Research

Ferroelectrics and Piezoelectrics

2D Materials, Photodetection, FeFETs and Memories, FTJ, Neuromorphic computing.

Publications: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zo4hFz0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao

Research Projects

Teacher Associateship for Research Excellence, SERB, Govt. of India, (Visiting researcher program- 90 days a year in IISc Bangalore) Rs. 18.3 lakhs.  (2020-2024).

Topic: Polarization induced switching in PMN-PT or BCZT back gated multilayer MoS₂ FETs for piezotronics non-volatile memory applications

Mentor:  Prof. Karuna Kar Nanda, MRC, IISc Bangalore

INUP Project (IIT Bombay) 

Integration of MZO or HZO-based FeFET with 2 D layered MoS2 as channel for memory and neuromorphic computing applications. (started Jan 2025).

Student Projects – KSCSTE, Govt of Kerala (PI – Dr. Pius Augustine)

1. Anaina Elsa Jose, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi (M G University), M.Sc Project-Structural and Microstructural Features of Lead-free Piezoceramic BCZT (2020-2021). (Rs. 10000/-)
2. Jos Vince, Sacred Heart College, Thevara, Kochi (M G University), M.Sc Project-Understanding The State of The Art BCZT and Realizing Low-Temperature Sintered Ceramic (2020-2021) (Rs. 9900/-).

3. One day workshop on “Intellectual Property Rights for Research and Academics” Sanctioned by IPRIC-K KSCSTE (Rs. 20000/-) 28.02.2025.

Research Guiding: Vidhya Sivan  (Ph.D Registration -2345/Ac A11/2023/MGU – M. G. University, Kottayam)

Topic: An Investigation on Ferroelectric and 2D Materials Based Electronic Devices For Detection and Memory Based Applications.

Ph.D research of Vidhya Sivan  focuses on specialization in ferroelectric and two-dimensional (2D) materials-based transistors for non-volatile memory applications. Her research integrates material science and electronic device engineering to explore next-generation memory technologies. She holds a Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Physics and has undertaken hands-on research at premier institutes, including a short-term project at Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in 2023. She is currently executing a medium-term project at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay (15^th January 2025 Onwards) under INUP program.

M. Phil Guided

1. Gokul V. (Reg. No. 17MPHY1970, 2018) Mahatma Gandhi University (Centre: S H College Thevara), Kottayam Topic: Realization of low temperature sintered BCZT ceramic through Pr doping and rudimentary analysis.
2. Arjun Suresh P. (Reg. No. 17MPHY1973, 2018) Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. (Centre: S H College, Thevara) Modification of Curie Temperature in PN-PT through Sr2+ doping.
3. Jijo E. P. (Reg. No. 32001013, 2021) Mahatma Gandhi University (Centre: S. B. College, Changanasserry), Kottayam. Fabrication of ZnS/MoS2 Heterojunction based flexible broadband photodetector.

Collaborators

1. Prof. Karuna Kar Nanda, Professor, MRC, IISc, Bangalore and Director, IoP Bhubaneswar, India. E-mail: nanda@iisc.ac.in)
2. Prof. M. S. Ramachandra Rao, Dept of Physics, IIT Madras. E-mail: msrrao@iitm.ac.in) DST-IITM Solar Energy Harvesting Centre (DSEHC), at IIT Madras.
3. Prof. Muralidhar Miryala, Research collaboration for joint research and student exchange- Shibaura Institute of Technology, Tokyo, Japan.  (E-mail: miryala1@shibaura-it.ac.jp)
4. Prof. Wilfrid Prellier, CNRS Caen Cedex, FRANCE , Research Collaboration for joint research to establish ferroelectric and 2D material based nanofunctional devices for neuromorphic computing.
5. Dr. Deependra Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Mettlaurgical & Materials Engineering, National Institute of Technology Raipur, E-mail: dksingh.mme@nitrr.ac.in

Membership

Material Research Society India (MRSI)         –  Life Member     (LMB3782)

Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) –  Life Member (L 40434)

Society For Technological Advanced Materials of India (STAMI) – Life Membership (LM-179)

Indian Association of Physics Teachers (IAPT) – Life Member– (13391- L8434).

