General introduction to our research

The world around us is governed by materials, from the steel that we use to build bridges and buildings to the silicon that forms the basis of computer chips that power artificial intellegence and so many other modern technologies. Today, we are undoubtedly in the “silicon age”, but just as the Stone Age gave way to the Bronze Age and then Iron Age, new materials will emerge that surpass the properties and use of Silicon. This is crucial to advance new functionality, but also to ensure sustainability, with ever increasing amounts of the energy budget being used for advanced AI and other data processing.

We are a group of scientists interested in understanding, and ultimately designing, the electronic materials of the future. To do this, we build up new materials a single atom layer at a time. We then use sensitive experimental probes that allow us to build up road-maps for how the electrons move and interact inside the material. We are particularly interested in understanding how large numbers of electrons behave together - giving rise to some of the most spectacular, but still poorly understood, properties of materials that are known today. We work together with theorists, who model how materials behave and design new structures that could lead to devices of the future. The videos below, prepared with some of our collaborators, give a general introduction to what we do and why. You can also find some more information in recent features on our lab on the BBC, Scottish TV, and Scottish press.