Arun Devaraj

Arun Devaraj
Staff Member Title: 
Senior Research Scientist
Phone: 
(509) 371-6412
Contact Email: 
Arun.Devaraj@pnnl.gov
Overview: 

Dr. Arun Devaraj is a senior research scientist in the Interface Spectroscopy and Diffraction group in EMSL. He has been assisting EMSL users in utilizing microstructural characterization to understand microstructure-property relationships in a variety of materials. Dr. Devaraj has extensive experience specifically in applying atom probe tomography (APT) for material characterization, in addition to scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray  spectroscopy (EDS), focused ion beam (FIB), transmission electron microscopy (TEM),  scanning transmission xray microscopy (STXM) and insitu high energy xray diffraction (HEXRD) at beamlines of various DOE synchrotron facilities. Specifically Dr. Devaraj is interested in nanoscale characterization of Li/Na ion battery materials, catalysts, atmospheric aerosols, metallic alloys, high strength natural biomaterials and nuclear structural materials.

Details: 

Senior research scientist Oct 2012-present

Dr. Devaraj was a postdoctoral researcher in EMSL from May 2011-Oct 2012, focused on microstructural characterization of nanolayered metallic thin film materials for understanding irradiation damage mechanisms. Additionally Dr. Devaraj was also involved in assisting EMSL users for microstructural characterization of a variety of materials using APT, SEM, FIB and TEM.

From 2007-2011 Dr. Devaraj was a graduate research assistant at department of material science and engineering at University of North Texas, where he was focusing on understanding microstructure evolution in Titanium alloys and amorphous metallic thin films by utilizing APT along with electron microscopy and xray diffraction.

Prior to graduate studies Dr Devaraj also worked as a quality control/quality assurance and process research engineer at Essar steels Ltd, an integrated steel plant from 2005-2007.

Education: 
  • B. Tech., Metallurgical Engineering and Material Science, Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, India, 2005
  • Ph.D., Material Science and Engineering, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, 2011
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, PNNL 2011-2012
Awards & Honors: 
  • 2014: People’s choice winner of Science as Art contest, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
  • 2014: Inducted as a chair of ASTM E42.08 subcommittee.
  • 2014: Selected to represent light weight vehicles materials research from EMSL at National User Facility Organization (NUFO) congressional science expo, June 10th 2014 at Rayburn Building, Washington DC.
  • 2014: lead organizer of Atom Probe Tomography focus topic symposium at 61st American Vacuum society national Meeting.
  • 2013: EMSL Directors award for creativity in research.
  • 2013: Scientist and Engineer Development Program, PNNL 2013-2015
  • 2013: Elected as leader-elect officer for the Microscopy Society of America Atom Probe Tomography Focused Interest Group (MSA APT FIG).
  • 2011: Outstanding Leadership and Service Award by Department of Material science and engineering, University of North Texas
  • 2010: Outstanding International Graduate student award by Robert Toulouse Graduate School, University of North Texas.
  • 2008-2011: Elected Graduate Student Representativefor the Department of material Science and Engineering, University of North Texas.
  • 2008-2011: Elected President of Materials Advantage Chapter of University of North Texas
  • 2006: Highest performance rating of “Benchmark to Employee performance” in the annual employee performance review in Essar Steel Ltd
Research Interests: 

Since joining EMSL, as a participant in a laboratory directed research and development project for chemical imaging initiative, Dr. Devaraj has been focused on developing multimodal chemical imaging to understand microstructure-property relationship in metals and alloys, oxides and composites used in energy and environmental applications.

Dr. Devaraj is leading a significant effort in utilizing APT, TEM and STXM for characterizing the nanoscale structure, composition and chemical state of energy materials, specifically Li and Na ion battery electrode materials (both cathode and anode) as well as catalyst materials with metal nanoparticles supported on oxides.

In addition Dr. Devaraj is also leading the development of a multimodal chemical imaging approach to understand nanoscale structure, composition and chemical state of atmospheric aerosols by APT, SEM, FIB, TEM and XPS especially after atmospheric processing by acids or organic coatings.

Additional Dr. Devaraj is also working on applying atom probe tomography for microstructural analysis of high strength biomaterials and secondary organic aerosols.

