Faculty of Physics
9 Saulėtekio, LT-10222 Vilnius
Tel. +370 5 236 6001
E-mail:
http://www.ff.vu.lt
Dean – Prof. Dr Juozas Šulskus
STAFF
75 teachers (incl. 60 holding research degree), 156 research fellows (incl. 139 holding research degree), 59 doctoral students.
DEPARTMENTS OF THE FACULTY
Experimental Nuclear and Particle Physics Centre (sui generis Department)
Institute of Chemical Physics
Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology
Laser Research Center
Institute of Applied Electrodynamics and Telecommunications
Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy
RESEARCH AREAS
• Analysis of Atoms
• Subatomic Particles or their Ensembles
• Complex Systems Electromagnetic Radiation and Cosmic Objects
• Development, Characterization, and Interdisciplinary Application of Advanced Electronic and Optoelectronic Devices
• Investigation of Novel Organic, Inorganic Functional Materials and Structures
• Laser Physics and Technology
• Solid State Physics and Technology
• Spectrometric Characterization of Materials and Electronic/Molecular Processes.
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS MAINTAINED IN 2022
K. Badokas. Remote epitaxy of GaN via graphene on GaN/sapphire templates by MOVPE.
D. Banevičius. Triplet state management in high performance 3rd generation blue OLEDs.
P. Bertašius. Dielectric properties of polymercomposites with various nanoinclusions.
L. Deveikis. Electrically active defects and their transformations in GaN structures.
M. Kolenda. Fabrication, investigation, and application of III-nitride semiconductor structures in devices of a specific spectral range.
O. Kravcov. Kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations of carrier dynamics in III nitrides.
D. Lengvinaitė. Modeling of NMR spectral parameters of complex molecular systems by quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics methods.
B. Momgaudis. Ageing and damage mechanisms in optical materials investigated by ultrafast imaging and spectroscopys.
A. Naujokaitis. Hydrothermal synthesis of Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) heterostructures for the hydrogen evolution from water.
R. Platakytė. Study of biologically active molecule structure, photodynamics and interactions with water by the means of vibrational spectroscopy.
K. Pūkas. Technologies of dosimetry in applications of high energy physics and radiation medicine.
E. Radiunas. Incoherent NIR photon conversion to the visible region in rubrene compounds.
C. Viscasillas Vazquez. Chemical abundances of neutron capture elements in the Milky Way.
G. Žlabys. Ultracold atom dynamics in quasi-one-dimensional optical lattices.
MAIN CONFERENCES ORGANIZED IN 2022
1. International conference “Europlanet Telescope Science Workshop”, February 9 - 11, 2022, Vilnius (virtual).
2. 14th European Conference on Atoms Molecules and Photons, June 27 - July 1, 2022, Vilnius.
3. CERN Baltic Conference 2022 (CBC2022), Vilnius, October 10-12th 2022, https://indico.cern.ch/e/cbc2022.
MAIN SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2022
1. A. Dubietis, V. Jukna, A. Couairon, Chapter 12: Supercontinuum in IR–MIR from narrow band gap bulk solid state materials, The Supercontinuum Laser source (4th edition), R. R. Alfano ed., Springer Nature Switzerland, ISBN: 978-3-031-06197-4, pp. 457-477 (2022).
2. A. Jozeliūnaitė, T. Javorskis, V. Vaitkevičius, V. Klimavicius, E. Orentas, Fully Supramolecular Chiral Hydrogen-Bonded Molecular Tweezer, JACS, 144, 18, 8231-8241, (2022)
3. The team is led by Prof. Gediminas Juzeliūnas (Vilnius University) and Prof. Emilia Witkowska (Institute of Physics, PAS, Warsaw). They analysed a novel way of creating spin squeezing for ultracold atoms in optical lattices by illuminating atoms with a properly chosen external laser light. This idea can increase the accuracy of measuring the frequency of atomic transitions in extremely stable and super-accurate clocks based on fermionic atoms in optical lattices.
The results were published in the prestigious journal: T. Hernández Yanes, M. Płodzień, M. Mackoit Sinkevičienė, G. Žlabys, G. Juzeliūnas, E. Witkowska, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 090403 (2022).
THE EXPERIMENTAL NUCLEAR AND PARTICLE PHYSICS CENTER
3 Saulėtekio av., LT-10257 Vilnius
Phone: +370 5 223 4649
E-mail:
Head - Dr Aurelijus Rinkevičius
STAFF
Research professors: A. Rinkevičius.
Senior research fellows: V. Rapševičius.
Research fellows (postdocs): A. Oliveira, D. Šimelevičius.
Junior scientists: R. Terrell.
Interns (Computer Science): V. Zokaitė.
Doctoral students: N. Chychkalo.
Administrative staff: M. Macijauskas.
ASSOCIATED STAFF
Associate professors: B. Abakevičienė (KTU), T. Gajdosik.
Senior research fellows: V. Dūdėnas, A. Juodagalvis, D. Jurčiukonis, A. Kynienė.
Doctoral students: M. Ambrozas, S. Draukšas.
RESEARCH AREAS
High-energy physics, particle detectors.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Data acquisition systems
• DiHiggs studies
• Drell-Yan studies
• Higgs precision studies
• Machine learning
• Multivariate classifiers (discriminants)
• Semiconductor pixelated particle detectors
• Standard model and beyond the standard model physics
• Technology transfer for business applications
• Top quark studies
RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2022
Research Projects
Top-Higgs studies in decay modes to leptons (including taus) and b quarks with the CMS detector at the LHC.
The Higgs precision studies is an important piece of the LHC program. Besides a discovery of the process, further studies must continue. More LHC data makes it possible to pin down individual components of the Higgs processes in an associated production with top quarks. As a result, pinning down the event rates with better precision and studying kinematics are important pieces for the search of new physics.
Main publications:
1. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], A portrait of the Higgs boson by the CMS experiment ten years after the discovery, Nature 607 (2022) no.7917, 60-68;
doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04892-x [arXiv:2207.00043 [hep-ex]].
2. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], Search for CP violation in ttH and tH production in multilepton channels in proton-proton collisions at \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV, Accepted for publication in Journal of High Energy Physics [arXiv:2208.02686 [hep-ex]].
Studies of the Higgs boson pairs (HH) with the CMS detector at the LHC
The studies of the Higgs boson pairs are key to the last major Higgs mechanism puzzle piece, i.e. the Higgs self-coupling. While the searches in individual channels are still ongoing and may proceed well into the LHC Run 3 and beyond, the final-state combination already allows the first glimpse into the Higgs boson pair properties. In particular, the properties are being analyzed in so-called nonresonant and resonant scenarios, where a significant deviation would be the product of new physics.
Main publications:
1. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], Search for Higgs Boson Pair Production in the Four b Quark Final State in Proton-Proton Collisions at s=13\,\,TeV, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129 (2022) no.8, 081802
doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.081802 [arXiv:2202.09617 [hep-ex]].
2. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], Search for Higgs boson pairs decaying to WWWW, WWττ, and ττττ in proton-proton collisions at \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV, Accepted for publication in Journal of High Energy Physics [arXiv:2206.10268 [hep-ex]].
3. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], Search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in final state with two bottom quarks and two tau leptons in proton-proton collisions at \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV, Accepted for publication in Phys. Lett. B [arXiv:2206.09401 [hep-ex]].
4. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], Search for nonresonant Higgs boson pair production in the four leptons plus two b jets final state in proton-proton collisions at \sqrt{s} = 13 TeV, Accepted for publication in Journal of High Energy Physics [arXiv:2206.10657 [hep-ex]].
Central data acquisition system of the CMS detector at the LHC
The Data Acquisition (DAQ) project in CMS is responsible for the infrastructure, read-out of all subdetector back-end electronics, running of the High Level Trigger (HLT), and storage, as well as overall integration. The DAQ project has developed online software frameworks which are used by the central DAQ, as well as all the subdetectors as a foundation to implement their DAQ applications.
Conference proceedings:
1. D. Šimelevičius et al., CMS phase-2 DAQ and timing hub prototyping results and perspectives, JINST 17 (2022) no.05, C05003; doi:10.1088/1748-0221/17/05/C05003.
Unsupervised Learning for Automated HEP Signal Untangling
Exploratory studies that are probing the feasibility for an automated classification of underlying physics. Ideally, a "diagram" level disentanglement of the high-energy data, such as one provided by the CMS experiment at CERN, would become possible. It is a joint venture with Vectorspace AI.
Note: research topics engaged by the associated staff are displayed under the departments of corresponding primary affiliations.
National Research Projects
Search for Beyond the Standard Model with Global Higgs Boson Coupling Studies Research Council of Lithuania project (Grant 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-18-0004). Dr Alexandra Oliveira Carvalho, Dr Aurelijus Rinkevičius. 2020–2022.
The objective of the project was to perform a detailed study of the Higgs boson couplings and the self coupling, by looking at the single and double production of Higgs bosons using the latest data collected by the CMS experiment in several final states, and by testing the state-of-the-art theoretical predictions.
MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION) PARTNERS
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS; France)
Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)
Cornell University (USA)
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY; Germany)
ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
Hamburg University (Germany)
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT; Germany)
National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics, KBFI (Estonia)
Rice University (USA)
Paul Scherrer Institut (Switzerland)
Tata Inst. of Fundamental Research (India)
Universidad de Oviedo (Spain)
Universitaet Zuerich (Switzerland)
Universite Catholique de Louvain (Belgium)
University of Bologna (Italy)
University of Paris-Saclay (France)
Vanderbilt University (USA)
OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
Dr A. Rinkevicius
• CERN CMS Team Leader for Vilnius University;
• Lithuanian scientific delegate to the CERN Council and Scientific Policy Committee (SPC);
• Member of the CERN Baltic Group (also Science and Technology subgroup leader);
• Chairperson of the CERN Baltic Conference (CBC2022) Organizing Committee, https://indico.cern.ch/e/cbc2022;
• Member of the CMS collaboration at CERN;
• CMS ttH multilepton group convener;
• Mentor of DeepTech Entrepreneurship MBA program at VU Business School;
• Scientific Board member of Vector Space Biosciences (San Francisco, CA).
MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
1. 2022-02-11 — International Hadron Therapy Masterclass;
2. 2022-03-30 — International CMS Masterclass;
3. 2022-09-15 — Lectures at ``Erdvėlaivis Žemė'' science outreach festival;
4. 2022-10-16 — Interview with prof. Rolf-Dieter Heuer (previous CERN DG) at 15min.lt;
5. 2022-12-15 — Discussion at ``Skeptiški pokalbiai’’ youtube channel.
MAIN SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2022
1. A. Carvalho, A. Juodagalvis, A. Rinkevicius et al. [CMS], A portrait of the Higgs boson by the CMS experiment ten years after the discovery, Nature 607 (2022) no.7917, 60-68;
doi:10.1038/s41586-022-04892-x [arXiv:2207.00043 [hep-ex]].
3 Saulėtekio av., LT-10257 Vilnius
Tel. +370 5 223 4596
E-mail:
Director – Prof. Dr (HP) Valdas Šablinskas
STAFF
Professors: Dr (HP) V. Sablinskas, Dr D. Abramavičius, Dr J. Šulskus, Dr V. Jankauskas (part-time) Habil. Dr V. Gulbinas (part-time), Habil. Dr G. Niaura (part-time), Dr J. Čeponkus.
Associate professors: Dr V. Aleksa, Dr V. Urbonienė, Dr A. Maršalka, Dr O. Rancova, Dr M. Mačernis, Dr, J. Chmeliov, Dr A. Gelžinis, Dr K. Glemža, Dr F. Kuliešius, Dr A. Poškus, Dr M. Viliūnas, Dr N. Nekrašas, Dr R. Maldžius, Dr K. Aidas (part-time), V. Klimavičius.
Assist. Professors: Dr S. Toliautas, Dr R. Platakytė.
Lecturers: Dr G. Sliaužys(part-time), R. Bandzevičiūtė (part-time), S. Adomavičiūtė (part-time), Dr D. Lengvinaitė.
Researchers: Dr K.Genevičius (director of research), Dr A. Gruodis (part-time, senior researcher), Dr T. Grigaitis, Dr E. Kamarauskas, Dr J. Nekrasovas, Dr A. Aukštuolis. Dr L. Tumonis, Dr L. Baliulytė
Doctoral students: S. Adomavičiūtė, J. Stocka, R. Bandzevičiūtė, V. Bubilaitis, R. Čepas, L. Diska, M. Jakučionis, J. Mačytė.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Characterisation of the optical responses of molecular complexes of natural and artificial origin at high excitation intensity, including exciton annihilation effects.
• Development of the theory of molecular excitation and quantum relaxations (excitons, polarons, vibrons) and its application to molecular systems.
• Development of the theory and computational approaches of the nonlinear spectroscopy of molecular complexes, including static electric field-induced signals.
• Theoretical studies of temperature dependences of the fluorescence kinetics of photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes from plants at different levels of aggregation.
• Construction of structure-based theoretical models of excitation energy dynamics in photosynthetic light-harvesting complexes.
• SERS analysis of biological fluids, tissues, and cells.
• Conformational analysis of cyclic sila- and germa- organic molecules.
• Conformational dynamic and proton tunnelling pathways in the molecules and hydrogen-bonded complexes studied by means of computational simulations and low-temperature matrix isolation FTIR spectroscopy.
• Fibre ATR-based FTIR spectroscopy of cancerous tissues.
• NMR and EPR studies of organic and inorganic compounds of the organised structures in the liquid, solid phases, and nano-crystals.
• Theoretical modelling of molecular properties.
• New functional materials and structures: deposition technologies of new organic, inorganic and hybrid material layers and structures, and investigation of electric, photoelectric and charge carrier transport features.
RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2022
Projects Supported by the University Budget
Spectroscopy of Hybrid and Structured Functional Materials and Coatings for Photonic Devices and Optical Sensors. Prof. V. Sablinskas. 2021–2025.
The matrix isolation IR absorption studies revealed that four low energy (chair ring) conformers coexist of newly synthesised molecule 1-chloro-1-chloromethylsilacyclohexane at room temperature. The calculated energy barrier for gauche to trans conversion is 1.15 kcal/mol for axial and 1.04 kcal/mol for equatorial conformers. It is interesting to note that conversion between conformers is observable in low-temperature matrices. This experimental observation suggests tunnelling under a barrier-type process. Low-temperature IR studies of newly synthesised molecules enable a greater understanding of their chemical properties and the potential for the further application of these new compounds.
The application of standard ATR and ATR fibre spectroscopy for medical diagnostics demonstrated that urinary samples obtained after a laser lithotripsy procedure could be successfully used to determine the urinary stone chemical composition. This finding is important in further establishing the FTIR ATR method as a possible medical diagnostic method.
The potential of the application of ATR spectroscopy as a fast, informative, and non-destructive method is also demonstrated in the study of environmental samples potentially contaminated with microplastic particles.
Main publications:
1. J. Stocka, R. Platakyte, T. M. C. McFadden, J. Ceponkus, V. Aleksa, A. G. Hanna, V. Sablinskas P. Rodziewicz, G. A. Guirgis, Conformational diversity of 1 chloro-1-chloromethylsilacyclohexane with experimental (Raman and IR) and computational (DFT, MP2) methods. Journal of Molecular Structure, 1249, 131644 (2022).
2. A. Sholokhova, J. Ceponkus, V. Sablinskas, G. Denafas Abundance and characteristics of microplastics in treated organic wastes of Kaunas and Alytus regional waste management centres, Lithuania Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 29, 20665-20674 (2022).
3. M. Snicorius, M. Drevinskaite, M. Miglinas, A. Cekauskas, M. Stadulyte, R. Bandzeviciute, J. Ceponkus, V. Sablinskas, A. Zelvys, A Novel Infrared Spectroscopy Method for Analysis of Stone Dust for Establishing Final Composition of Urolithiasis, European Urology Open Science, 47, 36-42 (2023).
4. Šablinskas, V., Zdaniauskienė, A., Adomavičiūtė-Grabusovė, S., Stankevičius, E., & Petrikaitė, V. Magneto-plasmonic nanoparticles for SERS. In Proc. of SPIE (Vol. 11797, pp. 117972B-1, 2022).
5. Sonata Adomavičiũtė-Grabusovė, Jonas Hinkel, Iskander Usenov, Alexander S. Novikov, Tatiana Sakharova, Torsten Döhler, Ute Geißler, Elena Feliksberger, and Viacheslav Artyushenko “Microstructuring of end-surface for Silver Halide polycrystalline fibers to suppress Fresnel reflection”. Optical Materials Express, 12 (1), 34-48 (2022).
6. V. Balevičius, K. Aidas, A. Maršalka, F. Kuliešius, V. Jakubkienė, S. Tumkevičius, 17O NMR and DFT study of hydrogen bonding: proton sharing and incipient transfer, Lith. J. Phys. 62 (2022), 114.
7. V. Klimavičius, V. Klimkevičius, L. Dagys, K. Aidas, R. Makuška, V. Balevičius, Solid- State NMR Study of Spin Dynamics and Local Disorder in Smart Polymers: PDMAEMA, Lithuanian Journal of Physics, 62, 4, 195-205, (2022).
8. M. Šimėnas, S. Balčiūnas, A. Ga̧gor, A. Pienia̧żek, K. Tolborg, M. Kinka, V. Klimavicius, Š. Svirskas, V. Kalendra, M. Ptak, D. Szewczyk, A. P. Herman, R. Kudrawiec, A. Sieradzki, R. Grigalaitis, A. Walsh, M. Ma̧czka, J. Banys, Mixology of MA1–xEAxPbI3 Hybrid Perovskites: Phase Transitions, Cation Dynamics, and Photoluminescence, Chemistry of Materials, 34, 22, 10104-10112, (2022).
9. V. Klimavicius, A. Maršalka, A. Kizalaite, A. Zarkov, A. Kareiva, K. Aidas, J. Hirschinger, V. Balevicius, Step-by-Step from Amorphous Phosphate to Nano-Structured Calcium Hydroxyapatite: Monitoring by Solid-State 1H and 31P NMR and Spin Dynamics, PCCP, 24, 18952-18965, (2022).
10. E. Zhang, Y. C. Wub, H Shao, V. Klimavicius, H. Zhang, P. L. Taberna, J. Grothe, G. Buntkowsky, F. Xua, P. Simon, S. Kaskel, Unravelling the capacitive charge storage mechanism of nitrogen doped porous carbons by EQCM and ssNMR, JACS,144, 31, 14217-14225, (2022).
11. Kizalaite, V. Klimavicius, J. Jurgeleviciute, E. Lastauskiene, T. Murauskas, R. Skaudzius, M. Kawashita, T. Sekino, A. Zarkov, Peculiarities of the formation, structural and morphological properties of zinc whitlockite (Ca18Zn2(HPO4)2(PO4)12) synthesized via phase transformation process under hydrothermal conditions, CrystEngComm, 24, 5068-5079, (2022).
12. A. Jozeliūnaitė, T. Javorskis, V. Vaitkevičius, V. Klimavicius, E. Orentas, Fully Supramolecular Chiral Hydrogen-Bonded Molecular Tweezer, JACS, 144, 18, 8231-8241, (2022).
13. D. Griesiute, E. Garskaite, A. Antuzevics, V. Klimavicius, V. Balevicius, A. Zarkov, A. Katelnikovas, A. Kareiva, Synthesis, structural and luminescent properties of Mn-doped calcium pyrophosphate (Ca2P2O7) polymorphs, Scientific Reports, 12, 7116, (2022).
14. Ruslan Bikmurzin, Rimantė Bandzevičiutė, Arūnas Maršalka , Andrius Maneikis and Lilija Kaledienė, FT-IR ˙ Method Limitations for β-Glucan Analysis. –MDPI Molecules 2022, 27, 4616. https://doi.org/10.3390/ molecules27144616
15. A. Maršalka, A. Kalnaitytė , T. Biekša and S. Bagdonas, THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF Ascorbic acid and bovine serum albumin on phototransformations of hematoporphyrin derivative in aqueous medium: absorption and EPR spectroscopy study. -Lithuanian Journal of Physics, Vol. 62, No. 1, pp. 58–71 (2022).
New Functional Materials and Structures. Prof. K. Arlauskas, Dr K. Genevičius 2022-2025.
The project concerns researching the fabrication of organic and hybrid structures and devices: solution casting, spray coating, and thermal evaporation. Studies of the transport properties and ionisation potential in new cross-linkable organic materials and the development of new characterisation techniques will be carried out, as well as research on the influence of chemical structure and cross-linking to the electrical properties of a material. The characterisation of new hole and electron-transporting organic semiconducting materials suitable for solar cells and field effect transistors applications (slow time, CELIV, FET techniques) will be examined, as will the theoretical modelling and experimental investigation of the mechanisms of photoreceptor photosensitivity (spectral photosensitivity and quantum photo-generation efficiency). The project will study the development of a thermally optimised crystallisation instrument to process fatty acids under a high electric field and the development of electron counters for ionisation potential measurements. The modelling of charge carriers transport, trapping, and recombination processes in organic and hybrid structures will be undertaken. The development of the BREMS programme, which calculates single-and double-differential cross sections (DDCS) of electron-atom bremsstrahlung by the relativistic partial-wave (PW) method, will be studied, as will the optimisation of the growth of hydrogenated diamond and its surface passivation by organic materials.
Main publications:
1. J. Xia, Y. Zhang, M. Cavazzini, S. Orlandi, B. Ding, H. Kanda, N. Klipfel, X.-X. Gao, Q. Ul Ain, V. Jankauskas, K. Rakstys, R. Hu, Z. Qiu, A.M. Asiri, H. Kim, P.J. Dyson, G. Pozzi, M.K. Nazeeruddin, Asymmetrically Substituted 10H,10 ’ H-9,9 ’-Spirobi[acridine] Derivatives as Hole-Transporting Materials for Perovskite Solar Cells, Angew. Chem.-Int. Edit. 61 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202212891.
2. D. Vaitukaityte, M.A. Truong, K. Rakstys, R. Murdey, T. Funasaki, T. Yamada, Y. Kanemitsu, V. Jankauskas, V. Getautis, A. Wakamiya, Molecular Engineering of Enamine-Based Hole-Transporting Materials for High-Performing Perovskite Solar Cells: Influence of the Central Heteroatom, Sol. RRL. 6 (2022) 2200590. https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202200590.
3. T. Serevicius, R. Skaisgiris, J. Dodonova, I. Fiodorova, K. Genevicius, S. Tumkevicius, K. Kazlauskas, S. Jursenas, Temporal Dynamics of Solid-State Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence: Disorder or Ultraslow Solvation?, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 13 (2022) 1839–1844. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c03810.
4. A. Poskus, BREMS: Partial-wave calculation of spectra and angular distributions of electron-atom bremsstrahlung at electron energies less than 30 MeV (New Version Announcement), Comput. Phys. Commun. 278 (2022) 108414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpc.2022.108414.
5. M.R. Nagar, A. Choudhury, D. Tavgeniene, R. Beresneviciute, D. Blazevicius, V. Jankauskas, K. Kumar, S. Banik, S. Ghosh, S. Grigalevicius, J.-H. Jou, Solution-processable phenothiazine and phenoxazine substituted fluorene cored nanotextured hole transporting materials for achieving high-efficiency OLEDs, J. Mater. Chem. C. 10 (2022) 3593–3608. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1tc05237c.
6. V. Joseph, J. Xia, A.A. Sutanto, V. Jankauskas, C. Momblona, B. Ding, K. Rakstys, R. Balasaravanan, C.-H. Pan, J.-S. Ni, S.-L. Yau, M. Sohail, M.-C. Chen, P.J. Dyson, M.K. Nazeeruddin, Triarylamine-Functionalized Imidazolyl-Capped Bithiophene Hole Transporting Material for Cost-Effective Perovskite Solar Cells, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces. 14 (2022) 22053–22060. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c00841.
7. A. Jegorove, C. Momblona, M. Daskeviciene, A. Magomedov, R. Degutyte, A.M. Asiri, V. Jankauskas, A.A. Sutanto, H. Kanda, K. Brooks, N. Klipfel, M.K. Nazeeruddin, V. Getautis, Molecular Engineering of Fluorene-Based Hole-Transporting Materials for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells, Sol. RRL. 6 (2022) 2100990. https://doi.org/10.1002/solr.202100990.
8. R. Durgaryan, J. Simokaitiene, A. Dabuliene, D. Volyniuk, O. Bezvikonnyi, V. Jankauskas, V. Matulis, D. Lyakhov, I. Klymenko, B. Schmaltz, J.V. Grazulevicius, N,N-di(4-methoxyphenyl)hydrazones of carbazole and phenothiazine carbaldehydes containing 4-methoxyphenyl groups as hole transporting materials, Synth. Met. 287 (2022) 117057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.synthmet.2022.117057.
9. S. Daskeviciute-Geguziene, A. Magomedov, M. Daskeviciene, K. Genevicius, N. Nekrasas, V. Jankauskas, K. Kantminiene, M.D. McGehee, V. Getautis, Cross-linkable carbazole-based hole transporting materials for perovskite solar cells, Chem. Commun. 58 (2022) 7495–7498. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2cc02612k.
10. R.J. Cepas, G. Juska, L. Kukulas, E. Kamarauskas, K. Genevicius, Investigation of recombination processes in bulk-heterojunction organic solar cell by extraction of injected charge carriers, Thin Solid Films. 752 (2022) 139254. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsf.2022.139254.
11. S. Daskeviciute-Geguziene, Y. Zhang, K. Rakstys, C. Xiao, J. Xia, Z. Qiu, M. Daskeviciene, T. Paskevicius, V. Jankauskas, A.M. Asiri, V. Getautis, M.K. Nazeeruddin, Passivating Defects of Perovskite Solar Cells with Functional Donor-Acceptor-Donor Type Hole Transporting Materials, Adv. Funct. Mater. (2022) 2208317. https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.202208317.
12. O. Grynko, G. Juška, A. Reznik, Charge Extraction by Linearly Increasing Voltage (CELIV) Method for Investigation of Charge Carrier Transport and Recombination in Disordered Materials, in: Photoconductivity and Photoconductive Materials, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2022: pp. 339–368. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119579182.ch8.
Improving the Performance Characteristics of the Resistojet Thruster of Nanosatellites. Dr L. Tumonis. 2022-2025
The aim of this project is to increase the performance and efficiency of the resistojet thruster. The project involved increasing the performance and efficiency of the thruster, the specific impulse numerical simulation of the thermal phenomena, and the optimisation of a thruster with a quartz heat exchanger. Based on the results obtained, improvements were made to the thruster design. After the improvement of the structure according to the new design, it is planned to carry out physical tests and compare the obtained results with the results of numerical simulation.
Development of Electronic Spectroscopy Modelling Methods of Molecules, Molecular Complexes, and Solid Crystals. Prof. D. Abramavičius. 2019–2023.
A detailed analysis of time-resolved fluorescence experiments was performed on the aggregates of CP29 – a minor LHC of plants. A study of the accuracy of the forward-backward trajectory solution (FBTS) of the quantum-classical Liouville equation was performed. It was concluded that the FBTS is considerably more accurate than the PBME and the perturbative approaches for most realistic parameter sets and is, therefore, more versatile. It was found that diadinoxanthin and alloxanthin present atypical vibrational properties in solution, indicating the presence of several conformations. Several advanced transient investigation techniques were used, covering the timescale from sub-ps to μs, addressing all sequences of processes starting from photoexcitation of donors or acceptors to carrier extraction in several NFOSCs and cells with phenyl-C71-butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM).
