Research activities in the Department of Physics and Advanced materials activities are focussed on optically-functional materials and structures (especially solar glazing coatings, plasmonically-active devices, and photonics), advanced functional materials (III-nitride and oxide semiconductors, fluorescent nanoparticles and wires, vanadium dioxide, and polymer composites, specialised materials microcharacterisation techniques involving scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis, scanning probe microscopies, and X-ray technologies) and on modelling (ab initio calculations of electronic structures, bonding energy and geometry, and simulation of thermal properties, calculation of optical properties and electron transport calculations in molecular devices). There is a strong focus on nanoscale phenomena but macroscopic metals technologies of various kinds are not entirely neglected, with some staff members also active in the fields of metal matrix composites and shape memory alloys, amongst other topics.

The Department’s research activities are integrated closely with the advanced materials research of the University’s Institute for Nanoscale Technology, and with the University’s Microstructural Analysis Unit and its Centre for Chemical Technologies. The advanced materials team at UTS now encompasses over twenty members of staff. The grouping also has close links with CUDOS, the ARC Centre of Excellence for Ultrahigh-bandwidth Devices for Optical Systems.

The advanced materials team at UTS has established strategic research links with local and international companies and research groups, including AGR Matthey, AngloGold Ashanti, Fluorosolar Systems, BASF, The FEI Company, Moran Scientific, Solutia, and DSTO to name a few. The twin focus on both fundamental and applied science ensures that the research needs of staff, students and industrial clients can be met in depth.

For more information contact A/Prof. Mike Ford, email: mike.ford@uts.edu.au, 02-9514-7956.

Prof. Geoff Smith and his colleague Jim Franklin are pioneers in the development of light-pipes such as the flexible pink units.

Spectrally-selective coatings are a long-standing interest of the advanced materials team at UTS. Much of this work has been focussed on coatings that can block the transmission of infrared through glass windows.

The activities at UTS are firmly grounded in fundamental activities. Modelling and simulation of various aspects of material properties are carried out. The team is a significant national user of AC3 and APAC computer facilities. This image shows an ab initio simulation of a gold nano-cluster on a magnesium oxide substrate. This system is an active catalyst.