Education:
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Massachusetts (2005 - 2010)
- Ph.D., Physics; Dissertation: "Dielectric Studies of Nanostructures and Directed self-assembled Nanomaterials in Nematic Liquid Crystals"
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (2003 - 2005)
- M.Sc., Physics; Thesis: "Fabrication and characterization of porous silicon and porous alumina by two-step anodization technique"
- Presidency College, Calcutta (2000 - 2003)
- B.Sc., Physics
Professional Experience:
- Associate Professor, U.S. Naval Academy (2017 - present)
- Assistant Professor, U.S. Naval Academy (2012 - 2017)
- Post Doctoral Scholar, Case Western Reserve University (May 2010 - July 2012)
Research Areas:
(Click here for the full list of publications)- Nanostructured surfaces driven liquid crystal alignment
- Interactions between
softmatter and nanomaterials - Directed self-assembly of nanomaterials (e.g., carbon nanotubes, quantum dots, nanorods etc.) in liquid crystalline media
- Development of novel NEMS, nano-switches, and nano-electromechanical memory functions using nanoparticle-doped liquid crystals
- Chirality (chirality transfer in liquid crystals from various substrates and nanomaterials)
- Order-disorder phenomena in liquid crystals
- Liquid crystal phases and phase transitions
Awards and Recognitions:
- Selected as one of the “Early Career Stars of the Decade” in the research area of Liquid Crystal Science and Technology to contribute to a prestigious journal “Crystals”: Crystals 10(2), 123 (2020).
- 2019 recipient of the “Class of 1951 Civilian Faculty Excellence in Research Award" at USNA, 2019.
- 2019 recipient of the “Navy Meritorious Civilian Service Award”.
- 2019 recipient of the “Kinnear Fellowship Award” at USNA, 2019.
- Department of Physics elected Research Professor of the Year 2017 and Department of Physics nominee for the Class of 1951 Research Excellence Award – Honorable Mention (USNA), 2017.
- Invited article published in the prestigious U.K. based journal Liquid Crystal to celebrate the journal’s 30th anniversary, Oct. - Dec.
issue , 2016. - Research featured on the Journal Cover of Liquid Crystal (# 97, 199 (2012)), February 2012 issue.
- Outstanding Ph.D. Dissertation Award, The Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, WPI chapter; April 2010.
- First Prize in ‘Science’ category in the University at the Annual Graduate Research Achievement Day (GRAD) - 2009, WPI; April 2009.
- Second Prize in the poster competition at the Nanomanufacturing Summit 2009, NSF - National Nanomanufacturing Network Annual Meeting, Boston, MA; May 2009.
- Selected as one of the most experienced and excellent Teaching Assistants (TAs) in the University to mentor the new TAs, WPI; August 2009.
- The Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society, elected associate member; May 2009.
- Best Teaching Assistant Award (based on student evaluations) for the academic year of 2007-2008, Department of Physics, WPI; May 2008.
Research Grants:
- Office of Naval Research, Division 312: Electronics, Sensors and Network Research, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021; award # N0001418WX01842, N0001419WX01219, N0001420WX01630, N0001421WX01643.
- Office of Naval Research, Division 332: Nano-engineered Materials, 2019, 2020, 2021; award # N0001419WX01126, N0001420WX01656, N0001421WX01108.
- Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), (Co-PI with several USNA faculty members led by Prof. Hatem Elbidweihy), "Aerosol Jet Printing for Microfabrication and 3D-Printed Electronics", 2021; Award # N0001421WX01108.
- Office of Naval Research (Co-PI with Dr. Peter Brereton), UMBC-USNA Cyber Innovation Grant, "Optically networked semiconductor spin qubits via liquid crystal mediated ordering", 2018, 2019, 2020; award # N0001418WX01543, N0001419WX00566, N0001420WX01703.
- Office of Naval Research through the Naval Academy Research Council: Senior NARC, 2018.
- Defense University Research Instrumentation Program (DURIP), (Co-PI with Hatem Elbidweihy, Brian Donovan, Ronald Warzoha), "A novel graphene characterization suite for understanding magnetic, electrical, thermal, and optical responses from the atomic to micro-scale levels", 2018; Award # N0001418WX01305.
