The Department of Physics seeks to appoint an ambitious Research Fellow to join the Ultrafast and Terahertz Photonics group at the University of Warwick. The position is up to three years in duration with a start date by 1 September 2021.

Your research goals will be related to developing and applying THz imaging and spectroscopy techniques to detection of skin cancer and other skin conditions. Particular focus will be on integrating THz image approaches with robotics, and speeding up and improving the accuracy of terahertz data acquisition.

For more details see the full advert.

We welcome Nathaniel Gallop to the group as a new postdoc, who will be working with Dr Milot on her EPSRC project "Optoelectronic properties of hybrid metal halide perovskites: from nanoscale to devices". Nathaniel joins us from Imperial, where he worked with Dr Bakulin & Prof Nelson on the vibronic control of organic electronic devices.

Many congratulations to Maria, who successfully defended her PhD thesis on 21st October. Maria's thesis on "Ultrafast terahertz and optical spectroscopy of 1D van der Waals nanomaterials" describes her work on carbon nanotubes and transition metal dichalcogenide nanotubes. Thanks to her examiners, Prof. Junichiro Kono @Rice and our own Dr Rebecca Milot. Well done Maria!

A new postdoctoral research fellow position is available in the group, to work with Dr Rebecca Milot on charge dynamics in hybrid metal halide perovskites. Full details here - apply by 28th October 2020.

A warm welcome to our new postgrad students: Goncalo Costa, Junn Keat and Justas Deveikis, who have just started their research in the group.

Dr Monti has just finished his PhD and completed his IAS Fellowship at Warwick. We wish Maurizio all the best as he leaves Coventry after 4 years to explore pastures new (Denmark). Maurizio was instrumental (pun intended) in setting up the OPTP beamline in WCUS, and made good use of it (plus the TEAS beamline) in his work on carrier cooling in perovskites and InSb, as reported in his thesis. Good luck for your new postdoc post in Aarhus University, Maurizio, we will miss you!

Advances in THz imaging using spatial light modulation mean that a single-pixel detector can now image objects in real time. For more information see this press release and Rayko's paper in Nature Communications.

2D sheets of atomically-thin materials have been intensively studied over the last few years, and have been found to bind together via van der Waals forces to create composites with unique optical and electronic properties. Here we report a study of the atomic structure and optoelectronic properties of some of the first examples of radial van der Waals heterostructures, where cylindrical sheets of different semiconductors (nanotubes) encase other materials. As described in our paper in Nano Letters, we found that BN overgrowth around carbon nanotube bundles created a good template for the creation of high-quality MoS₂ nanotubes. This outer semiconducting wall had good electrical properties and strong optical absorption (including from the K-point excitons of MoS₂), while the inner carbon nanotubes retained their excellent conductivity. This new class of composite may be suitable for unique functional optoelectronic devices on the nanoscale, such as 1D radial p-n junctions or transistors, for instance where the inner carbon nanotubes electrically control the outer semiconductor's conductivity.

Congratulations to Maria and the rest of the collaboration team (which included researchers at WCUS, Warwick Microscopy, the University of Tokyo and Aalto University).

Please get in touch if you are interested in a PhD or MSc by Research in the group. We have two funded PhD studentships available for autumn 2020 start, titled Automation of THz imaging for Medical Diagnosis and An ultrafast shakedown of defects in diamond using intense infrared pulses. A number of other projects are suitable for motivated students looking to complete an MSc or a summer research project.

Many congratulations to Connor, who finished his PhD in style on the 11th December. Connor's work on "Enhanced Polarisation Control and Extreme Electric Fields: Advances in Terahertz Spectroscopy Applied to Anisotropic Materials and Magnetic Phase Transistions" has led to a new beamline at WCUS and a new type of terahertz radiation source.

Fantastic work, Connor, and best of luck for your next steps!