Department Of Physics
Introduction
The Department of Physics as an independent department was created in 1971. In the same year B.Sc. (Hons.) course was introduced.
The Department of Physics introduced M.Sc. (Physics) course in the year 1985 with specialization in Physics of Materials. Further in 1995-96, the Department started two more specializations in M.Sc. Physics, viz. Laser & Spectroscopy and Theoretical Physics.
Thus, the following three specializations now exist at M.Sc. Physics level:
- Materials Science
- Laser & Spectroscopy, and
- Theoretical Physics.
Instrumentation was introduced in 1996 as one of the subjects in B. Sc Pass Course. This includes various applied topics such as micro processors, transducers, optical, vacuum & Mechanical instrumentations, Metrology and Entrepreneurship etc. The Department also started a self financing course, M. Tech. in Nanotechnology, in the year 2007 in tune with the rising demand of strengthening research in nanotechnology as well as its commercial utility. From the session 2012-13, this course is transferred to the newly created Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, which has been an offshoot of the research being carried out in the area of Nanotechnology.
Forty students are admitted every year to the M.Sc. course in physics. The intake of students per year for B.Sc. (Hons.) is 40, for B.Sc.(Pass) is 50 and that for B.Sc. with Instrumentation is 20.
UGC SPONSORED DRS (SAP) & DSA PROGRAMME
In 1994, the Department of Physics received the Departmental Research Support Scheme (DRS) status under the SAP Programme of UGC. The thrust areas identified under the programme were
- Theoretical Nuclear and High Energy Physics
- Condensed Matter Physics
During 1994-1999 the DRS programme provided the Department with a research grant of Rs. 35.00 lakhs. In 2005, the DRS was extended into Phase II for which Rs. 40.25 lakhs were allocated to the Department. The III phase of the Departmental Research Support Scheme (DRS) was successfully completed during 2006-2011. During Phase III, an amount of Rs.33 lakhs was sanctioned for equipments and 2.4 lacs per year as recurring grant. The Department also received additional Infrastructure grant of Rs. 40. Lakhs from UGC under SAP programme during 2008-2010. Department of Physics has been awarded UGC-DSA-I programme for a period of 5 Years (2013-2018) with Total Grant of Rs. 96.0 Lakhs.
Earlier, UGC, under COSIST Programme, funded Rs. 67.5 lakhs for strengthening the research programme of the Department by providing funds for the purchase of high end research equipments. In addition to this, the Department also received Rs. 67.0 Lakhs under FIST Scheme of DST for strengthening the research and PG Labs.
RESEARCH PROJECTS :
The research areas which are in progress in the Department are:
- Nanomaterials
- Growth and characterization of single crystals
- High Tc Superconductivity
- X-ray Diffraction
- Molecular and Laser Spectroscopy
- Laser Materials
- Amorphous Semiconductors
- Nonlinear Optics and Quantum Optics,
- Theoretical Nuclear and Condensed Matter Physics
- Theoretical High Energy Physics
- Polymer Materials and
- Growth and characterization of single wall & multi wall carbon nanotubes
Over the year faculty members of the Department have been actively involved in research and completed a number of research projects funded by various agencies and produced more than 60 Ph.Ds, besides a large number of research papers in international journals and some text books which are used internationally. Active involvement of faculty members of the Department could be judged from the research projects currently undertaken by them which have been sponsored by DIT/UGC/DST and are listed in the table given below.
Ongoing Major Research Projects:
| Principal Investigator | Title of Project | Amount Sanctioned (in Rs. Lakhs) | Funding Agency | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prof. Mushahid Husain (2010-2013) Prof. Mohammad Zulfequar (2014-2015) | Growth of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Semiconducting Applications | 380.761 | DIT | 2010-2015 |
| Dr. M. A. H. Ahsan | Understanding the role of correlation in high temperature cuprate superconductors: An extended dynamical mean field study on model Hamiltonians. | 12.5 | UGC | 2012-2015 |
| Dr. Somasri Sen | In search of modified theories of gravity | 14.3 | DST | 2011-2014 |
Some faculty members of the Department are also having international collaborations with scientists from universities and research institutions in Germany and USA. Some of our faculty members have also published text books on Solid State Physics, Crystallography and Spacetime, geometry and Gravitation from leading Scientific Publications like Narosa, New Delhi and Alpha Science, UK and Birkhauser-Verlag, Basel, Germany.