FACULTY PROFILE

Dr Riya Wadhwa is currently working as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Physics in the Department of Energy and Human Sciences at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT). She completed her PhD in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar, where her research focused on two-dimensional (2D) materials and their heterostructures for photodetector and gas sensing applications. Prior to joining RGIPT, she was a post-doctoral researcher at IIT Bombay in the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, where she worked on the development of organic electrochemical transistor (OECT)-based biosensors. Her broader research interests span 2D materials, semiconductors, and electronic devices including solar cells, sensors and flexible and wearable technologies, with a strong focus on developing scalable and high-performance device platforms.

Education
Ph D 2023 Indian Institute of Technology Ropar
M Sc 2017 Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut
B Sc 2015 Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut 
Experience
November 2025- Present Visiting Assistant Professor, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology, Jais, Amethi
March 2024- November 2025 Institute Post-doctoral Fellow, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay 
Research Interests
  • Semiconductors
  • Sensors
  • Solar cells and renewable energy
  • Advanced materials for sustainable future
Journal Publication
  1. Riya Wadhwa, A.V. Agrawal, Dushyant Kushavah, Aamir Mushtaq, S.K. Pal and Mukesh Kumar, Investigation of charge transport and band alignment of MoS2-ReS2 heterointerface for high performance and self-driven broadband photodetection, Applied Surface Science 569, (2021), 150949
  2. Riya Wadhwa, A.V. Agrawal and Mukesh Kumar, A strategic review of recent progress, prospects and challenges of MoS2-based photodetectors, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 55, (2021), 063002                                                  
  3. Riya Wadhwa, Anupam Ghosh, Deepu Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, and Mukesh Kumar, Platinum nanoparticle sensitized plasmonic-enhanced broad spectral photodetection in large area vertical-aligned MoS2 flakes, Nanotechnology 33, (2022), 255702
  4. Riya Wadhwa, Sanjeev Thapa, Sonia Deswal, Pradeep Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Wafer-scale controlled growth of MoS2 by magnetron sputtering: from in-plane to inter-connected vertically-aligned flakes, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter 35, (2023), 124002
  5. Riya Wadhwa, Ashok Kumar, Ranjini Sarkar, Prajna Parimita Mohanty, Deepu Kumar, Sonia Deswal, Pradeep Kumar, Rajeev Ahuja, Sudip Chakraborty, Mahesh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Pt Nanoparticles on Vertically Aligned Large-Area MoS2 Flakes for Selective H2 Sensing at Room Temperature, ACS Applied Nano Materials 6, 4, (2023), 2527–2537
  6. Riya Wadhwa, Damanpreet Kaur, Yuchen Zhang, Akhil Alexander, Deepu Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Manoj Namboothiry, Quinn Qiao, Mukesh Kumar, Fast Response and High-Performance UV-C to NIR Broadband Photodetector based on MoS2/a-Ga2O3 heterostructures and impact of Band-alignment and Charge Carrier Dynamics, Applied Surface Science 632 (2023) 157597
  7. Kulwinder Kaur, Riya Wadhwa, Anupam Ghosh, Nisika, Deepu Kumar, Pardeep Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, Residual strain engineering in seed layer assisted Kesterite Cu2ZnSnS4 absorber layer, Materials Today Communications 33, (2022), 104414
  8. Gaurav Bassi, Riya Wadhwa, Sonia Deswal, Pradeep Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Controlled and tunable growth of ambient stable 2D PtS2 thin film and its high-performance broadband photodetector, Journal of Alloys and Compounds 955(2023) 170233
  9. Damanpreet Kaur, Riya Wadhwa, Nisika, Yuchen Zhang, Poojan Kaswekar; Quinn Qiao, Anju Sharma, Mark Poliks, Mukesh Kumar, Interfacial-mixing and band engineering induced by annealing of CdS and a-Ga2O3 n-n type thin film heterojunction and its impact on carrier dynamics for high-performance solar-blind photodetection, ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 5 (2023), 3798–3808
