The Research School of Physics performs research at the cutting edge of a wide range of disciplines.
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Astrophysics
Design a rail gun to operate in vacuum producing a force of 1mN
In space, no-one can hear you scream. Is this true?


Calibration of gravitational wave detectors
Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Profes Susan Scott


Exotic nuclear structure towards the neutron dripline


Multi-messenger gravitational-wave astronomy
Distinguished Profes Susan Scott, Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Dr Karl Wette


Space radiation modelling


Radioimpurities in particle detectors for dark matter studies
Dr Michaela Froehlich , Dr Zuzana Slavkovska, A/Prof Stephen Tims, Professor Gregory Lane
Active orbital control systems for nano-sats orbiting the Moon


Gravitational waves from ultralight boson clouds around black holes
Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Distinguished Profes Susan Scott, Dr Karl Wette
Launching nano-satellites from the Earth's Moon
Reducing Entropy in Lunar Supply Chains
Determining the orbital characteristics of a constellation of nano-sats orbiting the Moon


Optimising a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory
Dr Bram Slagmolen, Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Dr Vaishali Adya, Distinguished Prof David McClelland


Continuous gravitational waves from neutron stars
Distinguished Profes Susan Scott, Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Dr Karl Wette


Gravitational waves from newborn neutron stars
Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Distinguished Profes Susan Scott, Dr Karl Wette


Paving the way to study the chronology of the Early Solar System
Dr Stefan Pavetich, Dr Michaela Froehlich , A/Prof Stephen Tims, Mr Dominik Koll
Atomic and Molecular Physics


How does a quantum system reach equilibrium?


Attosecond time-resolved atomic reactions


Coherent control of quantum-mechanical systems


Atomic ionization in super-strong laser fields


Atomic magnetometer for exploring physics beyond the standard model


Positron applications in medical physics
A/Prof. James Sullivan, Professor Stephen Buckman, Dr Joshua Machacek


Measuring and modelling free-ion hyperfine fields
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi, Mr Brendan McCormick


Interactions between Antimatter and Ultracold Atoms
Dr Sean Hodgman, Professor Stephen Buckman, Dr Joshua Machacek


Benchmark positron scattering experiments
A/Prof. James Sullivan, Professor Stephen Buckman, Dr Joshua Machacek
Electron scattering from surfaces at high energies


Optical quantum memory
Biophysics


Understanding drought-resistance in Australian plants with 3D X-ray microscopy


Specific ion effects


Positron applications in medical physics
A/Prof. James Sullivan, Professor Stephen Buckman, Dr Joshua Machacek


Femtosecond laser for ultra-precise cavity drilling in modern dentistry
Clean Energy


Migration of carbon dioxide injected in aquifers: convection, diffusion and dissolution
Improving extraction of Critical MineralsÂ
Professor Mark Knackstedt, Dr Nicolas Francois, Prof Adrian Sheppard


Renewable Chemical Fuels using III-V Semiconductors
Dr Siva Karuturi, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, Professor Hoe Tan
Engineering in Physics
Optical Sensors for Inertial Navigation
Field Deployable Laser Stabilisation using Digitally Enhanced Fibre Interferometers
Design a rail gun to operate in vacuum producing a force of 1mN
In space, no-one can hear you scream. Is this true?


Nuclear structure studies with particle transfer reactions
Dr AJ Mitchell, Professor Gregory Lane, Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi
Fibre Optic Sensor Arrays for Vibrometry and Acoustic Sensing
Dr Chathura Bandutunga , , Dr Paul Sibley, A/Prof Malcolm Gray


Plasma Thrusters for Spacecraft


Calibration of gravitational wave detectors
Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Profes Susan Scott
Improving extraction of Critical MineralsÂ
Professor Mark Knackstedt, Dr Nicolas Francois, Prof Adrian Sheppard


Plasma surface interactions under extreme conditions


Vibration control for optical interferometry


System calculations for hunter killer satellites
Active orbital control systems for nano-sats orbiting the Moon
Engineering Inter-spacecraft laser links
Launching nano-satellites from the Earth's Moon


