Vassilios Kapaklis

Vassilios Kapaklis leads a group with a strong focus on magneto-photonics and the emergent magnetic order and dynamics of mesoscopic spin systems. The resulting materials and nano-structures have a potential for becoming functional components in future energy-efficient memory and computational architectures. The research is funded by the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the European Commission, the Swedish Research Council, STINT and the Carl-Tryggers Foundation.

• Diploma in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Patras, Greece, 2000.
• PhD in Engineering Sciences, University of Patras, Greece, 2006.
• Docent in Physics with Specialisation in Atomic, Molecular and Condensed Matter Physics. Uppsala University, Sweden, 2013.
• Associate Professor, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2014.
• Professor in Materials Physics, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Sweden, 2022.

Scientific interests:

1. Growth and systhesis of materials: Sputtering, MBE, e-beam evaporation, solid state chemistry
2. Magnetism
3. Magneto-Photonics
4. Artificial spin ice
5. Self-organization in soft matter

Vassilios Kapaklis is the recipient of the 2019 Thuréus prize of the physics and mathematics class of the Royal Society of Sciences at Uppsala.

Examples of my current research interests can be seen at:

• V. Kapaklis, “Magnetizing semiconductors with light,” Nature Nanotechnology 13, 438 (2018), doi:10.1038/s41565-018-0119-x.
• C. Nisoli, V. Kapaklis, and P. Schiffer, “Deliberate exotic magnetism via frustration and topology” Nature Physics 13, 200 (2017), doi:10.1038/nphys4059.
• V. Kapaklis, “Research Note: Probing close to the interface using grazing-incidence small-angle neutron scattering”, Hellenic Neutron Association Newsletter, No. 4, January 2019.
• S. D. Slöetjes, B. Hjörvarsson, and V. Kapaklis, "The effect of confinement on thermal fluctuations in nanomagnets", Applied Physics Letters 118, 142407 (2021), doi:10.1063/5.0048789.
• Rowan-Robinson, R. M. et al., "Direction‐Sensitive Magnetophotonic Surface Crystals". Adv. Photonics Res. 2100119 (2021) doi:10.1002/adpr.202100119.
• K. Mishra et al., "Ultrafast demagnetization in a ferrimagnet under electromagnetic field funneling", Nanoscale (2021) doi:10.1039/d1nr04308k.
• P. M. Oppeneer and V. Kapaklis, Plasmonic lasers turn magnetic, Nature Photonics 16, 11 (2021) doi:10.1038/s41566-021-00936-2.
• I.-A. Chioar et al., Steering light with magnetic textures, Applied Physics Letters 120, 032407 (2022) doi: 10.1063/5.0074391.
• S. D. Slöetjes, M. P. Grassi, and V. Kapaklis, Polymerization in magnetic metamaterials, Phys. Rev. Res. 5, L032029 (2023), doi:10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L032029.

• A. L. Ravensburg, et al., Boundary-induced phase in epitaxial iron layers, Phys. Rev. Mater. 8, L081401 (2024). doi:10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.L081401.

Some popular science descriptions of projects I have been working on can be accessed following the links below:

• ESRF Highlights 2008, page 84: "Au and Fe magnetic moments in disordered AuFe alloys".
• ESRF Highlights 2011, page 64: "Violation of Hund’s third rule in structurally-disordered ferromagnets".
• XMaS Newsletters 2013, page 11: "Interface magnetism in rare-earth superlattices".
• XMaS Newsletters 2018, page 7: "Magnetostriction across the first order phase transition in Mn2GaC MAX phase".
• Uppsala Universitet, Nyheter och Press: "Artificiella magnetiska jätteatomer skapade med nanoteknologi".
• Uppsala Universitet, Nyheter och Press: "Kollektiv dynamik av magnetiska nanostrukturer".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Forskning: Magnetisk ordning i tvådimensionella magnetiska nanostrukturer".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Forskning: Svaga länkens styrka".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Forskning: Magnetisering av halvledare med ljus".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Excellent innovation utvald av Europeiska Kommissionen".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Forskning: Plasmoniska lasrar blir magnetiska".
• Spotlight on Optics, Optics Express 2022.
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Första steget mot snabba och energisnåla processorer".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Magnetiska metamaterial kan bilda polymerer".
• Uppsala Universitet, Institutionen för fysik och astronomi, Nyheter: "Ny kristallstruktur upptäckt hos järn".