Welcome to the Kumah Nanoscale Synthesis and Characterization Laboratory. The Kumah Research Group at Duke uses state-of-the-art atomic layer-by-layer deposition techniques including molecular beam epitaxy to fabricate thin crystalline oxide films. The group is focused on
- Understanding how atomic-scale structural distortions at interfaces can be manipulated to induce novel electronic and magnetic phenomena
- Developing pathways for harnessing these unique functionalities for electronic and energy applications.
We are looking for highly motivated graduate and undergraduate students interested in joining our group. Please contact Dr. Divine Kumah to discuss potential projects.
Lab News
February 2026:
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- Sethulakshmi Sajeev, Arnaud P. Nono Tchiomo, Brendon Faeth, Evan Krysko, Olivia Peek, Matthew J. Barone, Jordan Shields, Neha Wadehra, Garu Gebreyesus, Divine Kumah, Richard M. Martin, Darrell G. Schlom, Prosper Ngabonziza, Electronic Structure of Epitaxial Films of the Bilayer Strontium Ruthenate: Sr3Ru2O7, arXiv:2602.07747 (Feb 2025)
December 2025:
New Papers in 2025:
- Shama, JT McCourt, M Baksi, G Finkelstein, DP Kumah, Superconductivity in spin-orbit coupled BaBi3 formed by in situ reduction of bismuthate films, Physical Review Materials 9 (12), 124802 (December 2025)
- Jordan T. McCourt, Ethan G. Arnault, Merve Baksi, Samuel J. Poage, Salva Salmani-Rezaie, Divine P. Kumah, Kaveh Ahadi, Gleb Finkelstein, Electrostatic control of quantum phases in KTaO3-based planar constrictions, arXiv:2506.18894(2025). Nano Lett. 2025, 25, 45, 16091–16096 (November 2025)
- AH Al-Tawhid, R Sun, AH Comstock, DP Kumah, D Sun, K Ahadi, Spin-to-charge conversion at KTaO3 (111) interfaces Applied Physics Letters 126 (9) (2025)
- Samuel J Poage, Xueshi Gao, Merve Baksi, Salva Salmani-Rezaie, David A Muller, Divine P Kumah, Chun Ning Lau, Jose Lorenzana, Maria N Gastiasoro, Kaveh Ahadi, Violation of Pauli Limit at KTaO3 (110) Interfaces, arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.13264 (2025), Physical Review B 111 (21), 214506 (2025)
- JM Shields, DP Kumah, A different facet to materials design , Nature Physics 21 (1), 13-14 (2025)
- Clark Hickman, KKH Leung, AH Al-Tawhid, BW Filippone, PR Huffman, Ekaterina Korobkina, DP Kumah, CM Swank. Superconducting properties of commercially available solders for low-field applications, arXiv:2503.17345 (2025) , Cryogenics 153, 104219 (2026)
September 2024: New paper published in Physical Review Materials:
- Jörg Schöpf, Valentina Piva, Paul HM van Loosdrecht, Ionela Lindfors-Vrejoiu, Padraic Shafar, Divine P Kumah, Xuanyi Zhang, Lide Yao, Sebastian van Dijken, Tuning the interlayer coupling in La0. 7Sr0. 3Mn0. 95Ru0. 05O3/LaNiO3 multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, Physical Review Materials 8 (9), 094410) (September 2024)
June 2024: Two new papers posted to ArxiV:
- Merve Baksi, DP Kumah, The structure of Ferroelectric BaBiO3/BaTiO3 Interfaces grown by Molecular Beam Epitaxy arXiv preprint arXiv:2405.17856 (June 2024)
- Xuanyi Zhang, A Al-Tawhid, P Schafer, Z Zhang, DP Kumah The role of interfacial interactions and oxygen vacancies in tuning magnetic anisotropy in LaCrO3/LaMnO3 heterostructures, .arXiv preprint arXiv:2403.03764 (March 2024. Accepted Advances Materials Interfaces (June 2024))
