Research
My research focuses on understanding the link between mechanical properties and electronic properties in organic semiconductors and other energy materials through precision measurements on the nanoscale. We also attempt to understand how elasticity in molecular materials is built up from the scale of a single molecule, when packed together in the solid state.
We implement cutting-edge force mapping techniques using atomic force microscopes to study organic semiconductors and related energy materials under molecular doping, across temperature-induced phase transitions, at cooperative phase transitions, at reduced dimensions, at the limits of charge conduction, and through newly designed electromechanical devices.
We also implement high-resolution imaging and nanomechanical measurements based on multifrequency intermodulation and higher eigenmodes to visualise contrast in conformation on the scale of a few nanometres, both in topography and in elasticity.
One of our goals is to build a framework of understanding, based on experiment, on how the properties of mobility, conductivity, Seebeck coefficient, and elasticity, are interlinked within organic semiconductors. Our proposed framework is summarised in the schematic diagram below.
Overall, our research contributes to deeper understanding of the physics of multi-functional organic materials.
Research Consortium
I run my research program jointly with collaborators in Stockholm, Sweden, namely Prof Per Claesson, Dr Illia Dobryden and Dr Ki-Hwan Hwang, and through an academia-industry partnership with Dr Vladimir Korolkov at Park Systems. Within Cambridge, I collaborate closely with Prof Ljiljana Fruk and with Dr Leszek J. Spalek to expand the systems we study to include biological matter. This work is funded through research grants I hold from the Royal Society.
In 2024, I jointly initiated a new program on molecular thermoelectrics with Dr Guillaume Schweicher at the ULB in Belgium, funded through a Wiener Anspach Foundation research grant.
A small part of my research program is completely blue skies. One example of this is to treat nanoscale topography information topologically, and apply novel tools such as Topological Data Analysis (TDA) and Geometric Data Analysis (GDA) to evaluate atomic force microscopy images. This work is funded in part by the Royal Society and in part through UNAM in Mexico. It is conducted together with Prof Pablo Padilla, Mr Alberto Alcalá Alvarez and Mr Mateo Tonatiuh Rodríguez Cervantes.
On the topic of teams, I paraphrase my late mentor Prof B. S. Chandrashekar, “As in life, so in academic career… people will come and go. Irrespective of their age, or their education level, they will all leave an imprint on us, intellectual and behavioural. Be a friend of the world, stay curious, and walk through life believing you have something to learn from all who cross your road.”
I very much live by these words.