Ultrafast transient absorption and transient luminescence techniques were applied to non-fullerene organic solar cells. An insufficient donor and acceptor LUMO level offset, lower than ~300 meV, leads to slow and inefficient CT state formation, while an offset of the HOMO level below ~100 meV leads to fast CT state recombination, which we attribute to the back transfer of a hole from the donor to the acceptor.
The combined application of the photoluminescence and electric-field-induced second harmonic microscopy techniques were used to study charge carrier dynamics in thin perovskite films. The observed appearance of short-lived bright photoluminescence spots and their spatial dynamics were explained by modelling the voltage-induced drift of the mobile ions and its influence on the local electric field in the perovskite material.
Using the just recently resolved crystallographic information of the structure of the fucoxanthin–chlorophyll protein (FCP) complex – the major light-harvesting complex of marine algae diatoms – and quantum chemistry-based calculations, we evaluated the chlorophyll transition dipole moments, atomic transition charges, and the inter-chlorophyll couplings in this complex. That allowed us to construct the structure-based Hamiltonian model of the FCP complex, which is the basis for any modelling of stationary or time-resolved spectroscopic data.
Quantum chemistry calculations were performed for carotenoids, chlorophyll-type pigments, and nucleobases. The excited states of chlorophylls were classified, the charge densities of chlorophylls and nucleobases were determined, and detailed vibrational spectra of carotenoids in two electronic states were obtained. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed. A set of parameters was created for chlorophyll-type complexes and carotenoid molecules. A time-dependent variational-principle approach has been extended by including the squeezed coherent state Ansatz and was applied to describe the carotenoid internal conversion process and its spectra as well as for simulations of spectra of J and H aggregates. The developed models are asymptotically mathematically exact and can describe any type of molecular complexes, including energy transfer and relaxation.
Main publications:
1. R. Jasiūnas, H. Zhang, A. Gelžinis, J. Chmeliov, M. Franckevičius, F. Gao, V. Gulbinas, Interplay between charge separation and hole back transfer determines the efficiency of non-fullerene organic solar cells with low energy level offset, Org. Electron. 108, 106601, 2022.
2. S. Driukas, D. Rutkauskas, M. Franckevičius, J. Chmeliov, V. Gulbinas, Photoluminescence Dynamics of MAPI Perovskite Films Induced by Lateral Electric Field, Phys. Status Solidi RRL, 16, 2200293, 2022.
3. A. Mikalčiūtė, A. Gelzinis, M. Mačernis, C. Büchel, B. Robert, L. Valkunas, J. Chmeliov, Structure-based model of fucoxanthin–chlorophyll protein complex: Calculations of chlorophyll electronic couplings, J. Chem. Phys., 156, 234101, 2022,
4. Mantas Jakučionis, Ignas Gaižiūnas,Juozas Šulskus, Darius Abramavičius, Simulation of Ab Initio Optical Absorption Spectrum of β‐Carotene with Fully Resolved S0 and S2 Vibrational Normal Modes, J. Phys. Chem. A 126, 180−189 2022.
5. Kristina Zakutauskaite, Mindaugas Macernis, Hoang Nguyen, Jennifer P Ogilvie, and Darius Abramavicius, Extracting the excitonic Hamiltonian of a Chlorophyll dimer from broadband two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy, J. Chem. Phys. (in press) https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0108166
6. Mindaugas Macernis, Simona Streckaite, Radek Litvin, Andrew A. Pascal, Manuel J. Llansola-Portoles, Bruno Robert, and Leonas Valkunas, Electronic and Vibrational Properties of Allene Carotenoids, The Journal of Physical Chemistry A 126 (6), 813-824, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpca.1c09393
7. Mindaugas Macernis, Vaidotas Mickus, Janne Ahonen, Laurynas Diska, Jonas Franukevicius and Juozas Sulskus, Still Unsolved High-Performance Computing Challenges for up to Pre-Petascale Homogeneous Supercomputers, arXiv:2210.00934v1 [cs.DC]. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2210.00934
8. Mantas Jakučionis, Agnius Žukas and Darius Abramavičius, Modeling molecular J and H aggregates using multiple-Davydov D2 ansatz, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 24, 17665, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP00819J
9. Mantas Jakučionis, Agnius Žukas and Darius Abramavičius, Inspecting molecular aggregate quadratic vibronic coupling effects using squeezed coherent states, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2022 https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CP04212F
National research projects
Development of Cross-Linkable Structures for Solar Cells (Grant No. S-MIP-22-8). The Research Council of Lithuania. Prof. V. Jankauskas. 2022–2025.
This project researches the development of cheap photodetectors, solar cells, photodiodes, or other optoelectronic devices associated with organic and hybrid structures. New cross-linkable hole-transporting materials such as fluorene, carbazole or triphenylamine derivatives and electron transport naphthalene or perylene derivatives with reactive styrene groups will be investigated. The most promising materials will be used to fabricate and characterise multilayer solar cells (bulk heterojunction, perovskite, or CZTS), focusing on efficiency and stability.
Modelling of Structural and Spectroscopic Properties of Bio-Active Ionic-Liquid Materials (Grant No. S-MIP-22-74). The Research Council of Lithuania. Assoc. Prof. K. Aidas. 2022–2025.
This project aims to develop a computational procedure that would allow for the accurate prediction of NMR shielding constants of IL systems and thus provide the means for a well-motivated interpretation of experimental NMR spectra. Our approach is based on the simulations of classical molecular dynamics and the combined quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics models. One of the advantages of the proposed computational scheme is that different types of intermolecular interactions that govern the physico-chemical properties of ILs can be modelled accurately and cost-effectively. The computational procedure developed in this project will be applied to get meaningful insight into – among other things – ion pairing phenomenon in IL solutions, the formation of the so-called water pockets in the IL matrices, and the mechanism behind the increased solubility of drugs in the mixtures of bio-active ILs and water.
Evolution of Optical Excitations in Heterogeneous Molecular Compounds (Grant No. SMIP-20-47). The Research Council of Lithuania. Prof. D. Abramavičius. 2020–2023.
Large-scale quantum chemistry calculations were performed for Chlorophyll, pheophytin, and carotenoid molecules to reveal their electronic ground state and excited state properties. Qy and Qx optical excitations were characterised. The full excitonic Hamiltonian was updated to include Qx optical transitions. It was discovered that Qx transitions can be employed to reveal molecular excitation characteristics by spectroscopically probing wide-band two-dimensional coherent electronic spectra. A time-dependent variational approach was extended to enable the description of local heating effects in molecular aggregates. This enables the number of phonons to be reduced in simulations, leading to a dramatic increase in efficiency in optical spectroscopy simulations for molecular complexes.
International research projects
National Competence Centres in the Framework of EuroHPC — ‘EUROCC’ (No. 951732 - EUROCC - H2020-JTI-EUROHPC-2019-2). Horizon project. Assoc. Prof. Dr Mindaugas Mačernis, 2020–2022.
Lithuania has become a member of EuroHPC, which has opened up the possibility for VU to host the Lithuanian National HPC Competence Centre and become a partner in such projects. Two faculties of VU related to productive computing – The Faculty of Physics and the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics – have started offering petaflop computing power resources to the Lithuanian scientific community. The EuroCC project has received funding from the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (JU) under grant agreement No. 951732.
Electric and Dielectric Properties of Packaging Materials. Project funded by the Stora Enso Oyj Research Centre, Imatra (Research Cooperation Contract). Prof. K. Arlauskas. 2018–2021 (project patent was granted in 2022).
Cellulose-based package products are usually moisture sensitive, and controlling the water vapour into or out of a package is necessary to retain the quality of a product until the customer opens it. All materials permeate to various degrees; however, the knowledge of how much and how fast vapour permeates into/out of a package over a given period of time will enable the package material to be optimised for a particular product. The objective of the invention is reached by means of an arrangement for determining the permeability of a vapour through a cellulose-based sample of film or sheet material – the said arrangement comprising a vapour source arranged such that at least a fraction of vapour can be brought into contact with the said sample. The project also focuses on the means for measuring the surface electrical conductivity of the said sample surface opposite the vapour contacting surface; and a controller for recording the measured electrical conductivity of the said sample over a time period, as well as for determining the vapour transmission rate through the sample, based on the recorded surface electrical conductivity.
Swedish Patent Office (PRV) Patent No. SE 2150362-8, Method and Device for Evaluating the Permeability of a Sample. Available to the public: 27 September 2022. https://tc.prv.se/spd/pdf/Es52qn6E0f0EES7eqfiL2g/SE2150362.A1.pdf
Development of Thermally Optimised Resistojet for Laser Ablative Cutting Fabrication (TORTILAC). Project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA). Dr L. Tumonis. 2021-2023.
The aim of this project is to develop a thermally optimised resistojet thruster propelled by water and suitable for nanosatellites by using laser ablative cutting fabrication technology. The preliminary design report (PDR) was presented including technical drawings for propulsion unit production. Initial validation tests have been conducted to validate the current design and to test the mechanical compatibility of individual parts. A laboratory model of the resistojet propulsion unit has been prepared for performance tests.
MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION) PARTNERS
Fiber Optics Company ArtPhotonics (Germany)
MaxIV laboratory at Lund University (Sweden)
College of Charleston (USA)
University of California, Berkeley, and University of California, Irvine (USA)
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA)
Queen Mary University, London (UK)
Institute of Physics of Charles University (Czech Republic)
Institute of Physics (National Center of Physical and Technological Sciences) (Lithuania)
Technical University of Darmstadt (Germany)
Leibnitz institute of Polymer Research in Dresden (Germany)
Technical University of Dresden (Germany)
Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce (Poland)
Wroclav University of Science and Technology (Poland)
Opole University (Poland)
Paris-Saclay University (France)
Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznan (Poland)
National Institute of Chemistry (Slovenia)
Copenhagen University (Denmark)
Stockholm University (Sweden)
University of Bialystok (Poland)
University of Cagliari (Italy)
Eduard-Zintl Institute for Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, University of Technology
National Institute of Chemistry and Slovenian NMR Centre (SLONMR), Liubljana (Slovenia)
Kielce University (Poland)
Free University of Amsterdam (Netherlands)
Free University of Brussels (Belgium)
Lund University (Sweden)
Nuclear Research Centre, Saclay (France)
University of Antwerp (Belgium)
Technical University of Munich (Germany)
Institut de Biologie et de Technologie de Saclay, University Paris Sud (France)
N. Bogolyubov Institute for Theoretical Physics, Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (Ukraine)
Optical components company Eksma Optics (Lithuania)
Optical components company Optogama (Lithuania)
Optical components company Altechna (Lithuania)
Agro and food innovation company Art21 (Lithuania)
Innovation company Spektrolabas (Lithuania)
Center of Physical Sciences and Technology (Lithuania)
BEST REPORTS DELIVERED AT CONFERENCES ABROAD
1. Oral presentation by prof. V. Šablinskas in International Symposium on Molecular Spectroscopy (Champaign-Urbana, USA, June 20-24, 2022): J. Stocka, R. Platakyte, J. Ceponkus, J. Macyte, D. Hickman, P. Rodziewicz, G. Guirgis, V. Sablinskas „Conformational diversity of non-aromatic heterocyclic molecular compounds as studied by means of matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy“
2. Invited oral presentation by prof. D. Abramavičius at international conference “Atomic Physics 2022“ (Dresden, Germany). „Excited state dynamics in molecular complexes: time dependent variational approach“.
MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
1. Online event on Team's platform- Science Solutions 360°: Solar cells and biofuel cells for the future of energy (4 February 2022). Dr K. Genevičius, Dr M. Dagys.
2. Groupement AMPERE (https://www.ampere-society.org/Organization.html) in person meeting during Utrechte EUROMAR conference (https://euromar2022.org/). Dr V. Klimavičius.
3. Organization of real International conference “Hanseatic Workshop on Exciton Dynamics and Spectroscopy“ (August 24-26) http://eds2020.ftmc.lt Organized by prof. Darius Abramavičius.
MOST IMPORTANT PARTICIPATION CASES OF RESEARCHERS IN WORKING GROUPS OR COMMISSIONS SET UP BY THE STATE AUTHORITIES, STATE AND MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS, OR BUSINESS ENTITIES
1. Assoc. Prof. M. Mačernis is assigned as a representative of The National Competence Centre of The Republic of Lithuania in the EuroHPC Joint EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (20 May 2022, No. -1909)
2. Assoc. Prof. M. Mačernis is a representative of Vilnius University RedHat Academy; the Representative of the Lithuanian National Infrastructure in the EGI Federation – the primary contact person of the EGI community in Lithuania
3. Prof. J. Šulskus is a substitute of the Lithuanian representative on the Governing Board of the European High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking; a member of the Advisory (Consultative) Council of the Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service under the Ministry of the Environment; a Representative of the Lithuanian National Infrastructure in the EGI Federation – a contact person of the EGI community in Lithuania
4. Assoc. Prof. A. Gruodis acted as an expert on the technical committee, LST TC 52 ophthalmic optics and laser, at the Lithuanian Standardization Department. (2021–2022)
CONSULTATIONS PROVIDED BY THE UNIT TO THE PUBLIC OR ECONOMIC ENTITIES
1. J. Čeponkus – consultation on the possibilities and problems of infrared measurements of lambda/2 and lambda/4 optical coatings using FTIR spectrometers. ‘Optogama’
2. V. Šablinskas – consultation on the spectral distribution of visible and thermal radiation in terapeutic devises. ‘Meldor’
3. V. Šablinskas, J. Čeponkus and M. Velička – consultation on the possibilities to use IR and NIR spectroscopy for food quality analysis. UAB ART21
CONTRACTUAL RESEARCH
1. Measurements of the Transmission and Optical Phase Contrast of Optical Phase Retarders in the MIR region (Nr. APS-120000-43 and (1.57)15600-INS-4). Service agreement. Prof. V. Šablinskas. 2016–2019; 2019–2023.
2. Measurements of the Transmission and Reflection of Optical Crystals in VIS NIR and MIR regions (Nr. APS-120000-108 and (1.57)15600-INS-68). Service agreement. J. Čeponkus. 2016–2019; 2019–2023.
OTHER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Prof. V. Šablinskas
• member of doctoral Committee for Physics at Vilnius University;
• member of doctoral Committee for Biophysics at Vilnius University;
• member of graduate studies committee “Applied Physics” at Vilnius University.
Prof. V. Balevičius
• member of the international advisory board Horizons in Hydrogen Bond Research;
• member of the international advisory board Nuclear Magnetic Resonance in Condensed Matter;
• member of the advisory committee International School-Seminar of Galyna Puchkovska on Spectroscopy of Molecules and Crystals.
Dr V. Urbonienė
• member of methodological group of Vilnius University STEAM center;
• member of STEAM working group at COIMBRA GROUP.
Prof. J. Čeponkus
• chairman of graduate studies committee Applied Physics at Vilnius University.
• chairman of graduate studies committee Physics at Vilnius University.
• member of master studies committee “Life and Chemical Physics” at Vilnius University.
• member of graduate studies committee “Optometry” at Vilnius University.
Assoc. Prof. K. Aidas
• organizer of scientific monthly seminar Chemical Physics at Saulėtekis.
Lecturer D. Lengvinaitė
• member of organization committee of the international conference Open Readings;
• President of the OSA Vilnius University chapter.
Lecturer R. Platakytė
• member of organization committee of the international conference Open Readings.
Prof. Kęstutis Arlauskas
• member of Lithuanian Science Award Committee at the Lithuanian Academy of Science;
• member of doctoral Committee for Material Engineering at Vilnius University.
Research Prof. Dr Kristijonas Genevičius
• member of doctoral Committee for Physics at Vilnius University;
• member of graduate studies Committee for Materials of Technology and Optoelectronic at Vilnius University.
Prof. Dr Vygintas Jankauskas
• member of graduate studies Committee for Life and Chemical Physics at Vilnius University.
Assoc. Prof. Mindaugas Viliūnas
• member of IPhO 2021 organization committee.
Assoc. Prof. Dr Jevgenij Chmeliov
• member of the Young Academy of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
Assoc. Prof. Dr Mindaugas Mačernis
• Vilnius University representative of Vilnius University RedHat Academy.
INSTITUTE OF PHOTONICS AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
3 Saulėtekio av., LT-10257 Vilnius
Tel. +370 5 223 4482
E-mail:
Head – Prof. Dr Saulius Antanas Juršėnas
STAFF
Professors: Dr R. Aleksiejūnas (part-time), Dr E. Gaubas (part-time), Dr K. Jarašiūnas (emeritus), Dr S. A. Juršėnas (part-time), Dr V. Tamošiūnas, Dr G. Tamulaitis (part-time), Dr R. Tomašiūnas (part-time), Dr J. V. Vaitkus (emeritus), Dr P. Vitta, Dr G. Valušis (part-time).
Associate professors: Dr R. Butkutė (part-time), Dr T. Čeponis (part-time), Dr T. Malinauskas (part-time), Dr S. Nargelas (part-time).
Assistants: D. Banevičius (part-time), Dr J. Jurkevičius (part-time), Dr M. Kolenda, Dr R. Komskis (part-time), Dr G. Kreiza (part-time), Dr M. Mackoit-Sinkevičienė (part-time), Dr A. Mekys (part-time), Dr L. Minkevičius (part-time), Dr A. Novičkovas (part-time), E. Radiunas (part-time), Dr S. Raišys (part-time), Dr A. Vaitkevičius (part-time), Dr A. Zabiliūtė-Karaliūnė (part-time).
Junior Assistants: V. Čižas, K. Pūkas (part-time).
Leading researchers: Dr E. Gaubas (part-time), Dr K. Kazlauskas, Dr G. Tamulaitis (part-time), Dr R. Tomašiūnas (part-time).
Senior research fellows: Dr T. Čeponis (part-time), Dr T. Grinys, Dr V. Grivickas (part-time), Dr A. Kadys (part-time), Dr V. Kažukauskas (part-time), Dr G. Kreiza, Dr V. Kažukauskas (part-time), Dr T. Malinauskas (part-time), Dr A. Mekys (part-time), Dr S. Miasojedovas, Dr J. Mickevičius, Dr S. Nargelas (part-time), Dr T. Serevičius, Dr P. Ščajev.
Research fellows: Dr K. Badokas, Dr D. Banevičius, Dr P. Baronas, Dr I. Buchovec, Dr L. Deveikis, Dr D. Dobrovolskas, Dr J. Jurkevičius, Dr M. Kolenda, Dr O. Kravcov (part-time), Dr K. Nomeika, Dr A. Novičkovas (part-time), Dr J. Pavlov, Dr Ž. Podlipskas, Dr E. Radiunas, Dr S. Raišys, Dr I. Reklaitis (part-time), Dr V. Rumbauskas, Dr A. Vaitkevičius, Dr A. Zabiliūtė-Karaliūnė (part-time).
Junior research fellows: K. Aponienė (part-time), J. Jovaišaitė, Y. Talochka (part-time), Ž. Vosylius (part-time).
Engineers: Dr P. Adomėnas (part-time), Dr O. Adomėnienė (part-time), Dr V.Bikbajevas, M. Dapkevičius, Dr V. Grivickas, Ž. Komičius.
Technicians: S. Bikantienė (part-time), O. Bobrovas (part-time), L. Deltuvytis (part-time), V. Kalcas (part-time), R. Lebionka (part-time), K. Tulaitė, M. Vaičiulis (part-time), V. Žvinytė (part-time).
Doctoral students: K. Aponienė, J. Jovaišaitė, A. M. Majeed, V. Sendiuk, Y. Talochka, Ž. Vosylius, A. Solovjovas.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Antibacterial technologies based on photodynamic inactivation by light and photosensitisers
• Development of GaN devices (LEDs, detectors, resonators, etc.)
• Characterisation, optimisation, and applications of light-emitting diodes and their systems
• Non-destructive characterisation of wide band gap semiconductors
• Development of measurement techniques for the comprehensive characterisation of photo-sensors, particle detectors, light-emitting diodes, and solar-cells
• Development of measurement techniques and instrumentation for the in-situ characterisation of material and device structures under heavy irradiations by hadrons
• Development of infrared radiation-hard detectors
• Dosimetry of large fluence irradiations
• Epitaxy of GaN and other III-nitride layers and multiple quantum wells by MOCVD technology, growth of different polarity III-nitrides for photonic applications
• Remote epitaxy of III-nitrides via graphene
• Deep level spectroscopy in wide-band-gap semiconductors GaN and diamond fabricated using different technologies
• Development of laser-based spectroscopic techniques with temporal, spectral, and spatial resolution for the characterisation of novel semiconductor materials for optoelectronics
• Investigation of native and ionising radiation-induced defects and micro-inhomogeneities in semiconductor materials and device structures
• Development of ultrafast scintillation detectors
• Hybrid triplex organic sensors for the detection of wide-range and high-energy radiation
• Synthesis and structure identification of promising organic and hybrid compounds
• Revealing the structure-properties relationship of new molecular derivatives
• Spectroscopy of perovskite materials
• Development of the new molecular structures of organic and hybrid materials and investigation of their photophysical properties
• Development of the technologies for photonics devices (OLEDs, organic lasers, organic solar cells, organic light converters etc.) of organic and hybrid compounds
• Technologies of organic and hybrid photonics devices (OLEDs, lasers, solar cells, light converters, etc.)
• Lighting systems with advanced colour rendition control for general and niche lighting
• materials
• Development of phosphor technologies for the niche illumination applications
• Intelligent solid-state lighting systems for outdoor lighting
• Novel scintillators for fast detectors of ionizing radiation for future high-luminosity high energy physics experiments and new generation of medical imaging
RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2022
Projects Supported by the University Budget
Organic and Hybrid Photonics. Prof. S. A. Juršėnas 2021-2025. The project focuses on the synthesis of promising organic and perovskite compounds, their theoretical modelling and their application for emitter fabrication. An investigation of new TADF emitters and TADF-OLED devices in terms of their efficiency and lifetime is conducted. The project will focus on the fabrication of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) by vacuum deposition and wet-casting methods in an oxygen-free atmosphere and the improvement of NIR-to-Vis light upconversion efficiency in the solid films by their smart design. Research on bio-organic compounds and their application in sensors will be undertaken. The application of AFM, SEM and XRD techniques for the identification of new material structures will be examined, as well as surface analysis with nanometer resolution. The project will also include research on the utilisation of ultrafast and steady-state spectroscopy setups for measurements in the IR spectral range. Electron paramagnetic resonance (ESR) spectroscopy of hybrid triplex sensors with organic free-radical layers and spectral analysis of PSD/SSD sensors featuring external read-out will be conducted.
Main publications:
1. G. Morello, M. Moffa, M. Montinaro, A. Albanese, K. Kazlauskas, S. Jursenas, A. Tomkeviciene, J.V. Grazulevicius, A. Camposeo, D. Pisignano, Tuneable optical gain and broadband lasing driven in electrospun polymer fibers by high dye concentration, J. Mater. Chem. C. 10, 2042–2048 (2022).
2. J. Jovaišaitė, S. Kirschner, S. Raišys, G. Kreiza, P. Baronas, S. Juršėnas, M. Wagner, Diboraanthracene-Doped Polymer Systems for Colour-Tuneable Room-Temperature Organic Afterglow, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2022, https://doi.org/10.1002/ange.202215071
Development, Investigation, and Application of Advanced Semiconductor Structures for Optoelectronics. Dr R. Tomašiūnas. 2020–2022.
The main focus of the project was to develop the III-nitrides MOCVD technology further to grow nitride epilayers and structures applying 2D materials and ALD films. An investigation of gallium nitride epilayer crystal quality improvement by the overgrowth of FIB patterned structures was carried out. The research also involved numerical modelling and an experimental investigation of associated localised and free non-equilibrium charge carrier dynamics in nitride semiconductors using luminescence spectroscopy. The project aims to ascertain a characterisation of wideband semiconductors by optical absorption and light-induced transient gratings methods. An investigation of photo-galvanomagnetic and transport phenomena was conducted. The research also aimed to further the development of high-energy radiation double-response GaN/AlGaN sensor technology and detector architecture, as well as the methods for radiation and technology defect spectroscopy.The project also involved further developing the optical, thermal, and photoionisation spectroscopy of defect states and analysing charge transfer in semiconductor materials and structures, which are important for opto- and photoelectrical applications.
Main publication:
1. E.Jelmakas, A.Kadys, M.Dmukauskas, T.Grinys, R.Tomašiūnas, D.Dobrovolskas, G.Gervinskas, S.Juodkazis, M.Talaikis, G.Niaura. FIB micro-milled sapphire for GaN maskless epitaxial lateral overgrowth: a systematic study on patterning geometry. J. Mater. Sci.: Mater. Electron. 2021, 32, 14532.
Solid-State Lighting Technologies. Dr P. Vitta. 2016–2022.
Some Brevundimonas spp. are globally emerging opportunistic pathogens that can be dangerous to individuals with underlying medical conditions and to those who are immunocompromised. Gram-negative Brevundimonas spp. can form resilient sessile biofilms and are found not only in different confined terrestrial settings (e.g., hospitals) but are also frequently detected in spacecraft inhabited by astronauts that can have altered immunity. Therefore, Brevundimonas spp. pose a serious health hazard in different environments, especially in its biofilm form. Conventional antimicrobials applied to disrupt, inactivate, or prevent biofilm formation have limited efficiency and applicability in different closed-loop systems. Therefore, new, effective, and safe biofilm control technologies are in high demand. The present work aims to investigate the antimicrobial photoinactivation (API) of Brevundimonas sp. ESA1 monocultural biofilms mediated by non-toxic, natural photosensitisers such as riboflavin (RF) and chlorophyllin (Chl) with an emphasis on this technology as an example to be safely used in closed-loop systems such as spacecraft. The present study showed that Chl-based API had a bactericidal effect on Brevundimonas sp. ESA1 biofilms at twice the lower irradiation doses than was needed when applying RF-based API. Long-term API based on RF and Chl using a 450 nm low irradiance plate has also been studied in this work as a more practically applicable API method. The ability of Brevundimonas sp. ESA1 biofilms to reduce alamarBlue (TM) and regrowth analysis have revealed that after the applied photoinactivation, bacteria can enter a viable but non-culturable state with no ability to resuscitate in some cases.
Main publication:
1. A. Gricajeva, I. Buchovec, L. Kalėdienė, K. Badokas, and P. Vitta, “Riboflavin-and Chlorophyllin-based Antimicrobial Photoinactivation of Brevundimonas sp. ESA1 Biofilms,” Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol. Sec. Biofilms doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.1006723, (2022).
National Research Projects
Creation of the Prototype Wide-Spectrum Dosimetry System for Various Purposes Monitoring of Irradiations (No. 01.2.2-LMT-K-718-01-0013). The Research Council of Lithuania. Dr (HP) E. Gaubas. 2018–2022.
Radiation technologies are gaining an increased role in innovations due to their scientific and technological developments and applications: e.g., speeding up high-power transducers by the introduction of radiation defects; implantation and transmutation technologies for advanced doping technologies in microelectronics; accelerator and radioactive isotope equipment for medical diagnostics and therapy, etc. Simultaneously, the exploitation of nuclear power plants or high-brightness particle accelerators and spallators requires precise and in situ dosimetry monitoring to ensure that technological processes are appropriately managed, for the relevant storage of nuclear fuel and its waste, for the permanent control of instruments employed within acceleration and spallation facilities, and, eventually, for environmental and personnel safety purposes. The project objective is to research and develop the optimal sensor materials, structures, and layer parameters, as well as to create a technology for the fabrication of the sensor-reading instrumentation capable of performing fast scans of large quantities of sensors that can operate in remote and in-situ signal recording modes in order to produce a prototype dosimetry system for the wide spectrum and fluence range of irradiations. The project's tasks involve: searching for materials and their combinations to make the dual and triple response sensors, the development of the measurement, and engineering the means for the fabrication of the instrumentation of dose readers. The project also aims to develop the technology for assembling various modules into a single device comprising microwave, laser, and photonic technologies.
