I am originally from Birmingham and moved to Swansea as a lecturer in the Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre (MNC) in May 2004. This follows almost 6 years post-doctoral work in Prof R. A. L. Jones’s polymer physics group at Sheffield University. Prior to that I worked in the polymer processing industry for 5 years (Research & Technology, Courtaulds plc, Coventry), following a PhD in theoretical condensed matter physics at Cambridge University and a BSc in Physics at Imperial College London.

My research interests are in the behaviour of macromolecules at surfaces and interfaces. My current studies focus on the characterisation and control of semi-conducting polymer structure, in thin films and at various polymer-polymer interfaces. This includes characterisation using techniques such as neutron reflectivity and nuclear reaction analysis, as well as scanning probe techniques. Much of the motivation for this work is to improve the performance of organic devices, such as light-emitting diodes and field-effect transistors.

The phenomenon of dewetting, where thin liquid films on substrates can become unstable, is another area of interest. Originally focussed on model polymeric systems, my current interest is to control these instabilities in functional polymeric liquids, to produce patterned surfaces for device applications. For further research details and a list of recent publications follow this link.