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Department of Dielectrics

Institute of Physics of the Czech Academy of Sciences


group Dielectric and IR spectroscopy science Dielectric and IR spectroscopy group THz and pump-probe science THz science and technology group Photon and neutron scattering group Light and neutron scattering group Theory Theory and
simulations
group Solid materials science Solid-state materials science group Liquid crystal material science Liquid crystals

About us

Main activities of Department of Dielectrics cover experimental and theoretical investigations of high-permittivity insulators like liquid crystals, ferroelectrics, multiferroics, piezoelectrics, semiconductor nanostructures, and low-loss materials.

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Photo of people of Dielectrics
Our mission: Understanding the materials for which the frequency dependence of dielectric function can be probed by capacitance, waveguide or optical techniques. Experimental research in the Department of Dielectrics is mostly based on dielectric, infrared, time-domain THz, Raman and neutron spectroscopy, but also calorimetry, nonlinear optics and scanning probe microscopy measurements. The information on the core research activities organized within our six principal research groups can be accessed through the following links:

The most significant fresh scientific results of our deparment are listed in the section Highlights.

Oncoming seminars & workshops

Seminars to be announced.

News & Public

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21.04.2023

Jan Petzelt is ranked #8 in Czech Republic among Best Materials Science Scientists

According to the 2nd edition of Research.com ranking, Jan Petzelt holds the 8th place in the Czech Republic and the overall 3564th place in the Ranking of Best Scientists in the field of Materials Science 2023.

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12.12.2022 Award

Karel Tesař received the Stanislav Hanzl award

Karel Tesař, a PhD student at the Department of Dielectrics and at the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering, won the Stanislav Hanzl award which is presented to best students of the Czech Technical University in Prague on the occasion of the International Student Day (on November 17, 2022).

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21.11.2022 Award

Best three places in the FZU Photo Competition 2022 taken by our department

Alexey Bubnov won the FZU Photo Competition 2022. by his beautiful image of liquid crystal texture.
Manas Ranjan Parida received the 2nd place for his SEM image of V2O5 nanoflower,
Fedir Borodavka & Vladimir Pushkarev got the 3rd place for their artistic picture of a superlattice roll.

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05.10.2022

New Research Professor in Department of Dielectrics

We are happy to announce that Stanislav Kamba has received the Research Professor degree for his outstanding and o riginal scientific work in condensed matter physics, presented in his dissertation: Soft-mode spectroscopy of ferroelectrics and multiferroics.

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26.08.2022

Open Science internships at the Institute of Physics open doors to universities worldwide

In 2018, a secondary school student, Nela Sedláčková has undertaken a one-year Open Science internship under supervision of Alexej Bubnov. At present, she is enjoying the studies of Physics at University of St Andrews supported by The Kellner Family Foundation and says: “I am convinced that the Open Science played the key role in my admittance to university in abroad”.

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29.07.2022

Silver medal for young scientists

Team of secondary school students (nicknamed NAFTA), consisting of M. Švanda (captain), T. Čajan, B. Růžičková, P. Štencl and M. Yurchenko, representing the Czech Republic in the 35th International Young Physicists Tournament was awarded a silver medal!

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Latest Highlights
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Application of HfO2 thin films in non-volatile memories – a review

We review main factors in preparation of HfO2 thin films and their physical properties which are important for applications in high-density resistive random access memories and ferroelectric memories [Small 18, 2107575 (2022)].

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Multidomain ordered metal–ferroelectric superlattices

By combination of advanced experimental techniques and phase-field simulations, we found that electric dipoles in superlattices, composed of layers of a ferroelectric material separated by thin metallic spacers, form an unusual pattern of nanoscale domains that order in three dimensions. These ferroelectric multidomain ordered superlattices exhibit an outstanding dielectric response and their engineered modulated structural and electronic properties can be controlled using electric field [Nat. Mater. 20, 495 (2021)].

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Ferroelectric and antiferroelectric phases in liquid crystalline compounds with terphenyl in the molecular coere

We designed a new type of antiferroelectric liquid crystalline structure with terphenyl in the molecular core and two lactate units attached to the chiral chain [J. Mol. Liq. 336, 116267 (2021)].

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New material for 5G mobile networks

Epitaxial strained thin films of (SrTiO3)n-1(BaTiO3)1SrO were found to be a promising new material for mobile network of the 5th generation [Nature Mater. 19, 176 (2020)].

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Ferroelectric phase transition in water molecules localized in mineral cordierite

We discovered that hydrogen bonds are eliminated and the Coulombic interactions dominate in water molecules localized in nano-channels of mineral cordierite. Their dipole moment is perpendicular to the channel axis c and our dielectric spectroscopy study have revealed their ordering at ~3 K. The critical relaxation tending to this ordering is polarized along the a-axis direction and lies in the radiofrequency range. Spontaneous polarization measurements yield the saturated value of ~3 nC/cm2 at 0.3 K [Nat. Commun. 11, 3927 (2020)].

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Latest Key Articles

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Z. Jovanović, U. Trstenjak, H. Ho, O. Butsyk, B. Chen, E. Tchernychova, F. Borodavka, G. Koster, J. Hlinka, and M. Spreitzer

Tiling the Silicon for Added Functionality: PLD Growth of Highly Crystalline STO and PZT on Graphene Oxide-Buffered Silicon Surface

ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces 15, 6058 (2023).
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K. Tesař, M. Koller, D. Vokoun, O. Tyc, J. Čech, and P. Sedlák

Texture, elastic anisotropy and thermal stability of commercially pure titanium prepared by room temperature ECAP

Mater. Des. 226, 111678 (2023).
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J. More-Chevalier, U.D. Wdowik , D. Legut , S. Cichoň, E. de Prado, I. Gregora, J. Bulíř, M. Novotný, L. Fekete, and J. Lančok

Effect of oxygen defects on microstructure, optical and vibrational properties of ScN films deposited on MgO substrate from experiment and first principles

Appl. Surf. Sci. 615, 156203 (2023).
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K. Strójwąs, R. Dąbrowski, W. Drzewiński, M. Szarek, A. Bubnov, and M. Czerwiński

The comparison of self-assembling behaviour of phenyl biphenylate and biphenylyl benzoate compounds with the different length and shape of chiral terminal chain

J. Mol. Liq. 369, 120882 (2023).
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A. Maia, C. Kadlec, M. Savinov, R. Vilarinho, J. A. Moreira, V. Bovtun, M. Kempa, M. Míšek, J. Kaštil, A. Prokhorov, J. Maňák, A. A. Belik, and S. Kamba

Can the ferroelectric soft mode trigger an antiferromagnetic phase transition?

J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 43, 2479 (2023).

Last update: April 21, 2023 (admin)