Hitosugi Lab

AboutAbout the lab

Arranging atoms to create new materials and functions

The Hitosugi Lab aims to clarify the properties that emerge when atoms assemble into a solid, and to create new materials and functions.
The lab fabricates thin films and interfaces with controlled atomic arrangements, and investigates their structures and electronic states using state-of-the-art measurements such as scanning tunneling microscopy, electron microscopy, and photoelectron spectroscopy.
Its targets extend beyond metal oxides to materials containing organic molecules, and the lab also focuses on applications in the energy field, such as all-solid-state batteries.
In a digital laboratory that combines data science and robotics, the lab also conducts research that automates the entire process from materials synthesis to evaluation.

ResearchResearch themes

With the development of new materials and new functions as its main goal, the lab centers its research on "atom engineering," which precisely controls the structure of materials at the atomic level. Targeting oxide thin films and heterostructures, metal-organic frameworks, and molecular crystals, the lab aims at applications in electronics, energy, and information devices.

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Electronic States of Thin Films and Interfaces, and New Materials↗

In thin films of functional oxides and metal-organic frameworks, the lab designs orientation and interface structures at the atomic and molecular level to explore new properties and applications in devices. Advanced measurements such as probe microscopy and synchrotron radiation are combined with first-principles calculations and machine learning.

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Battery Research↗

The lab studies ion-conducting materials, which are key to all-solid-state batteries and fuel cells. Through thin-film synthesis, interface design, and control of crystal structure, it works to understand and optimize how ions move within materials and across interfaces.

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Digital Laboratory↗

The lab is building an experimental platform that connects modular experimental equipment with robots to automate and make autonomous the process from synthesis to property characterization. Data are recorded in a standardized format so that they can be shared and reused across researchers and organizations.

VoicesStudent voices

Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.

Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.