Capabilities: 
Spectroscopy and Diffraction
Instrument(s): 
Atom Probe Tomography

Publications

2016

  • CM Wang, Z Zhu, MH Engelhard, A Devaraj, DR Baer. 2016. "Multimodal and in-situ chemical imaging of critical surfaces and interfaces in Li batteries." Microscopy Today 24(2)32-39.
  • KK Ramasamy, MJ Gray, HM Job, DM Santosa, XS Li, A Devaraj, AJ Karkamkar, Y Wang. 2016. "Role of Calcination Temperature on the Hydrotalcite Derived MgO-Al2O3 in Converting Ethanol to Butanol." Topics in Catalysis 59(1)46-54. 10.1007/s11244-015-0504-8
  • X Li, CT Ma, J Lu, A Devaraj, SR Spurgeon, RB Comes, JS Poon. 2016. "Exchange bias and bistable magneto-resistance states in amorphous TbFeCo thin films." Advanced Functional Materials 108012401. Art. No. 10.1063/1.4939240
  • A Devaraj, VV Joshi, A Srivastava, S Manandhar, VS Moxson, V Duz, CA Lavender. 2016. "A Low-Cost Hierarchical Nanostructured Beta-Titanium Alloy with High Strength." Nature Communications 7Article No. 11176. 10.1038/ncomms11176
  • SR Spurgeon, Y Du, TC Droubay, A Devaraj, X Sang, P Longo, P Yan, PG Kotula, V Shutthanandan, ME Bowden, JM LeBeau, CM Wang, P Sushko, SA Chambers. 2016. "Competing Pathways for Nucleation of the Double Perovskite Structure in the Epitaxial Synthesis of La2MnNiO6." Chemistry of Materials 28(11)3814–3822. 10.1021/acs.chemmater.6b00829
  • A Devaraj, V Murugesan, J Bao, MF Guo, MA Derewinski, Z Xu, MJ Gray, S Prodinger, KK Ramasamy. 2016. "Discerning the Location and Nature of Coke Deposition from Surface to Bulk of Spent Zeolite Catalysts." Scientific Reports 6Article No. 37586. 10.1038/srep37586

2015

  • Z Xu, D Li, W Xu, A Devaraj, RJ Colby, S Thevuthasan, BP Geiser, DJ Larson. 2015. "Simulation of Heterogeneous Atom Probe Tip Shapes Evolution during Field Evaporation Using a Level Set Method and Different Evaporation Models." Computer Physics Communications 189106-113. 10.1016/j.cpc.2014.12.016
  • GR Kulkarni, MI Nandasiri, A Zelenyuk, J Beranek, N Madaan, A Devaraj, V Shutthanandan, S Thevuthasan, T Varga. 2015. "Effects Of Crystallographic Properties On The Ice Nucleation Properties Of Volcanic Ash Particles." Geophysical Research Letters 42(8)3048-3055. 10.1002/2015GL063270
  • V Degeorge, A Devaraj, V Keylin, J Cui, M McHenry. 2015. "Mass Balance and Atom Probe Tomography Characterization of Soft Magnetic (Fe65Co35)79.5B13Si2Nb4Cu1.5 Nanocomposites." IEEE Transactions on Magnetics 51(6)Article No. 2001704 . 10.1109/TMAG.2014.2373333
  • BE Smith, PB Roder, JL Hanson, S Manandhar, A Devaraj, DE Perea, WJ Kim, AL Kilcoyne, PJ Pauzauskie. 2015. "Singlet-Oxygen Generation From Individual Semiconducting and Metallic Nanostructures During Near-Infrared Laser Trapping." ACS Photonics 2(4)559-564. 10.1021/acsphotonics.5b00022
  • A Devaraj, M Gu, RJ Colby, P Yan, CM Wang, J Zheng, J Xiao, A Genc, J Zhang, I Belharouak, D Wang, K Amine, S Thevuthasan. 2015. "Visualizing Nanoscale 3D Compositional Fluctuation of Lithium in Advanced Lithium-Ion Battery Cathodes." Nature Communications 6Article No. 8014. 10.1038/ncomms9014
  • N Madaan, J Bao, MI Nandasiri, Z Xu, S Thevuthasan, A Devaraj. 2015. "Impact of Dynamic Specimen Shape Evolution on the Atom Probe Tomography Results of Doped Epitaxial Oxide Multilayers: Comparison of Experiment and Simulation." Applied Physics Letters 107(9)Article No. 091601. 10.1063/1.4929705
  • RJ Kuhudzai, J Malherbe, TT Hlatshwayo, NG van der Berg, A Devaraj, Z Zhu, MI Nandasiri. 2015. "Synergistic Effects of Iodine and Silver Ions Co-Implanted in 6H-SiC." Journal of Nuclear Materials 467(Part 2)582-587. 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2015.10.029