Main publications:
1. E. Gaubas, T. Čeponis, D. Dobrovolskas, J. Mickevičius J. Pavlov, V. Rumbauskas, J.V. Vaitkus, N. Alimov, and S. Otajonov, Study of polycrystalline CdTe films by contact and contactless pulsed photo-ionization spectroscopy, Thin Solid Films 660 (2018) 231–235
2. T. Ceponis, K. Badokas, L. Deveikis, J. Pavlov, V. Rumbauskas, V. Kovalevskij, S. Stanionyte, G. Tamulaitis, E. Gaubas, Evolution of scintillation and electrical characteristics of AlGaN double-response sensors during proton irradiation, Sensors 19 (2019) 3388.
3. E. Gaubas, T. Ceponis, L. Deveikis, V. Kalesinskas, G. Kreiza, T. Malinauskas, J. Pavlov, V. Rumbauskas, A. Mychko, V. Ivanov, Study of the electrical characteristics of CdZnTe Schottky diodes, Mat. Sc. Semicond. Process., 105 (2020) 104705.
4. L. Deveikis, J.V. Vaitkus, T. Čeponis, M. Gaspariūnas, V. Kovalevskij, V. Rumbauskas, E. Gaubas, Profiling of proton beams by fluence scanners, Lith. J. Phys. 61 (2021) 75–83.
5. J. Pavlov, T. Ceponis, K. Pukas, L. Makarenko, E. Gaubas, 5.5 MeV electron irradiation-induced transformation of minority carrier traps in p-type Si and Si1-xGex alloys, Materials 15 (2022) 1861.
EU patent application:
1. ORIENTED TRIPLEX SENSOR AND METHOD OF IDENTIFICATION OF THE RADIATION SOURCE LOCATION AND ITS DOSIMETRY, Authors: Eugenijus Gaubas, Tomas Čeponis, Laimonas Deveikis, Jevgenij Pavlov, Vytautas Rumbauskas. Application No. EP22171639.2, submission date: 2022 05 04.
Obtained LT patents:
1. MAGNETIC ANALYZER FOR RELATIVISTIC CHARGED PARTICLES (Magnetinis reliatyvistinių elektringųjų dalelių analizatorius), Authors: Eugenijus Gaubas, Tomas Čeponis, Vidas Kalesinskas, Vytautas Rumbauskas, Laimonas Deveikis, Patent No. 6929, date 2022-08-10.
2. HYBRID MULTI-LAYER SENSOR AND METHOD FOR LARGE FLUENCE DOSIMETRY AND FLUXMETRY (Hibridinis daugiasluoksnis jutiklis ir didelių įtėkių bei srautų matavimo metodas), Authors: Eugenijus Gaubas, Tomas Čeponis, Laimonas Deveikis. Jevgenij Pavlov, Vytautas Rumbauskas, Patent No. 6931, date 2022-08-10.
Development of Advanced Optoelectronic Materials via Smart Molecular Engineering (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-718-01-0026). Research Council of Lithuania. Prof. S. A. Juršėnas 2018-2022.
The project is intended to create a series of novel organic electronic materials – niche products with unique properties and develop their large-scale synthesis and purification technologies. The project partner, ‘Fine Synthesis Ltd’ (FS), has expertise in the synthesis of organic electronic and photonic materials and in developing technologies for large-scale synthesis and purification. During the first two years of the project, more than 100 chemical compounds were synthesised. The detailed structure-property analysis enabled the selection of 12 series of compounds for further optimisation in the device configuration.
EU patent application:
1. [1,2,4]-Triazolo[a]pyrimidine Derivatives as Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence (Tadf) Emitters and Process of Preparation Thereof. (Application No. EP22182177.0). S. Tumkevicius, T. Serevicius, I. Fiodorova, P. Adomenas, R. Skaisgiris, S. Jursenas
MOCVD Growth of III-Nitride Semiconductors by van der Waals Epitaxy on Graphene (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0076). The Research Council of Lithuania. Dr T. Malinauskas. 2018–2022.
The project goal is to improve scientific competence by executing a research project on the growth of III-nitrides epilayers and nanostructures for optoelectronics using graphene. The main task is to investigate the peculiarities of MOCVD growth of III-nitrides on graphene by employing complementary characterisation methods. The main idea and novelty of the project are based on using a new method of semiconductor growth – van der Waals (vdW) epitaxy for III-nitrides using graphene as a buffer layer. VdW epitaxy using graphene enables easy lift-off of epitaxial layers from the substrate. This feature will allow multiple uses of expensive homoepitaxial bulk GaN substrate. The MOCVD growth of GaN using vdW and graphene is investigated using different substrates – a GaN template on sapphire, bulk GaN, SiC, sapphire, and Si. The vdW epitaxy physics and properties of grown epitaxial layers and nanostructures are investigated using the structural, optical, and electrical characterisation methods. The project will result in the improved scientific competence of researchers, the development of new technology, and the dissemination of scientific results in high-quality peer-reviewed scientific publications and at international conferences.
Main publications:
1. K. Badokas, A. Kadys, J. Mickevicius, I. Ignatjev, M. Skapas, S. Stanionytė, E. Radiunas, G. Juška, T. Malinauskas. Remote epitaxy of GaN via graphene on GaN/sapphire templates. J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 2021, 54, 205103.
2. D. Dobrovolskas, A. Kadys, A. Usikov, T. Malinauskas, K. Badokas, I. Ignatjev, S. Lebedev, A. Lebedev, Y. Makarov, G. Tamulaitis. Luminescence of structured InN deposited on graphene interlayer. J. Lumin. 2021, 232, 117878.1
Fast Scintillators for Radiation Detectors (FARAD) (Nr. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0013). The Research Council of Lithuania. 2018-2022.
The project is aimed at revealing the processes limiting the luminescence response time in scintillators capable of ensuring detection timing in the range of 10 ps that is targeted in the future high-luminosity collider experiments to prevent the pile-up effect and in medical imaging devices to ensure a better spatial resolution. Our approach for studying fast scintillators is based on the combination of the experimental results obtained by the luminescence spectroscopy under selective photoexcitation in the subpicosecond domain. The femtosecond-resolution results are obtained by using nonlinear optical techniques – some of which are unconventional – which, so far, have just been fragmentally exploited for the study of scintillators. The dynamics of nonequilibrium carriers, the mechanisms of luminescence build-up, excitation transfer, the trapping of nonequilibrium carriers, and the influence of intentional co-doping on carrier migration and recombination are studied in scintillators of different types, especially in Ce-doped garnets, oxyorthosilicates, and perovskites, obtained via collaboration with crystal growers in the Crystal Clear Collaboration (RD18) at CERN. Special attention is focused on the radiation hardness of the scintillators in view of their timing parameters, which is a new challenge of importance in many high-energy physics experiments at CERN and other large-scale facilities. The results will be exploited for the selection of materials showing the most potential to be used as fast scintillators for optimisation of their composition, doping with active ions and co-doping, and the conditions of their growth and post-growth annealing.
Main publications:
1. Y. Talochka, A. Vasil’ev, M. Korjik, G. Tamulaitis, Impact of compositional disorder on electron migration in lutetium–yttrium oxyorthosilicate scintillator, J. Appl. Phys. 132, 053101 (2022).
2. M. Korzhik, K.-T. Brinkmann, V. Dormenev, M. Follin, J. Houzvicka, D. Kazlou, J. Kopal, V. Mechinsky, S. Nargelas, P. Orsich, Z. Podlipskas, V. Sharyy, S. Sykorova, Y. Talochka, G. Tamulatis, D. Yvon, H.-G. Zaunick, Ultrafast PWO scintillator for future high energy physics instrumentation, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A 1034 (2022)
Neutron Flux Detection System With Optical Readout (No. 01.2.2-LMT-K-718-01-0041). The Research Council of Lithuania. Prof. G. Tamulaitis, 2018-2022.
The Project is aimed at the development and prototyping of a system capable of monitoring neutron fluxes up to densities above 1010 neutron/cm2/s, which are substantially higher than those monitored by the detection systems currently in use. The targeted applications are primarily nuclear power plants and spallation facilities. The Project is planned in line with the priority Photonic and Laser Technologies of the Smart Specialisation. The Project will contribute to the implementation of the specific objective of the corresponding Action plan “to research and establish optic and optomechanical components”. It will also complement the activities carried out to “research new glass, ceramics, crystal materials and fibre in lasers and nonlinear optical devices” in order to develop a device for monitoring dense neutron fluxes, which is based on a novel concept consisting of a short-pulse laser and an optic unit exploiting nonlinear optical phenomena in radiation hard single crystal to be selected as optimal.
Main publications:
1. K. Nomeika, Ž. Podlipskas, V. Tamošiūnas, J. Jurkevičius, M. N. Alsamsam, S. Nargelas, R. Aleksiejūnas, M. Korjik, G. Tamulaitis, A new method for remote detection of ionizing radiation using transient optical absorption, Nuclear Inst. and Methods in Physics Research, A 1029, 166408 (2022).
2. S. Nargelas, Y. Talochka, A. Vaitkevičius, G. Dosovitskiy, O. Buzanov, A. Vasil’ev, T. Malinauskas, M. Korzhik, G. Tamulaitis, Influence of matrix composition and its fluctuations on excitation relaxation and emission spectrum of Ce ions in (Gdx Y1-x)3Al2Ga3O12: Ce scintillators, J. Lumin. 242, 118590, (2022).
Production and Investigation of Advanced Geometry Nitride Harmonic Generators (No. 01.2.2-LMT-K-718-01-0018). The Research Council of Lithuania. Dr R. Tomašiūnas. 2018–2022.
We have started to develop a modal quasi-phase-matched GaN waveguide structure for optical second-harmonic generation. First, we investigated the growth of AlGaN on different AlN epilayers by MOVPE using different growth parameters. Secondly, we have investigated the growth of N-polar GaN on Al2O3 layers deposited by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on the Ga-polar GaN/AlGaN structure by completing the entire GaN waveguide structure. We have suggested wafer bonding as a useful method to overcome the difficulties of the growth of complex structures of the waveguides with polarity inversion.
Main publication:
1. M.Kolenda, D.Kezys, I.Reklaitis, E.Radiunas, R.Ritasalo, A.Kadys, T.Grinys, T.Malinauskas, S.Stanionytė, M.Skapas, R.Petruškevičius, R.Tomašiūnas. Development of polarity inversion in a GaN waveguide structure for modal phase matching. J. Mater. Sci. 55, 12008 (2020).
Triplet State Engineering in Organic Optoelectronic Compounds (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0084). Research Council of Lithuania. Dr K. Kazlauskas. 2018-2022.
The project targets the triplet-state engineering of novel organic materials to harvest the energy stored in the triplet states and enhance the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. The utilisation of the energy stored in the form of triplet excitation in the devices, such as organic solar cells and OLEDs, has created a long-lasting challenge for researchers. The issue caused the low performance of organic electronic devices, thereby severely limiting their competitiveness and practical applications as compared to their inorganic counterparts.
Main publications:
1. Kreiza, G.; Berenis, D.; Banevicius, D.; Jursenas, S.; Javorskis, T.; Orentas, E.; Kazlauskas, K. High Efficiency and Extremely Low Roll-off Solution- and Vacuum-Processed OLEDs Based on Isophthalonitrile Blue TADF Emitter. Chem. Eng. J. 2021, 412.
2. Serevicius, T.; Skaisgiris, R.; Gudeika, D.; Kazlauskas, K.; Jursenas, S. Conformational Disorder Enabled Emission Phenomena in Heavily Doped TADF Films. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 2021, 24 (1), 313–320.
Triplet State Engineering in Organic Optoelectronics Compounds (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0084). The Research Council of Lithuania. Dr K. Kazlauskas. 2018-2022. The project targets the triplet-state engineering of novel organic materials to harvest the energy stored in the triplet states and enhance the performance of organic optoelectronic devices. The project team aims to achieve this goal by using the following two approaches: 1) by developing light-upconverting organic films exhibiting the triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) phenomenon. The TTA films could enhance the efficiency of solar cells by converting the photons of red-IR spectral range, typically unutilised by the solar cells, into well-absorbed higher energy photons; 2) by developing emitters with thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) behaviour, which could harvest non-emissive triplet excitons by converting them to singlets with 100% efficiency and by tailoring them for the fabrication of high-performance OLEDs based on cost-efficient solution-processing technology.
Main publications:
1. E. Radiunas, L. Naimovičius, S. Raišys, A. Jozeliūnaitė, E. Orentas, K. Kazlauskas, Efficient NIR-to-vis photon upconversion in binary rubrene films deposited by simplified thermal evaporation, J. Mater. Chem. C. 10 (2022) 6314–6322.
2. D. Banevičius, G. Kreiza, R. Klioštoraitis, S. Juršėnas, T. Javorskis, V. Vaitkevičius, E. Orentas, and K. Kazlauskas, Enhanced Blue TADF in a D–A–D Type Naphthyridine Derivative with an Asymmetric Carbazole-Donor Motif, J. Mater. Chem. C 10, 4813 (2022).
3. T. Serevičius, R. Skaisgiris, J. Dodonova, I. Fiodorova, K. Genevičius, S. Tumkevičius, K. Kazlauskas, S. Juršėnas, Temporal Dynamics of Solid-State Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence: Disorder or Ultraslow Solvation?, J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 1839–1844 (2022).
4. R. Skaisgiris, T. Serevičius, J. Dodonova, D. Banevičius, K. Kazlauskas, S. Tumkevičius, S. Juršėnas, Tuning of HOMO-LUMO localization for achieving thermally activated delayed fluorescence, J. Lumin. 241, 118473 (2022).
5. E. Radiunas, M. Dapkevičius, S. Raišys, K. Kazlauskas, Triplet and singlet exciton diffusion in disordered rubrene films: implications for photon upconversion, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 24, 24345 (2022).
6. P. Baronas, G. Kreiza, L. Naimovičius, E. Radiunas, K. Kazlauskas, E. Orentas, S. Juršėnas, Sweet Spot of Intermolecular Coupling in Crystalline Rubrene: Intermolecular Separation to Minimize Singlet Fission and Retain Triplet–Triplet Annihilation, J. Phys. Chem. C. 126, 15327 (2022).
Addressing the Lifetime Issues of the Latest Generation Oleds: Analysis and Possible Solutions (No. S-MIP-21-12). The Research Council of Lithuania. Dr K. Kazlauskas, (2021-2024).
A critical factor restricting the development and commercialisation of TADF-OLED technology is the short operational lifetime of blue-emitting devices. The half-lifetime of blue devices is typically in the range of 1-100 hours at a practical luminance of 500-1000 cd/m2. Therefore, the stability of TADF-OLEDs needs to be addressed and improved through the clarification of their degradation mechanisms. In an attempt to contribute to this hot topic, our project is targeted at addressing the lifetime issues of blue TADF-OLEDs in order to improve their further development and commercialisation. To address the issues related to the lifetime, we propose an original multifaceted approach based on: the design of new blue TADF emitters consisting of stable donor/acceptor units (e.g. carbazole, triazine, etc) featuring large RISC and radiative decay rates; the optimisation of the TADF emitter doping concentration in order to broaden the emission recombination zone, which is expected to reduce local exciton concentration in the emissive layer, thereby enabling the avoidance of exciton interaction and quenching and, in turn, promoting device degradation; the introduction of Li and Yb dopants into the electron injection/transport layers of OLEDs to facilitate charge injection, subsequently reducing its trapping and related detrimental exciton-polaron quenching in OLEDs; finding and using alternative (more compatible and stable) electron/hole injection, transport, and host materials with the same TADF emitter in achieving enhanced device stability and lifetime; the application of the multiple approaches in sequence for each particular blue TADF emitter is anticipated to eliminate (or at least reduce) device lifetime limiting factors, thereby resulting in significantly enhanced device stability. Although most of these approaches were tried with just a few selected TADF emitters, the Li- and Yb-doping of electron injection layers has never been attempted for TADF-OLEDs and hence is considered novel.
ZnMgO Materials With Tunable Band Gap for Solar-Blind UV Sensors (ZMOMUVS) (No. S-M-ERA.NET-19-2). The Research Council of Lithuania. Dr S. Miasojedovas. 2019-2022.
The objective of the project is the elaboration of a new ultra-wideband gap material based on a pseudobinary ZnxMg1-xO system with either a wurtzite (wz) or a rocksalt (rs) crystal structure for the creation of a deep UV detector with an enhanced operating energy range from 4.0 eV to 6.0 eV.
International Research Projects
Advancement and Innovation for Detectors at Accelerators – AIDAinnova (101004761). Horizon 2020 programme RIA project. 2021– 2025. The AIDAinnova project, implemented by CERN and 44 partners from academic, industry, research, and technology organisations from 15 European countries, aims to provide state-of-the-art upgrades to research infrastructures to unfold the scientific potential of detector technologies. The team at the Institute of Photonics and Nanotechnology at Vilnius University is involved in the implementation of WP8 ‘Calorimetry’ aimed at the development of detectors exhibiting high granularity, radiation hardness, large scale, excellent hit timing, dual-readout capability, and 5D imaging. The VU team exploits photo- and cathodoluminescence spectroscopy with time resolution and nonlinear optical techniques for studying prospective scintillators capable of being used in radiation detectors with the time resolution targeted at ten picoseconds.
Main publications:
1. G. Tamulaitis, S. Nargelas, M. Korjik, V. Mechinsky, Y. Talochka, A. Vaitkevicius, A. Vasil’ev, Transient optical absorption as a powerful tool for engineering of lead tungstate scintillators towards faster response, J. Materials Chemistry C, 10, 9521 (2022)
2. L. Martinazzoli, S. Nargelas, P. Boháček, R. Cala’, M. Dušek, J. Rohlíček, G. Tamulaitis, E. Auffray, M. Nikl, Compositional engineering of multicomponent garnet scintillators: Towards an ultra-accelerated scintillation response, Materials Advances, 3, 6842-6852 (2022).
Development of GaN Optical Microresonators With Polarity Inversion (GANOMPI). A Lithuania-Japan bilateral collaboration project. Dr R.Tomašiūnas. 2021–2023. The research purpose of this project is to develop new GaN optical microresonators with polarity inversion for the VIS and near-IR spectra range.
Main publication:
1. M.Kolenda, A.Kadys, T.Malinauskas, E.Radiunas, R.Ritasalo, R.Tomašiūnas. The importance of nucleation layer for the GaN N-face purity on the annealed Al2O3 layers deposited by atomic layer deposition. Mater. Sci. Engineer. B 284, 115850 (2022).
Molecular Electronics in Functionalised Purines: a Fundamental Study and Applications (MEPS). Lithuania-Latvia-Taiwan collaboration project. Prof. S. Juršėnas. 2022–2024.
The goal of this interdisciplinary project is to create multifunctional photosensitive charge/electron/energy transfer systems bearing a purine core to produce molecular scale functions for chemical sensing, bio-imaging, and photo-catalysis accomplished by an international consortium involving Lithuanian, Latvian, and Taiwanese teams.
Using the Smart Matrix Approach to Enhance TADF-OLED Efficiency and Lifetime (TADF-life). (H2020-MSCA-ITN) Marie Skladowska-Curie Innovative Training Networks. Prof. S. A. Juršėnas, Dr K. Kazlauskas. 2018-2022.
The project aimed to simultaneously maximise TADF OLED efficiency and, critically, lifetime. Addressing such a multifaceted and complex issue is of critical importance to the development of the OLED industry (11 partners).
Main publication:
1. Rodella, F.; Saxena, R.; Bagnich, S.; Banevičius, D.; Kreiza, G.; Athanasopoulos, S.; Juršėnas, S. A.; Kazlauskas, K.; Köhler, A.; Strohriegl, P. Low Efficiency Roll-off Blue TADF OLEDs Employing a Novel Acridine–Pyrimidine Based High Triplet Energy Host. J. Mater. Chem. C 2021, 9 (48), 17471–17482.
European Network on Future Generation Optical Wireless Communication Technologies. COST, CA19111. Dr A. Zabiliūtė-Karaliūnė, Dr P. Vitta. 2020-2024.
Towards Understanding and Modelling Intense Electronic Excitation (TUMIEE). European TD COST Action CA17126. MC member from Lithuania, Prof. G. Tamulaitis. 2019–2022.
TUMIEE aims to establish an interdisciplinary network that brings together experts from different fields of interest to develop models of intense electronic excitations.
Contractual Research
Characterisation of Materials for UWBG LEAP: Ultra-Wide Bandgap Laser Addressable Photoconductors. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA). Dr V. Grivickas, 2022-2024. The research aims to prescribe technical developments, such as the use of characterisation techniques to gather data on the provided samples. It also involves the analysis, appropriate material models, and an interpretation of the results in the context of basic research available for three UWBG materials targeted in these investigations: diamond, Ga2O3, and AlN.
MOCVD Growth of III-N Semiconductor Layers on Si(100) Templates. IQE plc (USA department). Dr T. Grinys, 2022-2023. The research focuses on the development of the MOCVD growth technology of III-N semiconductor layers on templates provided by IQE plc. The templates include twisted Sc2O3 on Si and III-N on twisted Sc2O3 on Si grown by MBE. The MOCVD-grown III-N will be characterised by SEM, AFM, and XRD. The target parameters of the research objects are thickness more than 0.5 um, surface roughness less than 1.5 nm, and (0002) XRD RC peak FWHM less than 1 degree.
Prototype of Antimicrobial Photoinactivation for Protection Against the Fungi Phytopathogens in Greenhouses. MITA High Technology Development project (2021-2022), (AFIP). Greenhouses used in agriculture provide protection from harsh weather conditions but create an environment ideal for fungi pathogens. Therefore, the aim of this project is to develop a prototype system of antimicrobial photoinactivation that is suitable for industrial applications for the protection against fungi phytopathogens. Natural environmentally-safe photosensitive chemical compounds, together with proper artificial illumination for excitation, are employed to create an antimicrobial effect. The prototype that is intended to be developed is a continuation of the comprehensive research already carried out at Vilnius University. Two industrial partners will help to develop an industrial prototype, to test and demonstrate it on a real farm, and prepare it for market entrance. It is planned to start from the already available model and finish with the prototype demonstration in an industrial strawberry farm.
Small contracts form Lighting industry in Lithuania.
MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION) PARTNERS
Acros Organics B.V.B.A. (Belgium)
Advinus Therapeutics PVT Ltd. (India)
Aixtron AG (Germany)
Alfa Aesar, Avocado Research Chemicals Ltd. (UK)
Alfa Aesar GmbH & Co. KG (Germany)
Alkali Metals Ltd. (India)
Apollo Scientific Ltd. (UK)
AppliChem GmbH (Germany)
Austin Chemical Company, Inc. (USA)
BCH Research L.L.P. (USA)
BCR GmbH & Co. KG (Germany)
Belarussian State University (Belarus)
Centre of Organic Electronics and Photonics Research, Kyushu University (Japan)
Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology (Lithuania)
Chemosyntha N.V. (Belgium)
Chukan Butsu Ltd. (Japan)
CM Fine Chemicals GmbH (Switzerland)
CMS Chemicals Ltd. (UK)
Collaboration on Development of Radiation Hard Semiconductor Devices for Very High Luminosity Colliders (RD50) at CERN
Crystal Clear Collaboration (RD18) at CERN
DKSH Switzerland Ltd. (Switzerland)
Durham University (UK)
Elite Inter-Chem FZC (United Arab Emirates)
Fraunhofer ISC (Germany)
Frinton Laboratories, Inc. (USA)
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt (Germany)
IMEC (Belgium)
Institute of High Pressure Physics (Poland)
International Centre For Genetic Engineering And Biotechnology (India)
IQE plc (USA)
JSC Ledigma (Lithuania)
JSC Gaudrė (Lithuania)
JSC MKDS (Lithuania)
JSC Tikslioji sintezė (Lithuania)
Kaunas University of Technology (Lithuania)
Kindchem (Nanjing) Co., Ltd. (China)
KISCO Deutschland GmbH (Germany)
KISCO Tokyo Ltd. (Japan)
Korea University (South Korea)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (USA)
MBraun Inertgas-Systeme GmbH (Germany)
Merck KGaA (Germany)
Mirae Interchem Co. Ltd. (South Corea)
MIT, Nanoelectronics laboratory (USA)
National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) (Japan)
National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS) (Japan)
Niche Materials Ltd. (UK)
Organica Feinchemie GmbH Wolfen (Germany)
OSRAM Opto Semiconductors (Germany)
Panslavia Chemicals LLC (USA)
Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse, France)
Picosun Oy (Finland)
PPW "AWAT" Spolka z o. o (Poland)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy NY, USA)
Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden)
School of Polymer Science and Engineering University of Southern Mississippi (USA)
Sensor Electronic Technology Inc. (USA)
Sigma-Aldrich Logistik GmbH (Germany)
Sumitomo Shoji Chemicals Co. Ltd. (Japan)
Synthon Chemicals GmbH & Co.KG (Germany)
Taiwan National University
TCI Europe NV (Belgium)
TOPGAN (Poland)
Translucent Inc. (USA)
UCB Pharma SA (Belgium)
Ukrorgsyntez Ltd. (Ukraine)
University of Alicante (Spain)
University of Bayreuth (Germany)
University of Bordeaux (France)
OTHER RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
Dr V. Bikbajevas
• member of the Lithuanian Material Research Society (LtMRS),
http://www.ltmrs.lt/lt/nariai/;
• member of the Lithuanian Physical Society.
Dr T. Čeponis
• VU Team Leader at CERN RD50 (Development of Radiation Hard Semiconductor Devices for Very High Luminosity Colliders) program activities.
https://greybook.cern.ch/institute/detail/experiments?id=066211
Dr V. Grivickas
• vice president of the Lithuanian Materials Research Society (LtMRS), http://www.ltmrs.lt/lt/nariai/.
Prof. S. A. Juršėnas
• member of the Lithuanian Material Research Society (LtMRS),
http://www.ltmrs.lt/lt/nariai/.
• Member of Agency for Science, Innovation and Technology Technological Development Committee
https://mita.lrv.lt/lt/struktura-ir-kontaktai/struktura
Prof. G. Tamulaitis
• member of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences,
http://www.lma.lt/members-of-the-academy;
• member of the European Physical Society Energy Group,
http://epsenergygroup.eu/frontend/index.php;
• member of the Lithuanian Material Research Society (LtMRS),
http://www.ltmrs.lt/lt/nariai/;
• Member of All European Academies (ALLEA) Working Group on the ERA
https://allea.org/
Dr R. Tomašiūnas
• member of the Technical Committee 73 Nanotechnologies, Lithuanian Standards Board;
• member of the Lithuanian Material Research Society (LtMRS), http://www.ltmrs.lt/lt/nariai/;
• editorial board member of the journal Science and Technology Indonesia,
• Editorial Team | Science and Technology Indonesia (sciencetechindonesia.com);
BEST REPORTS DELIVERED AT CONFERENCES ABROAD
1. K. Badokas, D. Augulis, A. Kadys, J. Mickevičius, I. Ignatjev, B. Šebeka, M. Skapas, G. Juška, T. Malinauskas. Remote epitaxy of GaN via graphene on GaN/sapphire templates. International Workshop on Nitride Semiconductors, October 10-14 d., 2022, Berlin, Germany.
2. T. Malinauskas. Remote epitaxy of GaN via graphene on GaN/sapphire Templates. Workshop on Advance Epitaxy for Freestanding Membranes and 2D Materials, July 8-9 d., 2022, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.
MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS RECEIVED FOR R&D ACTIVITIES
1. Dr T. Čeponis, prof. E. Gaubas, prof. J.V. Vaitkus were awarded the Lithuanian National Science Prize (2021). Awarded in 2022.
2. G. Tamulaitis, S. Nargelas, A. Vaitkevičius, Y. Talochka, A. Vasil‘ev, V. Mechinsky, M. Korjik, E. Auffray, Transient Optical Absorption Technique as a Tool for Routine and In-depth Characterization of Fast Scintillators, 16th Int. Conference on Scintillating Materials & their Applications, September 19-23, 2022, Santa Fe, USA (keynote)
3. S. Nargelas, Y. Talochka, A. Vaitkevičius, G. Tamulaitis, Influence of matrix composition on excitation relaxation and emission spectrum of Ce ions in (GdxY1-x)3Al2Ga3O12:Ce scintillators, September 19-23, 2022, Santa Fe, USA (oral)
4. G. Tamulaitis, S. Nargelas, M. Korjik, E. Auffray, Scintillator response time probed at femtosecond photoexcitation, Workshop of Fast Timing in Medical Imaging, Valencia, Spain, June 3-5, 2022 (oral)
5. G. Tamulaitis, S. Nargelas, Y. Talochka, A. Vaitkevičius, Fast Excitation Relaxation in Heavily-Doped Lead Tungstate Scintillators, IEEE Nuclear Science Symposium, November 5-11, 2022, Milano, Italy (oral).
MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
1. Dr T. Čeponis, prof. E. Gaubas, prof. J.V. Vaitkus: participation in TV show "Mokslo ekspresas. Kaip suvaldyti radioaktyviąsias daleles?"
https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/2000211606/mokslo-ekspresas-kaip-suvaldyti-radioaktyviasias-daleles
2. Dr T. Čeponis participated in VU event "VU INNODAY 2022" where he presented the technology devoted for brachytherapy planning and verification which is being developed by the group of Photoelectric Phenomena. https://www.vu.lt/verslui/inovacijos-ir-moksliniai-tyrimai/inovaciju-klubas#innoday-2022
MAIN SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2022
1. Thorough emitter purification combined with the melt-processing technique was demonstrated to be a key for the realisation of highly efficient (=8%) and fully-solid large-area amorphous photon upconverting (UC) films with the UC threshold (=5 mW/cm2) close to solar irradiance. The presented approach describes the guidelines for boosting UC efficiency in the solid state and, in general, is applicable to any conventional TTA-UC system.
2. An asymmetric carbazole-donor motif in a donor-acceptor TADF emitter was shown to facilitate the spin-flip process enabling high-efficiency OLEDs (external quantum efficiency of 21%) with a reduced efficiency roll-off to be created.
INSTITUTE OF THEORETICAL PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY
3 Saulėtekio av., LT-10257 Vilnius
Tel. +370 5 223 4636
E-mail: tfai @ tfai.vu.lt
Director – Dr Habil. Gražina Tautvaišienė
STAFF
Distinguished professor: Habil. Dr G. Juzeliūnas
Professors: Dr E. Anisimovas, Habil. Dr A. Bartkevičius (affiliated), Habil. Dr R. Karazija (affiliated), Prof. Dr A. Kučinskas (part-time), Habil. Dr G. Tautvaišienė (part-time), Prof. Dr (HP) V. Vansevičius (part-time).
Research professors: Dr K. Černis, Dr A. Deltuva, Prof. Habil. Dr G. Gaigalas, Dr (HP) V. Gontis, Doc. Dr V. Jonauskas, Dr H. Kjeldsen, Prof. Dr A. Kučinskas (part-time), Habil. Dr L. Piliugin, Habil. Dr G. Tautvaišienė (part-time).
Associate professors: Dr A. Drazdauskas (part-time), Doc. Dr T. Gajdosik, Dr Š. Mikolaitis (part-time), Dr D. Narbutis (part-time), Dr R. Stonkutė (part-time), Dr K. Zubovas (part-time), Doc. Dr D. Šatkovskienė (affiliated).
Senior researchers: Doc. Dr A. Acus, Dr A. Drazdauskas (part-time), Dr C. von Essen, Dr R. Janulis, Dr A. Juodagalvis, Habil. Dr V. Gineitytė (affiliated), Dr D. Jurčiukonis, Dr R. Juršėnas, Dr R. Karpuškienė, Habil. Dr B. Kaulakys (part-time), Dr A. Kazlauskas (affiliated), Dr R. Kisielius, Doc. Dr A. Kynienė, Dr A. Kononovičius, Dr S. Kučas, Dr Š. Masys, Dr Š. Mikolaitis (part-time), Dr R. Minkevičiūtė, Prof. Dr (HP) E. Norvaišas (affiliated), Dr V. Novičenko, Dr E. Pakštienė, Dr L. Radžiūtė, Dr V. Regelskis, Dr P. Rynkun, Dr J. Sperauskas (afiliated), Dr E. Stonkutė, Dr J. Tamulienė, Dr A. Vektarienė, Dr G. Vektaris (affiliated), Dr C. von Essen, Dr J. Zdanavičius.
Researchers: Dr Y. Chorniy , Dr V. Čepas (part-time), Dr V. Dobrovolskas, Dr V. Dūdėnas, Dr H. R. Hamedi, Dr R. Kazakevičius, Dr J. Klevas, Dr V. Kudriašov (part-time), Dr M. Maskoliūnas, Dr A. Mekys (part-time), Dr A. Momkauskaitė, Dr M. Mackoit-Sinkevičienė, Dr C. Viscasillas Vazquez, Dr Vincentas Mulevičius (from 2022-12-01)
Research assistants: E. Kolomiecas, M. Račiūnas, S. Raudeliūnas (part-time), G. Žlabys.
Project-specialists: M. Ambrozas (part-time), V. Bagdonas (part-time), D. Burba (part-time), S. Draukšas (part-time), E. Gvozdiovas (part-time), M. Račiūnas (part-time), G. Žlabys (part-time).
Doctoral students: M. Ambrosch, M. Ambrozas, B. Bale, Y. Braver, S. Draukšas, E. Gvozdiovas, E. Kolomiecas, J. Koncevičiūtė, E. Lediniauskas, A. Sharma, R. Skorulskienė, R. Urbonavičiūtė, A. Vitkus.
Non-academic staff: V. Bagdonas (part-time), V. Kakarienė (part-time), B. Kavaliauskienė, S. Leišis (part-time), S. Lovčikas, R. Mikutavičienė, Ž. Naimovičienė, R. Urbonavičiūtė (part-time).
RESEARCH AREAS
• Analysis of Atoms
• Subatomic Particles or their Ensembles
• Complex Systems,
• Electromagnetic Radiation
• Cosmic Objects
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Galactic structure and chemodynamical evolution of stellar populations
• Chemical composition and mixing phenomena in stellar atmospheres
• Convection and non-equilibrium radiative transfer in stellar atmospheres
• Stellar asteroseismology
• Planet-hosting stars and exoplanet transits
• Structure and evolution of galaxies
• Search and positional observations of comets and asteroids
• Theoretical atomic spectroscopy
• Algorithms and computer programs for plasma physics, astrophysics, and other fields
• Application of quantum mechanics and electrodynamics for transitions in atoms, molecules, and molecular complexes
• Interactions of atoms and molecules with electrons and radiation
• Theoretical investigation of the crystalline and electronic structure of perovskite crystals
• Algebraic techniques for nuclear and particle physics
• Analysis of pp collision data recorded at the CERN CMS experiment
• Neutrinos in the extended Standard Model
• Scattering processes in few-body nuclear systems
• Quantum optics and ultra-cold atoms
• Bose-Einstein condensates
• Condensed matter systems
• Quantum chemistry
• Complexity and statistical physics applications in economics, finance, and other social sciences
• Fluctuations and noise, theory of 1/f noise
RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2022
Projects Supported by the University Budget
Chemical Composition of Stars and Exoplanets, and the Chemical Evolution of the Galaxy. Dr (HP) G. Tautvaišienė. 2021–2025.
We reviewed some observational results obtained during the last decade that contributed to a better understanding of the stellar asymptotic giant branch phase: the growth of s-process abundances in recent epochs, i.e., in the youngest stellar populations; the different relations between age and [s/Fe] in distinct regions of the disc; and finally, the use of s-process abundances combined with those of α-elements, [s/α], to estimate stellar ages. We revised some implications of these observations on stellar and Galactic evolution and our ability to infer stellar ages. Also, we studied the stellar mass–metallicity relation of an extended sample of star-forming galaxies in the local Universe and its possible dependence on the star formation rate.
Main publications:
1. Magrini, Laura, Viscasillas Vázquez, Carlos, Casali, Giada, Baratella, Martina, D'Orazi, Valentina, Spina, Lorenzo, Randich, Sofia, Cristallo, Sergio, and Vescovi, Diego, The Abundance of S-Process Elements: Temporal and Spatial Trends from Open Cluster Observations, 2022, Universe, 8, 64.
2. Duarte Puertas, S., Vilchez, J. M., Iglesias-Páramo, J., Mollá, M., Pérez-Montero, E., Kehrig, C., Pilyugin, L. S., and Zinchenko, I. A., Mass-metallicity and star formation rate in galaxies: A complex relation tuned to stellar age, 2022, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 666, A186.
3. Pilyugin, L. S., Lara-Lopez, M. A., Vilchez, J. M., Duarte Puertas, S., Zinchenko, I. A., Dors Jr., O. L., Calibration-based abundances in the interstellar gas of galaxies from slit and IFU spectra, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 668, A5
Star Formation and Dust Clouds in the Orion and Perseus Arms of the Galaxy. Prof. V. Straižys. 2021–2022.
Two open star clusters, 'Berkley 86' and 'Berkley 87', were investigated using the photometry of stars in the Vilnius seven-colour photometric system and the astrometric data from the Gaia Space Observatory of ESA. Photometric spectral classes, luminosities and interstellar extinctions are determined for stars down to V = 19.0 mag. Members of the clusters are identified applying their proper motions, parallaxes and distances taken from the Gaia DR3 catalogue. In the area of Berkeley 86, we have observed 1085 stars, among which approximately 740 have a classification quality σQ better than 0.05. The region of Berkeley 87 contains roughly two times fewer stars in the same sized 13×13 arc min field – we have observed 502 stars there. It is evident that in the direction of both clusters, the steep rise of the extinction up to 2 mag happens at 600-800 pc. The character of extinction at greater distances is different: while in the direction of Berkeley 86, the following rise is quite moderate up to 3-3.5 mag at 3 kpc, whereas in the direction of Berkeley 87, the steep rise continues up to∼4.5-5 mag. New parameters of the clusters were obtained. Both clusters are almost equidistant – about 1.7 kpc and are of similar ages of 5-10 Myr. The analysis shows a steep increase in the extinction at 500-600 pc, which is related to the dust clouds in the Great Cygnus Rift.
Main publication:
1. Boyle, R. P., Janusz, R., Straižys, V., Černis, K. , Zdanavičius, J., Raudeliūnas, S., Kazlauskas, A. Two young clusters in Cygnus. BAAS, 54, No. 6. , 3 (2022).
Magnetohydrodynamical Phenomena and Radiative Transfer in Stellar Atmospheres. Prof. Dr A. Kučinskas. 2020–2024.
We studied the abundances of the s-process element Zr in the atmospheres of red giant branch stars of the Galactic globular cluster (GGC) 47 Tuc. We find that Zr abundance is weakly correlated with that of Na. The obtained results suggest that the s-process elements have possibly been synthesised by the same polluters that enriched the second population stars with light elements. Potential candidate polluters were proposed. Also, we studied a photospheric solar silicon abundance derived using CO5BOLD model atmospheres and the LINFOR3D spectral synthesis code. We additionally showed the effects of the chosen line sample, broadening due to velocity fields, collisional broadening, model spatial resolution, and magnetic fields. The synthetic spectra were fit to observations in the Hamburg solar atlas. We derived a photospheric solar silicon abundance taking into account a correction from Non-Local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) effects.
Main publications:
1. Kolomiecas, E., Dobrovolskas, V., Kučinskas, A., Bonifacio, P., Korotin, S. Abundance of zirconium in the globular cluster 47 Tuc: a possible Zr-Na correlation? 2022, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 660, A46.
2. Deshmukh, S. A., Ludwig, H. -G., Kučinskas, A., Steffen, M., Barklem, P. S., Caffau, E., Dobrovolskas, V., Bonifacio, P. The solar photospheric silicon abundance according to CO5BOLD. Investigating line broadening, magnetic fields, and model effects. 2022, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 668, A48.
Stochastic Effects in Stellar Systems. Prof. Dr (HP) V. Vansevičius. 2019–2023.
Research activities were carried out in three main areas: 1) studies of stochastic star formation history in the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A; 2) studies of star clusters in the Andromeda galaxy (a new method of stochastic cluster classification was developed); and 3) studies of active galactic nucleus luminosity histories (a neural network-based approach was proposed).
Main publications:
1. Leščinskaitė, R. Stonkutė, V. Vansevičius. Recent star formation history of the dwarf irregular galaxy Leo A. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 660, id.A79, 10 pp. (2022).
2. R. Stonkutė, V. Vansevičius. Dwarf Irregular Galaxy Leo A. II. Suprime-Cam R and Hα Stellar Photometry. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, Vol. 259, id.6, 5 pp. (2022).
3. K. Zubovas, J. Bialopetravičius, M. Kazlauskaitė. Determining active galactic nucleus luminosity histories using present-day outflow properties: a neural network-based approach. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Vol. 515, pp. 1705-1722 (2022).
Astrometry and Photometry of Hazard Asteroids. Dr K. Černis. 2021–2025.
Twenty-two new asteroids have been discovered. A new large TNO object, 2021 XD7, has been discovered and confirmed; it was observed, and its astrometry and photometry were measured in 2022. New precise orbits of two NEO objects were determined. We published around 11,000 astrometric positions of 1,700 asteroids. Kuiper Belt, Near Earth Objects, Main Belt asteroids and comets were observed with the 0.35/0.51 m Maksutov telescope (Molėtai Observatory), with the 0.80/1.20 m Schmidt telescope (Baldone Observatory, Latvia) and with the 1.83 m Vatican telescope (Mt. Graham, Arizona, U.S.A.). The new, precise orbits of 26 comets discovered at the Vilnius observatory and 30 asteroids discovered in the Vatican observatory were determined. We studied the orbital evolution of comet periodic 322P/SOHO discovered in Vilnius with and without non-gravitational effects. It turned out that many of the comet’s orbital clones go into and out of retrograde orbits, sometimes repeatedly. The reason for such dramatic changes in the inclination of the orbit is the origin of comet 322P, close to mean motion resonance 3:1 with Jupiter. Noctilucent clouds were observed in the summertime from the Vilnius ITPA station. Four asteroids were named by Mažvydas (309206), Daukantas (592249), Karazija (363706), and Rietavas (604827).
Main publications:
1. K. Černis, R. P. Boyle. The discovery of new TNO object 2021 XD7 in Mt. Graham Observatory (Code 290). M.P.E.C. 2022-T132 (Oct. 12).
2. Wlodarczyk, K. Černis, R. P. Boyle. Observational data and orbits of the asteroids discovered at the VATT Observatory in 2010-2012. Bulg. A. J., 37 (2022).
3. Wlodarczyk, K. Černis. Observational data and orbits of the comets discovered at the Vilnius Observatory in 1980-2006 and the case of comet P/322. Open Astron., 31, 244 (2022).
Multielectron Processes in Complex Atomic Systems. Dr V. Jonauskas. 2019–2023.
Emission produced by radiative and Auger cascade following the creation of the K-shell vacancy in the iodine atom is investigated by considering transitions among subconfigurations. Multiple photoionisation is analysed as a result of radiative and Auger cascade following ionisation by a photon from the 2s and 2p subshells. Transformed radial orbitals with the quasi-relativistic approach were applied to investigate the spectral properties of the W30+ ion. The structures of 30 paramagnetic defects were modelled by introducing them into hydrogenated nanodiamonds of C84 size and performing geometry optimisation.
Main publications:
1. R. Karpuškienė, R. Kisielius. Theoretical level energies and transition data for 4p6 4d8, 4p5 4d9 and 4p6 4d74f configurations of W30+ ion. Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables 143, 101478 (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.adt.2021.101478
2. S. Kučas, A. Kynienė, Š. Masys, V. Jonauskas, Multiple photoionization for the 2s subshell in the iron atom, Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 516, 3113–3119 (2022). DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac2461
3. S. Kučas, A. Momkauskaitė, A. Kynienė, Š. Masys, V. Jonauskas, Evaluation of radiative and Auger electron emission following K-shell vacancy creation in iodine, J. Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 288, 108249 (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2022.108249
Correlation and Relativistic Effects in Complex Atoms and Ions. Prof. G. Gaigalas. 2020–2024.
Energy spectra calculations were conducted for 225 levels for the Ce3+ ion. The root-mean-square deviations obtained for the GRASP2018 energy levels of the 5p6nl configurations from the NIST data are 1270 cm−1. Furthermore, E1 transition data, line strengths, weighted oscillator strengths, and transition rates were computed between the above levels. Also, the accuracy of the transition parameters was evaluated by analysing the dependencies of the line strength S on the gauge parameter G. Using this data, the opacities in the neutron star merger ejecta were also calculated.
Main publications:
1. P. Rynkun, S. Banerjee, G. Gaigalas, M. Tanaka, L. Radžiūtė, and D. Kato. Theoretical Investigation of Energy Levels and Transition for Ce IV, Astronomy & Astrophysics 658, A82 (2022). (https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202141513)
2. G. Gaigalas, P. Rynkun, S. Banerjee, M. Tanaka, D. Kato, and L. Radžiūtė, Theoretical investigation of energy levels and transitions for Pr IV, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 517, 281-293 (2022). (https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac2401)
3. J. Q. Li, C. Y. Zhang, G. Del Zanna, P. Jönsson, M. Godefroid, G. Gaigalas, P. Rynkun, L. Radžiūtė, K. Wang, R. Si, and C. Y. Chen, Large-scale Multiconfiguration Dirac–Hartree–Fock Calculations for Astrophysics: C-like Ions from O III to Mg VII, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 260, 50 (2022). (https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/ac63ae)
Theoretical Study of Light Nuclei and Elementary Particles. Dr A. Deltuva. 2021–2025.
Dimer-dimer scattering in the system of four He-4 atoms was described using the newly proposed 'softening and extrapolation' method to include realistic potentials. Delta-isobar effects in the electrodisintegration of He-3 were shown to be sizable for inclusive asymmetries in special kinematic regimes. Explicit formulas for exponents and logarithms were obtained for diagonalisable multivectors of arbitrary Cl(p,q) Clifford algebras. Bethe vectors for twisted Yangian-based models were studied, and recurrence relations were obtained.
Main publications:
1. Deltuva. Signatures of the Delta isobar in spin observables of He-3 electrodisintegration. Physics Letters B 835 (2022) 137552
2. V. Regelskis. Algebraic Bethe Ansatz for spinor R-matrices, SciPost Phys. 12, 067 (2022)
A. Deltuva. Four-body system of 4 He atoms: Dimer-dimer scattering. PHYSICAL REVIEW A 105, 043310 (2022)
Topological and Kinetic Properties of Cold Atoms and Condensed Molecular Systems. Dr (HP) G. Juzeliūnas, 2022–2026.
A symmetrical two-dimensional electromagnetically induced grating has been theoretically studied for a four-level N-type atomic system. The interaction of light with a two-level system has been investigated in a hybrid cavity system. 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine vibrational spectrum has been investigated, aiming to evaluate the activation energies of methyl group rotation. The influence of acetonitrile and ethyl acetate on the fluorescence of tirapazamine has been studied with a different number of oxygen atoms. It is shown that the Weyl family determines a boundary triple.
Main publications:
1. Seyyed Hossein Asadpour, Hamid R. Hamedi, Teodora Kirova, and Emmanuel Paspalakis, Two-dimensional electromagnetically induced phase grating via composite vortex light, Phys. Rev. A 105, 043709 (2022).
2. Ziauddin, Muqaddar Abbas, Ayesha Basharat, You-Lin Chaung, Zahida Ehsan & Hamid R. Hamedi, Two-color transparency in a hybrid photothermal cavity system, The European Physical Journal Plus 137, 909 (2022).
3. J. Sarlauskas, K. Tulaiteand J. Tamuliene, Investigation of oxygen influence to the optical properties of tirapazamine, J. Mol. Model. 28(4):96 (2022) doi: 10.1007/s00894-022-05085-z.
Complex Nonlinear Phenomena in Stochastic Physical and Social Systems. Dr (HP) V. Gontis. 2022–2025.
The order disbalance time series constructed from the limit order book data of the financial markets was investigated from the general fractional Lévy stable motion perspective. The results suggest that previous findings of persistence in order flow could be related to the power-law distribution of order sizes and other deviations from the normal distribution. The statistical properties of a temporal point process driven by a confined fractional Brownian motion were analysed. The event count distribution and power spectral density of this non-Markovian point process exhibit power-law scaling. This result indicates a possible link between nonlinearity and apparent non-Markovian behaviour.
Main publications:
1. V. Gontis. Order flow in the financial markets from the perspective of the Fractional Lévy stable motion. Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation 105, 2022, psl. 106087.
2. A. Kononovicius, R. Kazakevičius, B. Kaulakys. Resemblance of the power-law scaling behavior of a non-Markovian and nonlinear point processes. Chaos, Solitons & Fractals 162, 112508 (2022).
National Research Projects
Stellar and Exoplanet Investigations in the Context of the TESS and JWST Space Missions. Global Grant research project (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0103). Dr (HP) G. Tautvaišienė. 2018–2022.
In fulfilling the aims of the NASA planetary and asteroseismic research mission 'Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite' (TESS), we have observed high-resolution spectra for all 848 bright (V < 8 mag) stars that are cooler than F5 spectral class in the area up to 12 deg surrounding the northern TESS continuous viewing zone; we have uniformly determined the main atmospheric parameters, ages, orbital parameters, velocity components, and precise abundances of up to 24 chemical species. The analysis of 25 planet-hosting stars in our sample drove us to the following conclusions: the dwarf stars hosting high-mass planets are more metal-rich than those with low-mass planets. We find slightly negative C/O and Mg/Si slopes toward the stars with high-mass planets. All the low-mass planet hosts in our sample show positive Δ[El/Fe] versus condensation temperature slopes, in particular, the star with the largest number of various planets. The high-mass planet hosts have a diversity of slopes, but in more metal-rich, older, and cooler stars, the positive elemental abundance slopes are more common.
Main publications:
1. Tautvaišienė, G., Mikolaitis, Š., Drazdauskas, A., Stonkutė, E., Minkevičiūtė, R., Pakštienė, E., Kjeldsen, H., Brogaard, K., Chorniy, Y., von Essen, C., Grundahl, F., Ambrosch, M., Bagdonas, V., Sharma, A., and Viscasillas Vázquez, C., Chemical Composition of Bright Stars in the Northern Hemisphere: Star-Planet Connection, 2022, The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series, 259, 45.
2. Huber, Daniel, … Kjeldsen, Hans, … Pakštienė, Erika et al., A 20 Second Cadence View of Solar-type Stars and Their Planets with TESS: Asteroseismology of Solar Analogs and a Recharacterization of π Men c, 2022, The Astronomical Journal, 163, 79.
Quantum Engineering in Cold Atomic Gasses. Global Grant research project (No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0051) Prof. E. Anisimovas, 2018 – 2022.
The method of flow equations was generalised to describe quantum systems subject to a time-periodic drive with a time-dependent envelope. In this approach, the time evolution of the system is described in terms of the phase-independent effective Hamiltonian and the complementary micromotion operator that are generated by deriving and solving the flow equations. These equations implement the evolution with respect to an auxiliary flow variable and facilitate a gradual transformation of the quasienergy matrix into a block-diagonal form in the extended space.
Main publication:
1. V. Novičenko, G. Žlabys, and E. Anisimovas, Flow-equation approach to quantum systems driven by an amplitude-modulated time-periodic force, Physical Review A 105, 012203 (2022).
Optical Control of Ultracold Atoms. Research group project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (S-MIP-20-36). 2020–2023.
Prof. Dr G. Juzeliūnas. Topological charge pumping was studied in subwavelength Raman lattices. By introducing an adiabatically varied phase in the driving protocol, Thouless pumping was demonstrated in a time crystalline structure.
Main publications:
1. Y. Braver, C.-h. Fan, G. Žlabys, E. Anisimovas, and K. Sacha, Two-dimensional Thouless pumping in time-space crystalline structures, Physical Review B 106, 144301 (2022).
2. D. Burba, M. Račiūnas, I. B. Spielman and G. Juzeliūnas, Topological charge pumping with subwavelength Raman lattices, arXiv:2210.05515 (Submitted to Phys. Rev. A).
Spin-Orbit Coupling for the Generation of Non-trivial Quantum Correlations in Ultra-Cold Atomic Systems. Research project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (S-LL-21-3) for scientific collaboration between Lithuanian and Polish scientists. Project leader Gediminas Juzeliūnas.
It was shown that one-axis twisting and two-axis counter-twisting mechanisms of squeezing mechanisms can be generated for ultracold atomic fermions in the Mott insulating phase by a position-dependent laser coupling of atomic internal states.
Main publication:
T. Hernández Yanes, M. Płodzień, M. Mackoit Sinkevičienė, G. Žlabys, G. Juzeliūnas, E. Witkowska, Phys. Rev. Lett. 129, 090403 (2022).
Coherent Optical Control of Atomic Systems. Research project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania for scientific collaboration between Lithuanian, Latvian, and Taiwanese scientists (2022-2024).
Project leader Gediminas Juzeliūnas. During the first year of the project, the behaviour of an Electromagnetically Induced Grating was investigated in a four-level quantum system located near a plasmonic nanostructure. This study shows a simple scheme for double control over the diffraction efficiency of the two-dimensional grating by utilising both the winding number of the vortex field and the distance between the quantum system and the plasmonic nanostructure as control knobs. A paper on this subject has been submitted for publication.
Few-Cluster Nuclear Reactions: Towards the Many-Body Problem. Research project funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (S-MIP-22-72). Dr A. Deltuva. 2022–2025.
Proton scattering on the He-3 nucleus at intermediate energies was calculated using rigorous momentum-space integral equations for transition operators. The Delta-isobar effects on the differential cross section and spin-correlation coefficients were evaluated and compared with the experimental data.
Main publication:
1. A. Watanabe, S. Nakai, K. Sekiguchi, A. Deltuva, et al. Spin correlation coefficient for proton-He-3 elastic scattering at 100 MeV. PHYSICAL REVIEW C 106, 054002 (2022)
Polish-Lithuanian Black Hole Hunt (S-LL-19-2). Research Council of Lithuania. Dr M. Maskoliūnas. 2019–2022.
Within the frame of the project, ground-based photometric follow-up observations – 'Gaia Alerts' (GA) – of objects with the telescopes of Molėtai Astronomy Observatory (MAO) have been carried out. Members of the project arranged the observation programme and data analysis of each observation item. The 2022 campaign of MAO observations resulted in more than 350 measurement points necessary for a drawing of 17 objects’ light curves. All the observation data are placed in the 'Cambridge Photometric Calibration Server' (CPCS) – a system for compiling all of the GA photometric data from various telescopes.
Main publications:
1. Kruszyńska, K.; Wyrzykowski, Ł.; Rybicki, K. A.; Maskoliūnas, M.; ... Stankevičiūtė, A.; Čepas, V.; Pakštienė, E.; Šiškauskaitė, K.; Zdanavičius, J.; et al. Lens parameters for Gaia18cbf a long gravitational microlensing event in the Galactic plane, 2022, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 662, 59.
