People
Visiting Research Professors & Research Fellow
Makars Šiškins
Title
Visiting Research Fellow
Degree
PhD
Research Interests
Graphene, 2D materials, nanomechanics, magnetism, high-temperature electronics
Biography
Lecturer in Experimental Physics – School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton
Selected Publications
- I. E. Rosłoń, R. J. Dolleman, H. Licona, M. Lee, M. Šiškins, H. Lebius, L. Madauß, M. Schleberger, F. Alijani, H. S. J. van der Zant, and P. G. Steeneken. High-frequency gas effusion through nanopores in suspended graphene. Nature Communications, 11 (6025), 1, 2020, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19893-5
- Makars Šiškins, Martin Lee, Samuel Mañas-Valero, Eugenio Coronado, Yaroslav M. Blanter, Herre S. J. van der Zant, and Peter G. Steeneken. Magnetic and electronic phase transitions probed by nanomechanical resonators. Nature Communications, 11 (2698), 1, 2020 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16430-2
- Makars Šiškins, Martin Lee, Farbod Alijani, Mark R. van Blankenstein, Dejan Davidovikj, Herre S. J. van der Zant, and Peter G. Steeneken. Highly Anisotropic Mechanical and Optical Properties of 2D Layered As2S3 Membranes. ACS Nano, 13 (9), 10845–10851, 2019, DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.9b06161
I-FIM Publications:
2025 |
Jana, Dipankar; Mukherjee, Shubhrasish; Litvinov, Dmitrii; Grzeszczyk, Magdalena; Grebenchuk, Sergey; Siskins, Makars; Gavriliuc, Virgil; Ouyang, Yihang; Chen, Changyi; Ye, Yuxuan; Yiming, Meng; Koperski, Maciej Two-Dimensional Materials as a Multiproperty Sensing Platform ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS, 2025, DOI: 10.1002/adfm.202516728. @article{WOS:001619984500001, title = {Two-Dimensional Materials as a Multiproperty Sensing Platform}, author = {Dipankar Jana and Shubhrasish Mukherjee and Dmitrii Litvinov and Magdalena Grzeszczyk and Sergey Grebenchuk and Makars Siskins and Virgil Gavriliuc and Yihang Ouyang and Changyi Chen and Yuxuan Ye and Meng Yiming and Maciej Koperski}, doi = {10.1002/adfm.202516728}, times_cited = {0}, issn = {1616-301X}, year = {2025}, date = {2025-11-01}, journal = {ADVANCED FUNCTIONAL MATERIALS}, publisher = {WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH}, address = {POSTFACH 101161, 69451 WEINHEIM, GERMANY}, abstract = {Two-dimensional (2D) materials have disrupted materials science due to the development of van der Waals technology. It enables the stacking of ultrathin layers of materials characterized by vastly different electronic structures to create man-made heterostructures and devices with rationally tailored properties, circumventing limitations of matching crystal structures, lattice constants, and geometry of constituent materials and supporting substrates. 2D materials exhibit extraordinary mechanical flexibility, strong light-matter interactions driven by their excitonic response, single photon emission from atomic centers, stable ferromagnetism in sub-nm thin films, fractional quantum Hall effect in high-quality devices, and chemoselectivity at ultrahigh surface-to-volume ratio. Consequently, van der Waals heterostructures with atomically flat interfaces demonstrate an unprecedented degree of intertwined mechanical, chemical, optoelectronic, and magnetic properties. This constitutes a foundation for multiproperty sensing, based on complex intra- and intermaterial interactions, and a robust response to external stimuli originating from the environment. Here, recent progress are reviewed in the development of sensing applications with 2D materials, highlighting the areas where van der Waals heterostructures offer the highest sensitivity, simultaneous responses to multiple distinct externalities due to their atomic thickness in conjunction with unique material combinations, and conceptually new sensing methodology.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Two-dimensional (2D) materials have disrupted materials science due to the development of van der Waals technology. It enables the stacking of ultrathin layers of materials characterized by vastly different electronic structures to create man-made heterostructures and devices with rationally tailored properties, circumventing limitations of matching crystal structures, lattice constants, and geometry of constituent materials and supporting substrates. 2D materials exhibit extraordinary mechanical flexibility, strong light-matter interactions driven by their excitonic response, single photon emission from atomic centers, stable ferromagnetism in sub-nm thin films, fractional quantum Hall effect in high-quality devices, and chemoselectivity at ultrahigh surface-to-volume ratio. Consequently, van der Waals heterostructures with atomically flat interfaces demonstrate an unprecedented degree of intertwined mechanical, chemical, optoelectronic, and magnetic properties. This constitutes a foundation for multiproperty sensing, based on complex intra- and intermaterial interactions, and a robust response to external stimuli originating from the environment. Here, recent progress are reviewed in the development of sensing applications with 2D materials, highlighting the areas where van der Waals heterostructures offer the highest sensitivity, simultaneous responses to multiple distinct externalities due to their atomic thickness in conjunction with unique material combinations, and conceptually new sensing methodology.
