Dr Madhu Bhaskaran

Position	Senior Research Fellow
School / Work Unit	Electrical and Computer Eng
Contact Details	+(61 3) 9925 0441 madhu.bhaskaran@rmit.edu.au
Location	Building: 10 Level: 8 Room: 32 City Campus
College/Portfolio	Science, Engineering & Health

Qualifications

2009 – Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D., Electronic Materials Engineering), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
2005 – Master of Engineering (M.Eng., Microelectronics Engineering), RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia
2004 – Bachelor of Engineering (B.E., Electronic and Communication Engineering), P.S.G. College of Technology, Coimbatore, India

Positions

With the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, RMIT University:

2012-Current – Senior Research Fellow and ARC Australian Post-Doctoral Fellow
2010-11 – Research Fellow and ARC Australian Post-Doctoral Fellow
2009 – Research Fellow

Key activities

Co-leader, Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group
Chair and Coordinator, Higher Degrees by Research Committee, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Devices Technologies and Micro-Fabrication

Fabrication techniques: cleanroom processing, photolithography, wet and dry etching
Semiconductors: silicon microelectronics, ohmic contacts
Micro-systems: silicon MEMS, bulk micro-machining

Electronic Materials Processing

Electronic materials: silicides, piezoelectrics, conductors, oxide conductors
Thin film processing: deposition, micro-fabrication, synthesis
Materials characterisation: electron microscopy, diffraction, spectroscopy

Course Coordination and Teaching

Electronic Materials (EEET2148/EEET2260)
Advances and Applications of Micro-and Nano-Technologies (EEET2151)

Fellowships, scholarships, and awards

2012 – Early Career Researcher International Travel Award from the RMIT University ECR Network
2011 – Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Emerging Researcher
2011 – RMIT Research Media Star Award
2011 – The Ian Potter Foundation Travel Grant
2011 – The CASS Foundation Early-Career Researcher (ECR) Travel Grant
2010-2013 – Australian Post-Doctoral Fellowship from the Australian Research Council (ARC)
2009 – Early Career Researcher Travel Grant from the ARC Australian Research Network for Advanced Materials (ARNAM)
2009 – 'Best Poster Prize' – Symposium L of the International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT) at Singapore
2007 – 'Best Poster Prize' – Symposium J of the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) Fall Meeting 2007 at Warsaw
2007 – Travel scholarship from Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE) to attend the E-MRS Fall Meeting 2007
2006 – Travel scholarship from SPIE – The International Society for Optical Engineering
2006-2009 – International Postgraduate Research Scholarship (IPRS) from the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST)

Professional involvement

Membership of professional societies

Materials Research Society (MRS)
Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
Australian Nanotechnology Network (ANN, formerly ARCNN)
Australian Ceramic Society

Editorial roles

Book Editor, CRC Press
Guest Editor, Sensor Letters (Special Issue for IMCS-13)

Reviewer for competitive research funding

Australian Research Council (ARC) – Discovery Projects , Discovery Early Career Researcher Award, Future Fellowships, Linkage Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities Grants
National Council for Scientific Research (Romania) – Exploratory Research Projects, Joint Applied Research Projects
New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment – Investment rounds

Reviewer for international scientific journals

Crystal Growth and Design
Journal of Electronic Materials
Thin Solid Films
Micron
Electrochemical and Solid State Letters
European Physical Journal B
Journal of Materials Science
Physica B
IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices
Surface and Coatings Technology
Applied Surface Science
IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control
Materials Science and Engineering B
International Journal of Physical Sciences
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry
Journal of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science
Micro and Nano Letters
Materials Research Bulletin
Materials
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering
Current Nanoscience
CrystEngComm
ECS Solid State Letters
Nanoscale Research Letters
Materials Letters

Conference Organisation

Session Chair (Nano), International Conference on Small Science 2012
Co-Chair and Organiser, Australian Nanotechnology Network Early-Career Symposium 2012
Session Chair, CMOS Emerging Technologies Conference 2012
Technical Committee, CMOS Emerging Technologies Conference 2012-2014
Session Chair, 13th International Meeting on Chemical Sensors (IMCS-13) 2010
Organising Committee, SPIE International Symposium 2008

