Our group includes physicists, engineers and computational scientists. Our research interests fall broadly into two categories. One is the experimental and theoretical study of superconducting devices and the other is the development of ultra-sensitive, room temperature electric and magnetic field sensors.
For over twenty years we have been involved in experimental and theoretical research into macroscopic quantum phenomena in superconducting circuits, in particular RF SQUID rings. In the last decade, this work has acquired particular relevance to the use of superconducting circuits, for the implemention of quantum technologies such as flux qubits and logic gates. We have developed a reactive monitoring technique which allows us to follow the highly non-linear responses induced in a classical circuit by the magnetic flux dependent dynamics of the SQUID.
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In parallel, we have used numerical computation to solve the time dependent Schrodinger equation for the quantum mechanical SQUID and to explore Schrodinger cat states and entanglement in these systems. Our projects page provides more details about this work and our recent publications. |
Our electric field sensors are currently being developed through a Basic Technology award from RCUK. The technology is generic, can be applied over a wide range of spatial scales from sub micron to meters and is capable of implementation in single sensor, gradiometric and array formats. Applications include; the monitoring of body electrophysiology through the ECG, EEG and EMG, non-destructive testing of materials and structures and a scanning electric potential microscope.
In addition to this programme, we are also developing room temperature induction magnetometer systems which can equal the magnetic field sensitivity of cryogenic SQUID magnetometers.