Giulio D’Acunto is a postdoctoral researcher in the Plasma and Materials Processing group within the Department of Applied Physics at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). His research focuses on atomic layer deposition (ALD), area-selective deposition (ASD), and interfacial surface chemistry for semiconductor and energy applications. He specializes in operando and in situ investigations of thin film growth and surface reactions using advanced characterization techniques. His current research develops photon- and plasma-assisted ASD as a bottom-up fabrication strategy for next-generation nanoelectronics.

Giulio D’Acunto earned his Master’s degree in Physics (cum laude) from Sapienza University of Rome in 2017 and his Ph.D. in Physics from Lund University in 2022. His doctoral research, supervised by Prof. Joachim Schnadt, focused on in situ and operando ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies of atomic layer deposition processes at the MAX IV Laboratory. For this work, he was awarded the Oscar II Foundation Prize for the best Ph.D. dissertation in Natural Sciences in Sweden. During his Ph.D., he also contributed to the development and commissioning of the Ambient Pressure XPS beamline at MAX IV Laboratory. Following his Ph.D., he joined Stanford University as a postdoctoral scholar in the group of Prof. Stacey F. Bent, supported by the Wallenberg Foundation Postdoctoral Scholarship. At Stanford, he worked on ALD/MLD processes for energy storage systems. His collaborative work on battery interfaces contributed to a DOE-funded Li-S battery project, a multi-institutional effort involving academia and industry. In 2025, Giulio joined Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) as a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Adriaan J.M. Mackus, where he investigates plasma- and photon-assisted area-selective deposition and surface functionalization for semiconductor manufacturing.