Reading the
universe by its
signals.

Synthesis of 0D, 1D and 2D materials for electronics and optoelectronics applications, together with heat treatment and crystal growth of nanostructures.

• Electrospinning set-up for producing nanofibres and 1D nanostructures.
• Two Thermo Scientific lab-scale box furnaces — up to 1600 °C with controlled heating rate — for calcination, curing, annealing and heat treatment.
• MTI rocking quartz tube furnace (GSL-1100X) — up to 1100 °C — with sample stirring for uniform reactions; operates under vacuum or pure gas and supports 2D crystal growth in a controlled environment.

• Electron Beam Lithography workstation driven by the Nanomaker pattern generator — a hardware and software system for designing and manufacturing state-of-the-art micro- and nano-electronic devices and structures.

• Thermal evaporating coating unit with high-vacuum capability for metallization of substrates.
• Plasma sputter coater (high vacuum) for depositing normal-metal or superconducting high-purity films on substrates or wafers.
• Turbo-molecular vacuum pump stations on both the thermal evaporator and the plasma sputter coater to provide high vacuum.
• VTC-100 vacuum spin coater with adjustable spin speed and time for photoresist coating of substrates.

• MDC cryogenic probe station supporting two- or four-probe resistivity measurements.
• Keithley 2400 source meter for current–voltage characteristics (source current 0.1 nA – 100 mA; applied voltage 0.01 nV – 100 mV).
• E4980 LCR meter for AC measurements.
• Optical microscope for device inspection.

• Low-temperature measurements down to liquid-nitrogen temperature.

• 8-core workstation facility within the lab.
• Access to the PIEAS central High-Performance Computing (HPC) facility — a 40 TeraFLOPS supercomputer.
• Licensed WIEN2k and GULP software for electronic-structure calculations of solids using Density Functional Theory (DFT).

• First laboratory in Pakistan to initiate Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) on cancer cells, in collaboration with the National Institute of Health (NIH), Pakistan and Harvard Medical School, USA.
• Therapeutic modalities — PDT, chemotherapy, medicinal and their combinations — administered on human cancer cell lines including HeLa, RD, Hep2c and Hep2.
• Current focus on polymeric nano-drug delivery for its biocompatibility and biodistribution.

• Awarded NRPU funding for the development of a polymeric nano-carrier.
• Frequently used by researchers from other universities working on Photodynamic Therapy.

• Measurement of the optical properties of biological tissue for diagnostic and treatment purposes.
• Polarization-based techniques — a well-established approach for investigating samples under study.

• Two national projects on “Laser Tissue Interaction and Biophotonics” and one NRPU on the development of a polarization microscope (HEC).
• A number of doctoral and MS theses produced.

Harvard, University College London, University of Toronto, University of São Paulo, Hacettepe University and Tsinghua University.

• Conduct MPhil & PhD research project work.
• Neutron activation and detector-design analyses.
• Overall reactor-safety studies.

• Large 5 × 3 × 5 ft water phantom.
• BF₃ neutron detector with NIM-BIN electronic system.
• Acrylic void tubes in various sizes and shapes.

• Students are familiarized with the radiation hazards associated with the neutron source.
• Dedicated faculty members supervise students and PhD scholars at all times.

• Carry out research for MS/PhD Medical Physics thesis projects.
• Practical demonstration of how thermoluminescent dosimetry works.
• Support PAEC and private medical centres and the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority with radiation quality control.

• Alderson Rando phantom for 3-dimensional dosimetry.
• Water phantom with motorized assembly for measuring PDDs, plus a stationary water phantom.
• Therapy-grade (thimble-type) ionization chambers, an electron ionization chamber and a diode dosimetry system.
• TLD dosimetry system.
• X-ray quality-control kit, CT quality-control chamber and mammography quality-control kit.

Students are familiarized with the lab equipment in the regular courses of radiation therapy and radiology.

Adequate for a regular-sized MS Medical Physics batch; experiments are conducted in groups of 4–5 students.

• Students are familiarized with the radiation hazards associated with X-ray and other medical sources.
• A dedicated faculty member conducts the lab.

• Conduct radiation detection and protection experiments across the various MS programmes at PIEAS.
• Facilitate MS & PhD research project work.

• Alpha, beta and gamma spectroscopy/counting systems — HPGe, surface-barrier detectors, NaI(Tl), Geiger counters and BF₃ detectors.
• NIM-BIN electronic systems, MCAs, spectroscopy amplifiers and related instrumentation.
• In-house small-scale electronics repair facility for detection electronics.

• Measurement of mixed half-lives.
• Measurement of the attenuation coefficient using NaI(Tl).
• Gamma–gamma coincidence.
• NaI(Tl) spectroscopy.
• Characteristics of the GM tube.
• Counting statistics.

• Students are familiarized with the associated radiation hazards.
• Routine radiation surveys are carried out.
• Dedicated faculty members supervise students and PhDs at all times.

• Conduct reactor physics and radiation shielding experiments.
• Facilitate MS & PhD research project work.

• BF₃ detectors and neutron scattering and activation setups.
• NIM-BIN electronic systems, MCAs, spectroscopy amplifiers and related instrumentation.

• Characteristics of BF₃ detectors.
• Neutron activation analysis.
• Reactor safety analysis.

• Students are familiarized with the associated radiation hazards.
• Routine radiation surveys are carried out.
• Dedicated faculty members supervise students and PhDs at all times.

• Conduct introductory experiments on solid-state track-detection methodology.
• Run the SSNTD lab for MS/PhD Medical Physics, MS/PhD Physics and MS Nuclear Engineering students.
• Carry out research projects for the MS programmes, masters-level projects for students from other universities, and PhD projects.
• Radon monitoring and dosimetry using NRPB radon dosimeters incorporating CR-39 detectors, including PhD radon-monitoring surveys across different regions of Pakistan.

• Characteristics of solid-state nuclear track detectors.
• Measurement of the etching parameters of SSNTDs.
• Measurement of the track diameters of charged-particle tracks.
• Measurement of charged-particle track density.

• CR-39, LR-115 and CN-85 detectors.
• NRPB radon dosimeters.
• Drying ovens with accurate temperature control.
• Gallenkamp etching baths.
• Optical microscopes.
• Etching chemicals.

• Students are familiarized with the radiation hazards associated with radon and uranium ore.
• Students are taught the chemical hazards before handling the chemicals.
• Dedicated faculty members supervise students and PhDs at all times.