About Ferroic Physics Laboratory

     

The Ferroic Physics Laboratory “FerroLab” was organized under the the Program P220 established and supported by the Government of Russia. The program aims to attract world-leading scientists to carry out innovative research in Russia. In July 2013, the team of scientists under the lead of Prof. Alexander Tagantsev joined their experiences and ideas in the project entitled “Ferroic materials and heterostructures for functional electronics” in order to set up at the Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute a new research laboratory performing advanced studies of a broad range of physical phenomena in ferroic materials. The main goal of the project is the development of fundamental principles for designing new and essentially improved ferroic structures for electronic and spintronic devices.

 

Megagrant era (2013-2017)

 

In our research, we use a wide range of experimental, theoretical, and technological approaches. The newest experimental equipment of FerroLab allows studying of various phenomena in ferroic structures by means of the state-of-art techniques including time-resolved magneto-optical spectroscopy, optical noise spectroscopy, optical nonlinear and Raman spectroscopies, and wide frequency range dielectric spectroscopy. We have an access to the experimental resources of the Ioffe Institute, which include the SQUID magnetometer and PPMS system. The collaboration with leading synchrotron and neutron radiation facilities in Europe, Japan, and USA provides us with versatile techniques for characterizing ferroic structures. We develop fundamental theories of ferroics and model their properties and dynamics under various stimuli using phenomenological approaches and micromagnetic simulations. We use the newest laser molecular beam epitaxy technique for the growing of high-quality epitaxial layers of metallic, dielectric and semiconducting ferroic materials and their combinations in complex structures. 

 

In addition to the scientific activities, the Ferroic Physics Laboratory acts as an educational center. A number of PhD students work together with experienced scientists in the frame of the FerroLab project. We attract students of several St. Petersburg universities (St. Petersburg State University, Polytechnical University, Electrotechnical University, etc.) to carry out their first scientific research with us. We organize seminars and international conferences on a regular basis in order to support an effective scientific exchange.

 

We believe that combining an expertise of world-leading scientists with an activity of young researches on a cutting-edge scientific basis will yield progressive scientific ideas and qualified young specialists for innovative Russia. 

 

Life after the Megagrant

 

The Megagrant project was successfully finished in 2017. Since than the Ferroics Physics Laboratory became an independent research laboratory within Ioffe Institute. Presently the FerroLab team is young and highly motivated researchers working on ultrafast dynamics in ferroics and wide spectral range spectroscopy of ferrocs (read more). We are keeping tight research links with the researchers who were invoved in the Megagrant project in 2013-2017. 

 

Since 2019 laboratory is lead by Dr. Alexandra Kalashnikova. Prof. Alexander Tagantsev continues his support of the laboratory and remains its part-time member.

 

The research of Ferrolab is currently supported by Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Russian Science Foundation, BASIS Foundation, EU COST Action, Volkswagen Foundation, Government of St. Petersburg.