PhD students

Ahmad Dagamseh (promotion date: 21 December 2012)

Hair-based flow sensors (i.e. cercus) in crickets are an example of a biological system that has recently attracted great interest from engineers. With this system, crickets are able to detect approaching spiders utilizing the airflow. A bio-inspired hair flow-sensor has been realized in our group (Transducers Science and Technology) ... read more

Antony George (promotion date: 15 December 2011)

My PhD research is based on developing novel soft lithographic methods to fabricate functional material patterns on various substrates including silicon, glass and flexible plastic substrates. During the last four years I have worked on different aspects of micro and nanoscale fabrication which enabled simple, easy, cost ... read more

Nur Ismail (promotion date: 8 February 2012)

Recent advances in solid-state lasers and high resolution charge-coupled devices have allowed Raman spectroscopy to emerge as a powerful tool in many applications, as for example in the fields of virology, pharmacology, forensic science, cosmetics, bioscience and nanotechnology. The goal of this research is to contribute ... read more

Tomasz Stawski (promotion date: 15 December 2012)

The thesis comprises of seven full research chapters on the morphology, properties and processing of sol-gel precursor systems of barium titanate and lead zirconate titanate thin films and powders. In all the considered problems, the synthesis leading to nano-sized perovskite ceramics constitutes the main research ... read more

Sumy Jose (promotion date: 13 December 2011)

The Thin-film bulk-acoustic-wave (BAW) devices are used for RF selectivity in mobile communication system and other wireless applications. Currently, conventional RF filters are getting replaced by BAW filters in all major cell phone standards. In this
thesis, solidly mounted BAW resonators (SMR) are studied which ... read more

Jigar Jani (promotion date: 2 December 2011)

This thesis describes the study of multiphase contacting/reaction using porous membranes. The thesis mainly covers two parts; in the first part physical absorption of gas into the liquid is considered for different membrane geometries such as tubular and planar structures. ... read more

Mohammad Nasir Masood (promotion date: 24 November 2011)

The research work mainly focused on surface modification and surface functionalization of active-gate areas of silicon nanowire field-effect transistor devices (Si-NW FET) using hydrogen terminated surfaces, Si-C and Si-N bonded monolayers and subsequent bioimmobilization for biosensor applications. ... read more

Ronald Mikkenie (promotion date: 17 November 2011)

Multilayer ceramic capacitors are mainly used in today’s electronic devices and these types of capacitors are discussed in this thesis. The components are made up of a body, in which alternating layers of dielectrics and conducting electrodes are embedded.
In the 1980s and 1990s the majority of multilayer capacitors were ... read more

Dimitri Geskus (promotion date: 16 november 2011)

In the coming years, many applications in photonics will take advantage of miniaturization by on-chip integration of optical components. In most applications, high-performance integrated lasers are required, having properties such as: large output power, excellent beam quality, broad wavelength tunability and/or the ability to generate ultrashort pulses. ... read more

Mayur Dalwani (promotion date: 11 November 2011)

Typically, nanofiltration (NF) involves separation of monovalent and divalent salts or organic solutes with molecular weight in the range 200 to 1000 g mol-1. Although most commercial NF membranes are suitable for treating aqueous streams at pH levels between 2 and 10, many potential applications in the chemical ... read more

Szymon Dutczak (promotion date: 11 November 2011)

The use of first generation NF-membranes presents difficulties in organic solvents. Excessive swelling and dissolution were often observed. The main aim here was to develop membranes for solvent resistant nanofiltration (SRNF).
Composite polydimethylsiloxane/ceramic membranes were prepared by coating on the inside of the commercial α-alumina ... read more

Elbert van Putten (promotion date: 28 October 2011)

In stark contrast with common belief we showed that scattering of light does not have to be detrimental to imaging but can be used to greatly improve the imaging capabilities of lenses.
We developed, together with the FOM Institute AMOLF and the University of Florence, a scattering lens that creates images at a ... read more

Tian Gang (promotion date: 28 October 2011)

Organic building blocks are increasingly applied in current nano-electronics research and development. In this thesis, the hybrid organic-inorganic magnetically active systems at various size and dimensionality were investigated. Several molecular approaches were developed to assemble magnetic nanoparticles on various ... read more

Sergio Benito Pacheco (promotion date: 26 October 2011)