Workshop/Seminar Organized in SH College

1. Faculty Coordinator, MRS Kochi a global platform for researchers to showcase their research with peers, A monthly event.
2. Organizer: RBPT Level – 1 workshop (4 days) for UG faculty organized jointly by IISER Pune, MHRD, British council, DBT and SH College, at SH College Kochi, Oct 11-14, 2017
3. Coordinator: Two-day National workshop and Hands-on training on MOOC and e-learning organized in association with EMMRC of CEC-UGC, at SH College, (August 9^th and 10^th, 2019)
4. Coordinator: Three international Webinars, Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat 2020 and 2021
5. Coordinator: Platinum Jubilee one day international seminar on ‘Quantum materials’ Department of Physics, Sacred Heart College on 18th Dec 2019 at S. H. College, Thevara
6. Co-ordinator: Spark the future-CAT to MBA brilliance, Interaction by Adarsh Keshri, MBA student, IIM Calcutta at Sacred Heart College, Thevara, on 18^th January, 2024.

Talks Given, Sessions Chaired and Panel Discussions

1. Talk, Laws of thermodynamics: God’s Language, Amity University Lucknow Campus UP. 18^th March 2025
2. Live Talk: UGC DTH Channel (live from EMMRC Calicut) National Science Day 2020, Topic :  Superconductor: a quantum material https://youtu.be/Lv5BzleStEQ
3. Invited Talk: “The Art and Science of PMN-PT: An Exciting Family” International Web Conference (IWCSET_2020)_May 15- 16,2020 https://youtu.be/YpEaDpijWeI
4. DBT sponsored National Science Day celebration 2021- Invited talk at St. Xavier’s College, Aluva on 27^th Feb 2021. Topic: Light matter interaction: A quantum revelation.
5. Session Chaired: “Solar Cells and Thin Films” in the Raman Optronics Webinar Series 2020, 30^th Nov 2020, Silver Jubilee celebration of the Dept. of Optoelectronics, University of Kerala.
6. National Webinar, Christ college Irinjalakkuda, Kerala (Topic: Light Matter Interaction: Probe and Prospects), Oct 12^th
7. Keynote speaker, History of light: Classical to Quantum. Stephen Hawking Lecture Series IV, at Christ Nagar College, Maranalloor, TVM on National Science Day, Feb 28, 2022.
8. Invited Speaker, Association of Physics Teachers sponsored Science Day Celebrations, Dept. of Physics, St. Michael’s College, Cherthala. (March 2, 2022).