Computer simulation of expanding plasmas


Magnetic nozzles and plasma generated by a remote source


Ultra-fast lifetime measurements of nuclear excited states
Professor Gregory Lane, Dr AJ Mitchell, Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi
Determining the orbital characteristics of a constellation of nano-sats orbiting the Moon


Nuclear lifetimes - developing new apparatus and methods
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi, Professor Gregory Lane, Mr Ben Coombes


Particle simulation of dual frequency processing plasmas


Optimising a Neutron Star Extreme Matter Observatory
Dr Bram Slagmolen, Dr Lilli (Ling) Sun, Dr Vaishali Adya, Distinguished Prof David McClelland


Exploring physics with neural networks
Dr Aaron Tranter, Professor Ben Buchler, Professor Ping Koy Lam


Wood-based Mechanical Metamaterials
Dr Nicolas Francois, Dr Mohammad Saadatfar, Mr William Leggate, Professor Mark Knackstedt
Environmental Physics


Understanding drought-resistance in Australian plants with 3D X-ray microscopy


Migration of carbon dioxide injected in aquifers: convection, diffusion and dissolution


Nanobubbles
Reducing Entropy in Lunar Supply Chains
Radioactivity in our environment


High pressure non-equilibrium plasma discharges in chemically reactive systems


Surface forces and the behaviour of colloidal systems
Fusion and Plasma Confinement


Nano-bubble formation in fusion relevant materials


Diagnosing plasma-surface interactions under fusion-relevant conditions
Studies on the effect of He irradiation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of W/ W alloys
Materials Science and Engineering


Colloidal systems in highly concentrated salt solutions


High-bandwidth stabilisation of a 2µm-band laser
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland


Tomography of dynamic processes (3D movies)


Can we make a harder-than-diamond diamond?


Fundamental investigation of fission tracks for geo- and thermochronology


Functional Nanopore Membranes
X-ray scatter in 3D microscopes


Exciton polaritons in 2D atomically thin materials


Nanowire Photodetectors for Photonic and Quantum Systems


Making diamond from disordered forms of carbon


Shape engineering of semiconductor nanostructures for novel device applications


Using materials physics to achieve ultra-low contact resistance for next generation semiconductor devices


Optical nonlinearities in 2D crystals


Neutron and X-ray imaging/tomography techniques at ANSTO and AS (Australian Synchrotron)


Quantum emitters in 2D materials


Efficient optical interconnect for quantum computers


Mathematical making


Nanofluidic diodes: from biosensors to water treatment


Solid state synapses and neurons - memristive devices for neuromorphic computing
Exploring novel X-ray scanning trajectories


Controlling the properties of 2D materials by defect engineering
Deblur by defocus in a 3D X-ray microscope


Ultrashort laser processing for advanced applications


Developing wearable sensors for personalized health care technologies and solutions
Dr Buddini Karawdeniya, Prof Dragomir Neshev, Prof Patrick Kluth, Professor Lan Fu


Nano-bubble formation in fusion relevant materials


Ultrafast Laser Cleaning - The Light Touch


Semiconductor nano-foams for sensor and energy applications


Diagnosing plasma-surface interactions under fusion-relevant conditions


Measurement of optical and mechanical losses of mirror coatings
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland
Studies on the effect of He irradiation on the microstructure and mechanical properties of W/ W alloys
Machine learning for tomographic reconstruction


Higher-order spatial mode optical cavity analysis for thermal noise measurements
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland


Renewable Chemical Fuels using III-V Semiconductors
Dr Siva Karuturi, Professor Chennupati Jagadish, Professor Hoe Tan
X-ray speckle tracking


Creating new materials using pressure and diamond anvil cells
Electron scattering from surfaces at high energies
Nanoscience and Nanotechnology


Colloidal systems in highly concentrated salt solutions


Fundamental investigation of fission tracks for geo- and thermochronology


Functional Nanopore Membranes


Nanowire lasers for applications in nanophotonics


Shape engineering of semiconductor nanostructures for novel device applications


Using materials physics to achieve ultra-low contact resistance for next generation semiconductor devices


Specific ion effects


Metaphotonics and Mie-tronics with resonant dielectric structures


Optical metamaterials: from science fiction to transformative optical technologies