Research publications

Disciplines

Electronic engineering, materials engineering, materials science, physical sciences, multidisciplinary sciences, device engineering, sensor technology

Publication summary

5 book chapters, 46 journal articles, 24 conference proceedings, and 5 other publications – total of 80

Book chapters (Invited)

M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, and A. S. Holland, “Accurate evaluation of specific contact resistivity of multi-layered silicon-based ohmic contacts”, Advances in Mechanical Engineering Research, D. E. Malach (Ed.), Nova Science Publishers, Vol. 1, Ch. 4, pp. 163-184 (2011). [ISBN: 978-1-61761-110-0]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , and A. Mitchell, "Piezoelectric Thin Film Deposition: Novel self-assembled island structures and low temperature processes on silicon", Piezoelectric Ceramics, E. Suaste-Gomez (Ed.), Sciyo, Ch. 1, pp. 1-22 (2010). [ISBN: 978-953-307-122-0, Open Access]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , and A. Mitchell, "Thin Film Piezoelectric Response Coefficient Estimation Techniques", Applied Physics in the 21^st Century (Horizons in World Physics), R. P. Valencia (Ed.), Nova Science Publishers, Vol. 266, Ch. 12, pp. 353-363 (2010). [ISBN: 978-1-60876-074-9]
S. Sriram and M. Bhaskaran , "Optimisation of Deposition Conditions for Functional Oxide Thin Films", Applied Physics in the 21^st Century (Horizons in World Physics), R. P. Valencia (Ed.), Nova Science Publishers, Vol. 266, Ch. 10, pp. 320-339 (2010). [ISBN: 978-1-60876-074-9]
M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, and D. R. G. Mitchell, "Characterisation of Silicide Thin Films for Semiconductor and Nanotechnology Electronics", Applied Physics in the 21^st Century (Horizons in World Physics), R. P. Valencia (Ed.), Nova Science Publishers, Vol. 266, Ch. 8, pp. 273-300 (2010). [ISBN: 978-1-60876-074-9]

Journal articles (from January 2010 to March 2013)

