Steve Wilks obtained his first degree in Physics from the University of Wales Cardiff in 1988 and proceeded to study for a PhD within the same department under the supervision of Prof RH Williams FRS MBE. He specialized in solid state physics, in particular looking at methods to control the electronic properties of metal contacts to semiconductors. After obtaining his PhD in 1992, Steve continued his research at Cardiff as a research assistant, developing an interest in the physics of low dimensional structures and interfaces creating theoretical models to complement his experimental work. In 1994, Steve moved to the University of Wales Swansea as a lecturer in Electronic and Electrical Engineering where he established the Semiconductor Interface Laboratory. He continued his work in low dimensional structures using scanning probe techniques to study semiconductor interfaces and devices at the nanoscale. In 1994 he was awarded the CR Burch prize from the British Vacuum Council for his outstanding contribution to the field of semiconductor interfaces. Steve was made a Reader in 1998 and received his personal chair in 2000. Steve’s research area has specialized in nanoscale devices and sensors, now based on a variety of material systems. In 2002, Steve, along with other colleagues in engineering and Physics, set up the Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre in the School of Engineering. He was Head of the Multidisciplinary Nanotechnology Centre until September 2007, he became Deputy Head of School.

Along with colleagues in the Medical School, Steve has embarked on a new direction, applying Nanotechnology to Health, aimed at developing the next generation of diagnostic sensors having unprecedented sensitivity. He is currently co-director of the Centre for NanoHealth, a £30M project based on a collaboration between academia, industry and the adjacent National Health Trust.

Recent publications

• R. J. Cobley, K. S. Teng, M. R. Brown and S. P. Wilks, “Cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy of biased semiconductor lasers”, J. Appl. Phys. 102, 024306 (2007).
• R. J. Cobley, K. S. Teng, M. R. Brown, S. P. Wilks and T. G. G. Maffeïs, “Direct real-time observation of catastrophic optical degradation in operating semiconductor lasers using scanning tunneling microscopy”, Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 081119 (2007).
• T.G.G. Maffeis, D. Yung, L. LePennec, M.W. Penny, R.J. Cobley, E. Comini, G. Sberveglieri and S.P. Wilks, Surf. Sci. 601, 4953 (2007)
• M. R. Brown, P. Rees, R. J. Cobley, K. S. Teng, S. P. Wilks and A. Hughes, “The Effect of Interface Roughness on Multi-Layer Hetero-Structures”,  J. Appl. Phys. 102, 131723 (2007).
• M.W. Penny, M.R. Brown, T.G.G. Maffeis, P. Rees, S.P. Wilks and H.S. Ferkel, "Charge storage in SnO2 nanoparticles: A Method and Mechanism for charge writing/erasing", Applied Physics Letters 91, 163108 (2007)
• M.R. Brown, Paul Rees, Steve Wilks, Mark Holton, Peter Dunstan, Huw Summers and Dan Matthews, ‘Calculation of quantum dot blinking using the Gillespie Monte Carlo algorithm’. IET Optoelectronics, Vol.1 Issue 6.
• M.R. Brown, Paul Rees, Steve Wilks, Huw D. Summers, Rachel J. Errington, Kerenza L. Njoh, Sally C. Chappell, Paul J. Smith and James F. Leary, ‘Computational Simulation of Optical Tracking of Cell Populations using Quantum Dot Fluorophores’. LNBI, Computational Methods in Systems Biology, September 2007.
• M.R. Brown, P. Rees, R.J. Cobley, K.S. Teng, T.G.G. Maffeïs, M.W. Penny, A.V. Hughes, and S.P. Wilks. ‘The effect of interface roughness on multilayer semiconductor heterostructures’. Submitted to Journal of Applied Physics, February 2007, Accepted October 2007, Provisional Vol. 102(11).
• L. Chen, O.J. Guy, M. R. Jennings, P. Igic, S. P. Wilks and P. A. Mawby, “Study of a novel Si/SiC hetero-junction MOSFET”, Solid-State Electronics, Volume 51, Issue 5, May 2007, Pages 662-666,
• O.J. Guy, T. E. Jenkins, M. Lodzinski, A. Castaing, S. P. Wilks, “Ellipsometric and MEIS Studies of 4H-SiC/Si/SiO2 and 4H-SiC/SiO2 Interfaces for MOS devices”, Mat. Sci. Forum, 556-557 (2007) pp. 509-512.
• M. Lodzinski, O.J. Guy, A. Perez, S. Batcup, P. Holland, S.P. Wilks and P. Igic, ‘Si/SiC hetero-junction characterization for a proposed power MOSFET’, Proc. MICROTHERM 2007, 24.06 - 27.06. 2007 Lodz, Poland
• O.J. Guy, D. Doneddu, M. Lodzinski, S.P. Wilks, ‘Diamond Electronics: current status and future perspectives’, Proceedings of WASMPE 07, Jul 5-6, 2007, Oblia, Italy.
• M. Lodzinski, O.J. Guy, S. Batcup, S. Wilks and P. Igic, ‘Temperature dependence of current-voltage characteristics in SiC Schottky diodes’, Proceedings of WASMPE 07, Jul 5-6, 2007, Oblia, Italy.
• O. J. Guy, D. Doneddu, M. Lodzinski, P. Igic, R. Albery, S. P. Wilks, P. R. Dunstan, R. S. Balmer and D. J. Twitchen, “Maximising the performance of single-crystal diamond Schottky diodes and FETs”, Indusrial Diamond Review, Issue 3 (2007).