Condensed Matter Physics

• Optoelectronics
  Optoelectronics is an area of physics which is fundamental to a number of applications, including the two fastest growing areas: telecommunications and computers. In this group, we study novel optoelectronic materials using various forms of laser spectroscopy. Contact: Prof. Mike Gal
  
• Mesoscopic Physics and Quantum Electronic Devices
  At temperatures only fractions of a degree above absolute zero, the behaviour of electrons in nanoscale semiconductor devices is totally changed by quantum effects. Experiments with ultra-low noise electronics on nanostructures cooled with dilution refrigerators to 0.01 Kelvin, in magnetic fields up to 18 Tesla, allow exciting glimpses into the fundamental physics of quantum wires and quantum dots, and are of potential importance for future nanoelectronics. Contact: A/Professor. Alex Hamilton, Dr. Adam Micolich, Professor Richard Newbury, Professor Michelle Simmons.
  
• Magnetic Materials
  The impressive performance of today's high-density magnetic recording techniques are based on so-called nanostructured materials. Various materials and fundamental properties of magnetic coupling are being studied theoretically and experimentally, using facilities in Australia and overseas. Contact: Professor Sean Cadogan .
  
• Microscopy and Microanalysis.
  Microscopy and microanalytical techniques allow the microstructures of technologically important condensed matter and their useful properties to be investigated with high spatial resolution and high sensitivity. Microscopy and microanalysis underpins developments in nanoscience and technology. Contact A/Professor Marion Stevens-Kalceff.

• Facilities
  The department has eight dedicated laboratories with equipment to study electronic properties of semiconductors under extreme conditions (ultra-low temperatures, high magnetic field, and high pressures), a Multiprobe Scanning Tunnelling microscope with atomic resolution, Mössbauer spectrometers, ac-susceptometers, nuclear magnetic resonance, magnetometers, photoluminescence spectrometers and a femtosecond laser system. Major facilities which CMP researchers regularly access include UNSW’s semiconductor nanofabrication facilities (the SNF), nuclear reactors in Australia and overseas, the ISIS spallation neutron source (UK), and the world's largest cyclotron TRIUMF (Canada).
  
• Collaborations
  Members of the Department collaborate extensively, including: joint memberships with the Special Research Center for Quantum Computing Technology, the Department of Theoretical Physics, and the Department of Biophysics. The Department has a high profile internationally. Students are encouraged to participate in international collaborations, which include partners in Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK and the USA.

Academic Staff and Research Fields

Professor John M. Cadogan BSc. Monash, PhD. UNSW, MAIP We are investigating the magnetic behaviour and magnetic structures of a variety of crystalline, nanocrystalline and amorphous metallic materials using neutron diffraction, 57Fe Moessbauer spectroscopy and muon spin relaxation at major facilities both in Australia and overseas. We are also carrying out computer modelling of the magnetic exchange and crystal field interactions in rare-earth intermetallic compounds.

Professor Michael Gal MSc. PhD. E.L.Bud. FAIP, IEEE An important research topic in modern condensed matter physics concerns the optical properties of low-dimensional semiconductors, such as quantum wells and quantum dots. Much of my current research activities are directed toward these topics using a range of experimental techniques, which include photoluminescence spectroscopy, modulation spectroscopy and ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopy. The scope of the research covers the basic properties of low dimensional semiconductor structures as well as more applied investigations into semiconductor light sources, photonic crystals, etc.

Associate Professor Alex R. Hamilton BSc. London, PhD. Cambridge My research is in the field of quantum effects in nanometre scale electronic devices at ultra-low temperatures. My work covers all aspects of Quantum Electronics - the fabrication of nanometre scale quantum semiconductor devices, and the study of quantum electronics and quantum phase transitions at ultra-low temperatures. In particular I am interested in the properties of nanoscale semiconductor devices in which holes carry the electrical current, as these show strong Coulomb and spin-orbit effects not visible in more traditional electron devices. http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/QED/

Dr. Adam Micolich BSc. PhD. UNSW My research interests can be divided into three areas: (1) Organic Electronics and PDMS elastomer stamp device fabrication techniques (2) GaAs Nanodevices: I work closely with A/Prof. Hamilton on the development of p-type GaAs nanoscale transistors, and the study of their low-temperature electronic properties. (3) Fractals in electronics and nature: I have an active interest in the study of fractal conductance fluctuations in GaAs quantum dots, which was the subject of my Ph.D. studies at UNSW (1996-2000). I am also involved in a joint project with Prof. Richard Taylor’s group at the University of Oregon investigating the fractal content of abstract paintings produced by the American artist Jackson Pollock.

Professor Richard Newbury BSc. L’pool, D.Phil. Sussex My research concerns the electronic properties of sub-micron or mesoscopic devices, especially semiconductor devices. Quantum effects become appreciable, or dominate electronic behaviour, and the statistical-mechanical averaging that describes the properties of traditional semiconductor devices breaks down at this length scale. Mesoscopic semiconductor nanostructures, carbon nanotubes and bio-molecular systems, for example, exhibit phenomena of considerable pure (fundamental) scientific interest; but this research area also has technological implications, due to the continuing miniaturisation of commercial devices with design features rapidly approaching few-atomic-layer dimensions. Low temperatures (~millikelvin), strong magnetic fields (~17T) and applied hydrostatic pressure are used to probe electronic behaviour in these systems.

Professor Michelle Y. Simmons BSc. Phys., BSc. Chem., PhD Durham, ARC Federation Fellow, FAAS Professor Michelle Y. Simmons is the Director of the Atomic Fabrication Facility and a Federation Fellow at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. She was a co-founder of the Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer Technology. In 2005 she was awarded the Pawsey Medal and in 2006 became one of the youngest elected Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science. Her research interests are to build electronic devices at the atomic-scale and understand quantum behaviour in mesoscopic semiconductors.

Associate Professor Marion A. Stevens-Kalceff BSc. (ANU), PhD (UNSW) The physical, optical and electronic properties of technologically important materials are strongly influenced by their defect structure. Advanced Electron Microscopy and Atomic Force Microscopy techniques enable the defect structures of wide band gap materials (including III-V semiconductors, silicon dioxide, silicon, diamond, and nanostructured variants of these materials), to be characterized with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution facilitating optimum device design. This research is supported by an excellent range of versatile micro-analytical equipment. http://srv.emunit.unsw.edu.au/

Research Staff
Dr Till Boecking	Optoelectronics
Dr Ted Martin	Condensed matter physics. Electrical measurement of semiconductor quantum devices at millikelvin temperatures.
Postgraduate Research Students

Oleh Klochan Supervisor: A/Prof A. Hamilton Experimental Condensed Matter Physics	Suhrawardi Ilyas Supervisor: Prof M. Gal Optical Spectroscopy
Lap-hang Ho Supervisor: Dr. A. Micolich Experimental Condensed Matter Physics	Alexander Von Brasch Supervisor: Prof J. Oitmaa Condensed Matter Theory
Andrew See Supervisor: Dr. A. Micolich Experimental Condensed Matter Physics	Kurt Ehrlich Supervisor: A/Prof A. Hamilton Experimental Condensed Matter Physics
Yael Augarten Supervisor: Prof M. Gal Optical Spectroscopy of Solids	Katie Levick Supervisor: Dr M. Stevens-Kalceff Nano-characterisation