Nanostructured thin film materials find great research interests to understand fundamental properties of materials at reduced dimensions as well as for different extraordinary applications. In this Talk, it is intended to review a range of synthesis processes of materials, growth mechanisms as well as various experimental techniques revealing interesting properties of materials at reduced dimensions. Equilibrium (e.g., by thermal heating) and non-equilibrium (like utilizing energetic ion-beams) methods are elaborated for the processing of materials. In the present context, thin film materials may consist of pure metal particles, bimetallic alloy particles or composite materials of metal particles in different oxide semiconductors. These materials exhibit exciting optical properties. Resonance frequencies of collective oscillations in bimetallic alloy particles, for example, may be tuned in a controlled manner through the variation of alloy compositions of respective metals. Noble metal particles in semiconductors are also discussed to elucidate examples of fundamental interactions among plasmons and other quasi-particles in the composites. Such interactions further explain interesting electronic properties of the nanostructured thin film materials. Thermal stability of the compound semiconductors and growth of the composites are found to play crucial roles and govern the basic mechanism in this regard.

Dr. Gangopadhyay is associated with Materials Science Group of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research,India. He has been pursuing and guiding experimental physics research programs for more than two decades in the field encompassing a variety of systems, from the science of Thin film of nanomaterials to Effects of energetic ion-beams in bulk materials. His works are published in reputed scientific journals (Phys. Rev. Lett. (APS), Appl. Phys. Lett. (AIP), Chem. Phys. Lett. (Elsevier), CRC Press (Taylor & Francis), NanoWorld (USG) and other publishing houses, worldwide). He is an active member of International Association of Advanced Materials, Indian Physics Association and ResearchGate. Apart, he has been in the forefront and strongly involved, for example, in setting up experimental laboratories: Ion-beam induced luminescence spectroscopy characterizing defects in semiconductors & insulators, Experimental facilities with high energy beam lines of the MCP, Kolkata for various experiments related to defects in materials and ion-irradiation induced degradation of metals under the extreme ion beam conditions.