Lecturer
College of Science and Engineering
Dr Pankaj Sharma is an experimental condensed matter physicist with a strong focus and expertise in nanoscale materials science and engineering. Pankaj received his doctorate from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2013 under the supervision of Charles Mach Professor of Physics Alexei Gruverman. After a brief postdoctoral stint at the University of Nebraska during which he established and validated a new device design of electron tunnel junction memory under the framework of an industry project funded by Semiconductor Research Corporation (CNFD), in 2015, he moved to UNSW Sydney to work with Prof. Jan Seidel. From 2017 to 2020, he was a member and research fellow at the NSW node of ARC's Centre of Excellence in Future Low Energy Electronics Technologies, and in 2021, was promoted to the position of a Lecturer (Materials Sci & Eng, UNSW). During this time span, Pankaj pioneered new research directions and technological innovations within the field, e.g. low-energy domain wall memory and the discovery of a new class of electronic materials first predicted in the 1960's by the Nobel Laureate physicist Philip Anderson.
Dr Sharma's research interests include the development and utilization of cutting-edge scanning probe microscopy and spectroscopic techniques for the investigation of advanced functional materials, surfaces and interfaces at the nanometre scales for technological applications in low-energy data storage, agile nanoelectronics, sustainable energy harvesting and biomedical devices & implants.
The research focuses on advanced material systems and devices made of, e.g. (multi-) ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics, oxide heterostructures, 2D van der Waals materials, halide perovskites, solar cells, battery materials, and related electronic and energy materials among others.
PhD Physics, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, US (2013)
MSc Physics (Honors), Panjab University, Chandigarh, India (2006)
BSc, College of Basic Sciences, HPKV Palampur, India (2004)
–Honours and Awards
Research Supervisor Award, Arc PGC UNSW Sydney (2019, 2020)
Best Poster Award, ARC’s CoE in FLEET Annual Workshop (2019, 2021)
Materials Research Society Travel Award (2017)
Graduate Fellowship, US NSF, Georgia Institute of Technology (2013)
Graduate Fellowship, US NSF, CMMI Boston (2012)
–Selected Grants
UNSW Research Infrastructure Grants (2016-22): $383k
ORNL User Grant (2021-22): $30k
UNSW–MAHE India Seed Grant (2020-22): $20k
UNSW Science Faculty Research Grant (2022): $8k
ARC CoE in FLEET Travel Grant - Idea Factory (2022): ~$10k
UNSW Strategic Support Grant (2021): $4k
ARC CoE in FLEET– MacDiarmid Institute NZ Grant (2019-20): $5.5k
Member of Professional Societies
o IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control Society
o Materials Research Society USA
o American Physical Society - Condensed Matter Division and Materials Physics Division
o Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
o American Chemical Society