News

Pulses - only 12fs in duration - have been used to look at the reflectivity of a new "layered chalcogenide", giving information about unusual quantum phenomena that could eventually be used in superfast optical switches. For more information, go to https://www.phy.cam.ac.uk/news/from-a-window-to-a-mirror-new-material-paves-the-way-to-faster-computing

The OE Group is currently 'working from home' in the current Coronavirus situation.

This means that telephone calls direct to the Department are unlikely to be answered. However, most people are available on email, though response times might be a little slower than normal...

Most of the OE and ME First Year PhD students have given presentations this week on their work so far. For many of them, it is the first opportunity to give a talk to the group, and they welcome feedback from colleagues. There were quite a few 'hot topics' - and it was good to be in an air conditioned room, on the hottest day of the year...

The Optoelectronics and Microelectronics groups' 'Winterschool 2019' was a chance at the end of March to compare the energy landscape of novel materials with the ups and downs of Austrian slopes!

Evening seminars covered topics such as carrier mobility, DNA structures and Quantum Dots, with fluorescent emission and light absorption on femtosecond timescales. Despite the temperatures, 'Perovskites' are the hot topic: promising performances in photovoltaic and electroluminescent devices combine with measurements of fundamental properties to give us an insight into how they work.

Congratulations to Stuart Macpherson, a second year student in OE, working in Strankslab. As part of the Darwin team, he has got through 5 matches (two in the Quarterfinals) to play in the semifinal against St Edmund Hall, Oxford. It will be broadcast on Monday 15th April on BBC Two.

At the OE Spring School, students and postdocs gave talks on a variety of subjects, with new materials and new measurement techniques playing an important part of our research. 'Perovskites' are a hot topic: they come in a variety of 'flavours', with the promise of efficient solar cells and light sources. We look at the transport of current in thin films and across interfaces, investigate 'spintronics' for magnetic sensing and low power electronics, and we collaborate with industry and other University groups on large area electronics. Short segments of DNA help to form a scaffolding for building new materials, and control of emulsions can make milky colloids disappear. Ultrasmall particles exhibit quantum confinement in the way that they absorb and emit light, and studies of small fluorescent molecules and polymers in novel devices show how we can overcome the 'Shockley Queisser Limit' in thin films to convert light into electricity for photovoltaics. There are plenty of questions and there's much to discuss!

Dan Credgington and Sam Stranks awarded Royal Society Enhancement Grants. Funded studentships available.

Please contact Dan by email at djnc3 [at] cam.ac.uk and Sam at sds65 [at] cam.ac.uk.

Dr Sam Stranks has been named by MIT Technology Review on a list of 35 European "Innovators under the age of thirty five".

He works in the Optoelectronics Group in the Cavendish Laboratory on "Perovskites": new materials that show much promise for Light Emitting Diodes and Photovoltaic (Solar Cell) applications.

https://innovatorsunder35.com/innovator/sam-stranks

Welcome to four new members of staff in the Department who will be giving administrative support to the Optoelectronics, Microelectronics and Nanophotonics groups (OE, ME and NP).

They are

Hub Lead: Jennie Nelson
HR and Events Administrator: Janette Roberts
Finance Administrator: William Mortimer
Administrative Assistant: Stephen Ennis

They are located in Kapitza room K35 (the 'Kapitza Hub') and can be contacted collectively by email as kapitza.hub (at) phy.cam.ac.uk, or by telephone on 01223 337313

It will take a little while for them to settle in, so please be patient and make it clear what you are contacting them about, so that the right person can deal with the issue!

Congratulations to Dr Akshay Rao, who has won the Henry Moseley Award and Prize (formerly the Boys Medal) from the Institute of Physics "for groundbreaking studies in the electronic properties of organic semiconductors, particularly the roles of electron spin in the operation of solar cells".

http://www.iop.org/about/awards/early-career/moseley/medallists/page_69683.html

(Congratulations also to Prof Henry Snaith - formerly in the OE group, and now in Oxford - for winning the 2017 James Joule Medal for work on Perovskite Solar Cells)

Roger Beadle has retired after 36 years at the Cavendish Laboratory - much of that time working as a technician in the Optoelectronics Group. Many members of the group will remember how he was able to help them with the practicalities of getting research done. At the OE group presentation, Professor Sir Richard Friend said that Roger was mentioned in the acknowledgements of more PhD degree theses than most Professors, in genuine thanks for his assistance in designing and making equipment!

A team of scientists from OE have developed a new class of bright and efficient OLEDs using materials designed at the University of East Anglia, with quantum chemical calculations conducted at the University of Eastern Finland.

Their paper, to be published in Science magazine, was selected for First Release, early online publication of the hottest new results, and can be found at http://science.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aah4345

The story is featured on the University of Cambridge news site at: http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/rotating-molecules-create-a-brighter-future

We are pleased to note that FlexEnable won two categories (Emerging
Technology and Startup) in the recent IET Innovation Awards

FlexEnable originated as a spinout company (originally, as 'Plastic Logic') from the Optoelectronics Group in 2000, and is developing flexible displays and sensors.
http://www.flexenable.com/

October is the traditional time of year to start in the OE group, and in 2016 we welcome 17 new arrivals - mostly Graduate Students. That's in addition to the 10 "postdocs", staff and visitors that came over the summer.

They are listed in the OE Staff Directory on our new website -  but note that we don't have pictures of many yet, and their email might not be active until they arrive in Cambridge.

Congratulations also to former members of the group, who have moved on in their careers - we hope you'll stay in touch!

Michaelmas Term starts officially on Tuesday 3rd October, with lectures for undergraduates starting on Thursday 5th.

Optoelectronics will have many new people starting, graduate students and postdocs: details will appear on the "OE Staff Directory" soon.

We have updated our website so that we have the same style and server as 300+ others in the University.

A new class of ultra-efficient organometallic phosphors was discovered through a collaboration with UEA and the University of Eastern Finland

External link to paper.

AS Romanov et al. Chemical Communications 52 (38), 6379-6382

World's first lead-free luminescent perovskite quantum dots synthesised.

External link to paper.

TC Jellicoe et al. Journal of the American Chemical Society 138 (9), 2941-2944

Dan Credgington was awarded a Royal Society research grant to explore spin control for enhancing the fluorescence yield of Organic LEDs. Welcome to Saul Jones, who joins the group to work on this project.

Welcome to Joe Ratanapreechachai, who has joined the group on a Royal Thai Government scholarship to study triplet fusion in organic LEDs with Dan Credgington.

Working with the Device Materials Group in the department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, we have created a new organic-free architecture for use in perovskite LEDs.

External link to paper.

RLZ Hoye et al, Advanced Materials 27 (8), 1414-1419