Dr Struan Simpson

Project Title: Novel materials for Next Generation Quantum Computing and Sensors

There is a constant drive to discover and explore the power of new functional materials, which are essential to the function and operation of many technologies that everyday devices use. Recently, there has been growing interest in the topic of ‘many body localisation’ (MBL), in which a material becomes a perfect insulator below a certain temperature. A perfect insulator will not conduct heat or electricity, and so offers a wide range of potential applications in developing contemporary technologies such as quantum computing, sensors and batteries.

This exciting quantum phenomenon has recently been observed for the very first time in a material synthesised at the University of Aberdeen, and so we will probe this exotic physics further by performing advanced physical measurements. Modifications to the chemical structure will also be made in order to tune the temperature that perfect insulating behaviour is observed at and therefore aid in facilitating its practical application. This research will open up a whole new experimental research area impacting the disciplines of chemistry, physics, and materials science, and will have a profound influence on modern scientific interests.