Research areas
Research areas
- Magnetism – magnetocaloric effect, spin glasses, magnetic domains.
- Thin film deposition and devices, including 2D materials and heterostructures.
- Scanning probe microscopy techniques, including thermal scanning lithography.
- Spin caloritronics – in particular the spin Seebeck effect.
- Phase transitions – universality, latent heat, hysteresis and definition of a first order phase transition.
- Heat capacity measurements – standardisation and limits.
- Neutron scattering – reflectivity, elastic and inelastic scattering as a probe of magnetic structure and excitations.
- Superconductivity.
Emergent phenomena and metamaterials
Metamaterials are materials and/or devices that have been engineered to have properties that would not naturally occur, such as magnetic invisibility cloaks (“A dc magnetic metamaterial”, Nature Materials 2008). Nanolithography is one method being used to create metamaterial arrays, and which, when implemented in the right way, could lead to emergent phenomena such as superconductivity in otherwise normal materials.
Spintronics
Spintronics, or ‘spin electronics’ is a possible route for next generation computing. It relies on the intrinsic ‘spin’ of an electron to convey information, rather than charge currents, and has the possible advantages of lower energy demand and higher data storage capacity.
The Spin Seebeck Effect: A new breed of thermoelectrics?
A thermal gradient applied across a metallic, insulating, or semiconducting magnet can result in the generation of a spin polarized current. Similar to its bulk counterpart (the Seebeck effect), this generation of spin current due to a thermal gradient has thus been dubbed ‘the spin Seebeck effect’.
The Magnetocaloric Effect: Possibility for Magnetic Refrigeration?
The magnetocaloric effect manifests as a change in temperature of a material on adiabatic application of magnetic field as a result of conservation of entropy. Recent research into this effect has focussed on the potential application for room temperature magnetic refrigeration as a more efficient alternative to the current gas compression technology.