My Forays into Interdisciplinary Areas of Research

Abstract

This article discusses my journey in interdisciplinary areas of research in India as a pioneer. I was trained as a High Energy Nuclear Physicist at Marie Curie University, Paris, but on return to India, I had to train myself in many diverse fields due to lack of experimental facilities in my own field. My first foray was in Geochronology using fission track dating. Then, I got the opportunity to use heavy ion beams available at GSI, Darmstadt, Germany to irradiate polymers, glasses, and mineral samples for the study of radiation damage. Modgil-Virk Single Activation Energy Model is a consequence of our investigations into the annealing characteristics of heavy ion tracks in materials. The most important route was our Radon concentration measurements in indoor air, soil, and groundwater for estimation of health hazard effects and earthquake prediction in the Himalayas. After retirement, I ventured into the area of nanotechnology and fabricated nanocrystals, nanowires, quantum dots, and nanoflowers to study their properties and applications. Presently, I am engaged in the study of groundwater pollution due to uranium and heavy metals contamination in Punjab state.

Keywords: Earthquake, geochronology, groundwater pollution, interdisciplinary, nanotechnology, radiation damage, radon