Lippmaa laboratory

リップマー研究室


Visiting

We are located on the third floor of the ISSP building in rooms A-313 and A-314.

Admission in 2023

This laboratory belongs to the Department of Advanced Materials Science.
Information for ISSP guidance.

This year we can accept up to two M1 students. If you wish to enter the doctoral course, please contact us.

Research topics

Research topics

Research topics

All projects in this laboratory involve thin films of transition metal oxides. There are many interesting oxides, such as high-temperature superconductors, photocatalysts, magnetic materials, ferroelectrics, multiferroics, semiconductors, wide-gap dieectrics, etc. We study many different materials, but usually in the form of very thin layers, in heterostructures or in the form of nanostructures.

We offer projects related to:

Oxide thin films made by Pulsed Laser Deposition

PLD plumePerovskite structure Crystal is grown one atomic layer or unit cell at a time. This is a useful technique for materials design, making nanostructures, heterostructures, and electronic device structures, such as transistors or tunnel junctions. Some examples of topics on offer to new students:

Ferroelectric and multiferroic materials

Magnetic materials Ordered perovskite structures offer new and interesting ways of constructing polar and ferroelectric materials. Ordering can be seen by x-ray diffraction analysis. Ferroelectricity is related to bond length variations.
Magnetoelastic coupling is studied in nanostructured thin films, such as arrays of magnetite nanopyramids. This project is suitable for students interested in new materials development.

Photocatalytic materials for hydrogen production

Overview of photocatalyst development

New projects in this area are related to developing new types of heterostructures for photo- catalysis. The work involves heterostructure growth and electrochemical characterization.

Iridate thin films and nanostructures

Iridium nanopillar

Platinum-group elements in oxides are less common, but offer a number of interesting possibilities for materials design. Pt, Ir, Rh, etc. are well-known catalytic materials. We are interested in nanostructured Ir and Pt for catalysis. Another reson to study iridates is the strong spin-orbit coupling and interesting magnetic states in magnetically frustrated iridate pyrochlores.

This project offers opportunities for nanostructure growth and anlaysis for students interested in crystal design. The pyrochlore projects is more physics oriented and fits people interested in 2D physics, surface states, and electron spectroscopy. A new student would work with a postdoc and one PhD student.

Nanostructure growth Transport in nanostructure arrays

Nanoscale transport

New projects in this area are related to developing new types of heterostructures for photocatalysis and for looking at scattering or localization mechanisms in quai-two-dimensional systems. The work involves heterostructure growth and transport characterization.

Two-dimensional electron systems at heterointerfaces

Ruddlesden-Popper interface

Layered oxide structures create natural barrier layers in a crystal, resulting in highly anisotropic physical properties. In this project we mostly look at transport, magnetic behavior and carrier density control in 2-dimensional interface layers. The project is suitable for students interested in device design on an atomic scale. It is also possible to focus either on synthesis and measurement or on analysis of transport data.

Surface analysis by AFM/STM, RHEED and CAICISS

FFM, RHEED, CAICISS

Oxide materials can have very complicated crystal structures due to the large number of different cations in the lattice. The surface structures are therefore often poorly known. We offer a possibility to study the atomic-scale structure of oxide materials by various surface analysis techniques, including STM and AFM, either x-ray or electron diffraction, LEED analysis, and by ion scattering spectroscopy. This project is suitable for students interested in functional materials and surface design or for students who would like to work on surface science oriented topics.


A typical work day

The ususal workflow of preparing thin film samples looks something like this:

making a thin film sample


The laboratory introduction poster
Laboratory introduction poster


The laboratory equipment poster. Students joining the lab will have to learn to use most of these instruments.
Introduction cartoon


Visiting ISSP