Prof. Pavan Nukala

Prof. Pavan Nukala has joined CeNSE in Aug 2020. He is a materials scientist/engineer by training and works in the broad fields of oxides (correlated oxides, ferroelectric and piezoelectric oxides), phase-change memories (chalcogenides) for electronic applications (neuromorphic computation, in particular) and topological insulators. He has expertise in in situ electron microscopy, spectroscopy (EELS) and x-ray diffraction techniques, especially on real working devices. He also has expertise in ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials, measurements.

Education: 

  • PhD in Materials Science and Engineering, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, United States, 2009-2015
  • Bachelors and Masters in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, TN, India, 2004-2009

Experience: 

  • Assistant Professor, Centre for Nanoscience and Engineering, IISc Bengaluru, 2020-Present
  • Marie-Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellow at Nanostructures of Functional Oxides Group, University of Groningen, 9747AG, Groningen, The Netherlands, 2018-2020
  • Postdoctoral Researcher in Advanced Ferroics Group, Structures, Propriétés et Modélisation des Solides (SPMS), CentraleSupélec, University Paris Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France.  2015-2018

Research highlights:

In situ TEM observation of microstructural changes occurring to phase change nanowires, upon application of a series of electrical pulses (Nature Communication 2017).
Reversible oxygen migration and phase-transitions in hafnia-based ferroelectric devices, Science 372 (6542), 630-635 (2021)