Nanofluidic diodes: from biosensors to water treatment


Solid state synapses and neurons - memristive devices for neuromorphic computing


Nonreciprocal nanophotonics: disruptive nanotechnology to control light


Nanobubbles


Controlling the properties of 2D materials by defect engineering


Quantum-well nanowire light emitting devices
Professor Lan Fu, Dr Ziyuan Li, Professor Hoe Tan, Professor Chennupati Jagadish


Developing wearable sensors for personalized health care technologies and solutions
Dr Buddini Karawdeniya, Prof Dragomir Neshev, Prof Patrick Kluth, Professor Lan Fu


Semiconductor nano-foams for sensor and energy applications


Micro-ring lasers for integrated silicon photonics


Simulation of x-ray scattering from nano-objects


Quantum microscopes for revolutionary interdisciplinary science


Surface forces and the behaviour of colloidal systems


Nanowire infrared avalanche photodetectors towards single photon detection
Photonics, Lasers and Nonlinear Optics


High-bandwidth stabilisation of a 2µm-band laser
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland
Optical Sensors for Inertial Navigation
Field Deployable Laser Stabilisation using Digitally Enhanced Fibre Interferometers


Topological photonics


Machine learning for optics and controls


Nanowire lasers for applications in nanophotonics


Exciton polaritons in 2D atomically thin materials


Nanowire Photodetectors for Photonic and Quantum Systems
Fibre Optic Sensor Arrays for Vibrometry and Acoustic Sensing
Dr Chathura Bandutunga , , Dr Paul Sibley, A/Prof Malcolm Gray


Optical nonlinearities in 2D crystals


Integrated quantum photonics
Prof Andrey Sukhorukov, Dr Jinyong Ma, Dr Jihua Zhang, Prof Dragomir Neshev


Metaphotonics and Mie-tronics with resonant dielectric structures


Optical nanoantennas


Optical metamaterials: from science fiction to transformative optical technologies


Nonreciprocal nanophotonics: disruptive nanotechnology to control light


Synthetic multi-dimensional photonics


Metasurface polarization optics and quantum photonics


Ultrashort laser processing for advanced applications


Quantum-well nanowire light emitting devices
Professor Lan Fu, Dr Ziyuan Li, Professor Hoe Tan, Professor Chennupati Jagadish


Quantum squeezed states for interferometric gravitational-wave detectors
Distinguished Prof David McClelland, Professor Daniel Shaddock, Dr Bram Slagmolen


Quantum photonics with nanostructured metasurfaces


Laser levitation of a macroscopic mirror


Ultrafast Laser Cleaning - The Light Touch


Coherently combined laser systems for space technologies


Measurement of optical and mechanical losses of mirror coatings
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland


Higher-order spatial mode optical cavity analysis for thermal noise measurements
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland


Micro-ring lasers for integrated silicon photonics


Satellite based geodesy


Non-equilibrium quantum condensation of microcavity exciton polaritons


Femtosecond laser for ultra-precise cavity drilling in modern dentistry


Synthesising non-Hermitian gauge fields for microcavity exciton polaritons


Nanowire infrared avalanche photodetectors towards single photon detection


Low-noise offset-phase locking and heterodyne interferometry with 2µm-band lasers
Dr Johannes Eichholz, Dr Bram Slagmolen, Distinguished Prof David McClelland
Physics Education


Science education with meriSTEM
Virtual Reality for Physics Education
Physics of the Nucleus


Nuclear vibrations in near-spherical and deformed nuclei
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Professor Gregory Lane, Dr AJ Mitchell, Mr Ben Coombes


Nuclear structure studies with particle transfer reactions
Dr AJ Mitchell, Professor Gregory Lane, Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi


Characterisation and optimisation of an ionization detector system for probing dissipation effects
Dr Ian Carter, Professor Mahananda Dasgupta, Professor David Hinde, Mr Ben Swinton-Bland


Exotic nuclear structure towards the neutron dripline


Space radiation modelling


Measuring and modelling free-ion hyperfine fields
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi, Mr Brendan McCormick


