Faculty

Name: Mohammad F. Al-Kuhaili
Title:    Professor
Brief Research Interests: Growth, characterization, and applications of thin films
Research Area: Experimental Condensed Matter Experiment
Office: 6/225
Tel: 966-13-860-3747
Email: kuhaili@kfupm.edu.sa
Lab: Thin Films & Materials
Affiliated Center: Interdisciplinary Research Center for Advanced Materials 

Research Interests 
The focus of my research is the synthesis of thin solid films using physical vapor deposition. Several techniques are used to characterize the films, with special emphasis on their optical properties. Applications include energy-saving coatings, transparent conductors, hydrogenated films, and gas sensors.

Biographical Sketch
A graduate of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (B.S. 1988, M.S. 1991) and the University of Texas at Dallas (Ph.D. 1999), Professor Al-Kuhaili joined the KFUPM faculty in 1999. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2005 and full Professor in 2011.

AWARDS & HONORS
1. The Saudi Physical Society award for the best young Saudi physicist (2008)
2. KFUPM excellence in research award (2009)
3. KFUPM excellence in research award (2014)
4. KFUPM excellence in teaching award (2015)

KEY PUBLICATIONS 
  1. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Durrani, S. M. A. and Khawaja, E. E., “Optical properties of gallium oxide films deposited by electron beam evaporation,” Applied Physics Letters. Vol. 83, No. 22, pp. 4533-4535, (2003).
  2. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Khawaja, E. E. and Durrani, S. M. A., “Characterization of hafnium oxide thin films prepared by electron beam evaporation,” Journal of Physics D. Vol. 37, No. 8, pp. 1254-1261, (2004).
  3. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., “Optical properties of hafnium oxide thin films and their application in energy efficient-windows,” Optical Materials. Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 383-387, (2004).
  4. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., “Characterization of thin films produced by the thermal evaporation of silver oxide,” Journal of Physics D. Vol. 40, No. 9, pp. 2847-2853, (2007).
  5. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., “Characterization of copper oxide thin films deposited by the thermal evaporation of cuprous oxide (Cu2O)” Vacuum. Vol. 82, No. 6, pp. 623-629, (2008).
  6. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Durrani, S. M. A. and Bakhtiari, I. A., “Carbon monoxide gas-sensing properties of CeO2-ZnO thin films,” Applied Surface Science. Vol. 255, No. 5 part 2, pp. 3033-3039, (2008).
  7. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Al-Aswad, A. H., Durrani, S. M. A. and Bakhtiari, I. A., “Transparent heat mirrors based on tungsten oxide-silver multilayer structures,” Solar Energy. Vol. 83, No. 9, pp. 1571-1577, (2009).
  8. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Durrani, S. M. A., Bakhtiari, I. A., Dastageer, M. A. and Mekki, M. B., “Influence of hydrogen annealing on the properties of hafnium oxide thin films,” Materials Chemistry and Physics. Vol. 126, No. 3, pp. 515-523 (2011).
  9. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. , Saleem M. and Durrani, S. M. A., “Optical properties of iron oxide (-Fe2O3) thin films deposited by the reactive evaporation of iron,” Journal of Alloys and Compounds. Vol. 521, pp. 178-182 (2012).
  10. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. , Durrani, S. M. A., Bakhtiati, I. A., and Saleem, M., “Optical constants of vacuum annealed radio frequency (RF) magnetron sputtered zinc oxide thin films ,” Optics Communications. Vol. 285, No. 21-22, pp. 4405-4412 (2012).
  11. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Ahamad, S. H., Durrani, S. M. A., Faiz, M. M., and Ul-Hamid, A. “Energy-saving spectrally-selective coatings based on MoO3/Ag thin films,” Materials and Design. Vol. 73, pp. 15-19, (2015).
  12. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. “Enhancement of plasmonic transmittance of porous gold thin films via gold/metal oxide bi-layers for solar energy-saving applications,” Solar Energy. Vol. 181, pp. 456-463 (2019).
  13. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Mekki, M. B., Abdalla, S. A. “Influence of vacuum annealing on the photoresponse of thermally evaporated cadmium telluride thin films,” Thin Solid Films. Vol. 686, Art. No. 137412 (2019).
  14. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. “Electromodulated transmittance of optical transitions in tungsten oxide,” Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids. Vol. 139, Art. No. 109317 (2020).
  15. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. “Electrical conductivity enhancement of indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films reactively sputtered in a hydrogen plasma,” Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics. Vol. 31(4), pp. 2729-2740 (2020).
  16. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. “Co-sputtered tantalum-doped tin oxide thin films for transparent conducting applications,” Materials Chemistry and Physics. Vol. 257, Art No. 123749 (2021).
  17. Al-Kuhaili, M. F. “Photoelectric properties of highly conductive samarium-doped cadmium telluride thin films for photovoltaic applications,” Solar Energy. Vol. 213, pp. 163-171 (2021).
  18. Al-Kuhaili, M. F., Drmosh, Q. A. “Investigating the structural and optoelectronic properties of co-sputtered Fe-doped WO3 thin films and their suitability for photocatalytic applications,” Materials Chemistry and Physics. Vol. 281, Art No. 125897 (2022).


Dr. Mohammad F. Al-Kuhaili Chairman 6/225 966-1-860-3747 kuhaili@kfupm.edu.sa Website