Eric Langenberg

Associate Professor

PhD in Physics from the University of Barcelona (2013), supervised by Prof. J. Fontcuberta (Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona) and Prof. M. Varela (Dpt. Applied Physics, U. Barcelona), related to the growth and characterization of multiferroic bismuth-based epitaxial oxides. He worked as researcher at the Institute of Nanoscience of Aragón (University of Zaragoza) from 2012 to 2014 in the group of Dr. J.A. Pardo/Prof. P.A. Algarabel, continuing in the field of multiferroics, exploring epitaxial strain engineering and chemical pressure to induce polar order and strong magnetoelectric coupling in strontium-barium manganites. In 2015 he initiate a new research line in thermal properties of single crystal oxides at the research center CiQUS (University of Santiago de Compostela) in the group of Prof. F. Rivadulla. In 2016 he conducted a research position at Institute of Materials Science of Aragon, focusing on ferroelectric hafnia-based epitaxial oxides, in the group Dr. J.A. Pardo/Prof. P.A. Algarabel. In 2016 he was awarded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (Global fellowship), conferred by the European Commission, to carry out a multidisciplinary project aimed to tailor the thermal conductivity through ferroelectric domain wall engineering, spending two years at the Dpt. Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University (2016 – 2018) in the group of Prof. D.G. Schlom and the third year (2019-2020) at CiQUS-University Santiago de Compostela (Prof. F. Rivadulla). In 2020 he got an Assistant Professor tenure-track position in the Dpt. Condensed Matter Physics (University of Barcelona) under the Serra Hunter program, establishing a ferroelectric research line in the department. In 2024 he was promoted to Associate Professor.

Dídac Barneo

PhD Student

He obtained a degree in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2022. His end-of-degree project, supervised by Dr. Esther Barrena (Institute of Materials Science of Barcelona), was related to the growth of semiconducting organic thin films and in situ characterization by grazing incident X-ray diffraction using synchrotron radiation at ALBA synchrotron facilities. He obtained a master's degree in Advanced Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2023. His master thesis was a continuation of his end-of-degree project, characterizing previous films by atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy. He joined Langenberg's group in April 2024 as a PhD student with predoctoral fellowship granted by the Spanish government for four years. His PhD project is related to engineering voltage-controlled binary thermal memories using ferroelectric-based epitaxial oxide films.

Josep Bassas

X-ray diffraction technician

Physicist from the University of Barcelona. He works as a X-ray diffraction technician at the Scientific and Technological Center of the University of Barcelona, providing support to researchers from the University of Barcelona. Apart from this general service, he carries out research on his own, especially focused on structural characterization of epitaxial films. He joined Langenberg's group in 2024.