Javier García Molleja is a postdoctoral researcher studying growth kinetics in transition metal ceramic compounds using plasma deposition techniques. He has studied the effects of varying deposition parameters like nitrogen concentration, pressure, power, and substrate bias on chromium nitride and nickel oxide thin films. For nickel oxide specifically, he found the crystal structure evolves with film thickness and bias due to stresses from the substrate and ion bombardment. Oxygen content also influences orientations. Future work includes studying film growth with synchrotron radiation and developing nickel oxide for solar cells using new deposition methods.