Materials in which magnetism can be controlled with an electric voltage are one of the most promising routes towards a new generation of high-density, non-volatile computer memories. In an article published today in Nature Communications, Natasha Perks and co-workers from Oxford Physics, ILL (France), and CNRS (France) report how such control can be achieved with the help of a unique magneto-orbital texture, observed for the first time in single crystals of CaMn₇O₁₂.

Scientists at Oxford have synthesised a new superconductor in which a molecular spacer layer has been inserted in between layers of iron selenide. Pure iron selenide had already been shown to lose all electrical resistance, but only when cooled below about 8 degrees above absolute zero. As described in a Letter published in Nature Materials, the new compound retains superconductivity at temperatures more than four times higher.

In new research¹ published in the journal Science, pioneering single-molecule biophysics has been used to probe the mode of action of nanoscale molecular machines that remodel DNA inside living cells, from collaborative research involving Mark Leake’s team in the Condensed Matter Physics sub-dept of Oxford Physics and David Sherratt and co-workers in Oxford Biochemistry.

Condensed Matter Physics is delighted to announce that Miss Katherine Dunn, second year postgraduate student, has been awarded the David Ryan Prize 2012 for the best research presentation by a postgraduate student in their second year at the annual poster session.
Well done, Katherine!

Congratulations to Dr Sam Stranks, who was recently presented with the Institute of Physics’ Roy Thesis Prize. The prize is awarded annually to the best nominated thesis in condensed matter and materials physics.

Congratulations to Emeritus Professor Mike Glazer on winning the Jan Czochralski Award of the European Materials Research Society. The medal was presented on 19 September 2012 at the E-MRS Fall Meeting in Warsaw, with laudation for the prize delivered by Professor Ekhard Salje FRS from Cambridge University. The award recognizes lifetime achievements in Materials Science - in Mike's case particularly his highly cited works on perovskites.

Condensed Matter Physics is delighted to announce that Mr Chaw Keong Yong, third year postgraduate student, has been awarded the Nicholas Kurti Prize 2012 for the best presentation and distinguished work by a third year postgraduate student.

The Department of Physics has been granted an Athena Swan Bronze Award.

For further details, please see the full Story at www2.physics.ox.ac.uk/athena-swan.

The beliefs underpinning the Athena Swan Charter are:

An eccentric class of materials known as topological insulators (TIs) has caught the interest and imagination of physicists, materials scientists, and technologists alike, as it permits loss-free electricity conduction at room temperature. TIs are insulating in the inside, but conduct electricity on their surfaces. The current that it carries has some special properties that arise from the quantum nature of the material. The motion and spin are locked together: the path of the surface electrons determine their spin and in turn is determined by it.

Summer 2012

Our latest Department newsletter is now available to download in PDF format here. Have a look at the wide range of work that we do in front-line research, teaching, public outreach and school education. We would welcome contributions to future newsletters from undergraduate or postgraduate alumni and previous members of the physics department.