Ramamoorthy Ramesh

Brief Bio

Professor Ramamoorthy Ramesh graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Ph.D. in Materials Science in 1987. He joined Bellcore in 1989 and initiated research in several key technology areas, including ferroelectric nonvolatile memories. He has extensive experience in the use of advanced characterization techniques to understand high technology materials and in the science and technology of complex materials. Prof. Ramesh joined the University of Maryland in 1995 and was promoted to Professor in 1999 and Distinguished Professor in 2003. In 2004 he joined the University of California faculty in the Materials Science and Engineering and Physics departments.

Research Areas

• Thin film growth and materials physics of complex oxides: Structure-Property-Processing interrelationships ; Crystalline Oxides on Semiconductors ; Functional metal oxide thin film deposition and processing for microelectronic, magneto-electronic, optical and high frequency applications.
• Oxide thin film heterostructures: growth mechanisms and defect structures; physics of magneto-transport and electro-transport ; half-metallic ferromagnets; transport phenomena in highly correlated systems ; Multiferroic oxide heterostructures ; size effects ; self-assembled oxide nanostructures.
• Nanoscale Characterization: Understanding Materials Physics at the nanoscale using Scanned Probes ; Applications of scanning force microscopy to study domains, switching and polarization dynamics in ferroic thin films ; scaling studies using electric and magnetic force microscopy.
• Application of TEM techniques to solving materials problems; high resolution imaging of defect and crystal structure; analytical electron microscopy and micro-diffraction techniques; Lorentz imaging of domains.
• Materials Processing for Devices: Nano-fabrication technologies; novel physical phenomena in complex electronic and magnetic materials with shrinking dimensions; dry etching technologies for device fabrication.
• Information Technologies: Non-volatile information storage technologies ; Ferroelectric Memories ; Dynamic Random Access Memories ; Field effect devices ; Thin film magnetic and magneto-resistive devices; CMR thin films and heterostructures ; oxide spin valves and magnetic tunnel junctions.