- Office of Naval Research Electronic Warfare S&T Discovery and Invention Program (Co-I; Collaboration with Naval Research Lab, PI Dr. Christopher Spillmann), "Refractive Non-Mechanical Beam Steering in the Mid-wavelength and long-wavelength infrared", 2015, 2016, 2017; award # N0001416WX00216.
- Office of Naval Research (Co-PI with Dr. Peter Brereton), UMBC-USNA Cyber Innovation Grant, "A hybrid semiconductor-soft matter device as a route to a scalable, self-assembled spin register for optical quantum error correction", 2015, 2016, 2017; award # N0001415WX01534, N0001416WX01530, N0001417WX01519.
- Office of Naval Research, Division 312: Electronic, Sensors and Network Research, 2014; award # N0001414WX20791.
- Office of Naval Research through the Naval Academy Research Council, 2014; award # N001614WX30023.
- Office of Naval Research through the Naval Academy Research Council, 2013; award # N001613WX20992.
Professional Affiliation and Service:
- Editorial Board Member: Crystals (ISSN 2073-4352, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/crystals); Section Liquid Crystals, http://www.mdpi.com/journal/crystals/sectioneditors/liquid_crystals
- Reviewer: Applied Physics Letters, Journal of Applied Physics, Liquid Crystals, Physical Review E, ACS Nano, Nanoscale, Carbon, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Crystals, RSC Advances, MRS Advances, Optical Materials Express, Physica E: Low-dimensional Systems and Nanostructures, Soft Materials, The Journal of Physical Chemistry, Indian Journal of Physics.
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Scientific affiliation: American Physical Society, Sigma Xi Scientific Research Society (induction).
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Latest News:
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Patent granted: US Patent 11,294,253 B2, Issued 4/5/2022.
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Patent granted: US Patent 11,131,898 B2, Issued 9/28/2021.
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Patent granted: US Patent 11,106,064 B2, Issued 8/31/2021.
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Read Prof. Basu's interview with The Curiosity Today: "Nanomaterial-based liquid crystal devices show improved efficiency and improved tunability": Physicist Rajratan Basu tells The Curiosity Today.
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Patent granted: US Patent 10,739,650 B1, Issued 8/11/2020.
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Press release: "Vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays stabilize homeotropic liquid crystal devices": Nano Werk Nanotech Spotlight series, 19th August 2020. Reference: Phys. Rev. E 102, 022701 (2020).
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Patent granted: US Patent 10,564,505 B2, Issued 2/18/2020.
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Press release: "2D hexagonal-BN serves as a high-transmittance alignment layer in liquid crystal cells": MRS Bulletin News, 5th March 2019. Reference: Opt. Express 27, 282(2019).
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Prof. Basu is the 2019 recipient of the “Class of 1951 Civilian Faculty Excellence in Research Award". See USNA News Center for more!
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Press release: "Scientists use transparent graphene electrodes to cleanse ionic impurities in liquid crystal displays (LCDs)": Nano Werk Nanotech Spotlight series, 24th October 2017. Reference: Appl. Phys. Lett. 111, 161905 (2017).
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Press release: "Using graphene as transparent electrodes and alignment layers for liquid crystal devices": Nano Werk Nanotech Spotlight series, 11 July 2017. Reference: Phys. Rev. E 96, 012702 (2017).
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Dr. Basu was promoted to Associate Professor, March 28, 2017. http://usnatrident.blogspot.com/2017/03/
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Press release: "Connecting two electrodes by liquid crystal-guided carbon nanotube wires": Nano Werk Nanotech Spotlight series, 1st November 2016. Reference: J. Appl. Phys. Lett. 120, 164309 (2016).
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Dr. Rajratan Basu
The U.S. Naval Academy
Department of Physics
572c Holloway Road
Annapolis, MD 21402
Email: basu@usna.edu
Office: (410) 293-6664
Chauvenet Hall 296
Lab: (410) 293-6684
Chauvenet Hall 044
