Johanna Rosén

Materials design

How far can we push the design and tailoring of materials properties for new applications? This ultimately depends on the control of atomic constituents while composing and structuring a material. To explore the range of attainable properties we need to increase the fundamental understanding of the synthesis process and reactions in the material on an atomistic level. Our research is therefore a stimulating mix of fundamental physics and application inspired research, including material physics, plasma processing, theory & modeling, and arc deposition process development. The focus is on thin films, i.e. a thin layer of material deposited onto a surface to achieve properties that can not be attained by the surface material alone. Our goal is to enable design of thin films such that they can be applied for specific applications, and to control for example hardness, conductivity, transparency, and ability to withstand heat and wear.

Research areas of interest

To understand, and control, mechanisms governing the structural and compositional evolution of thin films, we need to investigate all interconnected steps in the synthesis process. This includes studies of 1) plasma generation at the cathode and 2) subsequent plasma transport, allowing tuning of the plasma into a versatile tool for surface processing, 3) plasma – surface interaction during thin film growth, 4) correlation between resulting structure and composition and material properties and 5) effects of post deposition treatment, see figure below.

To get detailed insight in the deposition process on an atomic level on very short timescales (~fs), we combine experimental and theoretical studies. Methods based on primarily Density Functional Theory (DFT) are used for predictive as well as explanatory investigations.

More information...