2. Rybicki, K. A.; ... Maskoliunas, M.; Pakstiene, E.; Ratajczak, M.; Stankeviciute, A.; Zdanavicius, J.; Ziółkowska, O. Single-lens mass measurement in the high-magnification microlensing event Gaia19bld located in the Galactic disc, 2022, Astronomy & Astrophysics, 657, 18.
Theoretical multipole interference study for gravitational wave sources. Research Council of Lithuania postdoctoral fellowship (Nr. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-19-0080). Dr L. Radžiūtė, Supervisor Prof. Dr G. Gaigalas. 2020–2022.
Accurate energy levels for Sb-like: Sb I–Cs VI were presented using MCDHF and RCI methods. The accuracy of E1 and E2-type transition was investigated using quantitative and qualitative evaluation methodology. Special attention was paid to the Te II because of its importance to the opacity investigation. Also, the most suitable elements for the multipole interference, according to the admixing coefficient, were found. The accuracy of expected and unexpected transitions was evaluated using a new methodology.
Main publication:
1. L. Radžiūtė, G. Gaigalas, Energy levels and transition properties for As-like ions Se II, Br III, Kr IV, Rb V, and Sr VI, Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables, 147, 101515 (2022). (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adt.2022.101515)
Study of the Grimus-Neufeld Model. Research Council of Lithuania postdoctoral fellowship (Nr. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-19-0013). Dr V. Dūdėnas; Supervisor Assoc. Prof. Dr Thomas Gajdosik. 2020–2022.
We studied lepton-flavour-violating processes in the Grimus-Neufeld model in the tiny seesaw scenario. We performed parameter scans using Flexible-SUSY to constrain the scalar sector from 2-body and 3-body charged lepton-flavour-violating decays and the neutrino data. We identify the similarities between the Grimus-Neufeld, scotogenic, and the scoto-seesaw models in the limit of the tiny sterile neutrino mass and give the experimental constraints for all these three models in this parameter region. The results of this work have been published in a paper and presented at two conferences.
Main publication:
1. V. Dūdėnas, T. Gajdosik, U. Khasianevich, W. Kotlarski and D. Stöckinger, Charged lepton flavor violating processes in the Grimus-Neufeld model, JHEP 09 (2022) 174, [2206.00661].
Spatially Inhomogeneous Atom-Light Interaction Phenomena. Research Council of Lithuania postdoctoral fellowship (Project No. 09.3.3-LMT-K- 712-19-0031). Dr Hamid R. Hamedi; advisor: Dr (HP) G. Juzeliūnas, 2020–2022.
We considered a method of sub-wavelength superlocalisation and patterning of atomic matter waves via a two-dimensional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage (2D STIRAP) process. The method allows one to circumvent the restriction set by the diffraction limit inherent to conventional methods for the formation of localised solitons, with full control over the position and size of nanometer resolution defects. It has also been shown that the noise-induced coherence created via the quantum interference of incoherent radiation in atomic three-level systems of V and Λ types can result in the exchange of optical vortices.
Main publications:
1. Hamid R. Hamedi, Giedrius Žlabys, Verònica Ahufinger, Thomas Halfmann, Jordi Mompart, and Gediminas Juzeliūnas, Spatially strongly confined atomic excitation via a two dimensional stimulated Raman adiabatic passage, Optics Express Vol. 30, Issue 9, pp. 13915-13930, (2022).
2. Seyyed Hossein Asadpour, Ziauddin, Muqaddar Abbas, and Hamid R. Hamedi, Exchange of orbital angular momentum of light via noise-induced coherence, Phys. Rev. A 105, 033709, (2022).
Non-classical Spin States in Ultracold Atomic Gases. Research Council of Lithuania postdoctoral fellowship (Project No. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-23-0035) Dr Mažena Mackoit-Sinkevičienė; advisor Dr (HP) G. Juzeliūnas. 2021–2023.
We presented a systematic analysis of the open boundary conditions and periodic boundary conditions for the squeezing dynamics. We showed that the open boundary conditions weakly influence the level of best squeezing while decreasing the best squeezing time – a key result from an experimental point of view. A paper on this subject is being prepared.
Main publications:
1. T. Hernández Yanes, G. Žlabys, M. Mackoit Sinkevičienė, M. Płodzień, E. Witkowska and G. Juzeliūnas, Spin-squeezing in the Heisenberg spin chain with open boundary conditions, 2022-2023, in preparation: Quantum journal/SciPost Physics.
Investigation of Long Memory in Complex Multi-State Stochastic Agent Systems. Research Council of Lithuania Postdoctoral Fellowship (Project No. 09.3.3-LMT-K- 712-19-0017). Dr R. Kazakevičius; supervisor Dr V. Gontis, 2020–2022.
The project has been completed, and the summary evaluation of the report is forthcoming. Further exploration of the relationship between multi-state agent models and long memory continued. A multivariate agent model that can be interpreted as a voter model with a time-varying herd parameter has been investigated. The parameter describing the herding behaviour is usually considered to be a random process, but to simplify the problem, the mean estimate of the herding parameter is taken as a stepwise function of time. This simplification made it possible to analytically calculate such indicators of long memory as the distribution of the first passage times and the growth of nonlinear moments over time.
Main publications:
1. As planned, a scientific article was prepared, which was sent and accepted for review in the periodical scientific publication Physical Review E.
Barium and Strontium Abundances in the Metal-Poor Stars as Indicators of Heavy Element Nucleosynthesis in the Early Universe. Research Council of Lithuania postdoctoral fellowship (Nr. 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-19-0172). Dr J. Klevas; supervisor Prof. Dr Arūnas Kučinskas. 2020–2022.
The strontium abundance was investigated in the red giants of Galactic Globular Cluster 47 Tuc using the 1D NLTE spectrum synthesis and 3D LTE-1D LTE abundance corrections. The strontium abundance shows a weak but statistically significant correlation with sodium abundance, which hints towards high-mass asymptotic giant branch stars as possible polluters in 47 Tuc.
Main publication:
1. E. Kolomiecas, J. Klevas, A. Kučinskas1, V. Dobrovolskas, E. Caffau, H.-G. Ludwig, P. Bonifacio, Abundance of strontium in the atmospheres of red giants in Galactic globular cluster 47 Tuc, in preparation: Astronomy & Astrophysics
Lattice Systems in Topological Quantum Field Theories. Research Council of Lithuania postdoctoral fellowship (Nr. S-PD-22-79). Dr V. Mulevičius; supervisor Dr Vidas Regelskis. 2022–2024.
Research started aiming to explore physical systems arising from lattices of interacting excitations inside a topological quantum field theory, provide examples of such systems and define the mathematical tools needed to investigate them.
Outsourcing research project Integrated Science Education in Lithuania: Achievements and Future Perspectives (No. P-REP-21-8, project funded by LMT) Doc. Dr A.Kynienė, 2021–2022.
Having analysed the results of the Lithuanian students’ tests and evaluated them, as well as the questionnaires of teachers, school leaders, and students, it has been possible to draw conclusions and present recommendations. These results will be useful for teachers, curriculum innovators, educational policymakers, and professionals in making decisions to further improve science education at every level: pupil, teacher, classroom, school, municipal, and national.
Investigation of Neutron Capture Chemical Element Yttrium Abundances in Solar Neighbourhood Stars. Students’ summer research practice funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (P-SV-22-108), 2022/07/01 – 2022/08/31.
Student Vilius Bagdonas. Project supervisor Dr (HP) Gražina Tautvaišienė. During the summer practice, the student Vilius Bagdonas collected the necessary information from online astronomical catalogues (2MASS, AllWISE, Gaia EDR3) to derive kinematical parameters and ages for 100 stars in the solar neighbourhood. The investigated stars were attributed to the thin and thick Galactic disks from their kinematics and already published abundances of α chemical elements. Using the spectral synthesis method, out of these 100 stars, yttrium abundances were derived for 93 stars. The results were compared with the theoretical models. The results confirmed that the yttrium and magnesium ratio can be used as a chemical clock for the Galactic thin disc stars.
International Research Projects
EUROPLANET2024 – Research Infrastructure. EC Horizon2020 project (Project No. 871149). Dr (HP) G. Tautvaišienė. 2020–2024.
We were working within the work packages dedicated to on-ground observations and early career training and education. Using observations at the Molėtai Astronomical Observatory, the properties of slowly rotating and serendipitous asteroids were investigated, as well as the transits of exoplanets.
Main publication:
Santos-Sanz P., … Pakštienė E. et al. Physical properties of the trans-Neptunian object (38628) Huya from a multi-chord stellar occultation, 2022, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 664, A130.
Chemical Elements as Tracers of the Evolution of the Cosmos – Infrastructures for Nuclear Astrophysics (ChETEC-INFRA). EC Horizon 2020 project (Grant Agreement No. 101008324). Prof. Dr A. Kučinskas. 2021–2025.
Nuclear astrophysics requires a diverse set of research infrastructures for progress: telescopes for astronomical observations, nuclear laboratories to measure nuclear properties, and supercomputers to compute complex stellar models. The ChETEC-INFRA project (https://www.chetec-infra.eu) networks 13 infrastructures from a variety of European countries. Under the umbrella of this project, three nights were allocated in 2021 at Molėtai Astronomical Observatory (MAO) for the international project aiming to study the origins of s-process elements using the MAO VUES spectrograph. A. Kučinskas leads the ChTEC-INFRA Work Package 5 (WP5) 'Astronuclear Abundances'. A joint ChETEC-INFRA WP5-WP6 workshop was organised on 13 July 2021 (32 participants from 16 countries).
Main publications:
1. Korotin, S., Kučinskas, A. Abundance of beryllium in the Sun and stars: the role of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium effects, 2022, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 657, L11.
2. Cescutti, G., Bonifacio, P., Caffau, E., Monaco, L., Franchini, M., Lombardo, L., Matas Pinto, A. M., Lucertini, F., François, P., Spitoni, E., Lallement, R., Sbordone, L., Mucciarelli, A., Spite, M., Hansen, C. J., Di Marcantonio, P., Kučinskas, A., Dobrovolskas, V., Korn, A. J., Valentini, M., Magrini, L., Cristallo, S., Matteucci, F. MINCE I. The project and the first-year sample were presented. 2022, Astronomy & Astrophysics, in press, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202244515.
The Physics of Subatomic Particles in the CERN CMS Experiment. Project of Lithuanian Cooperation with CERN. The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Dr A. Juodagalvis, since 2008.
Activities at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment focused on the analysis of pp collision data recorded with the CMS detector and the pixel detector prototype testing for the Phase-2 CMS upgrade. The data-driven background estimation procedure for the Drell-Yan differential cross-section measurement using Run-2 CMS data was implemented in the new 'Shears' framework for analysis adopted by the CMS group. Various system tests were done to characterise and calibrate the pixel detector prototype chips; moreover, several data acquisition software routines were improved. Remote DAQ general shifts on the CMS detector were taken. The On-Shell renormalisation scheme for fermion fields, masses, and mixing matrices has been extended to all orders in perturbation theory. A formulation of the On-Shell renormalisation for scalars has been defined to all orders in perturbation theory. Zbb couplings in a left-right model (LRM), two-body lepton-flavour-violating decays in a two-Higgs-doublet model, and the Grimus-Neufeld model were studied.
Main publication:
1. D. Jurčiukonis and L. Lavoura, Two-body lepton-flavour-violating decays in a 2HDM with soft family-lepton-number breaking, JHEP 03 (2022) 106, [2107.14207].
The Gaia-ESO Spectroscopic Survey. International programme (ESO project 188.B-3002). Dr (HP) G. Tautvaišienė. 2012–2022.
Our main result came from the determination of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen abundances for evolved giants in the globular cluster NGC1851 which we performed in order to check whether or not the double populations of stars are coeval. We determined that the averaged A(C+N+O) values between the two populations do not differ, so additional evidence was provided that NGC1851 is composed of two clusters, the metal-rich cluster being about 0.6 Gyr older than the metal-poor one. A global overview of the properties of NGC1851 and the detailed abundances of chemical elements favour its formation in a dwarf spheroidal galaxy that was accreted by the Milky Way. Other important results include the age determinations using chemical clocks and the membership determinations for 63 open stellar clusters.
Main publications:
1. Tautvaišienė, G., Drazdauskas, A., Bragaglia, A., Martell, S. L., Pancino, E., Lardo, C., Mikolaitis, Š., Minkevičiūtė, R., Stonkutė, E., Ambrosch, M., Bagdonas, V., Chorniy, Y., Sanna, N., Franciosini, E., Smiljanic, R., Randich, S., Gilmore, G., Bensby, T., Bergemann, M., Gonneau, A., Guiglion, G., Carraro, G., Heiter, U., Korn, A., Magrini, L., Morbidelli, L., and Zaggia, S., Gaia-ESO Survey: Detailed elemental abundances in red giants of the peculiar globular cluster NGC 1851, 2022, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 658, A80.
2. Viscasillas Vázquez, C., Magrini, L., Casali, G., Tautvaišienė, G., Spina, L., Van der Swaelmen, M., Randich, S., Bensby, T., Bragaglia, A., Friel, E., Feltzing, S., Sacco, G. G., Turchi, A., Jiménez-Esteban, F., D'Orazi, V., Delgado-Mena, E., Mikolaitis, Š., Drazdauskas, A., Minkevičiūtė, R., Stonkutė, E., Bagdonas, V., Montes, D., Guiglion, G., Baratella, M., Tabernero, H. M., Gilmore, G., Alfaro, E., Francois, P., Korn, A., Smiljanic, R., Bergemann, M., Franciosini, E., Gonneau, A., Hourihane, A., Worley, C. C., and Zaggia, S., The Gaia-ESO survey: Age-chemical-clock relations spatially resolved in the Galactic disc, 2022, Astronomy and Astrophysics, 660, A135.
3. Jackson, R. J., Jeffries, R. D., Wright, N. J., Randich, S., Sacco, G., Bragaglia, A., Hourihane, A., Tognelli, E., Degl'Innocenti, S., Prada Moroni, P. G., Gilmore, G., Bensby, T., Pancino, E., Smiljanic, R., Bergemann, M., Carraro, G., Franciosini, E., Gonneau, A., Jofré, P., Lewis, J., Magrini, L., Morbidelli, L., Prisinzano, L., Worley, C., Zaggia, S., Tautvaišiene, G., Gutiérrez Albarrán, M. L., Montes, D., and Jiménez-Esteban, F., The Gaia-ESO Survey: Membership probabilities for stars in 63 open and 7 globular clusters from 3D kinematics, 2022, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 509, 1664.
PLATO Science Management. International programme. Prof. Dr A. Kučinskas. 2020–2027.
A long-term partnership was established in late 2020 between the Stellar Atmosphere Physics (SAP) group at ITPA and the European Space Agency’s science mission PLATO Science Management Work Package 120 'Stellar Science', with Prof. Dr A. Kučinskas and Dr J. Klevas becoming the PLATO WP 120 official members. It is foreseen that the SAP group at ITPA will provide the PLATO Science Management consortium with a grid of 3D hydrodynamical model atmospheres of M-type dwarfs, which, in cooperation with the PLATO consortium, will be used for the determination of 3D NLTE chemical abundances in the atmospheres of the PLATO target stars. During 2022, computations of the updated version of the M-dwarf grid have been completed at the ITPA and distributed at the PLATO consortium; a publication summarising the first scientific results is in preparation, as well as publication by PLATO partners using the M-dwarf grid. The M-dwarf grid was presented at two international conferences.
Revealing the Milky Way with Gaia (ORIGINS). COST Action CA18104 (https://www.cost.eu/actions/CA18104). Action Chair Nicholas Walton) (28 countries). Dr Š. Mikolaitis, Managing Committee Member, Lead of the Working Group 5. 2019–2023.
The duty of WG5 was to organise the ninth workshop of the MW-Gaia COST Action. It was held in a hybrid form at the Faculty of Optics and Optometry of the University of Santiago de Compostela in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 23–25 May 2022. The event called 'Breaking Barriers: Inspiring the Next Generation' aimed to discuss the current state of advances in our understanding of the Milky Way from WG1, WG2, WG3, and WG4 in the context of equal opportunities, education, and outreach. Šarūnas Mikolaitis from Vilnius University was the Chair of the Scientific Organising Committee, and Carlos Viscasillas Vázquez from Vilnius University was a member of the Local Organising Committee. The programme consisted of 11 invited talks, 19 contributed talks and seven poster presentations. In total, 85 participants from 24 countries were registered to attend the workshop.
Carlos Viscasillas Vázquez from Vilnius University acknowledged the support of this cost action (COST Action CA18104) in a paper: Viscasillas Vázquez C., Magrini L. Casali G., 'The Gaia-ESO survey: Age-chemical-clock Relations Spatially Resolved in the Galactic Disc', 2022, A&A, 660A, 135
The Magnetic Properties of Nanodiamonds: A Large-Scale Ab Initio Modelling. Project under PRACE DECI-17 programme within Horizon 2020 Framework. Dr Š. Masys. 2021–2022.
Density functional theory calculations were performed to find out the influence of the size of nanodiamonds (NDs) on the electronic g-tensor values of point defects – nitrogen, silicon, germanium, and nickel complexes that are exceptionally attractive for bioimaging applications – introduced into the central part of NDs. It was shown that for smaller systems, surface effects play a crucial role, but on the other hand, no saturation of the isotropic g-tensor values occurs, even for NDs of much larger size.
Fulfilling the Atomic Physics Needs for Spectroscopic Diagnostics of Cosmic Chemical Evolution. NSF Collaborative Project AST/2009811. PI: Prof. V.P. Kulkarni, in cooperation with R. Kisielius, September 2020 – September 2023.
The spectral parameters for the low-ionisation stage atoms indicative of the cosmic chemical evolution are determined theoretically for use in the absorption spectra modelling and for deriving the physical parameters of plasma. Observation data are utilised in feedback to determine the accuracy of the theoretical data.
Electron-Impact Ionisation for Injected Impurities Into the Plasma. International Atomic Energy Agency (Project No. 26498/SU2213). Dr V. Jonauskas. 2022–2027
Electron-impact ionisation is studied for impurities injected into the plasmas of fusion devices. The impurities are used to diminish the heat load on the components of the reactor’s walls. The ionisation cross-sections are needed to evaluate charge state distribution in the plasmas. The distorted wave approximation is used to estimate contributions from direct and indirect processes of ionisation for the N+ ion.
MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION) PARTNERS
Aarhus University (Denmark)
European Organization for Nuclear Research CERN (Switzerland)
Astrophysical Institute Potsdam, Potsdam (Germany)
Landessternwarte Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg (Germany)
Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg (Germany)
Darmstadt University, Darmstadt (Germany)
Observatoire de Paris, CNRS, Université Paris Diderot (France)
Oslo University, Oslo (Norway)
Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Trieste (Italy)
Uppsala University Observatory, Uppsala (Sweden)
Odessa National University, Odessa (Ukraine)
Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (Lithuania)
National Institute of Standards and Technology (USA)
Capital Normal University, Beijing (China)
University of Patras (Greece)
University of Chicago (USA)
National Institute for Fusion Science (Japan)
National Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu (Taiwan)
Materials Science and Applied Mathematics, Malmö University, Malmö (Sweden)
Chimie Quantique et Photophysique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (Belgium)
University of Lisbon (Portugal)
University of South Carolina (USA)
Space Telescope Science Institute (USA)
Institute of Electron Physics, Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (Ukraine)
OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
Prof. Dr E. Anisimovas
• chairman of the Council of the Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University
Dr A. Deltuva
• member of the international Faddeev medal committee
Dr V. Dobrovolskas
• member of the Lithuanian Astronomical Society
• member of the European Astronomical Society
Dr A. Drazdauskas
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Dr K. Černis
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
• member of the European Astronomical Society.
Prof. Habil. Dr G. Gaigalas
• council member of CompAS (The International collaboration on Computational Atomic Structure) group (https://ddwap.mah.se/tsjoek/compas/index.php and CompAS | The international collaboration on Computation Atomic Structure)
• editorial board member of the journal Atoms (Atoms (mdpi.com)).
• Committee member of the 14th European Conference on Atoms Molecules and Photons (Vilnius, Lithuania, June 27- July 1, 2022)
Dr T. Gajdosik
• member of the Austrian Physical Society (OePG);
• member of the CERN Baltic Group coordination team “Study group”;
• deputy member of the management committee CA16201 “ParticleFace: Unraveling new physics at the LHC through the precision frontier.”
Dr V. Gontis
• member of the association of Euroscience, http://www.euroscience.org/
• council member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society;
• Academic editor of Plos One.
Dr V. Jonauskas
• Member of International Program Committee, Bari, Italy (ICAMDATA 2022);
• member of the Council of the Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University;
• member of the Lithuanian Physics Society.
Dr A. Juodagalvis
• Lithuanian representative in CERN Finance Committee (since 2018);
• member of the Council of Experimental nuclear and particle physics center at the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University (since 2018);
• member of the Board of Lithuanian Physics Society (since 2018), scientific secretary.
• member of the management committee CA16201 “ParticleFace: Unraveling new physics at the LHC through the precision frontier;”
• deputy team leader of the Vilnius University group at the CMS experiment at CERN
• member of the programme committee of the 44th Lithuanian National Conference in Physics (Vilnius, Lithuania, 6-8 September, 2021).
Dr R. Juršėnas
• member of the American Mathematical Society.
Distinguished Professor G. Juzeliūnas
• True member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences;
• Board member of Atomic Molecular Physics and Optical Division (AMOPD) of European Physical Society (2019-2022);
• Board member of Lithuanian Physics Society (since 2022);
• Associated member of the National Center for Theoretical Sciences at the National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan;
• Chairman of the Organising Committee and Member of the Programme Committee of the 14th European Conference on Atoms Molecules and Photons (Vilnius, Lithuania, June 27- July 1, 2022); https://www.ecamp14.org/organisers
• Member of Programme Committee of the 23-rd International Conference – School on Advanced Materials and Technologies 2021 ·(Palanga, Lithuania, 22 – 26 August 2022)
• Academic editor of the journal “Plos One”.
Dr H. R. Hamedi
• Member of Lithuanian Physics Society
• Member of Physics Society of Iran.
Prof. B. Kaulakys
• member of the Institute of Physics (UK);
• member of the European Physical Society;
• editorial board member of the Lithuanian Journal of Physics;
• editorial board member of the journal Nonlinear Analysis. Modeling and Control;
• vice-president of the Lithuanian Association of Nonlinear Analysts;
• council member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society.
Prof. R. Karazija
• editorial board member of the Lithuanian Journal of Physics;
• member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
Dr A. Kynienė
• President of the Vilnius City Board of the Physics Teachers’ Association;
• Member of the Vilnius City Physics Methodical Board;
• Team leader of Particle physics outreach group at the VU Experimental nuclear and particle physics centre;
• Chairwoman of the physics maturity exam evaluation commission;
• Member of the Lithuanian Pupil Physics Olympiad Commission;
• Council member of the Lithuanian Scientific Society.
Dr J. Klevas
• board member of the Lithuanian Astronomical Society;
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU);
• member of the European Astronomical Society (EAS);
• revisor of the Lithuanian Society of Young Researchers.
Prof. A. Kučinskas
• member of the Board of Directors of the International Journal Astronomy and Astrophysics;
• member of the Executive Committee of the International Journal Astronomy and Astrophysics
• National Contact Point of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)
• National Representative at the European Astronomical Society (EAS)
• member of the Council of the Faculty of Physics, Vilnius University
• member of Bachelor study programme committee “Physics”
• member of Master study programme committee “Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics”
• member of the Central Appellation Commission of the Senate of Vilnius University
• member of the Organizing Committee of ChETEC-INFRA SNAQ schools
• president of the Lithuanian Astronomical Society
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU)
• member of the European Astronomical Society (EAS)
Dr M. Mackoit-Sinkevičienė
• member of the Board of Lithuanian Physics Society (since 2018);
• president of the European Physical Society Young Minds section in Vilnius (2016-2022 03 01), elected Member of Action Committee of EPS Young Minds (since 2022);
• representative of Lithuania in World Quantum Day Action Committee https://worldquantumday.org/about-us/ (since 2020);
• Member of International Board at IPhO (since 2021);
• member of the Lithuanian Society of Young Researchers (since 2021).
Dr M. Maskoliūnas
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Dr Š. Mikolaitis
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU);
• member of the IAU Commission “Stellar Evolution” Organising Committee;
• member of the European Astronomical Society.
Dr R. Minkevičiūtė
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Dr D. Narbutis
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Prof. Dr (HP) E. Norvaišas
• member of Institute of Physics;
• member of the European Physics Society.
Dr E. Pakštienė
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Dr L. Radžiūtė
• member of CompAS (The International collaboration on Computational Atomic Structure) group (https://ddwap.mah.se/tsjoek/compas/index.php and CompAS | The international collaboration on Computation Atomic Structure)
Dr V. Regelskis
• associated member of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Dr P. Rynkun
• member of CompAS (The International collaboration on Computational Atomic Structure) group (https://ddwap.mah.se/tsjoek/compas/index.php and CompAS | The international collaboration on Computation Atomic Structure)
Rigonda Skorulskienė
• member of the Board of Lithuanian Physics Society (since 2019);
• member of the Board of the Lithuanian Astronomical Society (since 2007);
• president of the Physics Teachers' Association of Lithuania (since 2019);
• The IAU OAE NAEC (national astronomy education coordinator) team Chair and Contact Person;
Dr J. Sperauskas
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Dr E. Stonkutė
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
• member of the European Astronomical Society.
Dr R. Stonkutė
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Assoc. prof. Dr Dalia Šatkovskienė
• Member of Administration Board (BoA) of European Platform of Women Scientists (EPWS, https://epws.org/epws-general-assembly-2017/);
• President of regional Baltic States association BASNET Forumas (https://www.basnetforumas.eu/).
• Lithuanian Team member of IUPAP working group on Women in Physics (WP5)
• CMC member of COST action CA20137 - Making Early Career Researchers' Voices Heard for Gender Equality, representing the second proposer Vilnius University.
• Represents Vilnius University in European Physicists network GENERA https://www.genera-network.eu/
Dr J. Tamulienė
• management committee member of the Lithuanian Physics Society;
• leader of the Professional Union of Vilnius University.
Dr Habil. G. Tautvaišienė
• President of Commission H1 The Local Universe (International Astronomical Union, IAU) https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/commissions/H1/
• Steering Committee Member of the IAU Division H Interstellar Matter and Local Universe https://www.iau.org/science/scientific_bodies/divisions/H/
• Member of Special Nominating Committee (IAU);
• President of the Lithuanian Physics Society;
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU);
• IAU National Outreach Coordinator https://www.iau.org/public/noc/;
• founding member of the European Astronomical Society;
• editorial board member of the “Mol” journal http://mol-en.scg.org.es/editorial-board
• editor-in-chief of the annual astronomical almanac Lietuvos dangus (Sky of Lithuania) https://www.ff.vu.lt/tfai/apie/leidiniai#lietuvos-dangus
• Chair of Organising Committee of the International Conference “Europlanet Telescope Network Science Workshop”, February 9 - 11, 2022, http://mao.tfai.vu.lt/europlanet2022
Prof. Dr V. Vansevičius
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU);
• member of the European Astronomical Society (EAS)
• member of the Research Council of Lithuania.
Dr J. Zdanavičius
• member of the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
BEST REPORTS DELIVERED AT CONFERENCES ABROAD
1. Invited talk by Gediminas Juzeliūnas 'Time-Dependent Subwavelength Optical Lattices' at the International Workshop 'Topology and Non-equilibrium Dynamics in Engineered Quantum Systems', Dresden, Germany, 10–14 October 2022.
