Physics research index

Learn about the research expertise of our Physics staff in the School of Chemical and Physical Sciences.

Baptiste Auguié

  • optical properties of nanostructures (nano-optics, plasmonics)
  • design, characterisation and modelling of optical sensors based on thin-film multilayers and nanoparticles
  • circular dichroism and optical activity
  • electromagnetic modelling
  • link to our group website—nano-optics and plasmonics.

Stephen Curran

  • radio astronomy—the star-forming reservoir in the Universe via hydrogen absorption
  • the application of machine learning techniques to classify the most distant galaxies
  • the effect of the supermassive black hole on its host galaxy
  • linking the star-forming gas abundance to the star formation history
  • the values of the fundamental constants of nature at large look-back times
  • spectroscopic surveys with the Square Kilometre Array and its precursors.

Petrik Galvosas

  • NMR in porous material
  • hardware and methodology of NMR
  • NMR imaging methodologies for materials science
  • soft matter and NMR rheology
  • NMR methods in environmental science and biology
  • medical device technologies.

Michele Governale

  • theory of charge and spin transport in nanostructures (nanoelectronics and spintronics)
  • time-dependent transport in nanoscale systems
  • hybrid superconductor-normal systems
  • strongly correlated electrons.

Malcolm Ingham

  • electrical and electromagnetic techniques in geophysics
  • electrical resistivity and the structure of volcanic and geothermal regions
  • modelling the geomagnetic field through polarity reversals
  • development of techniques for measuring the physical properties of sea ice
  • DC resistivity for detection of saline intrusion in coastal aquifers.

John Lekner

  • theory of propagation, polarisation, and reflection of focused laser beams
  • energy, momentum and angular momentum of electromagnetic and acoustic pulses
  • theory of reflection of electromagnetic, acoustic and particle waves
  • optical properties of anisotropic and chiral media
  • viscous fluid flow, with and without slip
  • quantum wavepackets—propagation in free space and in force fields.

Eric Le Ru

  • optical properties of metals at the nano-scale (nano-plasmonics)—theory and applications
  • electromagnetic modelling
  • optics-based sensors and surface-enhanced spectroscopies (Raman and fluorescence).

Franck Natali

  • materials science—metals and semiconductors
  • catalyst materials—hydrogen and ammonia
  • epitaxial growth—thin films and low-dimensional structures
  • magnetic devices.

Tulasi Parashar

  • turbulence
  • space and astrophysical plasmas
  • heliophysics, solar wind, magnetospheric physics
  • space weather
  • drag on satellites
  • plasma thrusters
  • simulations
  • data analysis.

Yvette Perrott

  • clusters of galaxies
  • Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect
  • radio astronomy
  • Bayesian analysis.

Natalie Plank

  • electronic device physics of carbon nanotubes and semiconducting nanowires
  • electronic biosensors
  • interfacing of carbon nanotubes with biological receptors—mechanisms and applications
  • cleanroom fabrication techniques for new materials.

Ben Ruck

  • experimental condensed matter physics—thin films of novel materials
  • materials for spintronics
  • dilute magnetic semiconductors
  • rare-earth nitrides
  • preparation of perovskite superconductors and ruthenate perovskites
  • novel conducting materials: measurement and modelling of electronic properties.

Krista Steenbergen

  • electronic structure and molecular dynamics modelling, designing novel materials and capturing material properties.
  • hanging dimensionality, to discover how material properties change from 3D to 2D to 1D
  • temperature and pressure, exploring how materials react to varying (sometimes severe) thermodynamic conditions.

Joe Trodahl

  • magnetic semiconductors—rare-earth nitrides
  • transport and optical properties of metals and semiconductors
  • Raman spectroscopy of semiconductors and ferroelectric oxides
  • coupled ferroelectric/ferromagnetic device.

Gillian Turner

  • geomagnetism, palaeomagnetism, and environmental physics
  • geomagnetism secular variation, excursions and polarity reversals
  • natural magnetic minerals and magnetisation processes.

Grant Williams

  • advanced materials for radiation dosimetry
  • copper and iron-based superconductors
  • topological insulators
  • strongly correlated materials
  • the physics of nanostructures and nanoparticles
  • thermoelectrics
  • non-linear optics.

Uli Zuelicke

  • theoretical condensed-matter physics
  • electronic properties of semiconductor nano-structures
  • unconventional materials (for example, graphene and topological insulators)
  • quantum-state engineering with ultra-cold atom gases.