MSc by Research (Physics)

Dr. Joe Smerdon

Carbon-60 is the famous football-shaped carbon allotrope. Many wonderful things have been done with this hollow molecule. Including filling it with other atoms, and swapping out atoms in the cage for other atoms. We have access to samples of some of these materials, including C59N and C84Sc3.

This project is to investigate these materials using:

• Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM)
• Low-energy electron diffraction (LEED).

You'll use state-of-the-art equipment to investigate the interactions of these materials. With substrates of technological interest, generating and analysing atomic-resolution data.

This is a cutting-edge fundamental physics study with relevance to:

• Solar cell
• Smart materials
• Information technology.

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Joe Smerdon

Since the 1980s, scientists have been producing atomically-resolved microscope images. Nowadays, atomic resolution microscopes are the standard tool for navigating the nanoworld. Another technology that is on the rise is virtual- or augmented-reality. This offers unprecedented possibilities for the visualisation and exploration of any imaginable scenario. Fly down to an individual molecule, and prod it with electrons of given energy, watching as the various molecular orbitals light up, in turn. Examine a transistor as it switches from off to on. Witness magnetic vortices in superconducting materials. All these are possibilities. You will take data using a state-of-the-art atomic-resolution microscope. You will then explore how to take this data into the virtual world and make sense of it.

This project has relevance to physics, science communication, information technology and computing. 

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Joe Smerdon

Wind energy provides nearly 25% of the UK’s national energy budget. In all instances, it is cheaper than gas and nuclear energy, and in some, even cheaper than coal. But there are improvements to be made. Currently, turbine arrays are installed in some simple arrangement of parallel lines of turbines. But this is just the easiest way to do it, and very likely not the best. At the very least, in a straight line of turbines, if the wind is blowing along the line, the leading turbine disrupts the wind reaching the rest. This project is to investigate other arrangements of turbines. This is to see if efficiency and durability gains may be realised by the simple expedient of changing the array geometry. You will use basic mathematical and physics techniques to conceive new array geometries and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to investigate and compare their performance to existing arrays. 

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Monika Gamza

High-quality single crystals are essential for fundamental research and technological applications. Ultraclean samples of novel materials hold the key to scientific breakthroughs in the field of condensed matter physics. Furthermore, many materials of interest show anisotropic behaviour. This is either due to their crystal structure and interactions or as a consequence of applying magnetic field or pressure. The underlying physics of such systems can only be unravelled by investigations on high-quality crystals. Single crystal growth is of strategic importance for solid-state research. During this project, you will grow crystals of novel materials. These will show unconventional superconducting and/or magnetic behaviour using state-of-art crystal growth facilities. These facilities are available in the Synthetic Solid State Physics lab at UCLan. You will use Bruker D2 Phaser powder X-ray diffractometer and JCM-6000Plus scanning electron microscope to investigate:

• Crystal structures
• Microstructures
• Chemical compositions of crystals grown from various fluxes

Detailed investigations of crystal structure by single-crystal X-ray diffraction will be performed in the X-ray laboratory at Lancaster University.

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Joe Smerdon

Graphene is the famous wonder material consisting of a single layer of carbon atoms. It already has huge technological relevance in:

• Flexible electronics
• Supercapacitors
• Engineering
• Smart materials

Every one of these applications could be improved, and other applications found. This would be possible if we were able to add different types of atoms to the sheet, or to remove certain atoms, giving a chosen atomic arrangement.

One method of producing graphene involves using heat-assisted reactions of precursor molecules. This preserves features of the precursor molecules in the graphene sheet. You will investigate such processes using state-of-the-art, ultra-high-vacuum-based techniques. These techniques include low-temperature scanning tunnelling spectroscopy. This is a fundamental physics project with relevance to:

• Energy
• Catalysis
• Electronics
• Materials science, and more

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Serban Lepadatu

Recently, the micromagnetic Monte Carlo method was introduced [S. Lepadatu, J. Appl. Phys. 130, 163902 (2021)]. This is an efficient method for computing thermodynamic equilibrium states at the micromagnetic length scale. In particular, applications include:

- Finite-temperature hysteresis loop modelling
- Chiral magnetic thin films
- Granular magnetic media
- Artificial spin ices.

This project will investigate an extension of this method to two-sublattice models. This is particularly useful for modelling antiferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic materials. In particular, exchange bias effects arise in coupling of ferromagnetic (FM) to antiferromagnetic materials (AFM). This finds technological applications in magnetic read heads and data storage. It is known the exchange bias suffers a decline with repeated cycling of the applied field, an effect known as exchange bias training.

