Head – Volodymyr Olegovych Kotsiubynskyi, head of the Department of Materials Science and New Technologies, professor, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.
The laboratory was created in 1982 as part of the expansion of the research sector of the Ivano-Frankivsk Pedagogical Institute in order to provide a comprehensive approach to solving the scientific and industrial problems of the radio-electronic industry of the Western region of Ukraine. In order to intensify research in this direction, in 1988, on the basis of this Laboratory and the laboratory of X-ray structural analysis, a joint scientific research laboratory of the physics of magnetic films of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (currently the Vasyl Stefanyk Prykarpattia National University and the H.V. Kurdyumov Institute of Metallurgical Physics) was established National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Kyiv)).
Throughout the entire time since its establishment, the work of the Laboratory has been related to the implementation of topics and projects financed by the Ministry of Defense of the USSR (until 1990) and government-contracted topics of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine. Thanks to the presence of a team of leading specialists and scientists and a powerful experimental base, the basis of which is the unique Mössbauer complex created on the basis of the YAGRS-4M nuclear gamma resonance spectrometer, it is possible to reproduce in the Laboratory a complete picture of electron-nuclear interactions in various iron-containing poly- and monocrystalline materials.
The importance of the work performed in the Laboratory and its uniqueness led to the recognition by the world scientific community of the city of Ivano-Frankivsk as a leading scientific center for the synthesis of the latest materials and the development of functional materials science in the Western region of Ukraine. Another confirmation of the recognition of the achievements and professionalism of Carpathian scientists, as well as the uniqueness of the Laboratory, is evidenced by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 2001 to grant the Laboratory the status of a national scientific property of Ukraine.
The work of the Laboratory is inextricably linked with the research and educational and methodological activities of the Department of Materials Science and New Technologies of Vasyl Stefanyk Prykarpattia National University, in particular, directly using the experimental base of the laboratory, 14 candidate dissertations were defended and 2 doctoral theses were prepared for defense.
The uniqueness of the Laboratory is based on:
- application of the conversion electron Mössbauer spectroscopy (KEMS) method – a highly informative method of studying the near-surface layers of iron-containing materials with a uniquely high resolution (10 – 8 -10 9 eV), which allows obtaining information about the local environment of iron atoms;
- the possibilities of using gamma resonance spectroscopy in the study of fast dynamic effects (diffusion processes, phase transitions, transformation of crystal and magnetic microstructure, reorientation of spins);
- methods of studying the crystalline and magnetic microstructure of materials at the level of internuclear and electron-nuclear interactions, as well as the ability to trace its transformation after intercalation, radiation and ion irradiation, laser and thermal annealing.
As a result: there is an opportunity to develop new functional materials for microelectronics with predetermined and predictable properties; the technological processes of material synthesis aimed at preventing the degradation of their operational characteristics are being improved; the principles and ways of creating nanocomposite active materials for use in electrochemical devices were developed and substantiated.
The work of the Laboratory takes place with its constant direct participation in the scientific programs of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and research related to the scientific topics of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, in particular recently:
- “The influence of ion implantation and diffusion processes on the formation of the structure and properties of the near-surface layers of ferrite-garnet and semiconductor films”; (#01890070690);
- “Structure and magnetic properties of near-surface layers of mono- and polycrystalline materials modified by ion implantation”;
- “Physico-chemical regularities of the formation of intercalation low-dimensional structures for molecular electronics” (№0101U002449);
- “Investigation of features of electron-ion processes in nanodisperse and nanocomposite structures based on metal oxides and metalloids” (No. 0104U002441);
- International project “Development of laser and combined intercalation methods for nanotechnology of low-dimensional structures” No. 1709 (UNTC).
The practical significance of the scientific results obtained in the Laboratory:
- a technique and special software have been developed that make it possible to restore the parameters of the Mössbauer spectrum, which are sensitive to changes in the crystalline and magnetic microstructure of mono- and polycrystalline materials;
- the energy characteristics of the process of heat-stimulated restoration of the radiation-damaged structure for a wide class of single-crystal substances have been established;
- an in-depth understanding of the physics of the formation of radiation defects and their relaxation in stressed thin films due to natural aging and annealing;
- technological conditions have been improved and recommendations have been made regarding targeted modification of the crystal structure and magnetic properties of ferrite materials with spinel and garnet structures; the obtained results are used in the development of new progressive technologies for obtaining film and volumetric magnetic materials;
- for the first time, the influence of intercalation processes on the microstructure of oxide iron-containing nanocomposites, as well as the dynamic effects that occur during isothermal and laser annealing of these materials, were investigated using the YAGRS method.
Contact Information – volodymyr.kotsuybynsky@pnu.edu.ua