III -Nitrides:
III-Nitride semiconductors (GaN, InN and AlN) are technologically important wide bandgap semiconductors widely used for the commercial production of light emitting diodes in the visible region, particularly high brightness Blue and Ultra-violet for the primary applications in cell phone back lighting, traffic signals, outdoor displays, projection television, white light source and other high-end consumer products. The unique intrinsic properties of nitride system with polarisation charges make them suitable for the high temperature and high power electronic devices, which are widely used in wireless communication and high speed defence radar communications and also there is a widespread interest in automobiles and power transmissions. We can acquire the technologically to fabricate the well ordered defect free nitride nanowires and basic understanding of driving mechanism for self-catalytic approach. As these are the technology important materials, nitride NWs can be explored for varieties of above described applications ranging from nanoelectronics to life sciences.
ZnO nanowires:
One dimensional ZnO nanostructures can serve as building blocks for nanoscale devices. The observation of ferromagnetism in diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs) has inspired a great deal of research interest in "spintronics", which could pave the way to exploit the spin in addition to charge in semiconductor devices. The main challenge for practical application of the DMS materials is the attainment of a Curie temperature at or preferably above room temperature. Among the studies of transition-metal doped conventional II-VI semiconductors, the transition-metal-doped ZnO is a promising candidate to realize a DMS with Curie temperature above room temperature. Thus allowing the exploration of the underlying physics and applications based on the combinations of quantum structures and magnetism in semiconductors.
Interfacing 1D Semiconductor nanowires with biological system:
Nanowire based FET BIO sensors transduce chemical and biological binding events into electrical signals suggest the potential for a highly sophisticated interface between nano and biological information processing system. The interfacing of nitride semiconductor NWs with biological system will lead to the detection and quantification of biological and chemical species which are critical to many areas of health care and life sciences, from diagnosing to the discovery and screening of new drug molecules. The Gallium Nitride (GaN) based NW FETs are highly suitable for binding of biological molecules due to the non-toxic to the living system, biocompatibility, chemically very stable and does not require complicated surface modifications as compared to CNT and SiNWs. GaN NW FET can be fabricated and functionalized for powerful detection of DNA, real time analyses of low concentration proteins and viruses. We anticipate the demonstration of direct and label-free biosensor utilizing GaN NWs for specific DNA sequence identification and other biological molecules with ultra high sensitivity that is exceptionally attractive for many applications in medicine and life sciences.
Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED):
Organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) have great attraction due to their emerging applications in solid state lighting and Flat panel displays. Large numbers of organic molecules are known to have high fluorescence and phosphorescence quantum efficiencies in the visible spectrum, including blue region. OLEDs can be classified into two categories according to their molecular structure, namely Small molecule organic light emitting devices (SMOLED) means the emissive materials are Oligomers and Polymer light emitting devices (PLED) where emissive material is a polymer. White OLEDs can be prepared using multi layers of organic materials. We are concentrating to improve the external quantum efficiency (ηeff) of the device by incorporating the nanostructured ZnO based anode using hybrid approach.
Liposomes:
Liposomes are spherical lipid vesicles with bilayer structure formed through self-assembled process. Liposomes have excellent features such as biofunctionalizable; to encapsulate and store various cargoes including drug molecules. However, liposomes also have some limitations; they show short life circulation half-life time after intravenous administration and they are adhere to each other and fuse to form larger vesicles in suspensions which may result in some leakage of loaded biomolecule. We are exploring the possibilities of stabilizing liposomes using inorganic/organic nanoparticles and various polymers and also entrapping various drug molecules.
Graphene monolayer:
Single sheet of graphite with thickness of one atom, called graphene is considered a breakthrough in the quantum era, bringing the concept of single atomic components closer to reality. The planer perfect graphene shows zero band gaps with zero effective mass of electrons. Some methods for introducing a tunable band gap required for nanoelectronics applications. The epitaxial monolayer of graphene grown on SiC provides an energy band gap and it is suitable for large area fabrication. This band gap is created when the graphene lattice's symmetry is broken as a result of the interaction between the graphene and the substrate, and these results highlight a promising direction for the band-gap engineering of graphene. Objectives: i) Deposition of Graphene by CVD reacting hydrocarbon gas with catalytic coated substrates in the presence of hydrogen at elevated temperatures. ii) Epitaxial growth of graphene monolayer by thermal decomposition of SiC surface at elevated temperature under high vacuum, and characterizes the quantum mechanical properties of graphene such as electrical, magnetic, optical, etc. iii).High concentration water soluble surfactant assisted graphene layers.
Photothermia:
The biomedical application of nanoparticles has experienced an exponential growth in the past few years; this technology has proven rather more challenging in execution. Many researchers are now beginning to question this technology due to the unresolved issue with the design, delivery and toxicity. To overcome these obstacles, we therefore interested in investigating the mechanism, efficacy and toxicity of utilizing gold NRs loaded with drugs such as Doxorubicin in combination with Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) effect in NIR region for effective anti-cancer therapy and drug delivery.