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Fullerton, John; Li, Yue; Solanki, Harshvardhan; Grebenchuk, Sergey; Grzeszczyk, Magdalena; Chen, Zhaolong; Siskins, Makars; Novoselov, Kostya S; Koperski, Maciej; Santos, Elton J G; Phatak, Charudatta Observation of Topological Chirality Switching Induced Freezing of a Skyrmion Crystal ADVANCED MATERIALS, 2025, DOI: 10.1002/adma.202513067. @article{WOS:001601237600001, title = {Observation of Topological Chirality Switching Induced Freezing of a Skyrmion Crystal}, author = {John Fullerton and Yue Li and Harshvardhan Solanki and Sergey Grebenchuk and Magdalena Grzeszczyk and Zhaolong Chen and Makars Siskins and Kostya S Novoselov and Maciej Koperski and Elton J G Santos and Charudatta Phatak}, doi = {10.1002/adma.202513067}, times_cited = {0}, issn = {0935-9648}, year = {2025}, date = {2025-10-01}, journal = {ADVANCED MATERIALS}, publisher = {WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH}, address = {POSTFACH 101161, 69451 WEINHEIM, GERMANY}, abstract = {Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected quasi-particles with a well-defined chirality. Control over their chirality is proposed as an additional feature for encoding data bits or as qubits in quantum computing due to their high efficiency and stability against achiral magnetic textures. Here it is shown that an in-plane magnetic field can be utilized to reshape the energy barriers between different skyrmionic bubbles (e.g., Bloch type, type-II) enabling spontaneous chirality fluctuations with a frequency that increases with the strength of the in-plane field. The insulating van der Waals ferromagnet CrBr3 is used as an archetypal system for low damping, reduced energy dissipation and a high number of magnetic phases to capture the chirality dynamics in real time through cryo-Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. It is observed that the interplay between the intrinsic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and out-of-plane field biased the chirality dynamics, favoring one handedness over the other. A remarkable consequence of the spontaneous chirality switching mechanism is that it induces a freezing (or crystallization) process in the skyrmion lattice. As the bubbles fluctuate between Bloch and type-II they elongate and shrink parallel to the in-plane field. Subsequently, the overall lattice crystallizes along the in-plane field direction, inducing a phase transition from a disordered liquid state to a hexatic phase where skyrmions are highly ordered resembling that of a solid. The results indicate chirality as an active element in the creation of topologically protected skyrmion crystals unveiling pathways toward chiral spintronic device platforms with tunable embedded configuration.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Magnetic skyrmions are topologically protected quasi-particles with a well-defined chirality. Control over their chirality is proposed as an additional feature for encoding data bits or as qubits in quantum computing due to their high efficiency and stability against achiral magnetic textures. Here it is shown that an in-plane magnetic field can be utilized to reshape the energy barriers between different skyrmionic bubbles (e.g., Bloch type, type-II) enabling spontaneous chirality fluctuations with a frequency that increases with the strength of the in-plane field. The insulating van der Waals ferromagnet CrBr3 is used as an archetypal system for low damping, reduced energy dissipation and a high number of magnetic phases to capture the chirality dynamics in real time through cryo-Lorentz transmission electron microscopy. It is observed that the interplay between the intrinsic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and out-of-plane field biased the chirality dynamics, favoring one handedness over the other. A remarkable consequence of the spontaneous chirality switching mechanism is that it induces a freezing (or crystallization) process in the skyrmion lattice. As the bubbles fluctuate between Bloch and type-II they elongate and shrink parallel to the in-plane field. Subsequently, the overall lattice crystallizes along the in-plane field direction, inducing a phase transition from a disordered liquid state to a hexatic phase where skyrmions are highly ordered resembling that of a solid. The results indicate chirality as an active element in the creation of topologically protected skyrmion crystals unveiling pathways toward chiral spintronic device platforms with tunable embedded configuration.