S. Balendhran, S. Walia, H. Nili, J. Z. Ou, S. Zhuiykov, R. B. Kaner, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “Two-dimensional molybdenum trioxide and dichalcogenides”, Adv. Funct. Mater. (2013) [doi 10.1002/adfm.201300125]
J. Li, C. M. Shah, W. Withayachumnankul, B. S.-Y. Ung, A. Mitchell, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , S. Chang, and D. Abbott, “Mechanically tunable terahertz metamaterials”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 102 121101 (2013)
T. Niu, W. Withayachumnankul, B. S.-Y. Ung, H. Menekse, M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, and C. Fumeaux, “Experimental demonstration of reflectarray antennas at terahertz frequencies”, Opt. Express. 21 2875 (2013) [doi 10.1364/OE.21.002875]
S. Balendhran, J. Deng, J. Z. Ou, S. Walia, J. Scott, J. Tang, K. L. Wang, M. R. Field, S. P. Russo, S. Zhuiykov, M. S. Strano, N. Medhekar, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “Enhanced charge carrier mobility in two-dimensional high dielectric molybdenum oxide”, Adv. Mater. 25 109 (2013) [doi 10.1002/adma.201203346]
L. Zou, W. Withayachumnankul, C. M. Shah, A. Mitchell, M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, and C. Fumeaux, “Dielectric resonator nanoantennas at visible frequencies”, Opt. Express 21 1344 (2013) [doi 10.1364/OE.21.001344]
H. Nili, G. Cheng, T. A. Venkatesh, S. Sriram, and M. Bhaskaran , “Correlation between nanomechanical and piezoelectric properties of thin films: An experimental and finite element study”, Mater. Lett. 90 148 (2013). [doi 10.1016/j.matlet.2012.09.036]
H. Nili, K. Kalantar-zadeh, M. Bhaskaran , and S. Sriram, “In situ nanoindentation: Probing nanoscale multifunctionality”, Prog. Mater. Sci. 58 1 (2013) [doi 10.1016/j.pmatsci.2012.08.001]
C. M. Shah, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , M. Nasabi, T. G. Nguyen, W. S. T. Rowe, and A. Mitchell, “Elastomer-based pneumatic switch for radio frequency microdevices”, IEEE/ASME J. Microelectromech. Syst. 21 1410 (2012) [doi 10.1109/JMEMS.2012.2208220]
S. Walia, R. Weber, S. Balendhran, D. Yao, J. T. Abrahamson, S. Zhuiykov, M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, M. S. Strano, and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “ZnO based thermopower wave sources”, ChemComm 48 7462 (2012) [doi 10.1039/C2CC33146B]
J. Z. Ou, R. A. Rani, M. H. Ham, M. R. Field, Y. Zhang, H. Zheng, P. Reece, S. Zhuiykov, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , R. B. Kaner, and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “Elevated temperature anodized Nb₂O₅: A photoanode material with exceptionally large photoconversion efficiencies”, ACS Nano 6 4045 (2012) [doi 10.1021/nn300408p]
E. Narimissa, R. Gupta, M. Bhaskaran , and S. Sriram, “Influence of nano-graphite platelet concentration on onset of crystalline degradation in polylactide composites”, Polym. Degrad. Stab. 97 829 (2012) [doi 10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2012.02.010]
W. Withayachumnankul, H. Lin, K. Serita, C. M. Shah, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , M. Tonouchi, C. Fumeaux, and D. Abbott, “Sub-diffraction thin-film sensing with planar terahertz metamaterials”, Opt. Express 20 3345 (2012) [doi 10.1364/OE.20.003345]
M. Nour, K. Berean, M. J. Griffin, G. I. Matthews, M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “Nanocomposite carbon-PDMS membranes for gas separation”, Sens. Act. B 161 982 (2012) [doi 10.1016/j.snb.2011.11.079]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , S. Chen, S. Jayawardhana, P. R. Stoddart, J. Z. Liu, N. V. Medhekar, K. Kalantar-Zadeh, and A. Mitchell, “Influence of electric field on SERS: Frequency effects, intensity changes, and susceptible bonds”, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 134 4646 (2012) [doi 10.1021/ja208893q]
I. E. Khodasevych, C. M. Shah, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , W. Withayachumnankul, B. S. Y. Ung, H. Lin, W. S. T. Rowe, D. Abbott, and A. Mitchell, “Elastomeric silicone substrates for terahertz fishnet metamaterials”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 100 061101 (2012) [doi 10.1063/1.3665180]
M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, B. J. Rodriguez, G. C. Devendra, K. Latham, D. G. McCulloch, and A. Mitchell, “Lattice guiding for sputter deposition of single domain (Sr_0.6Ba_0.4)Nb₂O₆ ferroelectric thin films”, CrystEngComm 14 359 (2012) [doi 10.1039/C1CE06112G]
S. Balendhran, J. Z. Ou, M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, S. Ippolito, Z. Vasic, E. Kats, S. Bhargava, S. Zhuiykov, and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “Atomically thin layers of MoS₂ via a two step thermal evaporation–exfoliation method”, Nanoscale 4 461 (2012) [doi 10.1039/C1NR10803D]
S. Walia, R. Weber, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , K. Latham, S. Zhuiykov, and K. Kalantar-zadeh, “Sb₂Te₃ and Bi₂Te₃ based thermopower wave sources”, Energy Environ. Sci. 4 3558 (2011) [doi 10.1039/C1EE01370J]
M. E. Combariza, C. M. Shah, S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , G. Kostovski, M. Nasabi, and A. Mitchell, “Microengineered structures for rapid automatic loading of optical fibre segments”, J. Micromech. Microeng. 21 095010 (2011) [doi 10.1088/0960-1317/21/9/095010]
M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, S. Ruffell, and A. Mitchell, “Nanoscale characterisation of energy generation from piezoelectric thin films”, Adv. Funct. Mater. 21 2251 (2011) [doi 10.1002/adfm.201002663]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , R. Ahluwalia, T. G. Nguyen, N. Ng, D. J. Srolovitz, K. Kalantar-zadeh, and A. Mitchell, “Surface morphology induced localized electric field and piezoresponse enhancement in nanostructured thin films”, ACS Nano 5 1067 (2011) [doi 10.1021/nn103561u]
M. Bhaskaran , S. Sriram, D. Adley, T. S. Perova, and A. Mitchell, “Reversal and pinning of Curie point transformations in thin film piezoelectrics”, CrystEngComm 13 1280 (2011) [doi 10.1039/C0CE00713G]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , and A. S. Holland, “Interfacial resistive properties of nickel silicide thin films to doped-silicon”, J. Electrochem. Soc. 157 H842 (2010) [doi 10.1149/1.3454214]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , and A. Mitchell, “Low-temperature deposition of high-response piezoelectric thin films”, Scripta Materialia 63 189 (2010) [doi 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2010.03.041]
S. Sriram, M. Bhaskaran , D. R. G. Mitchell, and A. Mitchell, “Lattice guiding for low temperature crystallization of rhombohedral perovskite-structured oxide thin films”, Cryst. Growth Des. 10 761 (2010) [doi 10.1021/cg901165j]

