Saül Vélez, Akashdeep Kamra and Pablo Ares have recently joined IFIMAC as young researchers thanks to the “María de Maeztu” excellence research mention.
Short bio Pablo Ares:
Pablo Ares research interests have a marked multidisciplinary character within the framework of nanoscience and nanotechnology. They are focused on the use and development of scanning probe microscopies, mainly atomic force microscopy (AFM), for the study of low-dimensional systems, with particular attention to 2D materials.
He received his B.S. and Master degree in Physics at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) in 2003. He then joined the company Nanotec Electrónica S.L. (devoted to the design, development and commercialization of scanning probe microscopes) as an Application Scientist. In 2014, he moved to the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain), where in 2017 he obtained his Ph.D. in Condensed Matter Physics and Nanotechnology under the supervision of Prof. Julio Gómez-Herrero and Dr. Adriana Gil. His thesis presented a double scientific-technical aspect, with advances on the AFM technique itself, as well as with more fundamental science studies, such as the isolation and study of antimonene, pioneering the worldwide experimental research on this novel 2D material.
After this, he joined the Graphene Group at the Condensed Matter Physics department of the University of Manchester (UK) as a Research Associate working with Prof. Konstantin S. Novoselov and Dr. Laura Fumagalli. Once there he gained a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship in 2018. His research during this time focused on basic properties of 2D materials and their combination in van der Waals heterostructures, and their use for the study of electrical properties of molecules under extreme confinement.
Short bio Akashdeep Kamra:
Akash obtained his master degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and a PhD in Physics from the Delft University of Technology, Netherlands. Then he worked as an Alexander von Humboldt postdoc fellow at the University of Konstanz, Germany before joining Norwegian University of Science and Technology as an independent researcher. His primary interest lies in the theory of spin-dependent phenomena in magnetic insulators, (super)conductors and their hybrids. Akash especially enjoys working on research problems that exploit knowledge from different sub-fields of Physics. While being a “theorist”, he has performed several experiments first hand in the past and continues to collaborate closely with experimentalists. When not enjoying Physics, Akash likes to go hiking and exploring new places.
Short bio Saul Vélez:
Saül Vélez pursed his master’s (2008) and PhD studies (2012) at the University of Barcelona under the supervision of Prof. Tejada, receiving in both the Extraordinary award for his results on quantum magnetism. In April 2013, Saül joined the nanodevices group at CIC nanoGUNE to work with Prof. Hueso with the purpose to transition towards spintronics and nanodevices, areas in which he is now a reference. From September 2017 to May 2021, Saül also hold a senior postdoctoral position in the groups of Prof. Gambardella and Prof. Fiebig at ETH Zürich.
With interest in spintronics, magnetotransport, and optoelectronics phenomena, his recent research focused on exploring magnetoresistive effects and magnetic dynamic phenomena in metal/oxide heterostructure devices. Among his discoveries, he has demonstrated that interfacial interactions and spin currents can be used for probing and manipulating the magnetic moments of electrically insulating materials, opening a new research field with profound fundamental and technological impacts. His contributions to polaritonics and optoelectronics in low dimensional materials and heterostructures are also multiple.
Saül joined IFIMAC in June 2021 as Junior Group Leader and found the Spintronics and Nanodevices group. In his lab, he aims at exploring non-conventional materials and new device concepts for spintronic applications.