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Grebenchuk, Sergey Y; Grzeszczyk, Magdalena; Chen, Zhaolong; Siskins, Makars; Borisov, Vladislav; Pereiro, Manuel; Katsnelson, Mikhail I; Eriksson, Olle; Novoselov, Kostya S; Koperski, Maciej Correlations in Magnetic Sub-Domains as an Unconventional Phase Diagram for van der Waals Ferromagnets ADVANCED SCIENCE, 12 (26), 2025, DOI: 10.1002/advs.202500562. @article{WOS:001464532700001, title = {Correlations in Magnetic Sub-Domains as an Unconventional Phase Diagram for van der Waals Ferromagnets}, author = {Sergey Y Grebenchuk and Magdalena Grzeszczyk and Zhaolong Chen and Makars Siskins and Vladislav Borisov and Manuel Pereiro and Mikhail I Katsnelson and Olle Eriksson and Kostya S Novoselov and Maciej Koperski}, doi = {10.1002/advs.202500562}, times_cited = {3}, year = {2025}, date = {2025-07-01}, journal = {ADVANCED SCIENCE}, volume = {12}, number = {26}, publisher = {WILEY}, address = {111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA}, abstract = {Traditional magnetic phase diagram represents a transition between the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states of a material under the influence of varied temperature, magnetic field, and pressure. So far, the ferromagnetic phase has been considered predominantly as a single type of magnetization texture extending macroscopically in the bulk of a crystal, existing as a ground state determined by the interactions between localized magnetic moments arranged in a lattice. Here, it is demonstrated that an unconventional magnetic order composed of vertically correlated planar magnetic sub-domains occurs intrinsically in mechanically exfoliated layers of van der Waals ferromagnet CrBr3. Based on the visualization of the magnetic textures through magnetic force microscopy in conjunction with the ab initio calculations of the crystal structure in the magnetic phase and micromagnetic simulations, the origin of the magnetic sub-domains is attributed to stacking faults isolating a van der Waals ferromagnetic well from the bulk film due to modifications in the interlayer exchange coupling. This enables to create a phase diagram describing the magnetic states unique to van der Waals ferromagnets in terms of the degree of correlation between the magnetic sub-domains, dependent on the exchange coupling constants and tuneable by magnetic field and temperature.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Traditional magnetic phase diagram represents a transition between the ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states of a material under the influence of varied temperature, magnetic field, and pressure. So far, the ferromagnetic phase has been considered predominantly as a single type of magnetization texture extending macroscopically in the bulk of a crystal, existing as a ground state determined by the interactions between localized magnetic moments arranged in a lattice. Here, it is demonstrated that an unconventional magnetic order composed of vertically correlated planar magnetic sub-domains occurs intrinsically in mechanically exfoliated layers of van der Waals ferromagnet CrBr3. Based on the visualization of the magnetic textures through magnetic force microscopy in conjunction with the ab initio calculations of the crystal structure in the magnetic phase and micromagnetic simulations, the origin of the magnetic sub-domains is attributed to stacking faults isolating a van der Waals ferromagnetic well from the bulk film due to modifications in the interlayer exchange coupling. This enables to create a phase diagram describing the magnetic states unique to van der Waals ferromagnets in terms of the degree of correlation between the magnetic sub-domains, dependent on the exchange coupling constants and tuneable by magnetic field and temperature.
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Bermejillo-Seco, Alvaro; Zhang, Xiang; Houmes, Maurits J A; Siskins, Makars; van der Zant, Herre S J; Steeneken, Peter G; Blanter, Yaroslav M Thermoelastic damping across the phase transition in van der Waals magnets PHYSICAL REVIEW B, 111 (24), 2025, DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.111.245409. @article{WOS:001511202800006, title = {Thermoelastic damping across the phase transition in van der Waals magnets}, author = {Alvaro Bermejillo-Seco and Xiang Zhang and Maurits J A Houmes and Makars Siskins and Herre S J van der Zant and Peter G Steeneken and Yaroslav M Blanter}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevB.111.245409}, times_cited = {1}, issn = {2469-9950}, year = {2025}, date = {2025-06-01}, journal = {PHYSICAL REVIEW B}, volume = {111}, number = {24}, publisher = {AMER PHYSICAL SOC}, address = {ONE PHYSICS ELLIPSE, COLLEGE PK, MD 20740-3844 USA}, abstract = {A quantitative understanding of the microscopic mechanisms responsible for damping in van der Waals nanomechanical resonators remains elusive. In this work, we investigate van der Waals magnets, where the thermal expansion coefficient exhibits an anomaly at the magnetic phase transition due to magnetoelastic coupling. Thermal expansion mediates the coupling between mechanical strain and heat flow and determines the strength of thermoelastic damping (TED). Consequently, variations in the thermal expansion coefficient are reflected directly in TED, motivating our focus on this mechanism. We extend existing TED models to incorporate anisotropic thermal conduction, a critical property of van der Waals materials. By combining the thermodynamic properties of the resonator material with the anisotropic TED model, we examine dissipation as a function of temperature. Our findings reveal a pronounced impact of the phase transition on dissipation, along with transitions between distinct dissipation regimes controlled by geometry and the relative contributions of in-plane and out-of-plane thermal conductivity. These regimes are characterized by the resonant interplay between strain and in-plane or through-plane heat propagation. To validate our theory, we compare it to experimental data of the temperature-dependent mechanical resonances of FePS3 resonators.