Chemistry

Department of Physics

Department of Physics



About the Department:

The Department of Physics, Osmania University was one of the earliest Departments in the county to promote research activity in the growth and characterization of single crystals. The research activity taken up by the Department on several aspects of crystal characterization, superconductivity, spectroscopy high energy physics and X-ray diffraction earned national and international recognition. The Department has published over 1700 research papers in seventy different national and international journals, having high impact index which led to the award of more than 260 Ph.D.'s from the Department. Department has produced Scientists of National/International caliber who have brought laurels to the Nation and Institution wherever they are. Many of our faculty, research scholars, students have won number of prestigious awards such as Alexander Von Humbolt, DAAD, Boyscast, CV Raman, AP Science Academy, Best teacher Award (Government of AP) etc. It makes a very big list to enumerate all the awards since the year of the establishment (1918), hence all the data provided in this proposal pertain to last five years i.e. 2001 -2006 (unless otherwise mentioned)

The Department developed the culture of fabricating its own instruments with indigenous materials required for its research work. The significant aspect of the research culture of this Department is the on-line data acquisition in many research labs. For promotion of the academic activity in solid-state physics and materials science, the UGC has been sanctioning funds continuously under SAP. The Department received a grant of Rs.54.25 lakes under UGCDSA scheme for 5 years duration from 2002 - 2007. Presently the Department has UGA SAP DSA Phase III program. Besides this funding from UGC, the individual staff members have been attracting financial support for their research projects from various organizations like DST, DRDO, DAE, NSC-UGC, BRNS etc. During the last two years, DRDO itself has sanctioned more than one-crore for six projects in the Department. The Department is a nodal department in UGC University with potential for excellence focused area research (UGC-UPE-FAR) program. The Department developed central facilities like UV spectrometer, DSC, X-ray Diffract meter, RF sputtering system, Scanning Electron Microscope and B.H loop tracer. The Department also received funding for development of Central computing facility under DST-FIST programme.

Under this programme, an updated computer facility to cater to the needs of the students of Post-graduation, research scholars and teachers has been established. The teachers of the Department actively organise the academic programmes like National Seminars, Workshops, refresher Courses etc. The Department has provided Internet facility with access to about 30 nodes distributed to all individual staff members and labs. The thrust areas of research in the Department of Physics are "Solid State Physics and Materials Science for over three decades. The facilities at the Department have been acquired by UGC Assistance under the DRS and COSIST Programmes apart from the individual grants for UGC, CSIR, DST, DRDO, DAE, AERB and NSC etc., under grants-in-aid projects. Majority of grants from these agencies have been for the work concerning materials. The work on High Tc superconductors, ferrites, glassy materials, ferroelectrics, polymers, relaxors, magneto-electric is being carried out. During 1990's extensive work was carried out on HTSC materials under the DST programme. The experimental facilities were developed for the synthesis of materials and measurements of resistivity, elastic constants, ac susceptibility and TEP. The computer interfacing was done for carrying out these experiments. Most of the work was concerned with Bi-2212 and 2223 studies on the super conducting properties.

The thermoelectric power measurements were carried out on Nd-Eu-Gd doped Y-123 materials prepared by the oxygen controlled melt growth. The researchers in the department developed a strong base for the synthesis and study of the properties of a number of ferrites, viz. the ferrites like Ni-Zn, Mn-Zn, Li-Al etc. The work on hard ferrites was also carried out under the DST project. Presently, funds have been obtained from DRDO and DST for carrying out work in ferrites. A series of rare earth manganites (GMR Materials) were prepared by the Sol-gel route. Studies are being made to understand the condition mechanism through thermoelectric measurements as a function of temperature. The elastic behaviour of the materials is also being pursued. The magneto electric composites with ferrite PZT as participating phases have been prepared and studied. The main objectives of the work has been to realize high magnetoelectric output. The magneto strictive phases is Ni0.98Co0.02Fe1.9Mn0.02O4 and the piezostrictive phase is Pb0.96Sr0.04 (Ti0.47Zr0.53)O3 .

