Researcher Highlight – Samuele Spreafico from Project L

The next researcher we would like to introduce within the Researcher Highlight Series is Mr. Samuele Spreafico from Project L – Modeling of Defect and Surface Chemistry of Perovskites:

 Where do you come from and how did you become a part of the IRTG program?

I come from Morbegno, a tiny town in the middle of the Italian alps. Since I started my student carrier in Milan I kept an eye open to international opportunities.
I got selected to spend an exchange year in FAU during my master degree, where I found the chance to work as HIWI student in CCC.
That formative period pays off again when Prof. Meyer proposed me to apply for a PhD in IRTG. At that time, the „Energy Conversion System“ topic resonated with what I am personally looking for in a Research work, and there I am.

 Tell us a little about your current research for the IRTG.

I work at the Computer Chemistry Center (CCC) in Erlangen. I consider Computational Chemistry field as a powerful way to model and investigate material, shedding light on  the correlation between geometry and electronic properties of materials. Specifically, I perform DFT simulations on Perovskite materials at atomic level. At first glance, a computational approach find its goal for the knowledge and academic sakes only, but rather, it can serve as a guidance in sampling the promising options or elucidating singular behavior of matter. My work faces the still blurred property of defects tolerance, which makes Perovskite systems peculiarly interesting for the next generation semiconductor applications.

 What are your plans after graduation?

Being in contact with computational work, made rise in me an interest for modeling, algorithms and codes.
I hard to make realistic plans for the future, but whenever a position for software developer in the quantum field pops up, I would not hesitate.

Paperback book or eBook?

Having something physical to handle makes me focus better and, on the other hand, I always wish to have all my processed knowledge in the pocket.
That’s why I invested to a E-ink device to serve my reading/writing needs.