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } A quantitative understanding of the microscopic mechanisms responsible for damping in van der Waals nanomechanical resonators remains elusive. In this work, we investigate van der Waals magnets, where the thermal expansion coefficient exhibits an anomaly at the magnetic phase transition due to magnetoelastic coupling. Thermal expansion mediates the coupling between mechanical strain and heat flow and determines the strength of thermoelastic damping (TED). Consequently, variations in the thermal expansion coefficient are reflected directly in TED, motivating our focus on this mechanism. We extend existing TED models to incorporate anisotropic thermal conduction, a critical property of van der Waals materials. By combining the thermodynamic properties of the resonator material with the anisotropic TED model, we examine dissipation as a function of temperature. Our findings reveal a pronounced impact of the phase transition on dissipation, along with transitions between distinct dissipation regimes controlled by geometry and the relative contributions of in-plane and out-of-plane thermal conductivity. These regimes are characterized by the resonant interplay between strain and in-plane or through-plane heat propagation. To validate our theory, we compare it to experimental data of the temperature-dependent mechanical resonances of FePS3 resonators.
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Siskins, Makars; Keskekler, Ata; Houmes, Maurits J A; Manas-Valero, Samuel; Koperski, Maciej; Coronado, Eugenio; Blanter, Yaroslav M; van der Zant, Herre S J; Steeneken, Peter G; Alijani, Farbod Nonlinear dynamics and magneto-elasticity of nanodrums near the phase transition NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 16 (1), 2025, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-57317-4. @article{WOS:001443899000027, title = {Nonlinear dynamics and magneto-elasticity of nanodrums near the phase transition}, author = {Makars Siskins and Ata Keskekler and Maurits J A Houmes and Samuel Manas-Valero and Maciej Koperski and Eugenio Coronado and Yaroslav M Blanter and Herre S J van der Zant and Peter G Steeneken and Farbod Alijani}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-57317-4}, times_cited = {6}, year = {2025}, date = {2025-03-01}, journal = {NATURE COMMUNICATIONS}, volume = {16}, number = {1}, publisher = {NATURE PORTFOLIO}, address = {HEIDELBERGER PLATZ 3, BERLIN, 14197, GERMANY}, abstract = {Nanomechanical resonances of two-dimensional (2D) materials are sensitive probes for condensedmatter physics, offering new insights into magnetic and electronic phase transitions. Despite extensive research, the influence of the spin dynamics near a phase transition on the nonlinear dynamics of 2D membranes has remained largely unexplored. Here, we investigate nonlinear magneto-mechanical coupling to antiferromagnetic order in suspended FePS3-based heterostructure membranes. By monitoring the motion of these membranes as a function of temperature, we observe characteristic features in both nonlinear stiffness and damping close to the N & eacute;el temperature TN. We account for these experimental observations with an analytical magnetostriction model in which these nonlinearities emerge from a coupling between mechanical and magnetic oscillations, demonstrating that magneto-elasticity can lead to nonlinear damping. Our findings thus provide insights into the thermodynamics and magneto-mechanical energy dissipation mechanisms in nanomechanical resonators due to the material's phase change and magnetic order relaxation.}, keywords = {}, pubstate = {published}, tppubtype = {article} } Nanomechanical resonances of two-dimensional (2D) materials are sensitive probes for condensedmatter physics, offering new insights into magnetic and electronic phase transitions. Despite extensive research, the influence of the spin dynamics near a phase transition on the nonlinear dynamics of 2D membranes has remained largely unexplored. Here, we investigate nonlinear magneto-mechanical coupling to antiferromagnetic order in suspended FePS3-based heterostructure membranes. By monitoring the motion of these membranes as a function of temperature, we observe characteristic features in both nonlinear stiffness and damping close to the N & eacute;el temperature TN. We account for these experimental observations with an analytical magnetostriction model in which these nonlinearities emerge from a coupling between mechanical and magnetic oscillations, demonstrating that magneto-elasticity can lead to nonlinear damping. Our findings thus provide insights into the thermodynamics and magneto-mechanical energy dissipation mechanisms in nanomechanical resonators due to the material's phase change and magnetic order relaxation.
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