Detailed studies have been carried out on ferroelectrics nature, magnetic hysteresis, electromechanical coefficients and magnetoelectric output in these composites. The experimental technique for studying the magnetoelectric conversion with ac field variation has been set up with computer interfacing. A proto-type of ac magnetic field probe to detect small ac magnetic fields using NCF/PZT composite has been developed. The frequency variation of ME output for the selected composite shows a flat response in the range of 1kHz to 10kHz. Efforts are in progress to develop magnetoelectric composite actuators and sensors. The work on ferroelectrics especially the bismuth layer structure ferroelectrics (BLSF) has been initiated and pursued. These compounds are found to be useful as high t empe ra tu r e p i e z o e l e c t r i c t ra ns du c e r s . T h e ferroelectromagnetic materials belonging to the bismuth layer structure ferroelectrics, occurring on the tie-line of (bismuth ferrite and bismuth titanate) have been synthesized and studied for their dielectric and magnetic properties.

These compounds possess simultaneous ferroelectrics and magnetic nature. They have been found to exhibit magneto electric conversion (i.e. under the action of magnetic field, the sample shows dielectric polarization),. Other ferroelectrics BaTiO3, PMN-PT have also been studied. The work on PTCR materials based on barium titanate and relaxor ferroelectrics is being carried out. The lead free pyroelectric materials are being synthesized and studied keeping in view of the requirements for pyroelectric detection. Work has been initiated on pyroelectric and high expansion composite materials. The experimental facilities for the study of dielectric spectroscopy, the hysteresis behaviour, the electrical resistivity, dynamic pyroelectric studies etc., have been set up. An acoustic emission (AE) technique set up in the department is used to study micro cracking and electrical poling phenomenon in PZT ceramics. Wavelet transforms and pattern recognition techniques are used to identify the source mechanisms. AC Fatigue studies on PZT ceramics using Acoustic Emission are pursued with the help of DRDO funding.

The work on amorphous materials is being pursued. The optical absorption of lead phosphate glasses was undertaken to determine the variation of optical band gap with composition. The structural environment in the glasses has been determined. The infrared absorption studies, EPR spectra are being carried out in various phosphate and borate glass systems with and without transition metal ions as dopants. The preparation and characterization of bismuthate and boro bismuthate glassy system have been carried out. The spectroscopic and transport properties of these glasses have been undertaken. The work on TeO2 based NLO functional glasses doped with Er3+, Eu3+ etc., is also being carried out. The above work receives funding from DRDO and DST. The work on luminescence, with the phosphors that are prime part of several opto-electronic devices, is a frontier line in the field of quantum structures.

The phosphors are useful in color television tubes and high-pressure mercury lamps. Scintillators for high-energy radiation and dosimetric applications are some of the materials on which a systematic study is being carried out. The phosphor materials for X-ray imaging screen are being synthesized by flux method and are being studied for their luminescence efficiency. The blue emitting FED phosphors are being prepared through a Sol-Gel process. The photo luminescent studies are carried out to determine their efficiency. The luminescence process and energy transfer mechanisms are looked into. A project concerning with above work is managed with the funds from Nuclear Science Centre. Studies are being carried out on conducting polymers. Polymer/salt complexes are of current interest due to their potentiality for application in batteries. Work on solid oxide fuel cells, thin film gas sensors, spintronic materials and multifunctional materials is being under taken by the faculty members of the Department.

Physics with specialization Electronics from Nizam College in 1981. Later he joined as a research scholar in the Department of Physics, Osmania University for Ph. D. and he was awarded CSIR-JRF / SRF by CSIR New Delhi during my research. He was awarded Ph. D. Degree in Physics in the Month of April 1986. Then immediately He joined as Assistant Professor of Physics at P. G. Centre, Godavarikhani, Karimnager district. Later He worked in UCW Koti, PGC saifabad, UCTOU. He worked as Academic Coordinator and also Additional Controller of Examinations. He published one review article on thin solid oxide films in the international review journal " Crystal Growth and characterization " in the year 1987.He has 59 research publications published in various National and International Journals. Four students were awarded Ph. D. Degree under his guidance and Two M. Tech. projects were supervised. He attended few Conferences at various places. At present 06 students are working for their Ph. D. Degree.

ACADEMIC PROGRAMMES OFFERED:

M. Sc. Physics 2 Years 85 Seats
M. Sc. Applied Electronics 2 Years 13 Seats
Ph. D. Physics 3 Years