Selected Conferences and symposia 

1. Pius Augustine, Subin Jose, C.S.Akhil, M.S.Ramachandra Rao, Effect of Sr2+ Doping on the Functional Response of (1-x)PMNxPT Relaxor Ceramics ICMAT 2017, 18-23, June 2017, Suntec Singapore. Best Poster Award.
2. Pius Augustine, Ramachandra Rao.M.S., Ferroelectric behaviour of PMN-PT bulk and thin films in the morphotropic phase boundary,  International Symposium for Research Scholars (ISRS 2014), Dec 11-13, 2014 at IIT Madras,PS XI – 9, Page 138.  Best paper award.
3. Pius Augustine, Ramachandra Rao.M.S., Corrundum free columbite MgNb₂O₆ – an essential precursor for pyrochlore free PMN-PT XVIII NSFD-0013 (P-8), at Manipur University, Imphal, Nov 3-5, 2014, Page 55-56. Best poster award.
4. Vidhya Sivan, Karuna Kar Nanda, Pius Augustine, LSPR Induced Dual Polarity Photoresponse in Ag/MoS₂/Ag Photodetector, KSCSTE sponsored National Seminar on Green Energy and Sustainable Development (GESD-2024), organized jointly by St. Albert’s College EKM and Catholicate College Pathanamthitta, 07-08, Feb 2024. Best poster award.
5. Pius Augustine and M.S. Ramachandra Rao, PMN-PT at the MPB –a potential nano-functional material for sensors, energy harvesting and biomedical applications, MRS fall meeting and exhibit 2015, Nov 28-Dec 4, 2015, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
6. Vidhya Sivan, Sooraj Sanjey, Karuna Kar Nanda, Pius Augustine, Towards Next-Generation Memory Devices: 2D Interfaced PMN–PT Thin Film Ferroelectric Back-Gated FeFET, CUSATJan 2024.
7. Kavya Ravindran, Anjaly C. L, Vidhya Sivan and Pius Augustine, An investigation …….of PMN-based relaxor ferroelectric, MRSI, IITM research conclave, Dec 20-22, 2021
8. Pius Augustine al, Photo switching and self-powered response in PLD grown MoS₂/AlN heterostructure MH-21, Singapore. (July 6-9, 2021).
9. Gokul, V, Anaina Jose, Jose Vince and Pius Augustine, Realization of temperature sintered BCZT ceramic, through Pr doping; and rudimentary analysis. MH-21, Singapore. (July 6-9, 2021).
10. Pius Augustine and M.S. Ramachandra Rao, Crack free and device worthy 0.65PMN-0.35PT one micron thick film grown using PLD, ICMAT 2017, 18-23, June 2017, Suntec Singapore..
11. Pius Augustine, M. S. R. Rao, Rudiments of relaxors – An overview of PMN-PT: A smart nano-functional material for sensors and energy harvesting, First International Conference on Advanced Materials for Power Engineering (ICAMPE-2015), 11-13, Dec 2015 G. University, Kottayam.
12. Pius Augustine, M. S. R. Rao, Study of phase formation of PMN-PT bulk and thin film in the morphotropic phase boundary-Effect of excess PbO and bottom electrode, 7^th  ISSS National Conference on MEMS, Smart Materials, Structures and Systems, Sept. 23-25, 2015, CUSAT, Kochi.

Workshops/Trainings Attended

1. INUP i2i Hands on Training Workshop on Fabrication and Characterization of 2D MoS₂ Transistor, held at IIT Bombay funded by Ministry of Electronics and IT. (09^th Oct 2023 to 18^th Oct 2023).
2. Two weeks Refresher course in Material Science, UGC-HRDC, University of Calicut, (From 02.08.2023 to 16.08.2023).
3. One week Refresher course on “Cross disciplinarity in research”, Kerala State Higher Education Council, 19^th Jan 2023 to 24^th Jan 2023.
4. Two weeks Refresher course in Material Science, UGC-HRDC, Kerala University, (From 29.07.2022 to 11.08.2022).
5. Two weeks Refresher course in “Advances in Materials Science and Applications”, Academic Staff College, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU), Hyderabad. July 15 to July 27, 2019.
6. Online refresher course on Materials for Photonic Applications” National level FDP, Dept. of Physics and Chemistry, Mahatma Gandhi institute of technology, Hyderabad.9^th -13Aug, 2021
7. Paid FDP on LaTeX, organized by Mercy college Pallippuram and sponsored by Spoken Tutorial Project, IIT Bombay, (19^th Nov, 2020 – 23^rd Nov, 2020).
8. National online workshop on “An Academic’s Toolkit: 40+ AI Tools for Teaching and Research” 19^th Aug to 26^th Aug, 2023 organized by Lore & Ed Research Associates, Kottayam and Assumption College, Changanasserry.
9. Newton-Bhabha (STEM – RBPT) level – 3 workshop – WRITERS’ WORKSHOP at IISER Pune, British council, MHRD and DBT, Jan 20^th to 23^rd, 2019.
10. Newton-Bhabha STEM -Research Based Pedagogical Tool (RBPT) level – 2 workshops for trainers at IISER Pune, British council, MHRD and DBT at IISER Pune, March 1^st to 4^th , 2017.
11. Newton-Bhabha STEM -Research Based Pedagogical Tool (RBPT) level – 1workshop for undergraduate teachers at IISER Mohali, Jan 23-25, 2017.
12. Orientation course, UGC-HRDC Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 08 Oct 2018-02 Nov, 2018.
13. National Science Day Celebrations in association with Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment, 5^th March, 2024.