Raman and EPR for material science

Within RERUM (Raman and Epr Research Unit on Material science) we study the structural, optical, electronic and magnetic properties of micro- and nano-structured functional oxides in particular with the aim to correlate the functional properties and the role played by defects. Intrinsic/extrinsic defects, vacancies, local impurities and phase impurities, local or structural disorder, allomorphisms can influence the functional properties by acting on the charge balances and on the mechanisms that favor their trapping and transport.

In particular, the experimental activity is mainly focussed on the following techniques:

• Raman spectroscopy;
• electronic paramagnetic resonance;
• static magnetization by SQUID;
• photoluminescence.

Among the investigated materials we mainly deal with mixed oxides interesting for energetics and sensing such as nanostructured zinc ferrites, different mixed inorganic perosvkites (e.g. SrTiO₃/BaTiO₃), titanium dioxide all in the form of nanoaggregates and thin films. The experimental activities are carried out in a collaborative frame with national and international laboratories.

Principal investigator: Pietro Galinetto
Group members: Benedetta Albini, Enrico Giulotto, Maria Cristina Mozzati, Giovanni Pellegrini, Simone Restelli