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are small graphitic materials with diameters smaller than a hundred nanometers, with a high surface area and inertness.
The growth and immobilization of CNF layers directly on micro-structured substrates, is interesting to avoid the risk of breathing ... read more

Peter de Veen (promotion date: 30 September 2011)

Work on organic semiconductors has grown rapidly, mainly due to the perspective of fabricating electronic devices on large, flexible substrates at low costs.
For the manufacturing of organic electronic devices (e.g. RFID tags, displays, solar cells), working with thin films is most ... read more

Tjeerd Bollmann (promotion date: 23 September 2011)

In this thesis, we show the influence of and subtle balance between Quantum Size Effects (QSE) and strain stabilizing interactions on the growth as well as on structural and electronic properties of nanostructures. ... read more

Dileep Mampallil (promotion date: 22 September 2011)

This thesis deals with flow in microchannels and in small drops, controlled by electric fields. Gate electrodes embedded in channel walls control the electro-osmotic flow in microchannels. The flow can also be controlled by chemical modification of the zeta potential of the channel walls with a cationic polymer. ... read more

Alexander Andreski (promotion date: 15 September 2011)

This thesis presents three parts: the Superconducting Network Model, π-shift RSFQ circuits together with experimental aspects of YBCO/Nb ramp-type Josephson devices, and static π-shift circuits.
It is shown that using the flux angle φ in superconducting ... read more

Maciej Domanski (promotion date: 2 September 2011)

The hypothesis of this thesis, is that nanofeatures on the surface of an implant enhance bio-functionality. This work introduces several approaches to micro- and nano-patterning which are well-known in the MEMS and NEMS fields.
Micro- and nano-engineering of materials like ceramics, polymers, ... read more

Alberto Gomez Casado (promotion date: 15 July 2011)

The aim of the work described in this thesis is to study the role of multivalency in the dynamic behavior of multivalent supramolecular systems.
Several supramolecular systems have been employed, ranging from π‐π charge‐transfer complexes to cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]) and ... read more

Olesya Bliznyuk (promotion date: 7 July 2011)

In this work, anisotropic patterns are chosen consisting of stripes of alternating wettability. The patterns on the surface are created using lithographical skills. The stripes are hydrophilic and hydrophobic for the liquids studied. A static shape of droplets can typically be approximated by a cylinder with two hemispherical ... read more

Richard Stevens (promotion date: 30 June 2011)

Turbulent convection in a layer of fluid contained between two parallel plates heated from below and cooled from above - known as Rayleigh-Bénard (RB) convection - continues to be a topic of intense research. ... read more

Ramasubramanian Kottumakulal Jaganatharaja (promotion date: 29 June 2011)

Located at the rear-end of crickets, a pair of sensory appendages exist, called cerci, consisting of numerous mechano-receptive filiform hairs. These are capable of detecting minute air fluctuations in their environment, down to 0.03 mm/s amplitude.
This work reports on the successful realization of artificial hair ... read more

Wabe Koelmans (promotion date: 17 June 2011)

In this thesis techniques are developed to read out nanoscale probes and arrays of probes. The main targeted application area is probe-based data storage. The work also contributes to other areas, such as metrology, biological sensing, materials research and nano-electro-mechanical switches. ... read more

Nicolas Hildenbrand (promotion date: 10 June 2011)

In the long road towards commercialization of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells, improving the cathode’s performance is a major milestone. Achieving low Area Specific Resistances at temperatures around 600 °C are required to meet the market demands in terms of costs and lifetime. ... read more

Albert Ruggi (promotion date: 10 June 2011)

The design of highly bright luminophores for biological imaging still constitutes a major challenge: the necessity of conjugating a high brightness (the product of the quantum yield and the molar extinction coefficient) with a low degree of oxygen quenching (which is necessary in order to keep a high luminescence in the ... read more

Deniz Yilmaz (promotion date: 9 June 2011)

This thesis focuses on the combination of orthogonal
supramolecular interactions for functional monolayer architectures on surfaces, promising new materials properties.
Hybrid multifunctional multilayers enable the control over the monolayer composition and functionality. Orthogonal host-guest ... read more

Sissi de Beer (promotion date: 27 May 2011)

