ABOUT
Nazanin
Bassiri-Gharb
Harris Saunders Jr. Chair and Professor, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering
nazanin.bassirigharb@me.gatech.edu
404-385-0667
404-894-8496
Love Room 315

Dr. Bassiri-Gharb began at Georgia Tech in Summer 2007 as an Assistant Professor. Prior, she was a Senior Engineer in the Materials and Device R&D group of MEMS Research and Innovation Center of QUALCOMM MEMS Technologies, Inc. Her work included characterization and optimization of the optical and electric response of the IMOD displays, and research on novel materials for improved processing and reliability of the IMOD.

Selected publications

Patents

Soft Template Manufacturing of Nanomaterials, U.S. Patent 61/420,958 with A. Bernal, 2011.

Representative Publications

"Free-standing ferroelectric nanotubes processed via soft-template infiltration," Bernal, A., Tselev, A., Kalinin, S. V. & Bassiri-Gharb, N.Advanced Materials 24, 1159-1164, (2012)

"Enhanced dielectric and piezoelectric response in PZT superlattice-like films by leveraging spontaneous Zr/Ti gradient formation," Bastani, Y. & Bassiri-Gharb, N. Acta Materialia 60, 1346–1352, (2012).

"Direct Fabrication of Arbitrary-Shaped Ferroelectric Nanostructures on Plastic, Glass, and Silicon Substrates," Kim, S., Bastani, Y., Lu, H., King, W. P., Marder, S., Sandhage, K. H., Gruverman, A., Riedo, E. & Bassiri-Gharb, N. Advanced Materials 23, 3786–3790, (2011).

"Effects of orientation and composition on the extrinsic contributions to the dielectric response of relaxor-ferroelectric single crystals," Bernal, A., Zhang, S. J. & Bassiri-Gharb, N. Applied Physics Letters 95, 142911, (2009).

"Domain wall contributions to the properties of piezoelectric thin films," Bassiri-Gharb, N., Fujii, I., Hong, E., Trolier-Mckinstry, S., Taylor, D. V. & Damjanovic, D. Journal of Electroceramics 19, 47-65, (2007).

Education
  • Ph.D., The Pennsylvania State University, 2005
  • M.S. (Laurea), University of Padua, Italy, 2001
Awards
  • AIMBE (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering) Fellow, 2021
  • Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES at Drexel®) Fellow, 2019-2021
  • Harris Saunders, Jr. Chair, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech, 2019-present
  • Woodruff Faculty Fellow, Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Tech, 2017-2019
  • Leading Edge Fellow, Georgia Tech, 2015
  • Nature Scientific Reports, Editorial Board, 2014-present
  • IEEE-UFFC Ferroelectrics Young Investigator Award, 2013
  • NSF CAREER award, 2013
  • Georgia Institute of Technology, Class of 1969 Teaching Fellow, 2012
  • Bennett Aerospace, Researcher of the year award, 2011
  • “Thank a Teacher” Award, Georgia Tech, 2008 (x1), 2011 (x3), 2014 (x1), 2017 (x2), 2018 (x1)
  • Senior Member IEEE, 2011
  • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society:
    • President 2018 - 2019
    • President-Elect 2016 - 2017
    • Newsletter, Editor in Chief, 2012-2013
    • IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control, Associate Editor, 2011-present
    • IEEE Nanotechnology Council, AdCom Representative, 2008-2013
    • Women in Engineering, Society Liaison, 2008-2013
    • Educational Committee Officer, 2006-present
    • Outstanding Student Paper Award, 2004
  • Journal of Electroceramics Editorial Board, 2007-present
  • Society of Women Engineers, General Motors Award, 2005
  • IEEE UFFC (Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control) Joint 50th Anniversary Conference Best Student Paper in Ferroelectrics, 2004
  • Laurea summa cum laude, Universita’ degli Studi di Padova, 2001
Research Interests
  • Electro-chemo-mechanical functionalities
  • Antiferroelectric, ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials
  • Machine learning
  • Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM)
  • Functional thin films and nanostructure
  • Mesoscale and  in-situ characterization
  • Processing-structure-property relationships
  • Energy Storage

Research

Our group's research focuses on understanding the processing-structure-property relationships in functional materials. Specifically, we pursue the following research thrusts, which enable the next generation of micro and nano-electro-chemo-mechanical devices. ​Electromechanically-Active Materials We probe the fundamental science of ferroic materials, as it pertains to the mechanisms of intrinsic and extrinsic contributions to the functional response of these materials. Specifically, we probe the defect-defect interactions between domain walls, point, line and area defects. We also explore novel mechanisms and new processing approaches for enhanced electromechanical response at the micro and nanoscale (increased or invariant response with decreasing size). Of special interest are exploration of new material composition unstable in bulk form, understanding of the mesoscale origins of the giant electromechanical response in relaxor-ferroelectric solid solutions, radiation effects on the functional response of ferroelectric materials, and design of compositions for high energy storage applications. Correlation of the micro- and macro-scopic responses are other areas of interest within this research thrust.In-Situ and Operando Characterization at the MesoscaleThis thrust hinges on design of energy discovery platforms: appropriately created micro- and nano-structures to enable in-situ and operando characterization at multiple length scales (e.g. piezoresponse force microscopy and electron microscopy, as well as macro-scale characterization techniques), while resulting in enhanced compatibility with mathematical and finite element modeling of the same. The coupled theoretical and experimental results allow a unique vision into the electro-chemo-mechanical processes with an unprecedented resolution (from tens of nanometers to few microns) over many orders of magnitude overall length-scales (tens to hundreds of microns). Specifically, we leverage machine learning approaches to separate physical and chemical contributors and understand correlation across properties and length scales in materials. Far-from-Equilibrium Processing ApproachesWe explore new processing approaches for fabrication of micro and nanoscale complex oxide materials, with special focus on enabling technologies for fabrication of micro- and nano-electromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS), and increased compatibility with CMOS processing for full integration and final miniaturization. These processing approaches are far-from-equilibrium and therefore result not only in substantially microstructure changes but also large variations of the final functional properties of the material.We probe the resulting properties of the materials, specifically targeting the physics of these complex oxides at the mesoscale, through integration of macro and microscopic characterization techniques. Our final goal is to create a processing design space that is uniquely correlated with the desired final functional responses.