I am a physicist / materials scientist, currently a staff scientist at Argonne National Laboratory’s Applied Materials Division.

My current research focuses on the following areas:

  • The physics and chemistry of growth, and the relationship between surface kinetics, structure, and properties of materials. Basically how stuff is made (and unmade), from fundamental physics to manufacturing. My research in this area leverages simulations, machine learning, and in-situ characterization techniques to explore fundamental questions, accelerate discovery and its transition to manufacturing. I have focused primarily on atomic layer deposition, a thin film growth technique that is widely used in microelectronics and for energy applications.
  • Neuromorphic computing, or brain-inspired computing, both at the architecture/computational and the implementation/materials level. In particular I am interested in exploring novel architectures capable of learning in real time, processing data really fast, and computing under resource-constrained scenarios. In my research, I have used primarily the insect brain as a source of inspiration, exploring both novel algorithms and their implementation for AI at the edge and a new generation of detectors.
  • Electronic materials, both their synthesis and the way their properties can be leveraged to fabricate novel devices in microelectronics, quantum computing, and for advanced sensing applications.

During my PhD and postdoctoral research I also developed some serious expertise in the following areas:

  • Plasma physics and plasma kinetics. My first love. Bringer of twisty magnetic lines and reactive noble gas atoms. Killer of surfaces and enabler of computer chips. I am currently part of project looking at plasma processing for decarbonization.
  • The interaction and scattering of electromagnetic fields and in particular light with matter, including spectroscopic ellipsometry and metamaterials.

I am a strong advocate of open source software. It features strongly in my work and I have developed and released as open source a number of tools for scientific and machine learning applications. Check my github profile.

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