In this thesis is described: Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) measurements and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation of the static and dynamic properties of layered liquids confined between two solids surfaces.
Next to average forces on the tip, force-fluctuations were monitored. MD-simulations confirmed the variations in the ... read more

Anika Embrechts (promotion date: 19 May 2011)

The work described in this thesis is aimed towards a better
understanding of the structure-property relationships of
supramolecular assemblie,s with a specific focus on
hydrogen-bond dimers and polymers.
Since supramolecular, hydrogen-bonded systems are ... read more

Shahina Chakalakkal (promotion date: 6 April 2011)

This thesis deals with the fabrication technology and mechano-optical characterization of compact integrated wavelength selective optical devices.
Owing to their ease of fabrication and low power consumption, electrostatically actuated curled micro-bimorph cantilevers are ... read more

Jan-Laurens van der Steen (promotion date: 1 April 2011)

The effects of reducing the channel length and the body thickness on carrier transport in ultrathin-body MOSFETs is studied.
An accurate method is proposed to quantify shifts in energy band alignment, and so to assess the impact of structural quantum confinement in the ultrathin semiconductor body. ... read more

Wim van Hoeve (promotion date: 23 March 2011)

The formation of microscopically small droplets and bubbles with an accurately controlled and narrow size distribution, is crucial in a wide variety of products and applications, such as diagnostic ultrasound imaging, targeted drug delivery, drug inhalation therapy, but also in inkjet printing, cosmetics and in the modern ... read more

Hao Gu (promotion date: 18 March 2011)

The aim was to investigate a novel concept of hybrid microfluidic chips which combine the strengths of pressure-driven, two-phase flow microfluidics and the unique control possibilities offered by electrowetting (EW) technology.
To achieve this goal, several such hybrid microfluidic chips ... read more

Mathieu Odijk (promotion date 4 March 2011)

A small flow-through electrochemical cell in a lab-on-chip format is studied. This cell contains a complete, integrated 3-electrode setup with platinum working and counter electrodes and a palladium or iridiumoxide pseudo-reference electrode.
Using this cell type, the turnover rate of small and fast reacting ... read more

Tatiana Karminskaya (promotion date: 16 February 2011)

A theoretical study of physical foundations for creation of fundamentally new devices for nanoelectronics, spintronics and superconducting electronics, is presented. Special interest is given to new fundamental effects in structures containing ferromagnetic and superconducting layers, as well as the possibility of utilizing ... read more

Joost Duvigneau (promotion date: 11 February 2011)

An alternative nanotechnology tool for scanning probe lithography is developed: scanning thermal lithography (SThL). Heated atomic force microscopy (AFM) cantilevers are used as spatially controlled, highly localized, heat sources for the thermochemical surface functionalization of tert-butyl (meth)acrylate based ... read more

Hans Boschker (promotion date: 4 February 2011)

Perovskite oxides are naturally suitable for heteroepitaxy.
In this thesis, an exploration of the possibilities with strain and interface engineering is made for both the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 (LAO/STO) interface and the fully spin polarized metal La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO). ... read more

Weihua Zhou (promotion date: 2 February 2011)

Solid acids, like CsHSO4 en CsH2PO4, are a novel class of anhydrous proton-conducting compounds that can be used as electrolyte in H2/O2 and direct methanol fuel cells. Above the so-called superprotonic phase transition temperature, an increase of proton conductivity occurs by several orders of magnitude. ... read more

Frank Everts (promotion date: 28 January 2011)

The subject of research is the self-organization of nanopatterns on metal substrates induced by ion bombardment and deposition. Both an optical technique as well as electron diffraction to study these patterns, were used. ... read more

Johan Engelen (promotion date: 14 January 2011)

One promising technology is parallel probe-based data storage, using a nanometre-scale probe to write data on a moving platform. Several nano-positioner designs for probe data storage are found in the literature. It is not clear which actuator type (electromagnetic, electrostatic, or piezoelectric) is most suited for ... read more

Nima Izadi (promotion date: 7 January 2011)

In this thesis, for the first time, design and fabrication of aquatic flow sensors with capacitive readout using MEMS technology, has been shown. The design of the flow sensors is based on the function of sensory organs of the lateral line of fish. These sensory organs are very sensitive and robust. That is what we aimed to achieve by mimicking them. ... read more