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Research

The Faculty of Physics conducts research in:

• solid state physics,
• optics and optoelectronics,
• nuclear physics,
• dynamics of complex systems.

The nature of this research is either experimental or theoretical.


 Scientific activities in the area of theoretical physics include:

•  structure of atomic nucleus: heavy and super heavy nuclei,
•  excitations in the fermion systems, neutron stars,
•  nonlinear dynamics and deterministic chaos in dynamical systems,
•  theory of magnetism,
•  modeling of phenomena in condensed matter (using functional density theory), modeling of electronic transport (using Monte Carlo method),
•  photonic crystals,
•  low-dimensional magnetic structures,
•  tunneling in the ferromagnetic junctions containing quantum dots,
•  optical bistability, nonlinear gyrotropy,
•  linear and nonlinear optical properties of magnetic superlattices,
•  electronic structure of metallic alloys,
•  neural networks,
•  theory of solitons,
•  nonlinear guided-wave phenomena,
•  application of physics methods and models to other fields, e.g.: medicine, economy and sociology.

 In the experimental research carried out at the Faculty of Physics the emphasis is given to physics of new materials and problems of photonics.

 Materials, structures and systems of potential applications that are investigated in the Faculty include:

•  photovoltaic materials applied in solar cells (CuInSe₂, CdTe and related materials),
•  polycrystalline, nanocrystalline and amorphous superionic conductors that are used as solid electrolytes in the systems for energy storage, and in electrochemical sensors (conductors of O^2- ions e.g. compounds of the BIMEVOX family, lithium and silver glasses, polymer electrolytes and gels),
•  amorphous and polycrystalline electronic-ionic conductors used as electrode materials in novel electrochemical cells (AgI-Ag₂O-V₂O₅-P₂O₅ and Li₂O-V₂O₅-P₂O₅ glasses, intercalation materials),
•  metallic glasses and nanocrystalline materials applied e.g. in magnetic heads to retrieve information (Fe-Si-B, Fe-Zr-B, Al-Y-Ni),
•  amorphous metallic alloys based on iron,
•  MIS structures: Si MOS capacitors, Si MOSFET's,
•  materials for "blue optoelectronics" and spintronics (single crystals of GaN : Mn, Fe),
•  Si strip detectors of nuclear radiation,
•  materials and structures of intensity and polarization optical bistability,
•  optoelectronic elements and structures: fiber optics sensors, liquid crystal switching systems, anisotropic fiber optics,
•  analog and digital holographic optical elements for information processing,
•  low dimensional nanostructures: quantum wells, quantum wires and dots,
•  magnetic superlattices and thin magnetic films,
•  liquid crystals used e.g. in fiber optics system,
•  viscous media characterized by phase transitions under high pressure,
•  polytype crystalline structures.

 Materials and structures investigated at the Faculty are characterized by a number of spectroscopic, resonance, transport, and other methods. Most important are:

•  Raman spectroscopy (investigation of collective excitations in condensed phase, e.g. phonons), Mossbauer spectroscopy (determination of electron states in solid state, investigation of distribution of atomic magnetic moments in alloys),
•  advanced X-ray diffraction (XRD) to determine crystalline structures,
•  impedance spectroscopy (investigation of electrical properties of superionic, electronic-ionic conductors and other conducting or insulating systems),
•  electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR),
•  ultrasonic spectroscopy (investigation of elasticity of materials, investigation of defects in materials),
•  high pressure investigations of condensed phase,
•  UV and VIS spectroscopy,
•  electron and acoustic microscopy,
•  junction methods (DLTS - Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy),
•  charge trapping/detrapping in the insulator layers,
•  measurements of photoconduction,
•  measurements of luminescence,
•  measurements of thermoelectric power,
•  microinterferometry (optical properties of crystals, liquid crystals and polymers),
•  EXAFS and XANES (in foreign laboratories).

 Among various equipment used at the Faculty of Physics, worthy of special note are:

•  Dilor spectrometer (XY 800) for Raman scattering,
•  KFKI spectrometer for Mossbauer effect investigations,
•  Philips X'PERT PRO X-ray diffractometer,
•  Solartron SI 1260, 1255 and 1286 systems for investigations of electrical properties of conducting media in the range 10^-5-10⁷ Hz,
•  Impedance and Electric Permittivity Analyser - type Novocontrol ALPHA-N,
•  M.Brown glove-box with argon atmosphere for synthesis and studies of oxygen- and moisture - sensitive materials,
•  Oxford Instruments set-up for optical measurements in the magnetic field (up to 8 T) and low temperature (above 1.5K),
•  apparatus for high pressure investigations (up to 1.5 GPa in gas and up to 3 GPa in liquid),
•  femtosecond laser to study fast photodetectors,
•  DLTS spectrometer to study deep energy levels in semiconductors,
•  system for low temperature luminescence investigations in semiconductors,
•  system for charge traps characterization in thin insulators (Traps Tester).

 Part of advanced research is performed in the Center of Photonics and New Materials, which started its activity in Physics Building in 2000 year. This Center consists of the laboratories of: Raman Spectroscopy, Mossbauer Spectroscopy, X-Ray Diffractomery, Fast Optics, Photonics, High-Pressure Techniques and Electron Microscopy.