Coordinator: Dr Imants Svalbe
The School of Physics and Materials Engineering offers research
opportunities for postgraduate candidates in experimental and theoretical
physics, as well as materials science, in both the Faculty of Science and the
Faculty of Engineering. A candidate enrolled for an MSc, MSc Preliminary, or
PhD degree works under the guidance of an assigned supervisor on an individual
research project. All postgraduate candidates are expected to attend school
colloquia and other research seminars. Many of the research projects are
multidisciplinary and are suited to candidates with interest in biomedicine,
engineering, computing or mathematics.
The school has ongoing access to several international synchrotrons for
research work on medical imaging, materials characterisation and fundamental
x-ray physics. The SPME research laboratories contain a broad range of research
equipment including superconducting magnets producing fields of up to 14 Tesla,
a variety of 4He and 3He cryostats, high-pressure low-temperature facilities
and a Koch 1410 helium liquefier to provide cryogenic fluids for the low
temperature research, Mössbauer spectrometers, Varian CW and Bruker FT/CW
electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometers, Quantum Dynamics 7 Tesla SQUID
magnetometer and Varian and Cary spectrophotometers, 3D Atom Probe Field Ion
Microscope, a high resolution 200keV JEOL 2011 transmission electron microscope
(TEM) with energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) detector, an Analytical 200keV Philips
CM20 TEM with parallel electron energy loss (EEL) and EDX detector, Philips
EM420 TEM with EDX and EEL detectors. The school maintains its own specialist
facilities and staff for materials and sample preparation, mechanical and
electronics workshops, scientific photography, computing access, and imaging
and graphics support.
Research projects are offered in the following areas:
Phase contrast-based x-ray imaging techniques for bio-medical diagnostic imaging to characterise normal and pathological tissues; experimental and theoretical studies of X-ray physics and the interaction of X-rays with matter, including statistical dynamical diffraction theory and reciprocal space mapping, X-ray optics and detector development; investigation of unusual diffraction and imaging techniques to characterise technologically important materials; studies of fundamental properties of the complex diffraction amplitude of X-ray and synchrotron radiation; the development of novel theoretical and numerical formalisms for diffraction and imaging data analysis, including X-ray phase retrieval in one and two-dimensional cases; X-ray diffraction tomography, diffraction enhanced imaging, phase contrast imaging and phase sensitive tomography, application of synchrotron radiation to characterise optoelectronic nanostructures (quantum dots, wires and wells).
Enhanced Positron Emission Tomography (PET) using scatter detection and correction. Design and fabrication of energy and position sensitive detector arrays for PET image acquisition. Low-energy elastic scatter-computed tomography (CT) using synchrotron quality X-rays, and high energy X-ray and gamma-ray CT system development for industrial materials such as ceramics and advanced materials.
Digital data representation, Discrete Radon transforms, image sampling and reconstruction; automated feature extraction and classification in CT images; CT image reconstruction algorithm development for parallel, fan-beam and cone-beam systems; the design of optimal filters using mathematical morphology; analysis of texture and edges in colour or multi-band images. Quantitative analysis of histology images after micro-beam radiation therapy treatment of aggressive cancers. High-fidelity mapping of images with high-dynamic ranges onto visual displays.
Theoretical and experimental research on elastic and inelastic scattering of high-energy electrons from materials, with a view to the development of new techniques for material characterisation at the atomic scale. Specific topics include: the scattering of coherent electron beams with sub-nanometre diameter and its application to the study of nanostructured materials; analytical inversion of few-beam scattering equations and the direct measurement of crystal structure factors from diffraction patterns; and the application of electron-phonon scattering to material characterisation.
Inelastic electron scattering in Si and GaAs; propagation of waves in disordered systems and phase transitions from extended to localised states; field theoretical studies in condensed matter; and theoretical models for nanostructures.
Particle cosmology, topological defects in cosmology and condensed matter systems, vortex dynamics in optics, high temperature superconductivity, Bose-Einstein condensates and related systems, geometric phases and topology on discrete lattices.
Pulsed and continuous-wave EPR studies of free radicals and transition metal ions in crystals, minerals, chemical complexes and biological materials; theoretical studies of disordered and partially ordered systems; electron spin echo envelope modulation; FT-EPR, 2-D EPR and other multiple-pulse sequence techniques; spin dynamics using time domain spectroscopy; and spin lattice relaxation of glasses.
Magnetism in disordered systems, including spin glass phases, frustration, disordered antiferromagnets and random fields; measurements of magnetic susceptibility and magnetic neutron scattering; SQUID magnetometry, polarised neutron diffraction, and spectroscopy with polarisation analysis used to study the stability of spin glasses and low dimensional magnetic structures through measurements of magnetic correlations at the atomic level, studies of new rare-earth-based permanent magnets.
Magnetic and crystallographic properties of solids containing iron, rare earths, or gold and their relation to materials development and mineral processing; adsorption of gold and other metals onto activated carbon and polyurethane foams; magnetic properties of invar and iron-nickel meteorites, exchange-spring magnets, martensite materials, layered magnetic materials, poorly crystalline iron oxide and related minerals, and coal and coal products. Some studies utilise the unique multiple spectra Mössbauer data acquisition systems developed in the department for imaging or time-dependent studies.
Charge transport and storage in polymeric dielectrics using thermally stimulated conductivity and depolarisation current measurements; spatial distribution of excess charge in dielectrics is mapped using the laser-induced pressure pulse and laser intensity modulation techniques; computer simulation of charge transport in insulators containing traps with a distribution of charge trapping and release times.
Development and characterisation of novel nanostructured magnetic materials with a structural correlation length of about 10 nm. Emphasis is placed on nanocrystalline soft magnetic, and nanocomposite hard magnetic and nanogranular spin-dependent magnetotransport systems.
Electronic, magnetic and structural properties of RF-magnetron sputtered thin films. Current materials under study include those exhibiting martensitic transformations with shape-memory characteristics, as well as materials suitable for photovoltaics, fuel cells, and high temperature superconductors.
Studies of flux pinning in type II superconducting materials; electromagnetic properties of C60-based materials; thermal expansion and related properties for martensitic alloy systems; studies of martensite interfaces using optical, scanning, tunnelling, and atomic force microscopes; dimensional stability of ceramics; and materials for hollow cathode applications.
X-ray and neutron diffraction studies of crystal structure; residual stress measurements in engineering materials and scanning microscopy and associated EDAX studies of materials.
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