2. Invited talk by Vidas Regelskis 'Reflection Equation Algebras: A Survey' at the 60th ARTIN meeting, Nottingham, England, 25-25 August 2022.
3. Oral presentation by Jonas Klevas '3D Hydrodynamical Model Atmospheres of M-Dwarfs', XXXI General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union, Busan, South Korea, 2-11 August 2022.
4. Oral presentation by Gražina Tautvaišienė 'Carbon and Nitrogen Abundances as Indicators of Material Mixing in Evolved', at the international conference 'NOT – a Telescope of the Future', La Palma, Spain, June 7-10, 2022.
5. Oral presentation by Gražina Tautvaišienė 'Europlanet 2024 RI: Fostering the Collaboration Between Professional and Amateur Astronomers', Europlanet Science Congress 2022, Granada, Spain, 21 September 2022.
THE MOST IMPORTANT RECEIVED NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR R&D ACTIVITIES
1. Gediminas Gaigalas was awarded the Adolfas Jucys Prize of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for the research Second Quantisation and Additional Symmetries in Atomic Physics: Theory and Practical Applications. 15 February 2022.
2. Romualdas Karazija was awarded a Commemorative Medal of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. 12 April 2022.
3. Vidas Regelskis was awarded the Young Mathematician Prize by the Lithuanian Mathematical Society.
4. Vilius Bagdonas was awarded the Stipendium of President Aleksandras Stulginskis by the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences.
MOST IMPORTANT PARTICIPATION CASES OF RESEARCHERS IN WORKING GROUPS OR COMMISSIONS SET UP BY STATE AUTHORITIES, STATE AND MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS, BUSINESS ENTITIES
1. Prof. Dr V. Vansevičius is a member of the Research Council of Lithuania.
2. Doc. A. Kynienė is the Chair of the Assessment of National Physics Maturity Examination Commission and a member of the Education Programme Redevelopment Group.
3. Rigonda Skorulskienė is a member of the Assessment of National Physics Maturity Examination Commission, a member of the Education Programme Redevelopment Group, and a member of the working group to renew the teacher training mode.
CONSULTATIONS PROVIDED BY THE UNIT TO THE PUBLIC OR ECONOMIC ENTITIES
1. Regular consultations to various Police departments concerning astronomical conditions during the requested time periods when car accidents happened: Dr A. Kazlauskas.
2. Regular consultations to the public concerning unusual astronomical events and stones found which are suspected to be of extraterrestrial origin: S. Lovčikas, G. Tautvaišienė.
3. Regular school consultations in elementary particle physics: A. Kynienė, A. Acus, A. Juodagalvis, A. Mekys.
THE MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
1. 'The Sky is for Everyone. Women Astronomers in Their Own Words', edited by Virginia Trimble and David. A. Weintraub. ISSN: 9780691237367. Princeton University Press, 2022, p. 301, co-author Gražina Tautvaišienė.
2. Annual popular science edition 'Lietuvos dangus 2023', published since 1989 (ISSN 1392-0987), 154 pages in Lithuanian, chief editor Gražina Tautvaišienė.
3. 2022 organisation of public lectures of W. D. Phillips, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, at Vilnius University (Gediminas Juzeliūnas, Mažena Mackoit-Sinkevičienė). On 3 October, William D. Phillips gave a lecture to the students of the Faculty of Physics of Vilnius University, 'Goodbye to the Kilogram: the revolutionary reform of the modern metric system'. On 4 October, William D. Phillips gave a public lecture, 'Time, Einstein and the Coolest Stuff in the Universe', to more than 500 participants (video from the lecture:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgErE2FXCgI&t=5348s,
interviews on national media:
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSxXra4HQiA&t=10s
• https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/2000237083/mokslo-sriuba-radioaktyviu-skystuju-atlieku-tvarkymas-ignalinos-ae-bei-interviu-su-williamu-danieliu-phillipsu,
• https://www.15min.lt/verslas/naujiena/mokslas-it/fizikos-nobelio-laureatas-w-d-phillipsas-apie-tai-kokia-atsinaujinancios-energetikos-forma-turetu-dominuoti-ateityje-1290-1940722
• https://www.vz.lt/inovacijos/technologijos/2022/10/10/ant-vilniuje-viesejusio-nobelio-fizikos-premijos-laureato-vizitines-korteles--1137
4. '2022 World Quantum Day in Lithuania' organisation (Mažena Mackoit-Sinkevičienė). In Lithuania, an art competition, meetings in schools in different cities of Lithuania, and a national lecture were organised on this occasion. More than 200 participants (Lithuanians from Lithuania and abroad) took part in the 'Quantum Art' competition in all age categories (from children to adults); the youngest participant was seven years old, the oldest was 43 years old, and even young people from a special school (attended by children with movement disorders) participated. A special lecture on 14 April and a quiz were organised, for which the questions of famous Lithuanian physicists to young people were filmed (several hundred participants from different cities of Lithuania took part in the lecture). On 25 April, a special event, 'Quantum Physics in the Theatre', took place.
European Physical Society blog about World Quantum Day in Lithuania:
• https://www.eps.org/blogpost/751263/473124/World-Quantum-Day-in-Lithuania
• Lithuanian Academy of Sciences https://www.lma.lt/index.php/1555/38/Pasaulines-kvantines-dienos-renginiai?page=news/1555/38/Pasaulines-kvantines-dienos-renginiai Vilnius University
• https://www.kultura.vu.lt/naujienos/1834-pasauline-kvantine-diena-vilniaus-universitete
• https://www.ff.vu.lt/mokslo-ir-studiju-naujienos/1753-pasauline-kvantine-diena
• http://mokslosriuba.lt/kartumesgalime/pasaulines-kvantines-dienos-lietuvoje-meno-konkursas/
• https://www.lma.lt/index.php/1539/67/Pasauline-kvantine-diena-Lietuvoje?page=news/1539/67/Pasauline-kvantine-diena-Lietuvoje
5. In 2022, Aleksejus Kononovičius published 33 posts, including 17 model simulations in the Physics of Risk blog written in English http://rf.mokslasplius.lt/. Most of the posts contained a brief description of some model from econophysics or sociophysics, along with an interactive implementation of the model.
10 Saulėtekio av., LT-10223 Vilnius
Phone: +370 5 236 60 50
e-mail:
Head - Professor Dr Aidas Matijošius.
STAFF
Professors: Habil. Dr V. Sirutkaitis, Habil. Dr R. Rotomskis, (HP) Dr A. Dubietis, (HP) Dr G. Valiulis, Dr S. Bagdonas, Dr M. Vengris, Dr M. Malinauskas, Dr A. Matijošius, Habil. Dr A. Stabinis (emeritus), Habil. Dr V. Smilgevičius (emeritus)
Leading researchers: Dr A. Varanavičius, (HP) Dr V. Vaičaitis, Dr A. Melninkaitis.
Associate professors: Dr O. Balachninaitė, Dr V. Jarutis, Dr V. Tamulienė, Dr D. Paipulas, Dr R. Butkus, Dr G. Tamošauskas, Dr V. Jukna.
Senior research fellows: Dr R. Grigonis.
Research fellows: Dr V. Karenauskaitė, Dr D. Kaškelytė, Dr S.Paipulienė, Dr M. Peckus, Dr V. Purlys, Dr J. Vengelis, Dr A. Kalnaitytė, Dr S. Butkus.
Lecturer: J. Jurkienė.
Engineer: A. Čiburys.
Doctoral students: G. Kontenis, D. Samsonas, D. Buožius, E. Skliutas, A. Butkutė, R. Grigutis, L. Rimkus M. Kuliešaitė, M. Plūkys, M. Riauka, D. Stonytė, J. Skruibis, J. Banys, V. Marčiulionytė, E. Atkočaitis, M. Mačiulis, V.C. Manikas, G. Balčas (from October 2022), M. Navickas (from October 2022), I. Lukošiūnas (from October 2022), G. Jansonas (from October 2022), E. Kažukauskas (from October 2022).
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Study of interaction of high power ultrashort light pulses with transparent media.
• Development of effective light frequency convertors and light pulse sources with the duration of few optical cycles and stable carrier-envelope phase.
• Study of femtosecond light filaments and generation of supercontinuum in transparent dielectrics.
• Development of new technologies for biomedical and industrial applications based on specific interaction of ultrashort light pulses with matter, enabling high precision material processing by surface and bulk modification.
• Development of optical methods of biomedical diagnostics and extension of application areas.
• In vivo and in vitro studies of spectral and photophysical properties of biologically active molecules and nanostructures aiming at optimisation of therapy and diagnostics.
• Imaging and spectroscopy of biologic objects.
• Nonlinear optics of ultrashort pulses.
• Ultrafast spectroscopy of photoactive molecules, nanostructures and semiconductors.
• Damage in bulk materials and coatings induced by femtosecond pulses.
• Optics characterization including reflection/transmission, scattering as well as absorption and laser-induced optical damage threshold in wide spectral range.
• Peculiarities of ultrafast exciton dynamics at reduced dimension in self-assembled molecular nanostructures and quantum dots.
• Studying ultrafast laser lithography mechanisms and their exploitation towards 3D printing
• Laser micro- /nano-scale additive manufacturing of nano-photonic, micro-optical and biomedical structures
• High intensity ultrashort pulse generation by OPCPA systems.
• Time-resolved digital holography.
• Radial/azimuthal polarization beams, Bessel beams and optical vortices.
• Optical and SEM characterization of 3D microstructures.
• Laser induced breakdown spectroscopy research.
• Terahertz radiation generation and time-resolved spectroscopy
MAIN SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2022
Monographs:
1. A. Dubietis, V. Jukna, A. Couairon, Chapter 12: Supercontinuum in IR–MIR from narrow band gap bulk solid state materials, The Supercontinuum Laser source (4th edition), R. R. Alfano ed., Springer Nature Switzerland, ISBN: 978-3-031-06197-4, pp. 457-477 (2022).
Publications in top scientific journals:
1. G. Merkininkaite, E. Aleksandravicius, M. Malinauskas, D. Gailevicius and S. Sakirzanovas, Laser additive manufacturing of Si/ZrO2 tunable crystalline phase 3D nanostructures, Opto-Electron. Adv. 5, 210077 (2022); 10.29026/oea.2022.210077. [D1, IF - 9.682].
2. D. Gonzalez-Hernandez, S. Varapnickas, A. Bertoncini, C. Liberale, and M. Malinauskas, Micro-Optics 3D Printed via Multi-Photon Laser Lithography, Adv. Opt. Matter. 2201701 (2022); 10.1002/adom.202201701. [D1, IF - 10.05].
3. I. Babushkin , Á. Jiménez Galán, J. R. Cardoso de Andrade, A. Husakou, F. Morales, M. Kretschmar, T. Nagy, V. Vaičaitis, L. Shi, D. Zuber, L. Bergé, S. Skupin, I. A. Nikolaeva, N. A. Panov, D. E. Shipilo, O. G. Kosareva, A. N. Pfeiffer, A. Demircan , M. J. J. Vrakking , U. Morgner, M. Ivanov , All-optical attoclock for imaging tunnelling wavepackets, Nature Physics 18, 417-422 (2022). [IF=19.684]
4. M. Pleckaitis, F. Habach, L. Kontenis, G. Steinbach, G. Jarockyte, A. Kalnaityte, I. Domonkos, P. Akhtar, M. Alizadeh, S. Bagdonas, V. Karabanovas, G. Garab, R. Rotomskis, V.Barzda, Structure and principles of self-assembly of giant "sea urchin" type sulfonatophenyl porphine aggregates, Nano Research 13, 5527-5537 (2022). [IF=10.269]
Patent requests:
1. V. Barzda, G. Kontenis, M. Mačiulis, M. Mažeika, Method for fast determination of ultrastructural parameters using polarimetric second harmonic generation microscopy, European patent application EP22178098.4 (2022).
2. J. Vengelis, J. Banys, J. Pimpe, Method for estimation of crystal periodic poling quality, European patent application No.r EP22204506.4 (2022).
RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2022
Projects Supported by the University Budget
Study of fundamental ultrafast processes in laser and nonlinear optical systems. Lead. researcher Prof. A.Dubietis 2019-2022.
The main results achieved in 2022:
Here we show how to complement photo-electron detection in laser-induced tunnelling by measuring the light emitted by the tunnelling electron—the so-called Brunel radiation. Using a combination of single- and two-colour driving fields, we identify the all-optical signatures of the reshaping of the tunnelling wavepacket as it emerges from the tunnelling barrier and moves away from the core. This reshaping includes not only an effective time delay but also the time-reversal asymmetry of the ionization process, which we describe theoretically and observe experimentally. We show how both delay and reshaping are mapped onto the polarization properties of the Brunel radiation, with different harmonics behaving as different hands of a clock moving at different speeds. The all-optical detection may also allow time-resolved measurements of optical tunnelling in condensed matter systems on the attosecond time scale.
Main publication:
1. Babushkin , Á. Jiménez Galán, J. R. Cardoso de Andrade, A. Husakou, F. Morales, M. Kretschmar, T. Nagy, V. Vaičaitis, L. Shi, D. Zuber, L. Bergé, S. Skupin, I. A. Nikolaeva, N. A. Panov, D. E. Shipilo, O. G. Kosareva, A. N. Pfeiffer, A. Demircan , M. J. J. Vrakking , U. Morgner, M. Ivanov , All-optical attoclock for imaging tunnelling wavepackets, Nature Physics 18, 417-422 (2022).
Space and time-resolved electron density and temperature of the plasma, created in air by focused femtosecond laser pulses have been investigated as a function of the pump pulse energy and duration. For the air ionization the infrared (1030 nm) femtosecond (190–500 fs) Yb:KGW laser pulses of up to 1 mJ energy were used. Based on the Stark broadening of the oxygen-I 777.19 nm line we have found that after establishing a local equilibrium the density of laser-created plasma could exceed 1017 cm−3 with the electron temperature of over 5000 °C. Obtained results agree well with the results of previously reported measurements of the plasma density created by the femtosecond near-infrared Ti:sapphire laser pulses.
Main publication:
1. O. Balachninaite, J. Skruibis, A. Matijošius, V. Vaicaitis, Temporal and spatial properties of plasma induced by infrared femtosecond laser pulses in air, Plasma Sources Science and Technology 31, 045001 (2022).
We present a setup for generating broadband (up to 1050 cm−1) and broadly tunable (2.5-15 µm) mid-infrared pulses using an Yb-doped femtosecond laser as the pump source. Our scheme, comprising two parametric amplifiers and a mixing stage, exploits favorable group velocity matching conditions in GaSe pumped at 2 µm to directly produce sub-70 fs pulses throughout the tuning range without any additional dispersion compensation, while 30–50 fs pulse durations are achieved with simple dispersion compensation by propagation through thin bulk media. The generated pulses have sub-1% short- and long-term energy noise, as well as stable spectral parameters, while delivering 0.5–2 W average mid-IR power. We expect the source to be useful for various spectroscopic applications in the mid-IR.
Main publication:
1. R. Budriūnas, K. Jurkus, M. Vengris, A. Varanavičius, Long seed, short pump: converting Yb-doped laser radiation to multi-µJ few-cycle pulses tunable through 2.5–15 µm, Optics Express 30, 13009-13023 (2022).
We report on experimental and theoretical studies of widely tunable high-efficiency subnanosecond optical parametric generator (OPG) and amplifier (OPA) based on a 2 cm long multigrating MgO-doped periodically-poled lithium niobate (MgO:PPLN) crystal pumped by a passively Q-switched Nd:YAG micro-laser. Our OPG can be continuously tuned from 1442 nm to 4040 nm with signal wave energies ranging from 33 𝜇J to 265 𝜇J and total OPG conversion efficiency up to 46 % that depended on the pump focusing conditions. Characterization of spatial properties of the OPG determine Lorentzian spatial profile of the signal beam with 𝑀2≈2 that was also dependent on the pump focusing conditions. High OPG gain and subsequent pump depletion led to the adjustment of the output signal pulse duration in the range of 242 – 405 ps by varying the incident pump power. By using a distributed feedback (DFB) continuous-wave (CW) 1550 nm wavelength seed laser for the OPA operation we reduced the generation threshold up to 1.6 times, increased maximum conversion efficiency by 4 – 20%, and achieved nearly transform-limited output signal pulses. Experimentally measured characteristics were supplemented by numerical simulations based on the quantum mechanical model for the OPG, and classical three-wave interaction model for the OPA operation.
Main publication:
1. J. Banys, J. Savickyte, O. Balachninaite, S. Armalyte, V. Tamuliene, V. Jarutis, J. Vengelis, Performance investigation of high-efficiency widely-tunable subnanosecond optical parametric generator and amplifier based on MgO:PPLN, Optics Expresss 30, 23163-23176 (2022).
Usually the absorption of interacting waves is detrimental to the parametric amplification process. We have shown that even in the case of large idler wave absorption it is possible to get highly efficient signal amplification as well as amplifier bandwidth enhancement due to back-conversion suppression. We numerically investigated the influence of the idler wave linear losses arising in the case of parametric amplification in 515 nm pumped BBO crystal tuned to signal amplification at 610 nm. The possibility to achieve ∼75% pump-to-signal energy conversion and amplification bandwidth of ∼900 cm−1 using collinear amplification scheme is demonstrated.
Main publication:
1. G. Valiulis, A.Varanavicius, Numerical study of absorption-enhanced parametric amplification, Optics Express, 30, pp. 15073-15084, ( 2022)
We have developed development an interferometric technique for the measurement of nonlinear refractive index of optical materials, while directly accounting for experimentally determined laser pulse shape and beam profile. The method was employed in a systematic study of nonlinear refractive index on a series of common optical materials used in near and mid-IR spectral range, where experimental data on nonlinear material properties is still scarce. The values of nonlinear refractive index were determined at 1.03 μm, 2.2 μm, and 3.2 μm. The measurement results are compared to the values determined by previous studies (where available), and the influence of cascaded second-order nonlinearities is discussed.
Main publication:
1. Gaudenis Jansonas, Rimantas Budriūnas, Mikas Vengris, and Arūnas Varanavičius, "Interferometric measurements of nonlinear refractive index in the infrared spectral range," Opt. Express 30, 30507-30524 (2022)
Development of laser technologies for industrial and biomedical applications. Lead. researcher Prof. M. Malinauskas 2019-2022.
The main results achieved in 2022:
Developing micro-/nano-scale additive manufacturing of inorganic 3D structures of diverse crystalline phases. Testing of feasibility to produce individual elements below 100 nm features and overall object sizes exceeding 5 mm in dimensions. This can be achieved by combining ultrafast laser 3D nanolithography and subsequent application of thermal post-treatment (calcination) – a novel approach introduced for additive manufacturing of inorganics. The laser made pristine components are preserving their predefined shape and material is converted from hybrid polymer to glass/ceramics/crystalline substance corresponding to its inherent high refractive index and transparency, chemical inert and mechanically robust. This approach enables both realization of complex geometries and required material properties at the same time.
A study of wavelength and pulse duration for the laser direct writing 3D multi-photon micro-/nano-lithography. These new experimental data investigate different mechanisms involved in spatio-temporally confined light-matter interaction resulting into the controlled photopolymerization applied for 3D printing. Single-photon, two-photon, three-photon absorption, photo- and avalanche ionization, as well as heat accumulation. We reveal different linear and non-linearinitiation processes being involved. The individual voxel’s shapes and scaling of line widths are studied individually and by optimizing the exposure parameters the final 3D fabricated object can be obtained at very different conditions. The carried out research reveals of various wavelengths can be used for successful 3D nanolithography, though the dynamic fabrication window and laser induced damage thresholds significantly.
Main publications:
1. G. Merkininkaite, E. Aleksandravicius, M. Malinauskas, D. Gailevicius and S. Sakirzanovas, Laser additive manufacturing of Si/ZrO2 tunable crystalline phase 3D nanostructures, Opto-Electron. Adv. 5, 210077 (2022); 10.29026/oea.2022.210077. [D1, IF - 9.682].
2. D. Gonzalez-Hernandez, S. Varapnickas, A. Bertoncini, C. Liberale, and M. Malinauskas, Micro-Optics 3D Printed via Multi-Photon Laser Lithography, Adv. Opt. Matter. 2201701 (2022); 10.1002/adom.202201701. [D1, IF - 10.05].
3. A. Butkus, E. Skliutas, D. Gaileviius, M. Malinauskas, Femtosecond-Laser Direct Writing 3D Micro-/Nano- Lithography Using VIS-Light Oscillator, J. Centr. South Univ., 29, 3270-3276 (2022); 10.1007/s11771-022- 5153-z. Springer-Nature, [Q2, IF - 2.392].
4. E. Skliutas, D. Samsonas, A. Čiburys, L. Kontenis, D. Gailevicius, J. Berzinš, D. Narbutis, V. Jukna, M. Vengris, S, Juodkazis and M. Malinauskas, X-photon laser direct write 3D nanolithography, (2022); https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1941893/v2. PREPRINT (Version 2) available at Research Square.
The photoinduced transformations of a hematoporphyrin-type photosensitizer (Hp-type PS) were chosen as a model system to monitor the effects of L-ascorbic acid (AscA) on oxygen-dependent photoreactions in aqueous model solutions of different pH. The role of the ascorbate radical in photoreactions initiated by Hp-type PS, as well as on mutual activity in samples containing a bovine serum albumin (BSA), including participation in Type I reactions, was studied by performing the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy measurements on the mixed aqueous solutions poured into capillary tubes of a carefully selected diameter, both in the dark and under illumination with a laser beam in the absence of additional trapping molecules. The strong interaction between BSA and porphyrins was determined as a main factor in the observed photoreactions, not only boosting the photooxidation and photoreduction pathways, but also leading to the enhanced photoactivity in combination with AscA, especially, in acidic medium.
National Research Projects
Development of new characterization methods of the plasma induced by femtosecond laser pulses (FemtoPlasma) (No. S-MIP-19-46) Research Council of Lithuania funded project (Research groups projects) Dr (HP) V. Vaičaitis (2019-2022).
The main objective of this project is to investigate plasma, both in air and on the surface of solids, created by femtosecond laser pulses and to develop new methods and technologies for its characterization. For the accurate plasma characterization we have used, to the best of our knowledge, a previously unreported and unused method based on time resolved terahertz (THz) spectroscopy. Plasma strongly absorbs radiation with frequencies less than that of the plasma frequency and, conversely, is transparent to higher frequency radiation. Therefore the interaction of such plasma with THz pulses of broader spectrum than that of the plasma frequency allowed a direct and accurate determination of plasma electron density. In addition, temporal delay control between the plasma inducing and probing laser pulses have been used to determine plasma ionization and recombination rates. In addition, the influence of the laser-created plasma on the efficiency of third harmonic and THz radiation generation has been investigated.
The relationship between the cone angle of the emitted THz radiation and X-wave dispersion law of the pump pulses in air plasma was established. The theoretical and experimental results were in good agreement.
Main publications:
1. D. Buožius, B. Motiejūnas, V. Vaičaitis, V. Tamulienė, Emission of conical THz radiation induced by bichromatic pump X waves in an air plasma, Phys. Rev. A V. 105, p. 023521 (6 pages) (2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.105.023521
2. Balachninaite, O.; Skruibis, J.; Matijosius, A.; Vaicaitis, V., Temporal and spatial properties of plasma induced by infrared femtosecond laser pulses in air, Plasma Sources Science & Technology 31, 045001 (2022); 10.1088/1361-6595/ac5c62 [D1, IF-4,434].
Click dual-cured plant-derived polymers for laser 3D meso-scale structuring (CDCmeso3D) (No. S-MIP-20-17) Research Council of Lithuania funded project (Research groups projects) together with KTU, Prof. M. Malinauskas as for VU part (2020-2022).
The aim of this project is to develop a click dual-curing technology for production of novel polymeric materials from plant-derived monomers, using photoinduced and/or combination of photoinduced and thermally activated reactions, applicable for laser 3D meso-scale structuring. For the achievement of the goal, the investigation of various plant-derived monomer polymerization by different click methods and selection of optimal ones for dual-curing technology, optimization of click dual-curing resin formulations and curing conditions, characterization of resulted polymers and investigation of their properties will be carried out. The selected click dual-curing systems will be tested via laser 3D structuring in meso-scale and optimized. The state-of-the-art optical characterization of 3D microstructures will be performed. The feasibility test in industrial line conditions will be carried out.
Main publications:
1. J. Jaras, A. Navaruckiene, E. Skliutas, J. Jersovaite, M. Malinauskas, and J. Ostrauskaite, Thermo-responsive shape memory vanillin-based photopolymers for microtransfer molding, Polymers 14(12), 2460 (2022); 10.3390/polym14122460. [Q1, IF - 4.329].
2. V. Sereikaite, A. Navaruckiene, J. Jaras, E. Skliutas, D. Ladika, D. Gray, M. Malinauskas, V. Talacka, J. Ostrauskaite, Functionalized Soybean Oil- and Vanillin-Based Dual Cure Photopolymerizable System for Light-Based 3D Structuring, Polymers, 14, 5361 (2022); https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14245361. [Q1, IF - 4.967]
3. S. Grauzeliene, B. Kazlauskaite, E. Skliutas, M. Malinauskas, J, Ostrauskaite, Photocuring and digital light processing 3D printing of vitrimer composed of 2-hydroxy-2-phenoxypropyl acrylate and acrylated epoxidized soybean oil, Exp. Pol. Lett. 17(1), 54-68 (2023); 10.3144/expresspolymlett.2023.5. [Q2, IF - 3,952].
Laser 3D nanostructuring via super-resolution methods (SUPERSMALL) (No. P-MIP-21-393), Research Council of Lithuania funded project (Research groups projects) Dr V.Purlys (2021-2024). Direct laser writing (DLW) is an important scientific and now industrial tool allowing the fabrication of state-of-the-art 3D components used in great variety of applications. The DLW involves several of fabrication technologies, including multiphoton polymerization (MPP) or selective glass etching (SLE). Here we propose the usage of 4Pi super-resolution method together with DLW to significantly enhance the fabrication resolution of the DLW method. The 4Pi excitation method is well known in microscopy, where it is already successfully used for this purpose. The same principles of microscopy are also valid for DLW The implementers of this project very recently published a first proof-of-concept publication demonstrating 4Pi excitation combined with MPP. Therefore, the project's main objective is a further development of this idea, answering various important technological and physical questions. The results of this project would be an initiation of broad range of DLW technologies sharing the 4Pi excitation principle and leading to a wide spectrum of applications.
High repetition rate femtosecond filamentation- induced laser-matter interactions in transparent solids (FEMTOLAMA) (No. S-MIP-22-19). Research Council of Lithuania funded project (Research groups projects) prof. A. Dubietis.
The main objective of the Project is investigation of accumulation effects that lead to optical degradation and damage induced by high repetition rate femtosecond filamentation in transparent solids over a wide spectral range. Since most of these effects are detrimental to both, characteristics of the broadband ultrashort-pulsed light (supercontinuum) and optical properties of the material itself due to evolving multipulse optical damage, the special emphasis will be given to find optimal operating conditions, where these effects could be eliminated, or at least suppressed to a large extent.
Main publication:
1. M. Navickas, R. Grigutis, V. Jukna, G. Tamošauskas, A. Dubietis, Low spatial frequency laser-induced periodic surface structures in fused silica inscribed by widely tunable femtosecond laser pulses, Scientific Reports 12, 20231 (2022).
The development of femtosecond laser microprocessing in UV range (01.2.2-LMT-K-718-03-0029), European Regional development fund, Research council of Lithuania project. Dr D. Paipulas (2020-2023).