2014

  • A Devaraj, TC Kaspar, S Ramanan, SK Walvekar, ME Bowden, V Shutthanandan, RJ Kurtz. 2014. "Nanoscale Phase Separation In Epitaxial Cr-Mo and Cr-V Alloy Thin Films Studied Using Atom Probe Tomography: Comparison Of Experiments And Simulation." Journal of Applied Physics 116(19)Article No. 193512. 10.1063/1.4901465
  • M Vijayakumar, N Govind, ED Walter, SD Burton, AK Shukla, A Devaraj, J Xiao, J Liu, CM Wang, AM Karim, S Thevuthasan. 2014. "Molecular Structure and Stability of Dissolved Lithium Polysulfide Species." Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics. PCCP 16(22)10923-10932. 10.1039/c4cp00889H
  • W Setyawan, MD Gerboth, B Yao, CH Henager, A Devaraj, VRSes Vemuri, S Thevuthasan, V Shutthanandan. 2014. "Asymmetry of radiation damage properties in Al-Ti nanolayers." Journal of Nuclear Materials 445(1-3)261-271. 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.11.012
  • X Jiang, A Devaraj, B Balamurugan, J Cui, JE Shield. 2014. "Microstructure of Multistage Annealed Nanocrystalline SmCo2Fe2B Alloy with Enhanced Magnetic Properties." Journal of Applied Physics 115(6)Article No. 063902. 10.1063/1.4865298
  • X Jiang, A Devaraj, B Balamurugan, J Cui, JE Shield. 2014. "Microstructure Of Multistage Annealed Nanocrystalline SmCo2Fe2B Alloy With Enhanced Magnetic Properties." Journal of Applied Physics 115(6)Article No. 063902. 10.1063/1.4865298
  • A Devaraj, RJ Colby, F Vurpillot, S Thevuthasan. 2014. "Understanding Atom Probe Tomography of Oxide-Supported Metal Nanoparticles by Correlation with Atomic Resolution Electron Microscopy and Field Evaporation Simulation." Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 5(8)1361-1367. 10.1021/jz500259c
  • X Jiang, A Devaraj, B Balamurugan, J Cui, JE Shield. 2014. "Microstructure of multistage annealed nanocrystalline SmCo2Fe2B alloy with enhanced magnetic properties." Journal of Applied Physics 15(6)Article No. 063902. 10.1063/1.4865298

2013

  • CM Wang, TC Kaspar, V Shutthanandan, AG Joly, L Kovarik, BW Arey, M Gu, A Devaraj, BD Wirth, RJ Kurtz. 2013. "Structure And Radiation Damage Behavior Of Epitaxial CrxMo1-x Alloy Thin Films On MgO." Journal of Nuclear Materials 437(1-3)55-61. 10.1016/j.jnucmat.2013.01.345
  • SK Katakam, A Devaraj, ME Bowden, S Santhanakrishnan, C Smith, R Ramanujan, S Thevuthasan, R Banerjee, NB Dahotre. 2013. "Laser Assisted Crystallization of Ferromagnetic Amorphous Ribbons: A Multimodal Characterization and Thermal Model Study." Journal of Applied Physics 114(18)Article No. 184901. 10.1063/1.4829279
  • S Vilayur Ganapathy, A Devaraj, RJ Colby, A Pandey, T Varga, V Shutthanandan, S Manandhar, PZ El-Khoury, AN Kayani, WP Hess, S Thevuthasan. 2013. "Subsurface Synthesis and Characterization of Ag Nanoparticles Embedded in MgO." Nanotechnology 24(9)Article No. 095707. 10.1088/0957-4484/24/9/095707
  • F Yang, DR Coughlin, PJ Phillips, L Yang, A Devaraj, L Kovarik, RD Noebe, MJ Mills. 2013. "Structure Analysis of a Precipitate Phase in an Ni-Rich High Temperature NiTiHf Shape Memory Alloy." Acta Materialia 61(9)3335-3346. 10.1016/j.actamat.2013.02.023
  • A Devaraj, RJ Colby, WP Hess, DE Perea, S Thevuthasan. 2013. "Role of Photoexcitation and Field Ionization in the Measurement of Accurate Oxide Stoichiometry by Laser-Assisted Atom Probe Tomography." The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters 4(6)993-998. 10.1021/jz400015h
  • A Devaraj, S Nag, R Banerjee. 2013. "Alpha phase precipitation from phase-separated beta phase in a model Ti-Mo-Al alloy studied by direct coupling of transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography." Scripta Materialia 69(7)513-516. 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2013.06.011

2012

  • DE Perea, DK Schreiber, A Devaraj, S Thevuthasan, J Yoo, SA Dayeh, ST Picraux. 2012. "Controlling Axial p-n Heterojunction Abruptness Through Catalyst Alloying in Vapor-Liquid-Solid Grown Semiconductor Nanowires." Microscopy and Microanalysis 18(Suppl. 2)1860-1861. 10.1017/S1431927612011154