WELCOME TO SOMNATH'S RESEARCH PAGE

Academic Profile

• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) (1999-2005)  Indian Institute of Technology,  Delhi,
• Master of Science (Physics) (1997 –1999)  Banaras Hindu University,  Varanasi
• Bachelor of Science (Physics Hons.) (1994-1997) Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi,

Professional Experience:

• Assistant Professor (2010- onwards) Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
• Post-Doctoral Researcher(2006 – 2010) Materials Research Institute, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, USA
• Lecturer of Physics (2005 – 2006) Amity School of Engineering, Amity University, Noida.

Courses taught in IIT Madras (till May 2012)

• Theory : PH 1010 and PH 1020 (B.Tech. 1st year physics courses)
• Lab: PH 1030 (B.Tech.) and PH 5310 (M.Tech. Solid State Technology)
• Also contributed in Ph.D. level courses “Foundations of Experimental Physics” and “Introduction to Research”.

Sponsored Projects

• TiO2 Nanotube based gas sensors for the detection of green-house gases
  Funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, under the Fast Track scheme for Young Scientists (Total grant Rs. 23 lakhs)
• Development of metal-oxide nanotube based capacitive gas sensors
  Funded by the IIT Madras under New Faculty Seed Grant (Rs. 16 lakhs)

Facilities Available in the Lab

With the initial start-up grants, facilities are being added bit-by-bit; currently we have:

• Agilent programmable DC power supply for electrochemical anodization
• Agilent DMM for current tracking
• MKS Mass Flow Controllers for gas sensing experiments
• Wayne-Kerr 4310 Programmable LCR meter
• Agilent 4349 High-Resistance meter
• Parr Instruments Acid Digestion Vessels for hydrothermal processing
• Programmable High-Temp. furnace (1000 oC) and Oven (250 oC)
• Wire-Bonder (Manual) with provision for both Ball and Wedge bonding
• Sample stage with PID temperature control
• Small bench-top utilities such as pH meter, Ultrasonic bath, Hot-plate with magnetic stirrer

In addition, we use all major departmental and central characterization facilities available in the IIT Madras (XRD, SEM, HRTEM, Optical Spectroscopy etc.)

Ph.D. Student: Mr. B. Manmadha Rao (joined in July 2011).

Teaching Philosophy: “Although I cannot stop a few falling asleep in my class, I try my best to make it a memorable lecture for those who are awake and listening” 

Research Methodology: “Research is our passion, and we do it by heart (Dil Se..); even, at times, when our minds are not working..”

Publications

Refereed International Journals

1. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda, V. R. Balakrishnan; Effect of pre-sintering temperature on the structural and dielectric properties of sol-gel derived (Ba0.5Sr0.5)TiO3 thin films; Ceramics International. 30, p 2283 (2004).
   
   
2. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda , V. R. Balakrishnan, S. B. Samanta; Effect of pH on electrical and optical properties of sol-gel derived microcryatalline Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films; Applied Surface Science , 236, p 306(2004).
   
   
3. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, N. Karar, Harish Chander; Photoluminescence study of the sol-gel derived Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films for the   characterization of trap states; Japanese Journal of Applied Physics;  44, p 34 (2005).
   
   
4. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, S. B. Samanta; Novel ammonia sensing phenomena in sol-gel derived Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films; Sensors and Actuators B,110, p 299 (2005).
   
   
5. Manoj Kumar, Somnath C. Roy, S. Agarwal, G. L. Sharma, M. C. Bhatnagar; Study of dielectric and pyroelectric properties of sol-gel derived (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films;  Ferroelectrics, 329, p 33 (2005).
   
   
6. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda, V. R. Balakrishnan, S. B. Samanta; Dependence of ac and dc conduction on the pre-sintering temperature in sol-gel derived Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films; Materials Chemistry and Physics100, p 404 (2006).
   
   
7. Sanju Rani, Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar; Effect of Fe doping on the gas sensing properties of nano-crystalline SnO2 thin films; Sensors and Actuators B  122, p 204 (2007) .
   
   
8. Sanju Rani, N. Karar, Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar; Structure, microstructure and photoluminescence properties of Fe doped SnO2 thin films; Solid State Communications 141, p 214 (2007).
   
   
9. Somnath C Roy, G. L. Sharma, M. C. Bhatnagar; Large blue shift in the optical band-gap of sol-gel derived BST thin films;  Solid State Communications 141, p 243 (2007).
   
   
10. J. Kaur, Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar; Highly sensitive SnO2 thin film NO2 gas sensor operating at low temperature; Sensors and Actuators B, 123, p 1090 (2007).
    
    
11. Somnath C. Roy, K. G. Ong, K. Zeng, C. A. Grimes; Quantification of blood clotting kinetics II: Thromboelastograph analysis and measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate using magnetoelastic sensors Sensor Letters 5, p8 (2007).
    
    
12. K. Zeng, Somnath C. Roy, C. A. Grimes;Quantification of blood clotting kinetics I: Determination of activated clotting times as a function of heparin concentration using magnetoelastic sensors; Sensor Letters 5, p 1 (2007).
    
    
13. Somnath C. Roy, Maggie Paulose, Craig A Grimes; The effect of TiO2 nanotubes in the enhancement of blood clotting for the control of hemorrhage; Biomaterials, 28, p 4667, (2007).
    
    
14. C. S. Mungle, Somnath C. Roy, C. A. Grimes; An analysis on the effect of sensor configuration and geometry of the magnetoelastic resonance sensors operating in air; Sensor Letters, 6, p 137 (2008).
    
