Advanced Semiconductor Epitaxy Research Group
The research group focuses on developing novel deep-ultraviolet (DUV) emitters based on group-III nitrides (AlGaInN) in systems featuring unique material combinations that include arsenic, boron, and, in the future, other group-III elements. The group conducts fundamental research aimed at innovative applications in water purification and disinfection technologies for the medical and healthcare sectors. Its work involves studying the use of various epitaxial growth techniques to produce unique multilayer systems.
The main challenges addressed by the group concern the growth of high-quality aluminum-rich structures that meet the stringent requirements of efficient deep-UV light sources.
Group members
Prof. Detlef Hommel
Prof. Dr. habil. Detlef Hommel received his MSc in Physics from the University of Warsaw in 1975 and his PhD from the same faculty in 1980. He obtained his first habilitation from Humboldt University in Berlin in 1989 and a second one from the University of Leipzig in 1991. In 1993, he was awarded the academic title of Privatdozent at the University of Würzburg. From 1994, he held a full professorship at the University of Bremen. In 2014, he was appointed Professor at the University of Wrocław, and in 2016 he received the title of Full Professor conferred by the President of the Republic of Poland. He is currently the Head of the Advanced Semiconductor Epitaxy Group at Łukasiewicz – PORT.
Prof. Hommel’s scientific interests include condensed matter physics, in particular semiconductors and optoelectronic devices. He specializes in semiconductor epitaxy technologies, nanoscience (quantum dots, nanorods), spectroscopy of rare-earth ions, and heterostructure characterization. His research focuses on wide bandgap materials such as group-III nitrides and II-VI chalcogenides, with applications in single-photon sources and laser diodes.
He is the author of over 700 peer-reviewed publications in renowned journals, including Nature, Nature Physics, Physical Review Letters, Applied Physics Letters, and Nanotechnology. He has led numerous research projects funded by DFG, BMBF, the Volkswagen Foundation, Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft, and national agencies, with a total budget exceeding €8 million. He is the author or co-author of 11 patents related to semiconductor devices, including ZnSe-based laser diodes, p-GaN contact designs, and InGaN quantum dots.
He has supervised over 30 PhD theses and more than 45 MSc theses. He has been invited as a lecturer at universities in Germany, Japan, the USA, and Poland, and has delivered courses in German, English, and Polish.
A member of the Academia Europaea since 2014, Prof. Hommel has served as organizer and chair of numerous international scientific conferences, including the International Workshop on Blue Lasers, E-MRS, and the International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors. From 2003 to 2009, he was the speaker of the DFG Research Group Physics of nitride-based, nanostructured, light-emitting devices. He received an honorary research fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2006–2009), and has served on several scientific boards, including the Institute of Low Temperature and Structure Research PAS (INTiBS) and the High Pressure Research Institute PAS (since 2024). His research collaborations include UC Santa Barbara, KAUST, CNRS Grenoble, the University of Warsaw, and the Institute of Physics PAS.
He built the Semiconductor Epitaxy Laboratory at the University of Bremen from the ground up, equipping it with dual MBE systems, XPS, FIB, AFM, CAIBE, and advanced instrumentation for electrical and optical measurements. Since 2019, he has served as Chairman of the PORT Foundation. He has also been a member of the Innovation Commission of the Polish-German Chamber of Industry and Commerce and of the KRASP Commission on Large Research Infrastructure.
Dr. Paulina Ciechanowicz
Paulina earned a BEng in Nanotechnology and an MSc in Electronics and Telecommunications at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. She received her PhD from the University of Wrocław, conducting her doctoral research at the Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT. Her dissertation explored arsenic use in MBE growth of GaN to modify material properties and control growth mode.
This research led to a new arsenic-induced VLS growth method for dodecahedral GaN microwires. The approach is being further developed and optimized within the Semiconductor Compound Epitaxy Research Group. During her PhD, she led an NCN PRELUDIUM project titled “Arsenic-induced VLS growth of dodecahedral GaN microwires by MBE.”
She currently works as a post-doc in the NCN Sonata BIS project “Nitride-based microcolumn UV emitters,” led by Łukasz Janicki, PhD. In the team she specializes in epitaxy of GaN-based microstructures, focusing on GaN microwire structures for LED applications.
Dr. Łukasz Janicki
Łukasz received his MSc in Physics at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, where he also completed his PhD. His research focused on group-III nitride materials and structures, with particular emphasis on surface properties analyzed using optical spectroscopy. He performed measurements on bare surfaces and protected surfaces under varied environmental conditions.
For his research, he developed new tools enabling non-contact electroreflectance (and other modulation spectroscopy techniques) at variable temperatures and atmospheric compositions. These results led to his PhD in Physics (2015).
