Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) - 2010 - In progress

• Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

Master of Science (Physics) - 2009

• Acharya Nagarjuna University.
• University College.
• Aggregate: 75.76%

Bachelor of Science (Maths, Physics & Chemistry) - 2007

• S.K.B.R Govt. Degree College, Macherla.
• Affiliated to Acharya Nagarjuna University.
• Aggregate: 83%

Intermediate (Maths, Physics & Chemistry) - 2004

• Board of Intermediate Education.
• Krishnaveni Junior College, Macherla.
• Aggregate: 93.2%

S.S.C - 2001

• Board of Secondary Education.
• Z.P.H.School (Boys), Macherla.
• Aggregate: 87.5%

Achievements

National level entrance examinations.

• Qualified joint CSIR-UGC national eligibility test (NET) for junior research fellowship (JRF) and lecturership in "Physical Sciences" held in Dec 2009.
• Qualified BARC training school (OCES/DGFS-2010) entrance test.
• All India Rank: 106 in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) held in 2010.

State level M.Sc entrance examinations.

• Acharya Nagarjuna University. : 1st Rank
• Sri Venkateswara University. : 6th Rank
• Osmania University. : 39th Rank
• Andhra University. : 83rd Rank

             I am S.D. Ramarao (Rams), graduate student in Department of Physics, IIT Madras. I am working under the guidence of Prof. V.R.K. Murthy in Microwave Laboratory. My research project is mainly focus on Dielectric resonator materials, which are key materials for fabrication of electronic devices such as oscillators and filters etc. operating in microwave frequency range. The basic working principle of dielectric resonator is that, "when a properly designed dielectric material is fed with an electromagnetic energy in an appropriate direction, it can confine microwave energy at few discrete frequencies through total internal reflections at dielectric-air interface".

• Dielectric constant: As the wavelength of electromagnetic wave in the dielectric material is inversaly proportional to square root of dielectric constant, a key factor in reducing the size of electronic devices.
• Quality factor (Dielectric loss): Dielectric resonators should possess high quality factor (Q>3000 at 10 GHz) which will helpful in enhancing the signal to noise ratio.
• Temperatue coefficient of resonant frequency: The performance of dielectric resonators at different atmospheric conditons is influenced by this factor and whose value should be near zero. An ideal dielectric resonator should possess zero temperature coefficient of resonant frequency.

             A more recent advancement in microelectronic and electronic packing industry is the Low Temperature Cofired Ceramics (LTCC) technology where these dielectric resonators gaining much attention.

• Low Temperature Cofired Ceramic (LTCC) Technology: In this LTCC technology, all active and passive elements (capacitors, inductors, resistors and transformers etc.) are embedded in a single ceramic module. Conductive electrodes such as Ag and Cu are used for making the circuitry.

             In my research project, mainly i am studying the effect of structral parameters such as nature of bonding, packing fraction and octahedral distortions etc. on microwave dielectric properties of ABO₄ type Ceramic compositions. Depending on the ionic radius of A-site cation or R_A/R_B ratio, ABO₄ compounds posses Scheelite (S.G: I 4₁/a) and Wolframite structure (S.G: P 2/c).

"Understanding the variations in the physical properties of materials with the help of different characterization techniques like powdered X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, SEM and TEM is my main research interest".

Publications:

1. S.D. Ramarao, S. Roopas Kiran and V.R.K. Murthy, "Structural, lattice vibrational, optical and microwave dielectric studies on Ca_1-xSr_xMoO₄ ceramics with Scheelite structure",Materials Research Bulletin 56, 71 (2014)

2. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Crystal structure refinement and microwave dielectric properties of new low dielectric loss AZrNb₂O₈ (A: Mn, Zn, Mg and Co) ceramics", Scripta Materialia, 69, 274 (2013).

3. S.D. Ramarao, S. Roopas Kiran and V.R.K. Murthy, "Correlation between structural characteristics and microwave dielectric properties of scheelite Ca_1-xCd_xMoO₄ solid solution", Journal of the American Ceramic Society 95 , 3532 (2012).

Conferences:

Oral Presentations:

1. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Temperature and composition induced phase transition in SmNbO₄", International Symposium for Research scholars on Metallurgy, Materials science & Engineering, (ISRS),11-13 December 2014, IIT Madras, India. Best Oral presentation.

2. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Influence of Structural Characteristics on Microwave Dielectric Properties of Zn_1-xNi_xWO₄ Solid solution", International Union of Materials Research Society - ICA, 16-20 Dec 2013 - IISc Bangalore, India.

3. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Structural refinement and microwave dielectric properties of AWO₄ (A: Zn, Ni and Cd) compounds with wolframite structure", second Interanational Conference on Advances in materials Processing and Characterization, 6-8th Feb 2013, Anna University, Chennai, India.

4. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Effect of microwave sintering on lattice vibrations and microwave dielectric properties of ZnWO₄ ceramics", International Symposium for Research scholars on Metallurgy, Materials science & Engineering, (ISRS),13-15 December 2012, IIT Madras, India. Best Oral presentation.

5. S.D. Ramarao, S. Roopas Kiran and V.R.K. Murthy, "Correlation between structural charactaristics and microwave dielectric properties of Ca_1-xCd_xMoO₄ ceramics", International Conference on Recent trends in Advanced Materials (ICRAM), 20-22 Feb 2012, VIT University, Vellore, India.

Poster Presentations:

1. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Ferroelastic phase transition in SmNbO₄: An in-situ X-ray diffraction study and its microwave dielectric properties", Second International Conference on Advanced Functional Materials (ICAFM), 19-21 Feb 2014, NIIST Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

2. S.D. Ramarao and V.R.K. Murthy, "Phase transition in SmNb_1-xV_xO₄ system: X-ray diffraction and lattice vibrational analysis", Fourth International Conference on Recent Advances in Composite Materials (ICRACM), 18-21 Feb 2013, Department of Machanical Engineering, IIT BHU, Varanasi, Venue: International Centre Goa, Goa, India.