Carla Puglia New Professor in Condensed Matter Physics

I am working at the Condensed matter Physics of energy materials and my research activity is focused on the characterization of Donor and Acceptor molecules. As the name already indicates, these are molecules that can easily donate or accept electrons. They are used in many electronics devices like in solar cells and in Organic Light Emitted Diodes (OLED). The molecules used in such devices are often quite big molecular complexes, formed by combining smaller and simpler molecules that are then considered their building blocks. I am interesting in looking at the modifications of the electronic structure when combining the simple molecular building blocks to more and more complex molecular structures. This means that I am interesting in the modification of the molecules induced by the increase complexity. Moreover I am looking at all these molecules, building-blocks or complexes, when they are free, in gas phase, and when they are deposited on different types of surfaces like metal, semimetals or semiconductors. These kinds of studies help me to understand the modifications induced by the interaction between the molecules and the surface. With these studies we want to contribute with a comprehensive and detailed understanding of the materials used in organic electronics so that it will be possible to predict or design materials of specific properties through a proper choice of the molecular building blocks.

My experimental work is mainly performed at the Italian synchrotron radiation facility Elettra, in Trieste and includes spectroscopic characterizations (PES, XAS and ResPES) of molecules in gas phase and when they are deposited surfaces. The project is part of a large international research network which gathers theoretical and experimental groups with complementary skills.

I started at Uppsala university as PhD student in 1992 and after my PhD stayed at Uppsala university where I covered different positions for all these years.

Now I am working the majority of my time as the program director of the Physics program at the International Science Programme (ISP). ISP works with research capability building in low-income countries and I use my expertise and previous experiences (as researcher and supervisor) every day working with overseas colleagues and PhD students. At ISP I am also the responsible for the promotion of women’s participation in science and education. More about ISP and my work.