Dr. Kalyanaraman
304 Dougherty Engineering Bldg.
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular and Materials Science and Engineering
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-2200
Tel/fax: (865) 974-5539/4115
Email: ramki@utk.edu
Home page: http://web.utk.edu/~ramki