    
15. M. Kumar, S. Rani, M. C. Bhatnagar, Somnath C. Roy; Structure, ferroelectric, and gas sensing properties of sol-gel derived (Ba,Sr)(Ti,Zr)O3 thin films; Materials Chemistry and Physics; 107, p 399 (2008).
    
    
16. X. Feng, Somnath C. Roy, C. A. Grimes; Eliminating unwanted nanobubbles from hydrophobic solid/liquid interfaces: A case study using magnetoelastic sensors; Langmuir, 24, p 3918 (2008).
    
    
17.   Somnath C. Roy, J. R. Werner, D. Kouzoudis, C. A. Grimes; Use of magnetoelastic sensors for quantifying platelet aggregation I: Whole blood and platelet rich plasma; Sensor Letters, 6, p 280 (2008)
    
    
18. Somnath C. Roy, J. R. Werner, G. Mambrini, C. A. Grimes; Use of magnetoelastic sensors for quantifying platelet aggregation II: Distinguishing contributions of fibrin and thrombin to the coagulation kinetics of whole blood; Sensor Letters, 6, p 285 (2008).
    
    
19. Sanju Rani, N. K. Puri, Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, D. Kanjilal; Effect of swift heavy ion irradiation on structure, optical, and gas sensing properties of SnO2 thin films; Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research (NIM)B, 266, p 1987 (2008).
    
    
20. C. S. Mungle, Somnath C. Roy, C. A. Grimes; The equation of motion, impedance, and equivalent circuit model for a magnetoelastic resonance sensor; Sensor Letters 6, p 421 (2008).
    
    
21. X. Feng, Somnath C. Roy, G. K. Mor, C. A. Grimes; A wireless magnetoelastic biosensor for the selective detection of low density lipoprotein (LDL) particles; Sensor Letters 6, p 359 (2008).
    
    
22. Sanju Rani, M. C. Bhatnagar, Somnath C. Roy, N. K. Puri, D.  Kanjilal; p-Type gas sensing behaviour of undoped SnO2 thin films irradiated with a high energy ion beam; Sensors and Actuators B, 135, p 35 (2008).
    
    
23. Sanju Rani, Somnath C. Roy, N. K. Puri, M. C. Bhatnagar, and D. Kanjilal; Enhancement of ammonia sensitivity in swift heavy ion irradiate nanocrystalline SnO2 thin films, Journal of  Nanomaterials, p 4 (2008).
    
    
24. Sanju Rani, Somnath C. Roy, Maggie Paulose, Oomman K. Varghese, Gopal K. Mor, Sanghoon Kim, Sorachon Yoriya, Thomas J. LaTempa, C. A. Grimes; Synthesis and applications of electrochemically self-assembled titania nanotube arrays, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 12, p 2780, (2010).
    
    
25. Somnath C. Roy, Oomman K. Varghese, Maggie Paulose, and Craig A. Grimes; Toward solar fuels: Photocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide to hydrocarbons,ACS Nano, 4, p 1259 (2010).
    
    
26. Craig A. Grimes, Somnath C. Roy, Sanju Rani, and Q. Y. Cai “Theory, instrumentation and applications of magnetoelastic resonance sensors: A reveiw” Sensors 11 (2011) 2809-2844.

Presented in National Conferences

1. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda, V. R. Balakrishnan; Effect of processing temperature on the electrical and optical properties of sol-gel deposited BST thin films; 14th AGM of Materials Research Society of India, BARC Mumbai February 2003.
   
   
2. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda, V. R. Balakrishnan, S. B. Samanta; Effect of processing temperatures and thickness on the optical properties of sol-gel derived BST thin films; 15th  AGM of Materials Research Society of India,BHU Varanasi, February 2004.
   
   
3. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, S. B. Samanta; Ammonia sensing behavior of sol-gel derived BST thin films; National Seminar on Physics and Technology of Sensors, University of Pune, March 2004.
   
   
4. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, S. B. Samanta; Effect of Processing Parameters on the Surface Morphologies of Sol-Gel Derived    (Ba,Sr)TiO3 Thin Films- An Atomic Force Microscopic Study; National Conference on Electron Microscopy (EMSI 2004) NPL Delhi, April 2004.  

Presented in International Conferences

1. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda, V. R. Balakrishnan; Sructural, electrical and dielectric properties of rf sputtered Ba0.5Sr0.5TiO3 thin films; International Symposium on Recent Advances in Inorganic Materials; IIT Bombay,December 2002.
   
   
2. Somnath C. Roy, Manoj Kumar, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, R. Manchanda, V. R. Balakrishnan; Effect of sintering temperature on the structural and electrical properties of sol-gel derived BST thin films; International Workshop on Physics of Semiconductor Devices; IIT Madras; Chennai,December 2003.
   
   
3. Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar, G. L. Sharma, A. Pathak, A. K. Swain, J. Mann, S. B. Samanta; A new type of ammonia sensor based on the sol-gel derived (Ba,Sr)TiO3 thin films; Thin Film Nanotech 2004, Singapore, July 2004.
   
   
4. Sanju Rani, Somnath C. Roy, M. C. Bhatnagar; Effect of Fe doping on the gas sensing properties of nano-crystalline SnO2 thin films; International Conference on Nano Science and Technology (ICONSAT 06) , New Delhi. India. March 2006.
   
   
5. Sanju Rani, M. C. Bhatnagar, Somnath C. Roy; Selective CO sensing behaviour of Fe doped nano-crystalline SnO2 thin films; 8th International Conference on Nano-structured Materials (NANO2006), IISc Bangalore, August, 2006.