Radioimpurities in particle detectors for dark matter studies
Dr Michaela Froehlich , Dr Zuzana Slavkovska, A/Prof Stephen Tims, Professor Gregory Lane


Nuclear magnetism - magnetic moment measurements
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi, Professor Gregory Lane, Mr Brendan McCormick


Ultra-fast lifetime measurements of nuclear excited states
Professor Gregory Lane, Dr AJ Mitchell, Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi


Nuclear lifetimes - developing new apparatus and methods
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi, Professor Gregory Lane, Mr Ben Coombes


Creating new superheavy elements
Dr Taiki Tanaka, Professor David Hinde, Professor Mahananda Dasgupta


Nuclear batteries: Energy-storage applications of nuclear isomers


Paving the way to study the chronology of the Early Solar System
Dr Stefan Pavetich, Dr Michaela Froehlich , A/Prof Stephen Tims, Mr Dominik Koll
Plasma Applications and Technology


Plasma Thrusters for Spacecraft


Plasma surface interactions under extreme conditions


System calculations for hunter killer satellites


Computer simulation of expanding plasmas


Magnetic nozzles and plasma generated by a remote source


Particle simulation of dual frequency processing plasmas


High pressure non-equilibrium plasma discharges in chemically reactive systems


Plasma-liquid interactions
Quantum Science and Technology


Dual torsion pendulum for quantum noise limited sensing


How does a quantum system reach equilibrium?


Diamond quantum computing and communications


Integrated quantum photonics
Prof Andrey Sukhorukov, Dr Jinyong Ma, Dr Jihua Zhang, Prof Dragomir Neshev


Quantum emitters in 2D materials


Beam matching using machine learning


Efficient optical interconnect for quantum computers


Quantum multi-parameter estimation


Vibration control for optical interferometry


Synthetic multi-dimensional photonics


Metasurface polarization optics and quantum photonics


Atomic magnetometer for exploring physics beyond the standard model


Quantum squeezed states for interferometric gravitational-wave detectors
Distinguished Prof David McClelland, Professor Daniel Shaddock, Dr Bram Slagmolen


Quantum photonics with nanostructured metasurfaces


Laser levitation of a macroscopic mirror


Interactions between Antimatter and Ultracold Atoms
Dr Sean Hodgman, Professor Stephen Buckman, Dr Joshua Machacek


Satellite based geodesy


Non-equilibrium quantum condensation of microcavity exciton polaritons


Exploring physics with neural networks
Dr Aaron Tranter, Professor Ben Buchler, Professor Ping Koy Lam


Synthesising non-Hermitian gauge fields for microcavity exciton polaritons


Experimental quantum simulation with ultracold metastable Helium atoms in an optical lattice


Quantum microscopes for revolutionary interdisciplinary science


Quantum super resolution


Discovering quantum defects in diamond and related materials


Optical quantum memory
Theoretical Physics


Stochastic dynamics of interacting systems and integrability


Topological data analysis


Variational approach to many-body problems


Attosecond time-resolved atomic reactions


Coherent control of quantum-mechanical systems


Neutron and X-ray imaging/tomography techniques at ANSTO and AS (Australian Synchrotron)


Quantum multi-parameter estimation


Optical nanoantennas


Mathematical making


Atomic ionization in super-strong laser fields


Nuclear magnetism - magnetic moment measurements
Professor Andrew Stuchbery, Emeritus Professor Tibor Kibedi, Professor Gregory Lane, Mr Brendan McCormick


Motions of crystalline bar-joint frameworks


Introduction to quantum integrable systems
Combinatorics and integrable systems


Topological Crystallography: Graphs and surfaces with symmetry
Topological and Structural Science


Tomography of dynamic processes (3D movies)


Topological data analysis
Ghost imaging in the third dimension


Topological photonics


Motions of crystalline bar-joint frameworks


Wood-based Mechanical Metamaterials
Dr Nicolas Francois, Dr Mohammad Saadatfar, Mr William Leggate, Professor Mark Knackstedt


Simulation of x-ray scattering from nano-objects


Topological Crystallography: Graphs and surfaces with symmetry
Updated: 18 May 2022/ Responsible Officer: Director, RSPhys/ Page Contact: Physics Webmaster