Project goals are research and development of femtosecond laser micromachining technologies in UV spectral range: this includes designing optical systems and optomechanical components for UV laser applications; developing new micromachining technologies for surface patterning of dielectrics and non-dielectrics in UV; designing new photonic components using UV laser microfabrication techniques and research of microcutting strategies with UV fs lasers in thermo-sensitive materials.
Main publication:
1. D. Stonyte, V.Jukna, D. Paipulas, Direct Laser Ablation of Glasses with Low Surface Roughness Using Femtosecond UV Laser Pulses, J. Laser Micro Nanoeng 17 (2), 121-126 (2022).
Development and investigation of novel optical parametric generators: towards subnanosecond pulses (01.2.2-LMT-K-718-03-0004), European Regional development fund, Research council of Lithuania project. Dr J. Vengelis (2020-2023).
The aim of the project is to develop commercialization ready optical parametric generator technologies for generation of subnanosecond pulses in the VIS and NIR spectral range based on the nonlinear optics methods. Research related to the aim of the project includes investigation of optical parametric generation in the VIS and NIR spectral range in various nonlinear media pumped by subnanosecond pulses and creation of OPG for generation of subnanosecond pulses in this spectral range.
Tunable optical parametric generation in infrared region by subnanosecond pump (520 ps) in PPLN crystal was studied both theoretically and experimentally. The spectrum of the amplified signal as well as its conversion efficiency were measured. In the theoretical research, the quantum-mechanical model for the optical parametrical generation was used. Moreover, optical parametric amplification of the injected laser-diode signal was demonstrated. Here, the classical nonlinear coupling equations were used for the theoretical description. Experimental and theoretical results were in a good agreement.
Widely-tunable optical parametric amplification both in BBO and LBO crystals by subnanosecond pump was demonstrated. As a seed, the supercontinuum pulse was utilized. Classical nonlinear coupling equations were utilized in the theoretical study which also showed wide tuning of the amplified signal spectrum. Pulse temporal scaling of LIDT for anti-reflective coatings deposited on lithium triborate crystals was also investigated.
Main publications:
1. G. Stanionytė, V. Tamulienė, R. Grigonis, J. Vengelis, Investigation of a widely-tunable subnanosecond BBO-based optical parametric amplifier, Lithuanian Journal of Physics 62(1), 10 - 20 (2022).
2. G. Stanionytė, E. Vėjalytė, V. Tamulienė, V. Jarutis, J. Vengelis, Subnanosecond widely-tunable in the visible spectrum range LBO based optical parametric amplifier, Journal of Optics 24(4), 045506-1 - 9 (2022).
3. J. Banys, J. Savickytė, O. Balachninaitė, S. Armalytė, V. Tamulienė, V.Jarutis, J. Vengelis, Performance investigation of high-efficiency widely tunable subnanosecond optical parametric generator and amplifier based on MgO:PPLN, Optics Express 30(13), 23163 - 23176 (2022).
4. E. Atkočaitis, L. Smalakys, A. Melninkaitis, Pulse temporal scaling of LIDT for anti-reflective coatings deposited on lithium triborate crystals, Optics Express 30(16), 28401 – 28413 (2022).
Student practical research activities funded by Research Council of Lithuania
1. Development and characterization of periodically modulated structures, suitable for the polarization of terahertz radiation, 2021-2022, student Giedrius Balčas, supervisor Dr (HP) V. Vaičaitis
2. Formation of periodic surface structures in transparent materials with broadly tunable femtosecond laser pulses 2021-2022, student M. Navickas, supervisor prof. A. Dubietis
Student EuroPhotonics international master program research activity
1. High repetition rate supercontinuum generation in KGW crystal, 2022, student: Kawthar Reggui (EuroPhotonics network, 1 year hosting at Vilnius University Laser Research Center), supervisor Prof. A. Dubietis.
Seminars related to the Europhotonics program by Scholars
1. Prof. Frederik Claeyssens (Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of Sheffield) "Additive Manufacturing of Inherently Porous Biomaterials"
2. Dr Florians Helmuts Gābauers (University of Latvia) „Introduction to Modelling Atomic Systems using the QuantumOptics.jl Package in Julia“
3. Dr Ilja Fescenko (University of Latvia) „Diamond Magnetic Microscopy“
4. Dr Frank Wagner (Institut Fresnel Marseille, France) “Laser induced contamination in contaminated vacuum”
International Research Projects
7FP Project „Integrated European Laser Laboratories V“ (LASERLAB-Europe V) (2019-2023).
The Vilnius University represented by Laser Research Centre is member of LASERLAB-EUROPE V was involved in two joint research activities (JRA) - PRImary and SEcondary Sources (PRISES) and Advanced Laser-based Techniques for Imaging and Spectroscopy in material science and biomedicine (ALTIS), networking and providing of the Transnational Access.
With JRA PRISES, LASERLAB-EUROPE invests in frontier laser technology and laser science by focusing on strategic advances that are critical for short-pulse, high-power lasers and their secondary sources of particles and radiation. It is based on three interconnected and strategic objectives where 28 partners jointly pursue, in total, 14 focused tasks.
Vilnius University Laser Research Center is taking part in primary laser source development and metrology by investigating laser-induced damage threshold measurements and aging effect of optical components in high repetition rate lasers as well as in the mid-IR laser development.
In the JRA ALTIS, LASERLAB-EUROPE addresses the needs of new and innovative workstations, methodologies and platforms for advanced imaging and spectroscopy in, for example biomedicine, bio- and nano-materials and environmental science. This JRA is based on four interconnected and strategic objectives, where 20 partners jointly pursue, in total, nine focused tasks. Vilnius University Laser Research Center is taking part in platforms for imaging, detection and manipulation of biological samples at the molecular and cellular scale. Laser Research Center together with partners are making joint efforts to provide innovative platforms to manipulate and image single cells. Researchers from photopolymerization laboratory are combining direct laser 3D writing and imaging into a single workstation. A direct laser writing 3D nanolithography tool will be used to create and fabricate micro-optical, nano-photonic devices and micro-mechanical components that will be integrated in situ into sample for imaging, spectroscopic measurement and assisting optical tweezers. The other partners of Laserlab-Europe V project will directly benefit from the ascribed instrumentations. At VU Laser Research Center micromechanical components for sample handling and micro-/nano-porous 3D foam targets for high intensity light-matter interaction into the setups developed by the other partners are fabricated.
Transnational access visit:
Visit of professor’s Stelios Couris (University of Patras, Greece) PhD students Dimitros Stefas and Eleni Nanou was implemented in a frame of the international project LASERLAB-Europe V. The main objective of the visit to the Vilnius University Laser Research Facility (VULRC) was to use the experimental equipment provided to determine and compare, by means of Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS), the relative mineral content in powdered milk samples coming from different animals. To achieve this goal, LIBS spectra were recorded using both a portable spectrograph used in visitor’s laboratory (NLOLA) and a spectrograph provided by the VULRC laboratory. Another goal was to compare LIBS results obtained in the NLOLA laboratory's setup with a commercial state-of-the-art instrument provided by the VULRC. For this purpose, VULRC provided visitors with a LIBS chamber, where it was possible to properly focus the laser beam and avoid or minimize the formation of craters. Finally, among visitor’s interests was to obtain measurements using a fs-laser provided by the facility and compare these results with LIBS spectra already acquired with a ns-laser. One of the achievements was that a large number of milk samples (over 500 samples) from different animals were examined. The use of the chamber contributed significantly to the measurement of this large number of samples, while at the same time it contributed to a significant reduction in measurement time, since many samples could be placed in the chamber and measured directly. The use of the spectrograph provided by VULRC, with higher resolution compared to visitor’s portable spectrograph, resulted in the acquisition of LIBS spectra with well-resolved and fully distinguishable spectral lines. In addition, the comparison of the LIBS spectra recorded with the fs-laser showed differences compared to the LIBS spectra recorded with the ns-laser. Regarding the latter, it should be noted that when the fs-laser was used, large craters and even complete destruction of the sample were observed, so the position of the sample had to be constantly changed to focus the laser beam on different points. The results are promising and may lead to common scientific publication.
Visit of prof. Vitali Nagirnyi (Tartu University, Estonia) with his coworkers Dr Ivo Romet (Tartu University, Estonia) and Dr Lengyel (Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungary) implemented in a frame of the international project LASERLAB-Europe V. The project was aimed at the study of up-conversion luminescence due to electronic energy transfer in pairs of rare-earth (RE) ions, Yb3++Dy3+, doped in lithium yttrium borate (Li6Y(BO3)3, LYB). LYB possesses only one type of yttrium sites suitable for doping with rare-earth ions, whereas a short distance of about 3.85 Å between the neighboring Y sites, and correspondingly between the substituting impurity ions, makes LYB perfectly suitable for the investigation of sequential energy transfers from one paired ion to another leading to an anti-Stokes emission with photon energy considerably higher than the energy of the exciting photons. In present project, visitors were planned to study the spectral and timing features of the Dy3+ up-conversion luminescence excited through the sequential energy transfer from Yb3+ to Dy3+ ion in Yb3+-Dy3+ pairs in Li6Y(BO3)3 crystals doped with 20 mol% Yb3+ and 0.1, 1 or 5 mol% Dy3+. Main achievements and difficulties encountered by the users: Despite the efficiency of the Yb3+ to Dy3+ energy transfer has been reported to be very high and despite visitor’s previous experience with the LYB:20%Yb crystals, in which the Dy3+ up-conversion luminescence was well observable though the samples contained only traces of unintended Dy3+ impurity, visitors were not able to observe the Dy3+ up-conversion luminescence in Li6Y(BO3)3: 20%Yb3+,Dy3+ crystals containing 1 or 5%Dy, when these were excited in the Yb3+ absorption band at 972 nm. However, an efficient two-photon excitation of Dy3+ emission was discovered at laser powers exceeding certain threshold values. The reasons reason of such behavior is being analysed now. On the contrary, cooperative luminescence of Yb3+-Yb3+ pairs, up-conversion luminescence of Yb3+-Tm3+ pairs as well as two-photon excitation of Tm3+ ions was discovered and studied in detail in Li6Y(BO3)3:Yb3+,Tm3+ crystals. In addition, cooperative luminescence of the Yb3+-Yb3+ pairs was found and thoroughly studied in LiYb(BO3)3 crystals, in which Yb is not an impurity, but one of the crystal structure forming elements. The dependences of cooperative luminescence intensity and decay kinetics on excitation power and temperature were studied. Preliminary studies of potential up-conversion processes were performed also for Li6Y(BO3)3:Yb3+,Ho3+ and Li6Y(BO3)3:Yb3+,Er3+ crystals.
During the visit performed by prof. Thorsten Ackemann (University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom) the investigation of the possibility of modal control by a two-dimensional structuring of the gain profile of broad-area edge-emitting lasers and amplifiers was performed. The mode coupling induced by the modulation leads to spatial filtering and a preference of directional emission along the optical axis thus reducing divergence and improving beam quality and brightness. In general the visit was successful. We, as the hosts, prepared the samples for the measurements towards the beginning of the visit. We prepared different semiconductor structures, in particular 1) patterned electrode structure for horizontal emission/amplification; 2) reference (unpatterned electrode) structures for for horizontal emission/amplification; 3) structures for vertical emission. The latter was an optional task, not included in the project application. During the stay the structures were carefully measured. As the measurements showed the patterned structures (case 1) did not worked properly, due to imperfections of fabrication. The measurements gave the list of instructions for the second round of fabrication. The new structures are being fabricated presently, and some of them will be shipped to the visitor for measurements, some will be measured in VU LRC. In addition to the main goal of the visit the vertically emitting structures were measured as well. Generally, the results obtained are still not sufficient to an article, however the modified structures being fabricated now, will likely generated expected results for the planned article. This will be done during a post-visit common work. The visit was very useful. It advanced VULRC’s know how for the fabrication. The visitor shared his experience in a group seminar, and during his stay in the lab. Both sides profited well.
Contractual Research
Outsourcing long term contracts:
1. Characterization of diffractive optical elements and microstructures in transparent materials using profilometer and SEM, Customer – Femtika, 2022.
2. Measurement and inspection of laser induced damage threshold, research of optical elements quality, Customer - Lidaris, 2022.
3. Scientific research is aimed at investigating the peculiarities of the color marking of metal surfaces (dark, light shades), Customer - Light Conversion, 2022.
Outsourcing contracts:
1. Measurement of microfluidics grating height, Customer - DropletGenomics, 2022-03
2. Research of optimal parameters for cutting plastic lenses, Customer - Akoneer, 2022-10
3. Fabrication of plastic lenses using femtosecond micromachining complex, Customer - Akonner, 2022-11
MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INOVATION) PARTNERS
1. Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Micro-Photonics (H34), John Street, PO Box 218, Hawthorn, Victoria, 3122 Australia.
2. UPC (Universitat Politechnica de Catalunya), Departament de Fisica i Enginyeria Nuclear, Colom, 11, Terrassa, 08222 Spain
3. Institut Fresnel-CNRS UMR 7249-Equipe ILM, Escole Centrale Marseille-Aix Marseille Universite, France.
4. Light Conversion, Ltd., Lithuania
5. CNISM and Dipartimento di Scienza e Alta Tecnologia, University of Insubria, Via Valleggio 11, 22100 Como, Italy
6. University of Warsaw, Faculty of physics, Warsaw, Poland.
7. University of Bordeaux, Laboratoire Ondes et Matière d’Aquitaine (LOMA), Talence, France
8. University of Sheffield, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Sheffield, United Kingdom
9. Institute of Quantum Optics, Leibniz University of Hannover, D30167 Hannover, Germany
10. Shizuoka University, Research Institute of Electronics, 3-5-1 Johoku, Naka-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan.
11. Foundation for Research and Technogology – Hellas, Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser, 1527 Vasilika Vouton, Heraklion, Greece.
12. Engineering Research Center of Optical Instrument and System, The Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, PR China
13. Faculty of Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
14. Department of Chemical and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd North, Mississauga, L5L 1C6, Canada
15. National Cancer Institute, Baublio 3b, Vilnius, Lithuania
16. Biological Research Center, Temesvári körút 62, 6726 Szeged, Hungary
17. Stanford Nano Shared Facilities, Stanford University, 348 Via Pueblo, Stanford, CA 94305-4088, United States, USA
18. Technical University Delft, Department of Precission and Microsystems Engineering, Delft, The Netherlands
19. Department of Physics, Montana State University, USA.
OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
Prof. M. Malinauskas
• Associate Editor at Optics Express (OSA), 2019-2022.
• Associate Editor at Opto-Electronics Advances, (2021-2024).
• Scientific Committee Member at Photonics West (SPIE), since 2017.
• Chair of Summer School – Photonics Meets Biology, since 2022.
Prof. V. Sirutkaitis
• Technical Program Committee Member at the International Conference on Pacific Rim Laser Damage, SPIE-PLD/TFPA, 19-22 May, 2019, Qingdao, China.
Dr A.Melninkaitis
• Scientific Committee Member at SPIE Laser Damage.
Prof. A. Dubietis
• Associate Editor of Lithuanina Journal of Physics (Lithuanian Academy of Sciences)
Dr A.Varanavicius
• member of ELI ERIC International Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee (ISTAC)
Prof. A.Matijošius
• Delegate to the ELI ERIC General Assemblies.
Dr V. Jukna
• Edditorial board member of Micromachines (MDPI).
THE LIST OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RECEIVED NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS FOR R&D ACTIVITIES
1. In 2022 Prof. Mangirdas Malinauskas, Laser Research Center of Physics Faculty at Vilnius University, was awarded OPTICA FELLOW „For advancing ultrafast laser 3D lithography and pioneering work towards applying it for micro-optics and biomedical scaffolds” https://www.optica.org/en-us/about/newsroom/news_releases/2022/november/optica_announces_2023_fellows_class/
2.The best lecturer at Faculty of Physics of 2021 was awarded to Professor Mikas Vengris.
3. Dr Remio Gaška's scholarships for the best bachelor's theses was awarded to Jurga Jeršovaitė, a graduate of the Applied Physics Program.
4. VU Tech Hub scholarship for best multidisciplinary work was awarded to Jurga Jeršovaitė.
5. Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Young researcher scholarship 2022-2023 was awarded to Dr Julius Vengelis.
THE LIST OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CASES OF PARTICIPATION OF RESEARCHERS IN WORKING GROUPS OR COMMISSIONS SET UP BY STATE AUTHORITIES, STATE AND MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS AND ORGANISATIONS, AND BUSINESS ENTITIES
Prof. habil. Dr R. Rotomskis,
• Deputy Chairman of the Reseach Council of Lithuania, Chairman of the Committee on Natural and Technical Sciences.
Dr M. Malinauskas,
• member of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences - Young Academy.
Prof. A. Dubietis,
• member of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Prof. V. Sirutkaitis,
• Member of the Committee of Natural and Technical Sciences of the Research Council of Lithuania.
Dr O. Balachninaitė,
• Member of the Access board of the Laserlab-Europe V
Prof. V. Sirutkaitis,
• Member of the HiLASE Facility Access Panel (www.hilase.cz).
Dr A. Melninkaitis,
• Member of the board of Lithuanian Laser Association.
Prof. A. Matijošius,
• Member of the board of Lithuanian Laser Association.
THE LIST OF CONSULTATIONS PROVIDED BY THE UNIT TO THE PUBLIC OR ECONOMIC ENTITIES
1. Ongoing consultations with “Femika” regarding developing of ultrafast laser 3D nanoprinting.
2. Consultations with Workshop of Photonics regarding laser 3D polymerization of bioresins R&D experiments.
THE LIST OF THE MOST IMPORTANT RESULTS OF SCIENCE POPULARISATION ACTIVITIES
1. M. Malinauskas “Laser additive manufacturing of Si/ZrO2 tunable crystalline phase 3D nanostructures” in Phys Org: Laser additive manufacturing of Si/ZrO2 tunable crystalline phase 3D nanostructures (phys.org)
2. A. Butkus, E. Skliutas, M. Malinauskas “Femtosecond-laser direct writing 3D micro/nano-lithography using VIS-light oscillator” video explaining the published article: Femtosecond-laser direct writing 3D micro/nano-lithography using VIS-light oscillator - YouTube.
3. V. Tamulienė. Articles on “THz and third-harmonic generation in air” on homepage: http://web.vu.lt/ff/v.pyragaite/index.php?id=TH
4. V. Vaičaitis. „Lietuvio mokslininko pasiekimas sulaukė tarptautinio įvertinimo: naujos technologijos palengvins ultrasparčiųjų reiškinių tyrimus“ (Achievements of lithuanian scientist received an international recognition: the new technologies will ease investigations of the ultrafast processes) https://www.delfi.lt/mokslas/technologijos/lietuvio-mokslininko-pasiekimas-sulauke-tarptautinio-ivertinimo-naujos-technologijos-palengvins-ultrasparciuju-reiskiniu-tyrimus.d?id=89508503
5. Seminar „Šviesos keliu: nuo pirmosios parametriškai sustiprintos spinduliuotės iki Ekstremalios šviesos infrastruktūros...“ 2022-12-19
6. 2022 09 15 - Šviesos ir spalvų magija (Nr. 73) - prof. Dr S. Bagdonas, Dr A.Kalnaitytė - 13:00 - VU Fizikos fakulteto 302 lab. (Saulėtekio al. 9, Vilnius, Lietuva).
7. 2022 09 15 - Šviesos detektyvai (Nr. 80) - prof. Dr S. Bagdonas, Dr A.Kalnaitytė - 15:00 - VU Fizikos fakulteto 302 lab. (Saulėtekio al. 9, Vilnius, Lietuva)
Conference presentations:
1. M. Malinauskas, Mesoscale laser 3D printing: from renewable plant-based resins to crystalline inorganics, 3D Nano- & Micro-Manufacturing: Technology & Technical Applications, Kloster Schontal, Germany (April 3 - 8, 2022). (KEYNOTE) 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O) - News & Events - Events - Future 3D Additive Manufacturing – The 3DMM2O Conference - 2022 Conference (kit.edu)
2. M. Malinauskas, Laser 3D nano-printing of inorganics for free-form micro-optics, PIERS, Hangzhou, China (April 27, 2022). (INVITED) Online Program | PIERS2021 (online)3. M. Ultrafast laser 3D lithography for micro-nano additive manufacturing of bioresins and inorganics, International Conference on Advanced Optical Manufacturing Technologies Applications 2022 2nd International Forum of Young Scientists on Advanced Optical Manufacturing, Changchun, China (July 30, 2022). (KEYNOTE). (more information: https://b2b.csoe.org.cn/meeting/YSAOM2022.html#150_163 ): (online)
3. A. Dubietis, Table-top Optical Parametric Chirped-pulse Amplifiers: Three Decades of Advances, Advanced Solid State Lasers Conference, Barcelona, Spain, 11-15 December 2022 (INVITED)
4. V. Jukna, R. Grigutis, M. Navickas, G. Tamošauskas, A. Dubietis, Supercontinuum generation, conical third harmonic emission and optical damage in bulk materials with high repetition rate laser pulses, International Conference on Laser Filamentation, Chania, Greece, 11-15 July 2022 (ORAL)
5. R. Grigutis, V. Jukna, M. Navickas, G. Tamošauskas, K. Staliūnas, A. Dubietis, Broadband Conical Third Harmonic Generation in Fused Silica with Femtosecond Laser Pulses, 10th EPS-QEOD Europhoton Conference, Hannover, Germany 28 August – 2 September 2022 (ORAL)
6. R. Grigutis, V. Marčiulionytė, G. Tamošauskas, N.Garejev, V. Jukna, A. Dubietis, Supercontinuum generation and optical damage in sapphire and YAG at high repetition rates, 25th Congress of the International Commission for Optics (ICO) and 16th International Conference on Optics Within Life Sciences (OWLS), Dresden, Germany 5-9 September 2022 (ORAL)
7. R. Grigutis, V. Jukna, G. Tamošauskas, M. Navickas, K. Staliūnas, A. Dubietis, Conical third harmonic generation from high repetition rate filamentation-induced bulk damage in transparent materials, SPIE Laser Damage 2022, Rochester, New York, USA, 18-21 September 2022 (ORAL)
8. J. Vengelis, G. Stanionytė, E. Vėjalytė, V. Tamulienė and V. Jarutis, Investigation of LBO and BBO subnanosecond optical parametric amplifiers operating in the visible spectrum range, SPIE Photonics Europe, April 3 - 7, Strasbourg, France 2022. (ORAL)
9. J. Banys, J. Savickytė, O. Balachninaitė, S. Armalytė, V. Tamulienė, V. Jarutis and J. Vengelis, Investigation of optical parametric generator pumped by subnanosecond passively Q-switched micro-laser pulses, SPIE Photonics Europe, April 3 - 7, Strasbourg, France 2022. (ORAL)
10. D. Paipulas, S. Butkus, C.V.D. Manikas, V. Jarutis, V.Jukna, Femtosecond laser pulse induced surface amorphization of silicon, PROCÉDÉS LASER POUR L’INDUSTRIE (PLI2022) June 28-29, Saint Etienne, France 2022. (ORAL)
DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS DEFENDED IN 2022
Balys Momgaudis “Ageing and damage mechanisms in optical materials investigated by ultrafast imaging and spectroscopys“.
INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ELECTRODYNAMICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION
3 Saulėtekio av., LT - 10257 Vilnius
Tel. +370 5 223 4585
e-mail:
Head - Prof. Dr Robertas Grigalaitis
STAFF
Professors: Habil. Dr J. Banys (part-time), Habil. Dr J. Matukas, Dr R. Grigalaitis, Dr A. Lisauskas, Dr I. Kašalynas, Dr M. Žilinskas (Partnership Professor), Habil. Dr A.F. Orliukas (Professor Emeritus), Habil. Dr J. Grigas (Professor Emeritus).
Associate professors: Dr M. Šimėnas, Dr R. Aleksiejūnas, Dr M. Ivanov, Dr V. Jonkus, Dr T. Šalkus, Dr E. Kazakevičius, Dr S. Pralgauskaitė, Dr E. Palaimienė Dr V. Kavaliukė Dr Š. Svirskas, Dr V. Kalendra, Dr K. Svirskas, Dr E. Stankevičius, A. Pažemeckas (Partnership Assoc. Prof.).
Lecturers: Dr S. Balčiūnas, Dr S. Daugėla, Dr S. Kazlauskas, Dr M. Tretjak, Dr I. Zamaraitė, A. Cesiul.
Research fellows: Dr J. Macutkevič, Dr A. Kežionis, Dr V. Kalendra, Dr S. Lapinskas, Dr A. Džiaugys, Dr A. Bernotas, Dr M. Šimėnas, Dr V. Kavaliukė, Dr S. Rudys, Dr M. Kinka, Dr Š. Svirskas, Dr S. Daugėla, Dr I. Zamaraitė, Dr J. Glemža, Dr K. Ikamas, Dr A. Plyushch, Dr E.Palaimienė, Dr M. Tretjak, Dr D.Meisak.
Engineering staff: E. Zdaniauskis, A. Sereika, V. R. Adomaitis, V. Armonavičius, Ž. Logminas, K. Stankevičius, V. Haronin, G. Usevičius, D. Vizbaras.
Doctoral students: P. Bertašius, G. Gorokhov, V. Haronin, G. Usevičius, D. Tsyhanok.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Broadband dielectric spectroscopy of ferroelectrics and related materials, relaxation and phonon dynamic studies in order-disorder ferroelectrics, ferroelectric ceramics, dipolar glasses, relaxors, composite systems, liquids, metal-organic structures etc.
• Electron paramagnetic resonance of various solid state materials including hybrid compounds and materials for spin-based quantum technologies. Method development for high sensitivity electron paramagnetic resonance applications.
• Technological processing of solid electrolyte ceramics and films. Broadband impedance spectroscopy of solid electrolytes.
• Low frequency noise characterization and investigation of the charge carrier transport mechanisms in the field-effect transistor-based terahertz detectors fabricated by the Si CMOS and AlGaN/GaN HEMT technologies, modern laser diodes and light-emitting diodes. Device reliability and quality assessment through the noise correlation analysis and long-term ageing experiments. Also, the devise modelling and design. Noise spectroscopy of novel multiferroic materials (e.g., with carbon nano particles).
RESEARCH PROJECTS CARRIED OUT IN 2022
Projects Supported by the University Budget
Development and investigation of nanometric structures employed in telecommunication and imaging systems, their noise characterization. (prof. J. Matukas, 2018-2023.
Comprehensive investigations of materials and devices employed in telecommunication systems have been carried out: low frequency noise characteristics, responsivity of detectors and radiation characteristics of sources were measured and analyzed, charge carrier transport mechanisms and device reliability were evaluated. Devices under investigation were: GaN, Si and graphene-based diodes and transistors for THz detection, GaSb and bismide-based semiconductor lasers for mid-infrared radiation, composite materials with carbon nanoparticles and graphene-based photodetectors. Analysis of transport properties of the randomly moving electrons in metals was performed. Single line and continuous spectrum THz recording devices, THz imaging matrices, devices for THz spectroscopy were developed.
Main publications:
1. J. Glemza, V. Palenskis, R. Gudaitis, S. Jankauskas, A. Guobiene, A. Vasiliauskas, S. Meskinis, S. Pralgauskaite, J. Matukas. Low-frequency noise of directly synthesized graphene/Si(100) junction. DIAMOND AND RELATED MATERIALS, Volume 127 , August 2022, 109207. DOI10.1016/j.diamond.2022.109207.