  10. Gaurav Bassi, Riya Wadhwa, Mukesh Kumar, Broadband and high-performance photodetector fabricated using large area and transfer-free 2D-2D PtS2/MoS2 heterostructure, Advanced Optical Materials, (2023), 2301899
  11. Anupam Ghosh, Riya Wadhwa, Shivani, Sonia Deswal, Pradeep Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, Staggered band alignment of n-Er2O3/p-Si heterostructure for the fabrication of a high-performance broadband photodetector, Nano Express, 5 (2024) 035003
  12. Saurabh Soni, Riya Wadhwa, Manish Rishi, Jayant Kalra, Aditya Teja, Dhiraj Devidas Bhatia, Dipti Gupta, HighPerformance Polyacrylamide Hydrogel-Based Wearable Sensors for Electrocardiography Monitoring and Motion Sensing ACS Applied Electronic Materials, 7, 9 (2025) 4025-4034
Conferences and Workshop
  1. Session chair, 12th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Systems (ICBES 2025) Paris, France
  2. Riya Wadhwa, Lokesh Kumar and Dipti Gupta, Oral Presentation, “Label-Free Antibody Detection Using a Screen-Printed Organic Electrochemical Transistor (OECT) Platform” 12th International Conference on Biomedical Engineering and Systems (ICBES 2025) Paris, France
  3. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “Pt nanoparticle decorated large area vertically aligned MoS2 flakes for photodetector and H2 sensing applications” Anusandhan 1.0, 2023, IIT Mandi
  4. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “High performance self-driven broadband photodetector based on type ? MoS2 -ReS2 van der Waals heterostructure”  IUMRS-ICA-2022, IIT Jodhpur
  5. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “Plasmon enhanced Pt nanoparticles decorated vertical oriented few-layer MoS2”, Light-Matter Interactions in Low Dimensional and Topological Photonic Materials 2022, IISC Bangalore.
  6. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “High performance self-powered MoS2 /ReS2 broadband photodetector” MRS Fall Meeting 2021, Boston.
  7. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “Band-alignment investigation of MoS2-ReS2 heterointerface with highly sensitive, self-driven broadband photo-response” E-MRS Fall Meeting 2021, Poland.
  8. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Oral Presentation, “Energy level alignment and charge transport investigation at MoS2 -ReS2 interface for broadband photodetector” International Conference on Condensed Matter & Device Physics (ICCMDP) 2021, PDEU Gandhinagar.
  9. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “Highly sensitive, MoS2/ReS2 heterostructure with self-driven broadband photodetection”, 5th International Conference on Emerging Electronics (IEEE-ICEE) 2020, IIT Delhi.
  10. Riya Wadhwa and Mukesh Kumar, Poster Presentation, “High performance broadband self-powered MoS2/ReS2 photodetector”, International Symposium on Semiconductor Materials and Devices (ISSMD) 2020, NIT Jalandhar.
  11. Basics of Research Methodology 2022, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda 
  12. Nanotechnology for Electronic and Photonic Devices (NanoDev-2020), IEEE Chandigarh
  13. INUP Familiarisation workshop on “Basic training program on Nano Science and Technology”, 2019 IISC Bangalore 
  14. Research Conclave 2018, IIT Ropar
  • Top cited paper Award 2025 for the review article “A strategic review of recent progress, prospects and challenges of MoS2-based photodetectors”
  • Winner, Outstanding 3-Minute Thesis Presentation, Anusandhan 1.0 (2023), IIT Mandi
  • Qualified Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), Physics (2017)
  • Qualified Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST), Physics (2017)
  • Qualified Joint CSIR - UGC NET, Physics (December 2016)
  • Qualified Joint Admission test for Masters (JAM), Physics (2015)
  • DST-INSPIRE Fellow under SHE (2012-2017)
  • Ranked among the top 1% of students in the 12th Board Examination

Dr Riya Wadhwa

Visiting Assistant Professor
Physics
;