Fukumura group | Tohoku university

Welcome to the Fukumura Research Group!

This website is the homepage of Inorganic Solid State Chemistry Laboratory in Tohoku University.

Our group's aim is to construct scientific foundation to discover, create, understand and develop novel functionalities in various solid materials, such as oxides, by means of nano- to macro-scale state-of-the-art experimental techniques.

We are looking for graduate students, both inside and outside of the university!

If you are interested in our laboratory, please feel free to contact Prof. Fukumura.

07.10.2026 - A new publication by Mikito Sekine in ACS Nano. By depositing heavy-fermion metal CeO on superconductor LaO, the LaO superconductivity was completely suppressed. The publication / List of papers
06.22.2026 - A new publication by Satoshi Sasaki in ACS Applied Electronic Materials. This study reports electronic states and properies of single-phase room-temperature ferromagnet GdO. The publication / List of papers
06.19.2026 - Dr. Satoshi Sasaki won a prize on advanced technology. Congratulations!
04.08.2025 - Update in Album.
04.01.2026 - Update in Members, and Album.
03.24.2026 - Satoshi Sasaki won 2025 Tohoku university president prize. Congratulations!
02.24.2026 - A new publication by Zainab Fatima in Chemical Communications. This is a study on electrocatalytic activity in RuO₂ thin films, collaborated with Daichi Oka sensei (Tokyo Metropolitan University). The publication / List of papers
02.02.2026 - A short-term international student from Belgium joins our group until May.
12.01.2025 - Update in Members, and Papers.
11.27.2025 - In 15th CSJ Chemistry Festa 2025, Yuzuki Uchida won a poster presentation award. Congratulations!

News archive

Superb functionalities beyond our imagination are often hidden in newly synthesized compounds. Our group aims to develop methodology to understand the laws of nature by synthesizing new inorganic/organic solids and by exploring novel physical/chemical properties. To this end, we design compounds with novel functionalities based on solid state physics and chemistry, develop new synthetic routes, and conduct measurements using state-of-the-art techniques. Such basic research solidifies scientific foundation to trigger next generation innovations.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Electric-Field-Induced Ferromagnetism

Co-doped TiO2 is a ferromagnetic semiconductor. Because this material possesses quite high Currie temperature (~600 K) unlike the other ferromagnetic semiconductors, the mechanism of the ferromagnetism has long been argued. In this study, the room-temperature ferromagnet is induced by electric field in an electric double layer transistor device. Lightly Co-doped specimen shows paramagnetism in case of low carrier density. By applying large electric field to accumulate electron carriers in the device, the electron carriers induce ferromagnetism. This result clearly demonstrates that the ferromagnetism in Co-doped TiO2 is caused by the carrier mediated exchange interaction.