Nidhin Mathews

I am a Materials Engineering researcher with interest in mechanical behavior of materials (metals, ceramics and thin films) at micron length scales. I work with Prof. Gaurav Mohanty and team for my research activities. 

My research focusses of exploring the mechanical properties of different class of materials and understanding the mechanisms involved, using in situ indentation techniques inside scanning electron microscopes. I use different structural (SEM, TEM, EBSD, XRD) and mechanical (nanoindentation, DIC) characterization tools to unravel the mechanical behavior at micrometer length scales. I also explore the mechanical behavior of materials over a wide range of test conditions like strain rates (0.001 to 1000 /s) and high temperatures to understand the fundamental operative deformation mechanisms and to predict mechanical performance. I have expertise in pulsed laser deposition techniques for thin film growth, focused ion beam (FIB) machining to fabricate micro-scale specimens, like micropillars for compression and microcantilevers for fracture and bend tests. 

I completed my Ph.D from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India where I worked with Prof. Nagamani Jaya Balila in the micromechanics of materials group. 

• DGM Materials Quiz competition winner at MSE Science congress, Darmstadt - September 2024.
• Naik and Rastogi Award for Excellence in Ph. D research for best thesis, IIT Bombay - 2024. 
• Featured research article in the Journal of Applied Physics - July 2022
• Best poster award for the presentation “Estimation of mechanical behavior of Barium Titanate single crystals and thin films” National Metallurgical Day (NMD) – Annual Technical Meeting 2020, India (Online event) – 25.02.2021.
• Best presentation award for the talk “Effect of size and domain orientation on damage tolerance of Barium Titanate”, at 3rd Structural Integrity Conference and Exhibition SICE e-conference 2020, Mumbai, India. – 20.12.2020.
• Special mention for presentation “Effect of size and domain orientation on the strength of Barium Titanate”, at Indian Ceramic Society Webinar, India – 18.07.2020.
• Best presentation award for the talk ‘Size effects in single crystal Barium Titanate’, at 4th Biannual symposium for Research Scholars, Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, India – 27.10.2018.

In situ micromehcanics, Mechanical behaviour of materials, Thin films, Nanoindentation, Electron microscopy techniques

• Research visit to Empa - Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Thun, Switzerland
• Researcher at Tampere University, Tampere, Finland, July 2022 - July 2023
• Visiting Resercher at Tampere University, Tampere, Finland, December 2021 - February 2022
• Guest Researcher at Max-Planck-Institut für Eisenforschung GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany, March - May 2019
• Doctoral Researcher at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, India, July 2016 - July 2022

1. N.G. Mathews, A.K. Saxena, C. Kirchlechner, G. Dehm, and B.N. Jaya; "Effect of size and domain orientation on strength of Barium Titanate", Scripta Materialia 182, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scriptamat.2020.02.039 
2. N.G. Mathews, A.K. Mishra, B.N. Jaya; "Mode dependent evaluation of fracture behavior using cantilever bending", Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics 115, (2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2021.103069 
3. B.N. Jaya, N.G. Mathews, A.K. Mishra, S Basu, K. Jacob; "Non-conventional small-scale mechanical testing of materials", Journal of the Indian Institute of Science 102, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-022-00302-3 
4. N. G. Mathews, A. K. Saxena, N. Venkataramani, G. Dehm, B. N. Jaya; "Multiscale characterization of damage tolerance in Barium Titanate thin films", Journal of Applied Physics 132, (2022). https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0095139 (Featured article)
5. N. G. Mathews, A. Lambai, G. Mohanty, N. Venkataramani, G. Dehm, B. N. Jaya; "Effect of stiff substrates on enhancing the fracture resistance of Barium Titanate thin films", Materials and Design 235, (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matdes.2023.112440