2. V. Palenskis, J. Glemza, J. Matukas. Generation-recombination noise and other features of doped silicon in a wide temperature range. LITHUANIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, Volume 62, pp.148-160, (2022). DOI10.1042/BSR-2018-1196_EOC.
3. V. Palenskis, J. Matukas, J. Glemza, S. Pralgauskaite. Review of Low-Frequency Noise Properties of High-Power White LEDs during Long-Term Aging. MATERIALS, Volume15, Article Number13, 2022. DOI10.3390/ma15010013.
4. A. Cesiul, K. Ikamas, D.B. But, I. Morkunaite, T. Lisauskas, A. Lisauskas. Towards wireless data transmission with compact all-electronic THz source and detector system. LITHUANIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, Volume 62, pp. 127-137, (2022). DOI10.3952/physics.v62i3.4796.
5. M. Tretjak, S. Pralgauskaitė, J. Matukas, A. Plyushch, J. Macutkevič, J. Banys, B. Karakashov, V. Fierro and A. Celzard. Electrical Resistivity and Microwave Properties of Carbon Fiber Felt Composites. MATERIALS 2022, 15(23), 8654; DOI10.3390/ma15238654.
6. D. Vizbaras, K. Ikamas, S. Pralgauskaitė, J. Matukas, A.A. Generalov, A. Lisauskas. Optimization of terahertz detectors based on graphene field effect transistors by high impedance antennae. LITHUANIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICS, Vol. 62, No. 4, pp. 254–266 (2022). DOI10.3952/physics.v62i4.4822.
7. R. Ivaškevičiūtė-Povilauskienė, P. Kizevičius, E. Nacius, D. Jokubauskis, K. Ikamas, A. Lisauskas, N. Alexeeva, I. Matulaitienė, V. Jukna, S. Orlov, L. Minkevičius, G. Valušis, 2022. Terahertz structured light: nonparaxial Airy imaging using silicon diffractive optics. Light Sci Appl 11, 326. DOI10.1038/s41377-022-01007-z.
Electromagnetic Methods for Increasing Spectral Efficiency of Radio Communication Systems. (Assoc. Prof. Kęstutis Svirskas, 2020-2023).
Physical signal security analysis using signal range and direction-of-arrival estimation has been performed for Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) commonly used in aviation. The developed methods are suitable for protection against spoofing and jamming attacks. Jamming analysis has also been conducted for hostile Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) detection and neutralization.
Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used widely in modern communications and electronics technologies. However, GNSS suffers from multipath and reflections caused by surrounding environment. GNSS antenna array with beamforming has been developed and tested to reduce the multipath effects especially in urban areas. Low-cost Software-Defined Radio (SDR) based GNSS signal recorder and replayer has been constructed that enables testing of GNSS receivers in manufacturing processes.
Main publications:
1. S. Rudys, J. Aleksandravicius, R. Aleksiejunas, A. Konovaltsev, C. Zhu, and L. Greda, “Physical layer protection for ADS-B against spoofing and jamming,” International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, vol. 38, p. 100555, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.ijcip.2022.100555.
2. S. Rudys, A. Laučys, P. Ragulis, R. Aleksiejūnas, K. Stankevičius, M. Kinka, M. Razgūnas, D. Bručas, D. Udris, R. Pomarnacki, “Hostile UAV Detection and Neutralization Using a UAV System,” Drones, vol. 6, no. 9, Art. no. 9, Sep. 2022, doi: 10.3390/drones6090250.
3. M. Razgūnas, S. Rudys, and R. Aleksiejūnas, “GNSS 2×2 antenna array with beamforming for multipath detection,” Advances in Space Research, Dec. 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.asr.2022.12.035.
Broadband Spectroscopy of Innovative Materials. (Prof. Jūras Banys, 2019–2023)
Dielectric, ultrasonic, electron paramagnetic spectroscopy studies of various ferroelectrics, relaxor ferroelectrics, multiferroics, inorganic and hybrid perovskites, formates and composite materials have been carried out. A lot of useful information both from the fundamental point of view as well as for the possible applications in advanced devices and/or technologies was extracted from these investigations. It was shown that with the help of advanced and unique equipment accumulated in the Laboratory of Microwave Spectroscopy a significant contribution to the number topics in physics and technology can be made.
Main publications:
1. B. Bajac, [2] ; J. Vukmirovic, N. Samardzic, J. Banys, G. Stojanovic, J. Bobic, VV Srdic. Dielectric and ferroelectric properties of multilayer BaTiO3/NiFe2O4 thin films prepared by solution deposition technique. Ceramics International, 48(18), 26378-26386 (2022).
2. E. Palaimiene, J. Macutkevic, J. Banys, A. Selskis, N.Apanasevich, A. Kudlash, A. Sokal, K. Lapko. Phosphate Ceramics with Silver Nanoparticles for Electromagnetic Shielding Applications. Materials 15(20), 7100 (2022).
3. J. Macutkevic, J. Banys, A. Kania. Electrical Conductivity and Dielectric Relaxation in Ag1-xLixNbO3. Crystals 12(2), 158 (2022).
Investigation of Superionic Conductor. (Assoc. Prof. Tomas Šalkus, 2021–2025)
New solid electrolytes with proton conduction (Ba1-xSrxCe0.9Y0.1O3, where 0 < x < 0.1), sodium ion conduction (Na3MnTi(PO4)3, Na3MnPO4CO3, Na4Mn3(PO4)2P2O7), and silver ion conduction (Ag3AsS3-As2S3 composites) have been studied by broadband impedance spectroscopy. These materials are promissing canditates for applications in medium temperature solid oxide fuel cells and sodium ion batteries.
Main publications:
1. Davit Tediashvili, Gintarė Gečė, Jurgis Pilipavičius, Saulius Daugėla, Tomas Šalkus, Jurga Juodkazytė, Linas Vilčiauskas, Synthesis, characterization, and degradation study of Mn-based phosphate frameworks (Na3MnTi(PO4)3, Na3MnPO4CO3, Na4Mn3(PO4)2P2O7) as aqueous Na-ion battery positive electrodes, Electrochimica Acta 417 (2022) 140294.
2. Austėja Diktanaitė, Giedrė Gaidamavičienė, Edvardas Kazakevičius, Algimantas Kežionis, Artūras Žalga, Aqueous sol-gel synthesis, structural, thermoanalytical studies, and conductivity properties of lithium lanthanum titanate, Thermochimica Acta 715 (2022) 179268.
3. V. Kavaliukė, T. Šalkus, A. Kežionis, M.M. Pop, I.P. Studenyak, Ag3AsS3-As2S3 composite: Detailed impedance spectroscopy study, Solid State Ionics 383 (2022) 115971.
4. V. Kavaliukė, I. Nesterova, A. Kežionis, S. Balčiūnas, G. Bajars, T. Šalkus, G. Kucinskis, Combined conductivity and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy study of Na2FeP2O7 cathode material for sodium ion batteries, Solid State Ionics 385 (2022) 116024.
5. Maciej Nowagiel, Mateusz J. Samsel, Edvardas Kazakevicius, Aldona Zalewska, Algimantas Kežionis, Tomasz K. Pietrzak, Electrochemical performance of highly conductive nanocrystallized glassy alluaudite-type cathode materials for NIBs, Energies 15 (2022) 2567.
National Research Projects
Methyl group tunnel coherence in metal-organic frameworks (Dr Mantas Šimėnas, 2022-2024)
Methyl group is a widely ubiquitous in various materials and biomolecules. At relatively high temperature, this group exhibits a stochastic rotation around its C3 symmetry axis, while at sufficiently low temperature it behaves as a quantum rotor. In a symmetric three-well potential, the three localized states become delocalized by the wavefunction overlap enabling rotational tunneling of the group. The delocalized states are separated by the tunnel splitting νt, which exponentially depends on the rotation barrier. Thus, the ability to precisely determine νt provides a highly sensitive probe to study the local chemical environment.
This project aims to study this phenomenon with the emphasis on the new MOFs, different paramagnetic centers, structural information which can be obtained, and coupling between the neighboring methyl groups. The project outcome is expected to provide a thorough understanding of this effect opening pathways for interdisciplinary applications and studies in more complicated systems such as proteins.
Main publication:
1. M. Šimėnas, S. Balčiūnas, A. Gągor, A. Pieniążek, K. Tolborg, M. Kinka, V. Klimavičius, Š. Svirskas, V. Kalendra, M. Ptak, D. Szewczyk, A. P. Herman, R. Kudrawiec, A. Sieradzki, R. Grigalaitis, A. Walsh, M. Mączka, J. Banys. Mixology of MA1–xEAxPbI3 Hybrid Perovskites: Phase Transitions, Cation Dynamics, and Photoluminescence. Chem. Mater. 34, 10104 (2022).
Structural phases and dynamic effects in novel hybrid perovskite materials for future solar cells. (Prof. Robertas Grigalaitis, 2019-2022).
Hybrid perovskite lead halides have attracted huge interest as materials for effective solar cell devices which power conversion efficiency is already above 20%, and their films can be fabricated by simple and cheap wet chemistry methods. Intense investigations are ongoing in this field to increase the conversion effectivity and environmental stability of them. The mixed methylamonium-formamidinium lead bromide crystals were investigated during year 2022 by broadband dielectric, ultrasonic and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopies and complemental techniques. Peculiarities of phase transitions and dipolar dynamics in these materials were determined and explained. This leads to better understanding of the physical properties of hybrid lead halides and shows routes to increase their photoactive behavior.
Main publications:
1. M. Šimėnas, S. Balčiūnas, M. Maczka, J. Banys. Phase Transition Model of FA Cation Ordering in FAPbX3 (X = Br, I) Hybrid Perovskites. J. Mater. Chem. C 10, 5210 (2022).
2. M. Ptak, A. Sieradzki, M. Šimėnas, M. Maczka. Molecular spectroscopy of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites and related compounds. Coord. Chem. Rev. 448, 214180 (2021).
NATO Science for peace and security program project „Globular carbon based structures and metamaterials for enhanced electromagnetic protection” (Dr Jan Macutkevič, 2020-2023)
Project is focused on the development of innovative security-related technologies such as data protection through the production of metasurfaces with enhanced electromagnetic properties: microwave absorption and frequency dispersion, allowing effective guiding and trapping of high-frequency signals. The main goal of the project is to design and implement a new type of artificial magneto-electric materials as a basis for novel applications in radio frequency (RF) and microwave technology. These metasurfaces will be based on the metamaterial approach and will combine the advantages of both electric and magnetic properties in carbon-based magnetic globular structures, leading to multifunctional 2D-structures and to the concept of electromagnetic perfect absorber or wave concentrator.
Main publications:
1. D. Bychanok, Y. Padrez, N. Liubetski, A. Arlouski, U. Kushniarou, I. Korobov, I. Halimski, T. Kulahava, M. Demidenko, A. Urbanowicz, J. Macutkevic, P. Kuzhir, Window tinting films for microwave absorption and terahertz applications. Journal of Applied Physics 131, 025110 (2022).
2. P. Blyweert, N. Vincent, J. Macutkevic, V. Fierro, A. Celzard, Tannin-based resins for 3D printing of porous carbon architectures, ACS Sustanaible Chemistry&Engineering 10, 7702 (2022).
Development of specialized unmanned aerial vehicle for detection and neutralization of unmanned aerial vehicles. (Dr Saulius Rudys, 2018-2022).
Technologies of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are developing especially rapidly and have extremely wide field of implementation. Unfortunately, same as other technologies UAVs can be both beneficial and dangerous for the society. There are many solutions for UAV detection and neutralization suggested but all of these solutions have drawbacks. Thus, there are no effective UAV detection and neutralizing technologies available. The main goal of the project – develop an effective (more effective than is available in this moment) solution for UAV detection and neutralizing. Part of results was presented in the European competitions of the ideas.
Main publications:
1. Rudys, S.; Ragulis, P.; Laučys, A.; Bručas, D.; Pomarnacki, R.; Plonis, D. Investigation of UAV Detection by Different Solid-State Marine Radars. Electronics 2022, 11, 2502. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics11162502
2. Saulius Rudys,Andrius Laučys,Paulius Ragulis,Rimvydas Aleksiejūnas,Karolis Stankevičius,Martynas Kinka,Matas Razgūnas,Domantas Bručas,Dainius Udris andRaimondas Pomarnacki . Hostile UAV Detection and Neutralization Using a UAV System. September 2022. Drones 6(9):250, https://doi.org/10.3390/drones6090250
UAV-based equipment for the radiation analysis of the communication systems. TPP-04-053 . (Dr Domantas Bručas 2021-2022)
Professional antenna systems may be complex structures. It is important to know does the system provide expected radiation pattern. Ground located measurements are problematic. Conventional but expensive solution is bringing measurement equipment to the sky by helicopter.
We have developed very low-cost equipment for small drones, using standalone device concept. It makes this important measurement accessible to various users.
Investigation of electromagnetic properties of ferrites as a function of frequency and temperature. (Doc. Vidmantas Kalendra, 2021-2022)
The aim of project is to investigate ferrite material samples of a ferrite garnet which will be used in a tuner that is installed on the 80 MHz cavity in the CERN Proton Synchrotron machine (PS). The PS is an essential part of the injector chain for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This tuner is filled with low loss ferrite material (AL800). The simulations of the tuner design, including the cavity versus the operating frequency range are very important. For these simulations, it is necessary to know the proper dispersion curve (permeability vs. frequency). The supplier of ferrite samples usually gives a data sheet which is largely insufficient, as it does not provide any information on the dispersion of the material. Dielectric permittivity measurements were performed using close cycle helium cryostat and at low frequencies Maxwell - Wagner relaxation was observed. Magnetic permeability measurements were done using the classic Single-turn inductor method. The frequency dependence of the magnetic permeability shows the typical behavior of ferrites.
Main publications:
1. S.Rudys, S.Balčiūnas, Ch.Vollinger, J.Banys, V.Kalendra, Investigation of dielectric and magnetic properties of AL-800 ferrite, Lith. J. Phys. 62, 277–281 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3952/physics.v62i4.4824
2. Plyushch, D. Lewin, P. Ažubalis, V. Kalendra, A. Sokal, R. Grigalaitis, V.V. Shvartsman, S. Salamon, H. Wende, A. Selskis, K.N. Lapko, D.C. Lupascu, J. Banys, Phosphate bonded CoFe2O4–BaTiO3 layered structures: Dielectric relaxations and magnetoelectric coupling, Lith. J. Phys. 62, 221–228 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3952/physics.v62i4.4817
Innovative compact metasurface-based polarization resolved terahertz imaging system with phase-sensitive detection (prof. A. Lisauskas, 2022-2024, Research Council of Lithuania project No. S-MIP-22-76)
Progress in developing various already proven application principles in the terahertz (THz) frequency range and the emergence of new ones depends on the availability of new compact, cheap, broadband, and ultrafast components that enable efficient active and passive control of THz radiation. For example, the dynamical control of the terahertz (THz) radiation is an important task in wireless high-speed communications, spectroscopy, imaging. The proposed project is focused on developing a new type of waveguide coupled devices that employ electrically tunable metasurfaces.
Metamaterial (metasurface)-based approach has already proved to demonstrate enhanced performance in respect to radiation coupling/emission efficiency when employed as an antenna or fast switching of dielectric properties when used as radiation modulation elements. Most of such advances were demonstrated using a quasi-optical coupling scheme, whereas de-facto standard practical microwave and THz systems require waveguide coupling. Furthermore, the implementation will be based on two mainstream semiconductor fabrication technologies: silicon micromachining and complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS), enabling cost-effective utilization in a wide range of cross-field applications.
In this project, we are proposing a pathway for developing a new kind of efficient and cost-effective waveguide-coupled passive (modulators phase-shifters and detectors) and active (radiation sources) components that will utilize tunable metasurface structures tailored for fabrication in commercial CMOS technologies.
Graphene on silicon for terahertz monolithic integrated circuits (prof. A. Lisauskas, 2022-2023)
The main goal of this project is to develop a methodology to enable the development of compact terahertz radiation sources suitable for practical applications using graphene on silicon technology. To achieve this goal, the following tasks are identified:
1. To simulate a source emitting in the 250-400 GHz band using a commercial silicon/germanium bipolar integrated circuit fabrication technology.
2. Simulate the characteristics of a source with graphene layers.
3. To prepare for production a THz source - a voltage controlled oscillator with bipolar transistors.
4. Develop a technique for the deposition of graphene layers on silicon integrated circuits.
5. Detailed measurements of the frequency characteristics of the prototypes developed
International Research Projects
Shaping the future of EPR with cryoprobes and superconducting microresonators (SPECTR) HORIZON, Marie Skłodowska-Curie IF (Dr Mantas Šimėnas, 2022-2024)
Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) is a highly powerful tool employed across different disciplines including structural biology, material science, quantum information processing and many others. EPR provides essential information about a local electron spin environment, electronic properties and dynamics of various paramagnetic centers. However, a relatively low sensitivity of a conventional EPR often limits its applicability to study small-volume systems (e.g. single biological cells). Recently, major advances in the EPR sensitivity enhancement have been achieved in the field of quantum information processing using superconducting microresonators and low-noise cryogenic microwave preamplifiers. The full potential of this highly sensitive EPR approach to investigate typical spin systems still remains to be shown, which is critical for its wider application in different scientific disciplines. The main goal of this Marie Skłodowska-Curie project is adaptation of these developments to study conventional spin systems and their application to solve currently EPR-inaccessible intriguing problems in biochemistry. The spin systems to be studied include a miniature amount of spin labels, a single RNA-binding protein droplet and spins in a single bacterium.
Main publication:
1. V. Kalendra, J. Turčak, J. Banys, J. J. L. Morton, M. Šimėnas. X- and Q-band EPR with cryogenic amplifiers independent of sample temperature. J. Magn. Reson. 346, 107356 (2023).
Investigation and optimization of cutting-edge lead-free PMUT platform: from materials to devices. Joint Lithuanian-Latvian-Taiwan cooperation project (Doc. Šarūnas Svirskas 2020-2022)
The project is devoted to developing a new prototype lead-free piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) platform, which could be further used in future environmentally friendly systems and applications. The project involves synthesis and characterization of state-of-the-art lead-free materials, application-oriented optimization of material properties, thin film fabrication on flexible substrates, creation of PMUT prototypes and validation of their performance. Project partners of Taiwan are experts in the applications of piezoelectric material for actuators and transducers, PMUT simulation and prototyping. Scientists from Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (Latvia) have strong background in solid state sintering of lead-free materials with potentially attractive piezoelectric properties. Lithuanian scientists of Vilnius University, Faculty of Physics (Lithuania) are leading experts in broadband dielectric spectroscopy, piezoelectric and acoustic research and characterization of ferroelectrics and related materials. The synergy of such versatile consortium gives opportunities to strongly influence the development and application of lead-free materials in a larger scale. The aim of this project is to drive lead-free materials towards wide use in PMUT which can be attractive to various biological and other demanding applications. By applying different kinds of production techniques (PLD, tape-casting) it is expected to extend the application of lead-free materials and demonstrate novel PMUT devices.
Main publications:
1. M. Jurjans, L. Bikse, E. Birks, Š. Svirskas, M. Antonova, M. Kundzins, and A. Sternberg, Electromechanical Properties in CaTiO3 Modified Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-BaTiO3 Solid Solutions above Morphotropic Phase Boundary, AIP Advances 12, 035124 (2022).
2. Š. Svirskas, T. Kudrevičius, E. Birks, M. Dunce, A. Sternbergs, C.-H. Huang, and J. Banys, Dielectric and Piezoelectric Properties of 0.8Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-0.2BaTiO3 Modified with Sodium Niobate, Lithuanian Journal of Physics 62, 4 (2022).
Environmentally friendly synthesis of metal-organic frameworks for enzyme encapsulation and energy harvesting. Joint Lithuanian-Latvian-Taiwan cooperation project (Dr Martynas Kinka 2021-2023)
The project is aimed at establishing novel environmentally friendly synthesis routes of ZIF and UIO metal organic frameworks (MOFs) and extending their application possibilities in two emerging fields: encapsulation of biological catalysts and energy harvesting.
The project involves development of the water synthetic routes under mild temperature and pH value, synthesis and characterization of MOF materials, application-oriented functionalization, investigation and optimization of their properties, development of bio-friendly processes for the preparation of Enzyme@MOFs, synthesis of MOF/polymer composites and tuning their properties, creation of triboelectric nanogenerator prototypes based on MOF/polymer composites and validation of their performance. For comprehensive research consortium of three members is formed, combining complementary fields of expertise in MOF synthesis (Taiwan), broadband dielectric spectroscopy (Lithuania) and triboelectric material research (Latvia). Successful project implementation is expected to create high impact on both application fields of high scientific and industrial interest.
Main publication:
1. Andris Sutka, Fa-Kuen Shieh, Martynas Kinka, Linards Lapcinskis, Chien-Chun Chang, Phuc Khanh Lam, Kaspars Pudzs and Osvalds Verners. “Triboelectric behaviour of selected MOFs in contact with metals” RSC Adv., 2023, 13, 41 DOI: 10.1039/d2ra06150c
Hybrid gels for electromagnetic applications. Joint Lithuanian-French project. (Dr Jan Macutkevič, 2021-2022).
The main result of the project are produced hybrid carbon/ferromagnetic/ferroelectric gels, which exhibit the strong electromagnetic wave absorption. Gels were prepared by the dry freezing method using various ferroelectric and ferromagnetic nanoparticles. Electrical properties of gels were studied in the wide frequency range from 10 μHz to 3 THz at different temperatures from 20 to 500 K. It was determined that the dielectric permittivity and the electrical conductivity strongly increased with the bulk density of the materials, according to the power laws at low frequency. The temperature dependence of electrical conductivity exhibits non Arhenius behaviour.
Main publications:
1. P. Blyweert, N. Vincent, J. Macutkevic, V. Fierro, A. Celzard, Tannin-based resins for 3D printing of porous carbon architectures, ACS Sustanaible Chemistry&Engineering 10, 7702 (2022).
2. M. Tretjak, S. Pralgauskaite, J. Matukas, A. Plyushch, J. Macutkevic, J. Banys, B. Karakashov, V. Fierro, A. Celzard. Electrical resistivity and microwave properties of carbon fiber felt composites, Materials 15, 8654 (2022).
Supporting and Implementing Plans for Gender Equality in Academia and Research (SPEAR) (2020-2023).
Dr S. Pralgauskaitė (implementer). Coordination and Support Action project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society (SwafS) programme: „Supporting and Implementing Plans for Gender Equality in Academia and Research (SPEAR)“ (2020-2023).
MAIN R&D&I (RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND INOVATION) PARTNERS
University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany)
National Taiwan University (Taiwan)
University of Yamanashi (Japan)
Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research, Polish Academy of Sciences (Poland)
Univerisity College London (UK)
ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
University of Luxembourg
University of Bologna (Italy)
Europian Communication Office (Denmark)
Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry (Poland)
AGH University of Science and Technology (Poland)
Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (Latvia)
State Agency Spanish National Research Council (Spain)
National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan)
National Central University (Taiwan)
Physikalisches Institut, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University (Germany)
Center for Terahertz Research and Applications, Institute of High Pressure Physics (Poland)
Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (Germany)
Department of Micro and Nanosystems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm)
German Aerospace Center (Germany)
Center For Physical Sciences And Technology (Lithuania)
Telia Lietuva (Lithuania)
Teltonika IoT group (Lithuania)
Tele2 Lietuva (Lithuania)
OTHER SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES
Prof. Jūras Banys
• member of the International Advisory Board of ECAPD (European Conference on Applications of Polar Dielectrics)
• member of the International Advisory Board of EMF (European Meeting on Ferroelectrics),
• member of the International Advisory Bboard of IMF (International Meeting on Ferroelectrics)
• IEEE FEROCOM member
• member of the IEEE Society
• foreign member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences
• correspondent member of the Saxonian Academy of Sciences in Leipzig
• Uzhgorod National University Doctor Honoris Causa
• member of the Lithuanian Physical Society
• member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
• member of CERN Council
• member of the editorial board of Lithuanian Journal of Physics
Dr S. Pralgauskaitė
• member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations (ICNF)
• member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Conference Unsolved Problems on Noise (UPoN)
• member of the Lithuanian Physical Society
prof. Alvydas Lisauskas
• Lithuanian representative in NATO STO Sensors & Electronics Technology Panel
• member of the Lithuanian Physical Society
Dr Kęstutis Ikamas
• member of the Terahertz-band Communications and Networking panel in NATO Science and Technology Organization
• member of the Lithuanian Physical Society
Dr Mantas Šimėnas
• Lithuanian Young Academy of Sciences
• Member of the International EPR society
• Member of the Lithuanian Physical Society
• Member of the editorial board of Lithuanian Journal of Physics
BEST REPORTS DELIVERED AT CONFERENCES ABROAD
1. K. Ikamas, D. B. But, E. Javadi, C. Kołaciński and A. Lisauskas, "Coupled dual-layer antenna for optimized 250 GHz silicon CMOS detector," 2022 47th International Conference on Infrared, Millimeter and Terahertz Waves (IRMMW-THz), Delft, Netherlands, 2022, pp. 1-2. doi: 10.1109/IRMMW-THz50927.2022.9895771.
MOST IMPORTANT NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS RECEIVED FOR R&D ACTIVITIES
1. Prof. A. Lisauskas and Dr K. Ikamas became a co-recipient of Kazimieras Baršauskas Prize in electronics and electrical engineering awarded by Lithuanian Academy of Sciences for scientific work “Terahertz electronics: application of plasma waves to the operation of semiconductor devices above the cutoff frequencies”.
2. Vilnius University Rector prize for the best research paper in 2021 (M. Šimėnas)
MOST IMPORTANT PARTICIPATION CASES OF RESEARCHERS IN WORKING GROUPS OR COMMISSIONS SET UP BY STATE AUTHORITIES, STATE AND MUNICIPAL INSTITUTIONS, ORGANISATIONS, BUSINESS ENTITIES
Prof. Jūras Banys
• President of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences
Dr Sandra Pralgauskaitė
• member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations (ICNF)
• member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Conference Unsolved Problems on Noise (UPoN)
Prof. Jonas Matukas
• member of the Council of the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT)
• chairman of Telecommunication Committee of Lithuanian Standards Board.
Dr Mantas Šimėnas
• Lithuanian Young Academy of Sciences
CONSULTATIONS PROVIDED BY THE UNIT TO THE PUBLIC OR ECONOMIC ENTITIES
MOST IMPORTANT RESEARCH DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES
1. Dr K. Ikamas “Be jų šiuolaikinė kasdienybė neįsivaizduojama: pirmųjų telefonų istorija ir ko tikėtis ateityje”, LRT TV show “Daiktų istorijos“ 2022 09 05, https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/2000231020/be-ju-siuolaikine-kasdienybe-neisivaizduojama-pirmuju-telefonu-istorija-ir-ko-tiketis-ateityje.
2. Dr Sandra Pralgauskaitė and Master students Ieva Morkūnaitė and Justina Žemgulytė participated in filming of Vilnius presentation video for EU Parliament visitors' centre. The story popularizes possibilities of choosing a career as a scientist.
3. Doc. M.Šimėnas “Kvantinės technologijos išties pakeis pasaulį” LRT LT article, published at Mokslas ir IT 2022.08.18
https://www.lrt.lt/naujienos/mokslas-ir-it/11/1762618/kvantines-technologijos-isties-pakeis-pasauli-atrasime-naujus-vaistus-ir-busime-nesusekami
MAIN SCIENTIFIC ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2022
1. The main scientific achievements of Laboratory of THz Electronics and Fluctuations in 2022 were in field of development of the high-speed terahertz imaging arrays and systems for hyperspectral imaging, development receivers for THz communication.