UEF

About
University of Eastern Finland team belongs to the Institute of Photonics at the Department of Physics and Mathematics that has recently emerged as a leading research centre in the field of nanooptics and nanophotonics in Finland. The team is involved in the research projects funded by the European Union, Academy of Finland, Business Finland and other domestic funding bodies.

The University of Eastern Finland (UEF, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) has been established in 2010 after merger of the University of Joensuu and the University of Kuopio. The merger of the two strong universities aimed at establishing a sufficiently large and operational unit, which is efficient in research, education and societal impact. The research team involved in this project has a broad experience in graphene and carbon thin films synthesis on different substrates, as well their characterization.

People
Dr. Polina Kuzhir, senior researcher and a Marie Skłodowska – Curie fellow in the Institute of Photonics, University of Eastern Finland and the Head of Nanoelectromagnetics lab at the Belarusian State University. She is an internationally recognized expert in the field of graphene/2D materials, theoretical and experimental photonics. Her research focuses on theory and experimental validation of 2D materials-based passive and active devices, including detectors, filters, shields, polarizers, collimators and emitters.

Facilities
Nanocarbon fabrication facilities include plasma-enhanced and hot-wall CVD systems that enable creation of graphene films of centimetre size and ultrathin pyrolytic carbon films. Extensive clean-room facilities at the Institute of Photonics of UEF include Vistec EBPG-5000+ES EBL pattern generator and a laser interference exposure system operating at 364 nm for the fabrication of large-area 1D and 2D gratings. Substrate preparation and post-processing of patterned structures are performed using spin-coating, sputter coating, physical deposition systems, as well as reactive ion etching and atomic layer deposition machines.

The fabricated nanostructures are characterized using an atomic force microscope, scanning electron microscope, and optical profilometer. Optical and optoelectronic properties of nanomaterials are studied with micro-Raman spectrometer, z-scan and pump-probe laser systems with 50 fs and 150 fs long pulses operating in the near-infrared and visual spectral range.