At the Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT, he works on MBE growth of group-III nitride semiconductor structures, with particular emphasis on microcolumn structures. He leads the NCN Sonata BIS grant “Microcolumn UV emitters based on nitrides.”
Dr. Anastasiia Lysak
Anastasiia completed her bachelor’s and master’s studies in physics at the National Technical University of Ukraine “Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute” between 2011 and 2017, followed by a second master’s degree at the University of Wrocław (Stefan Banach Scholarship). At the Institute of Physics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, she carried out her PhD project between 2020 and 2025, devoted to the growth and characterization of superlattices based on ZnO and CdO layers using PA-MBE, both undoped and in situ europium-doped.
She worked at the Molecular Beam Epitaxy Laboratory of the Institute of Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, where she focused on the growth of II–VI semiconductor heterostructures and their comprehensive structural, optical, and electrical characterization, using techniques such as AFM, SEM/EDX/CL, PL, UV-VIS, and Hall effect measurements. She is a co-author of over 20 publications, including 5 as first author, and has presented her work at 12 international conferences. She is currently employed in the Advanced Epitaxial Materials (EpiMat) group at the Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT, where she works on the MOVPE growth of boron-doped group-III nitride heterostructures as part of a project carried out in collaboration with ams OSRAM.
Dr. Dominika Majchrzak
Dominika graduated in Experimental Physics from the University of Wrocław. After earning her master’s degree, she began an industrial PhD at the Institute of Low Temperature and Structural Research, Polish Academy of Sciences (INTiBS PAS) while working in Prof. Detlef Hommel’s research group at the Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT. Her doctoral work focused on the structural and electrical characterization of semiconductor materials based on gallium nitride.
Dominika’s main task is the structural characterization of semiconductor compounds produced by epitaxial methods, using surface-sensitive techniques such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). She is also involved in the growth of semiconductor samples using molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and performs Hall effect measurements.
She successfully defended her PhD in March 2023. Since May 2021, she has led a three-year NCN PRELUDIUM 19 project titled “Application of gradient AlGaN contact layers to achieve low-resistivity ohmic contacts in deep-UV emitters.”
She is currently a post-doc in the NCN OPUS 23 project “Hybrid photovoltaic detectors based on a van der Waals/(Al)GaN junction,” supervised by Prof. Robert Kudrawiec.
Izabella Danielska
Izabella’s doctoral project focuses on the hybrid 2D/3D heterostructures based on group-III nitrides (GaN, AlN, AlGaN) and van der Waals materials – their fabrication by Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) and solution-based deposition, followed by characterization of their fundamental electronic, structural and optical properties.
The topic of the PhD thesis combines the advanced functionalities of layered materials with the stability and technological maturity of bulk group-III-nitride technologies with an established position in high-power electronics and UV optoelectronics. The functionality of the obtained heterojunctions is primarily investigated via photoelectron spectroscopies (XPS, UPS), thereby allowing for the determination of band structure profiles and the chemical and structural stability of the interfaces.
Izabella is also involved in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) as part of the NCN Sonata BIS project “Micropillar Nitride Emitters for the UV Range” led by Łukasz Janicki, PhD.
Aneta Mgłosiek
Aneta earned her MSc in Materials Engineering from the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków. Her master’s thesis investigated how the physical properties of bottom sediments affect heavy-metal accumulation. In our laboratory, Aneta is responsible for coordinating orders, budget control, documentation, and ensuring the efficient organization of the laboratory’s operations.
Kamila Nowak
Kamila earned BSc and MSc degrees at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology in Chemical and Process Engineering and Materials Engineering. She is currently pursuing a PhD at WUST in the Department of Nanometrology, Faculty of Electronics, Photonics and Microsystems. The subject of her doctoral research involves novel diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMS) based on group-III nitride materials (GaN, AlGaN).
She specializes in the epitaxial growth of these materials using plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PA-MBE), as well as in comprehensive structural and surface characterization of semiconductor materials.
Outside science, she enjoys hiking, cycling, and running.
Wojciech Olszewski
Wojciech completed BSc and MSc studies in Experimental Physics at the University of Wrocław. In 2016, during his studies, he began an internship in the epitaxy laboratory at the then EiT+ center (now the Łukasiewicz Research Network – PORT), where he started working with MOVPE. His master’s thesis addressed GaN epitaxy carried out at PORT. He began PhD studies in 2019 and in 2025 submitted his dissertation on GaNAs growth by MOVPE.
He is currently in the third year of an NCN PRELUDIUM project. Within the group, he is responsible for the MOVPE system – growing substrates, new materials, and heterostructures for the team and for his own research.