Background

Dr. Armando Rúa de la Asunción

Quantum Materials and Oxide Electronics

People

Our Research

Metal–insulator transitions, epitaxy, and transport in vanadium oxide systems for electronic and neuromorphic devices.

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Education

Our educational activities engage undergraduate students in research and hands-on training in experimental physics. Students develop practical skills through work in the Electronics Lab and participation in experimental design.

We also lead outreach activities for K–12 students and teachers to support STEM education and teacher training.

Education

Armando Rúa de la Asunción

Quantum Materials and Oxide Electronics

Armando Rúa de la Asunción is a Professor of Physics at the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez. His research focuses on thin films of correlated oxides, particularly vanadium systems, to study metal–insulator transitions and electronic transport, including Magnéli phases as model systems between VO₂ and V₂O₃.

His work integrates synthesis, crystallographic structure, and transport measurements to understand emergent electronic behavior and develop device concepts for neuromorphic computing. He is a 2023 Moore Foundation Experimental Physics Investigator.

Publications

2024

Optically Tunable Electrical Oscillation in Oxide-based Memristors for Neuromorphic Computing.
Shimul Kanti Nath, Sujan Kumar Das, Sanjoy Kumar Nandi, Chen Xi, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Mutsunori Uenuma, Zhongrui Wang, Songqing Zhang, Rui-Jie Zhu, Jason Eshraghian, Xiao Sun, Teng Lu, Yue Bian, Nitu Syed, Wenwu Pan, Han Wang, Wen Lei, Lan Fu, Lorezo Faraone, Yun Liu, and Robert Glen Elliman. Advanced Materials

2024

Biorealistic Neuronal Temperature-Sensitive Dynamics within Threshold Switching Memristors: Toward Neuromorphic Thermosensation.
Akhil Bonagiri, Sujan Kumar Das, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Etienne Puyoo, Shimul Kanti Nath, David Albertini, Nicolas Baboux, Mutsunori Uenuma, Robert Glen Elliman, and Sanjoy Kumar Nandi. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

2024

Dynamics of Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Neurons Based on Oxyvanite Memristors for Spiking Neural Networks.
Sujan Kumar Das, Sanjoy Kumar Nandi, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Mutsunori Uenuma, Shimul Kanti Nath, Shuo Zhang, Chun-Ho Lin, Dewei Chu, Tom Ratcliff, Robert Glen Elliman Advanced Intelligent Systems

2023

Physical Origin of Negative Differential Resistance in V3O5 and Its Application as a Solid-State Oscillator.
Sujan Kumar Das, Sanjoy Kumar Nandi, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Mutsunori Uenuma, Etienne Puyoo, Shimul Kanti Nath, David Albertini, Nicolas Baboux, Teng Lu, Yun Liu, Tobias Haeger, Ralf Heiderhoff, Thomas Riedl, Thomas Ratcliff, Robert Glen Elliman. Advanced Materials, 35, 2208477

2023

Young’s modulus of V3O5 thin films. (Editor’s Pick)
Christian Nieves, Camilo Verbel, Sergiy Lysenko, Félix E. Fernández, Armando Rúa. AIP Advances, 13, 085031
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Publications

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2024

Optically Tunable Electrical Oscillation in Oxide-based Memristors for Neuromorphic Computing.
Shimul Kanti Nath, Sujan Kumar Das, Sanjoy Kumar Nandi, Chen Xi, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Mutsunori Uenuma, Zhongrui Wang, Songqing Zhang, Rui-Jie Zhu, Jason Eshraghian, Xiao Sun, Teng Lu, Yue Bian, Nitu Syed, Wenwu Pan, Han Wang, Wen Lei, Lan Fu, Lorezo Faraone, Yun Liu, and Robert Glen Elliman. Advanced Materials

2024

Biorealistic Neuronal Temperature-Sensitive Dynamics within Threshold Switching Memristors: Toward Neuromorphic Thermosensation.
Akhil Bonagiri, Sujan Kumar Das, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Etienne Puyoo, Shimul Kanti Nath, David Albertini, Nicolas Baboux, Mutsunori Uenuma, Robert Glen Elliman, and Sanjoy Kumar Nandi. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

2024

Dynamics of Leaky Integrate-and-Fire Neurons Based on Oxyvanite Memristors for Spiking Neural Networks.
Sujan Kumar Das, Sanjoy Kumar Nandi, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Mutsunori Uenuma, Shimul Kanti Nath, Shuo Zhang, Chun-Ho Lin, Dewei Chu, Tom Ratcliff, Robert Glen Elliman Advanced Intelligent Systems

2023

Physical Origin of Negative Differential Resistance in V3O5 and Its Application as a Solid-State Oscillator.
Sujan Kumar Das, Sanjoy Kumar Nandi, Camilo Verbel Marquez, Armando Rúa, Mutsunori Uenuma, Etienne Puyoo, Shimul Kanti Nath, David Albertini, Nicolas Baboux, Teng Lu, Yun Liu, Tobias Haeger, Ralf Heiderhoff, Thomas Riedl, Thomas Ratcliff, Robert Glen Elliman. Advanced Materials, 35, 2208477

2023

Young’s modulus of V3O5 thin films. (Editor’s Pick)
Christian Nieves, Camilo Verbel, Sergiy Lysenko, Félix E. Fernández, Armando Rúa. AIP Advances, 13, 085031
Read more

Our Sponsors

Facilities

Pulsed Laser Deposition

We offer two PLD systems. System #1 deposits oxide materials and includes a 4-target turret, mass flow controllers, residual gas analyzer, and a substrate heater up to 800°C in O2 atmosphere. System #2 is for nitride semiconductors with UHV chamber, nitrogen beam source, residual gas analyzer, electron gun evaporation source, and a sample heater over 800°C in vacuum. Discover our advanced deposition capabilities!

X-ray Diffraction

We offer high-resolution X-ray diffraction with the Bruker-AXS D8 Discover system, ideal for thin film studies. It includes a multilayer parabolic mirror for increased intensity and collimation, and a Ge crystal monochromator for better resolution. The Huber goniometer provides 7 degrees of freedom with computer-controlled movements and 0.0001° resolution. We also perform grazing-incidence reflectometry measurements.

Other Facilities

We offer electronic characterization of materials at temperatures down to 10 K and magnetic fields over 1 T. Our advanced instruments include current sources, nanovoltmeters, cryostats, and temperature controllers. We also measure dielectric permittivities and piezoelectric properties with high precision. Our 44-wavelength ellipsometer analyzes thin films. The entire process is controlled by an in-house developed LabView system.
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Students interested in becoming part of our group should contact us by email to discuss the research opportunities we have available.

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