Introduction to the group

The Semiconductor Physics group explores and develops new physics using advanced semiconductor technology. The particular speciality of the group is the use of new types of semiconductor nanostructure in which a small number of electrons, down to the single-electron limit, can be isolated and their effective dimensionality varied. This is part of the field of mesoscopic physics, or nanoelectronics, and the techniques that the group has developed have been adopted by many other groups worldwide. We are developing electrical devices based on molecules, which are the ultimate nanostructures, allowing operation at room temperature.

The group's facilities for the growth of semiconductors by Molecular Beam Epitaxy, and its cleanroom with an extensive range of facilities and a state of the art high-resolution electron-beam lithography machine, now form the core of a National Facility, CORDE. A range of cryostats and optical systems are available for measurements.

The expertise associated with advanced semiconductor structures and the industrial collaboration which the group has with Toshiba Research Europe and TeraView, both companies in the Cambridge Science Park, has resulted in activities in such fields as Terahertz imaging and spectroscopy and the generation and detection of single photons for quantum cryptography and quantum communications. Collaborations with Hitachi and Quantum Motion are working to develop semiconductor-based quantum computers.