We also study stochastic resonance (relevant to the ice-age cycle, ring lasers, and sensory neurons) and Brownian ratchets (the nanoscale motors responsible for protein transport in biological cells). We are modeling conduction in biological ion channels in collaboration with Rush Medical Center in Chicago, using ideas from stochastic nonlinear dynamics and numerical simulation. Please see our website for further information.


Biomedical Physics


Drs A Stefanovska, A Bahraminasab, D Garcia-Alvarez, P B M Clarkson, M A Entwistle, and Profs P V E McClintock and A Smith. We apply nonlinear physics to study the function of living systems. We seek a fundamental understanding of the oscillatory processes involved in energy transfer within the cardiovascular system and information transfer within the brain.


We study noisy nonlinear oscillators analytically and numerically, in particular to characterize their interactions. We develop analytical and numerical tools to deal with the time–varying, non-autonomous processes characteristic of living systems, including wavelet-based bispectral methods and synchronization. The work involves collaboration with the Royal Lancaster Infirmary and with partners in Europe, USA, Canada and Japan. To date we have tackled problems related to anaesthesia, aging, cardiac failure, diabetes, hypertension and post-myocardiac infarction. Please see our website for further information.


Optoelectronics and Nanostructures Prof A Krier, Drs M Hayne, R Jones, O Kolosov, A G Kozorezov, S E Krier, M Pumarol, M Yin, Q D Zhuang and H M Pollock (Emeritus). Research within the group involves experiments on semiconductor, carbon-nanotube and graphene based optoelectronic materials and devices, quantum dot and phase change memories, superconducting tunnel junctions and the development of advanced techniques for nanoscale characterization of materials and devices.


Our research into the physics of semiconductor nanostructures and devices includes the MBE (molecular beam epitaxy) growth of a variety of III-V compounds, with


204 Science and Technology


emphasis on mid-infrared (2-5µm) optoelectronics, spectroscopy of quantum structures and scanning probe microscopy (SPM). This is stimulated by a wide range of novel physical phenomena and practical applications, such as mid-infrared lasers, LEDs and detectors for environmental monitoring, fire detection and free-space optical communications, devices for telecommunications, charge- based and phase change memories. This research includes the growth, characterisation and high-magnetic-field spectroscopy of self-assembled quantum dots. These ‘artificial atoms’ are spontaneously formed when a few mono-layers of material are deposited on a substrate with a different lattice constant, and are an area of intense scientific activity worldwide.


The work on SPM substantially broadens our range of interests. We have developed several new instrumental paradigms in nanotechnology by combining SPM with localised chemical fingerprinting, spectroscopic analysis, thermal measurements and ultrasonic imaging. A spin out company, Anasys instruments, has been launched to commercialise some of this work: our “micro-thermal analysis” and “ultrasonic force microscopy”, or UFM, are now used worldwide. Our new technique, photothermal microspectroscopy (or PTMS) allows infrared spectroscopy to be performed on an individual cell, and our recent development, combining PTMS with carbon nanotubes, is aimed at spectroscopic imaging capable of sub-cellular resolution. The UFM family of SPM’s reveals otherwise unobservable surface and sub-surface properties of nanostructures, as well as the dynamics of physical phenomena.


Work is undertaken in an atmosphere of strong national and international cooperation and is supported by EPSRC, the Royal Society, the Technology Strategy Board, the European Commission and the European Space Agency. Particularly strong links exist with the Universities of Hull, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield and Surrey, and at the international level with TU Berlin, NTU Taiwan, CNR institutes in Pisa and Bologna, Hokkaido University, University of Connecticut, the Loffe Institute, Wroclaw University of Technology, KU Leuven and University of Antwerp. Our industrial collaborators include IBM, QinetiQ, Bookham, Procal, NT-MDT and Anasys Instruments. Please see our Web site for further information.


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