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“Research chef” refines the recipe for semiconductors

Vanya Darakchieva and Andri Dhora work on the PLD apparatus. Photo: Jenny Leyman
Vanya Darakchieva and Andri Dhora work on the PLD apparatus. Photo: Jenny Leyman

What is the perfect recipe for semiconductors? Vanya Darakchieva is working on the answer in her research on novel semiconductor materials. As a professor of solid state physics at the Faculty of Engineering (LTH), she is a “research chef” designing the future cookbook for sustainable and safe electronics.

Understanding and explaining the mysteries of nature was Vanya Darakchieva’s dream during her childhood in Bulgaria. At the time, she was mostly interested in astronomy and chemistry. As a teenager, she was a member of an association called “Young Scientists.”

“We met every day after school in a laboratory where we could experiment and discuss science,” says Vanya Darakchieva.

She was also active in her hometown observatory, and in the ninth grade, she was selected to represent Bulgaria in an astronomy competition for young scientists in Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia).

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