Institute for Functional Nanomaterials

Nanoscientist

University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus

Biography

Born in Madrid, Spain, and grown in Costa Rica, Fonseca obtained his doctoral degree in Chemical Physics at the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus in 1985. Fonseca initiated his research career studying the optical properties of materials containing metal nanoparticles. He later expanded his interest to the synthesis and characterization of new nanomaterials: quantum dots and nanowires. His research team includes graduate and undergraduate students working on materials with applications in light amplification for optical communications, novel biological and chemical sensors, magnetic nanodevices, and new display materials. His research has been funded by the United States Department of Defense, NASA and the National Science Foundation and has benefited from local and external collaborations.

Teams

Cluster I: Functional Dispersed Nanostructures, Cluster III: Multifunctional Nanostructures

Phone

+1-787-764-0000 ext. 3354

Direct phone

+1-787-522-1368

Mailing address

Department of Physics
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus
PO Box 23343
San Juan, PR 00931

E-mail

luis.upr gmail com

Education

• Ph.D. in Chemical Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (1984)
• M.Sc. in Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (1978)
• B.Sc. in Physics, University of Costa Rica (1973)

Appointments

2000–2005	Chairman, Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1999–present	Professor, Department of Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1997–2006	Coordinator, Doctoral Program in Chemical Physics, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1994–1999	Associate Professor, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico
1991–1994	Assistant Professor, University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, San Juan, Puerto Rico

Honors and awards

• Scholarly Productivity Award, Puerto Rico Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (1994, 1996, 1999, 2001)
• Outstanding Research Award, University of Puerto Rico President's Office (2001)

Publications

1. L. F. Fonseca, J. García-Solé, D. Jaque, and C. Rozo, "30. Luminescence of Er-doped Silicon Oxide – Zirconia Thin Films.", Journal of Luminescence, (2009)
2. A. Biaggi-Labiosa, L. F. Fonseca, M. Lebron-Colón, M. A. Meador, O. Resto, and F. Solá, "Field Emission and Radial Distributions Function Studies of Fractal-like Amorphous Carbon Nanotips", Nanoscale Research Letters, 4, 431 (2009)
3. P. X. Feng, L. F. Fonseca, V. I. Makarov, G. Morell, B. R. Weiner, and H. Zhang, "Growth and field emission properties of one-dimensional carbon composite structure consisting of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes and nanocones", Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics, 42, 035409 (2009)
4. L. F. Fonseca, G. Morell, F. Piazza, O. Resto, and F. Sola, "Synthesis of diamond nanocrystals on polyimide film", Diamond and Related Materials, 18, 113 (2009)
5. J. Betancourt, L. F. Fonseca, O. Resto, F. Solá, and F. Zypman, "The influence of roughness on the mechanical spectroscopy of SiO2 nanorods grown by e-beam irradiation", Superlattices and Microstructures , (2009)
6. A. Biaggi-Labiosa, J. De Jesus, L. F. Fonseca, A. Gonzalez-Berrios, G. Morell, O. Resto, and F. Sola, "Nanocrystalline silicon as the light emitting material of a field emission display device", Nanotechnology, 19, 225202 (2008)
7. A. Biaggi-Labiosa, J. De Jesus, L. F. Fonseca, A. Gonzalez-Berrios, G. Morell, O. Resto, and F. Sola, "Porous silicon for field emission display applications", Physica Status Solidi, 5, 3479 (2008)

Grants

1. L. F. Fonseca, M. A. Hines, R. D. Kirby, A. R. Mayol, G. Morell, L. G. Rosa, N. Sepúlveda, E. Y. Tsymbal, and J. Velev. University of Puerto Rico System PREM in Materials Research to Achieve Competitiveness and Promote Diversity in World-Class NSE, National Science Foundation, Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials , 5 years, September 2009, Multiple PIs, Pending, $3,500,000.
2. C. R. Cabrera, L. F. Fonseca, R. Furlan, G. Morell, L. G. Rosa, N. Sepúlveda, and J. Vedrine. MRI: Acquisition of an Atomic Force Microscope Nanolithography DPN 5000 System, National Science Foundation, DMR - MRI, 1 year, August 2009, Multiple PIs, Pending, $386,736.
3. L. F. Fonseca. EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL STUDIES OF MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF SILICA NANORODS, National Science Foundation, Nano and Bio Mechanics, 3 years, July 2009, Multiple PIs, Pending, $296,167.
4. F. M. Aliev, C. R. Cabrera, L. F. Fonseca, K. H. Griebenow, A. J. Hernández, Y. Ishikawa, R. S. Katiyar, M. M. Martínez, A. R. Mayol, G. Morell, W. Otaño, R. G. Raptis, and B. R. Weiner. Center for Advanced Nanoscale Materials (CANM) NASA University Research, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, URC, 5 years, October 2008, Multiple PIs, Approved, $6,000,000.
5. O. Auciello, S. Bader, D. Bonnell, S. Desu, L. F. Fonseca, M. Gómez, S. Hong, Y. Ishikawa, R. S. Katiyar, V. Makarov, A. R. Mayol, G. Morell, W. Otaño, R. Palai, O. J. Perales, A. Petford-Long, R. Ramesh, A. Rastogi, R. Thomas, and M. S. Tomar. Development and Understanding of Multifunctional Nanostructures for Spintronics and Magnetoelectrics Applications, United States Department of Energy, EPSCoR, 3 years, September 2008, Multiple PIs, Approved, $2,245,000.