In this project the two-sublattice micromagnetic Monte Carlo method will be used to study and characterize exchange bias training for various materials, granular structures, and interface defects.

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Monika Gamza

MAX phases adopt crystal structures and show unusual mechanical, thermal, and electronic properties. While they conduct heat and electricity like metals, they are stiff, strong, brittle, and heat-tolerant. Like ceramics. Some of the MAX phases kink and delaminate during deformation. Many are resistant to chemical attack, readily machinable, and thermal shock, damage tolerant. Sometimes they are fatigue, creep, and oxidation resistant. Therefore, these systems attract interest for industrial applications. Including nuclear industries and renewable energy. In this project, you will synthesize novel MAX phases using methods available in the Synthetic Solid State Physics lab at UCLan. You will use Bruker D2 Phaser powder X-ray diffractometer and JCM-6000. Plus scanning electron microscope to study

• Crystal structures
• Microstructures
• Chemical compositions of crystals and/or polycrystalline specimens.

If time allows, you will have the opportunity to investigate basic physical properties of the synthesized MAX phases at temperatures down to 4 K using a dry cryostat.

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Monika Gamza

MAX phases adopt crystal structures and show unusual mechanical, thermal, and electronic properties. While they conduct heat and electricity like metals, they are elastically stiff, strong, brittle, and heat-tolerant. Like ceramics. Some of the MAX phases kink and delaminate during deformation. Many are resistant to chemical attack, readily machinable, and thermal shock, damage tolerant. Sometimes they are fatigue, creep, and oxidation resistant. These systems attract interest from industrial applications, including nuclear industries and renewable energy. You will use first-principles electronic structure computational codes to simulate mechanical and electronic properties of potential new MAX phases. This will guide the search for new members of the MAX family with most desired characteristics. 

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Monika Gamza

Our understanding of magnetism is based on two opposite perspectives. In the local moment picture, long-ranged magnetic order develops. Owing to exchange interactions between local moments carried by individual atoms. In the alternative itinerant view, an unpolarized conduction electron sea exhibits a correlation driven Stoner-type magnetic instability. This leads to a local imbalance of up- and down-spins. While the local moment magnetism was explained early on, the itinerant behaviour is still only poorly understood. The main limitation is a small number of known materials that are close to the itinerant limit. So far only three magnetic materials made of nonmagnetic constituents were discovered:

• Two ferromagnets (Sc3In, ZrZn2)
• One antiferromagnet (TiAu).

In this project, you will search for consecutive itinerant magnetic systems. You will start with performing first-principles electronic structure calculations. These are aimed at choosing candidate compounds for experimental studies. Attempts to synthesize the selected materials by using methods in the Synthetic Solid State Physics lab at UCLan. Structural and compositional characterization of produced samples will be performed using diffractometers and electron microscopes. These will be followed by basic physical properties measurements in a dry cryostat at temperatures down to 4 K.

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.

Dr. Monika Gamza

Strongly correlated electron systems belong to the most intriguing and versatile materials. In these systems, competing interactions lead to the emergence of a multitude of exotic states. These include:

• Unconventional superconductivity and magnetism
• Valence fluctuations
• Heavy fermions
• Mott insulators
• Non-Fermi liquids
• Phases with charge stripes
• Pseudogaps

Here, subtle changes in chemical composition, pressure, temperature or magnetic field may tip the balance between the competing tendencies. This results in huge responses to the stimuli. One example would be a colossal magnetoresistance. Where enormous variations in resistance are produced by small changes in magnetic field strength. Other examples include temperature- or pressure-induced metal-insulator transitions. The strong competition between different phases is not only essential for applications. It also increases the potential for novel electronic behaviour. In this project, you will investigate selected intermetallic compounds. In which strong coupling between charge, spin, orbital, and lattice degrees of freedom leads to complex phase diagrams. The project will involve producing samples of the desired materials. You'll synthesis methods available in the newly developed Synthetic Solid State Physics lab at UCLan. Structural and compositional characterization of grown phases will be carried using Bruker D2 Phaser powder X-ray diffractometer and JCM-6000Plus scanning electron microscope. Detailed investigations of crystal structure by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction will be performed in the X-ray laboratory at the Lancaster University. If you wish to continue to a PhD level, diffraction measurements over broad temperature ranges and/or under high pressure will be proposed at world-leading research facilities.

Next steps

To find out the next steps or apply for this course, please contact the project supervisor.