The Netherlands Physical Society (NNV) has announced that UG professor of Photophysics and Optoelectronics Maria Antonietta Loi will receive the Physics Prize 2018 on 13 April. The prize is for excellent physics research by a physicist working in the Netherlands.
Opto-electronics and innovative design
As a Physics Prize winner, Loi joins the ranks of Nobel laureates Klaus von Klitzing, Gerard ’t Hooft , Martinus Veltman, astronomer Ewine van Dishoeck and famous physicists such as Robbert Dijkgraaf. Loi joined the UG in 2006 and was appointed professor of Photophysics and Optoelectronics in 2011. This field of research relates to converting light into electricity or vice versa by using LEDs and solar panels. Loi works at the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (ZIAM) at the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
Crystals
In her research, Loi makes creative use of new combinations of materials, such as organic molecules with organic nanocrystals. These new combinations sometimes yield materials with surprising properties. A recent example is her work with hybrid perovskites: crystals that can be used to make efficient solar cells. She recently discovered a special hybrid perovskite that promises an even higher output. Another perovskite proved to work well as an X-ray detector.
Loi also conducts research in other areas, including work on quantum dots, small crystals whose properties relate to their size. She has also developed a technique that uses a polymer to extract different types of carbon nanotubes from a solution. She can place the right nanotubes from the solution straight onto golden contacts, thus creating minuscule transistors. She conducted this research with partners including IBM Germany.
About the Physica prize
The Physica Prize is awarded each year to an eminent physicist who works in the Netherlands. Maria Loi will give the traditional Physica lecture on 13 April in Utrecht during Fysica 2018, the annual conference of the NNV.