More details on publications can be found in the RMIT Research Repository.

Research grant funding

Year(s)	Scheme	Amount
2013	ARC Linkage, Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities Grant (LE130100090)	$700,000
2012-13	Ramaciotti Award (Clive and Vera Ramaciotti Foundation)	$75,000
2012-13	CSIRO Flagship Cluster Grant	$50,000
2012	ARC Linkage, Infrastructure, Equipment, and Facilities Grant (LE120100004)	$470,000
2010-13	ARC Discovery Project (DP1092717) with Australian Post-Doctoral Fellowship	$305,000
2010-12	ARC Linkage Project (LP100100696)	$279,215
2010	RMIT University Electrical and Computer Engineering Seed Grant	$20,000
2010	RMIT University Electrical and Computer Engineering Seed Grant	$20,000
2010	RMIT University Emerging Researcher Grant	$19,000
2009	RMIT University Electrical and Computer Engineering Seed Grant	$24,500
2009	RMIT University Electrical and Computer Engineering Seed Grant	$23,000
2009	RMIT University Science-Engineering-Health Research Seed Grant	$20,000
2008	The CASS Foundation, Victoria, Australia (SM/07/1508)	$23,000
2008	Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA08124P)	$16,000
2008	Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA08033)	$15,500
2007	Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA07071P)	$13,000
2007	Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA07070P)	$14,500
2006	Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA06234)	$10,500
2006	Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINGRA06233)	$10,000

Research in the media

2012

September - Awards open international horizons (RMIT News)
May - Future Tech featuring Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting (Television: Scope, Channel Ten)

2011

December - New Energy (Radio: BBC World Service Business Daily)
December - Awards honour top RMIT academics (RMIT News)
November - Curie point transformations in thin film piezoelectrics (Linkam Scientific Instruments)
October - Media stars celebrate a record year (RMIT News)
September - A step towards an everlasting battery (Stories of Australian Science 2011)

June-August had significant coverage of research on piezoelectric energy generation, with work featuring on TV, >7 radio stations, >30 media outlets, and >900 websites. A few examples are:

August - Radio Coverage (RRR Einstein A Go Go)
July - Nano-Films Lead to Everlasting Battery (Radio Australia Innovations)
June - Study paves the way to everlasting battery (Cosmos Magazine)
June - Research Advances into Everlasting Battery (Television: ABC News, Australia)
June - Radio Coverage (ABC Sydney, ABC Darwin, 2UE)
June - Thin film coating makes everlasting energy a piezoelectric possibility (Engadget)
June - Pressure-Powered Portable Devices? Preposterous! Or Not… (Gizmodo)
June - Nanotechnology pushes battery life to eternity (PhysOrg and many others)
June - Piezoelectrics and Thin Films Power Your Mobile with Press of Your Finger (IEEE Spectrum Nanoclast Blog)
June - RMIT edges closer to self-powered battery (Computer World and many others)
June - Could blood pressure power pacemakers in future? (The Conversation)
June - Recharging your iPad could be as easy as typing out a tweet (Herald Sun)
June - Nano-films charge our future (ABC Science Online)
June - Nano-research opens way to everlasting battery (RMIT News and many others)

2010

February - Quantum leap in chips (The Australian)
January - Encryption at chip-scale (RMIT News)

2009

November - Grants offer $8.3m research boost (RMIT News)