Research Activities

Jump to:    [Early Work]        [Later Work]       [Current Activities]

All our papers from all of our activities going back to 1993 can be found on the publications page.

Current Activities

From around 2015 onwards we've been developing nanostructured diamond surfaces for antimicrobial applications and large-area electrochemical sensors. We have spent a lot of time studying the functionalisation of diamond surfaces with various metals to enhance its 'negative electron emission' properties for thermionic emission devices. We also have a large group studying betavoltaic and gammavoltaic devices to make so-called 'everlasting' nuclear batteries.

Electron Emission from Diamond Studies of Electron Emission from Diamond Surfaces - optimising the NEA and workfunction to obtain maximum electron emission current for minimum energy. Thermionic Emission from Diamond Studies of Thermionic Emission from Diamond - optimising the NEA and workfunction for use in Thermionic Energy Converters for Solar-Power Generation.
Diamond Electrochemistry Diamond Electrochemistry - especially using high-surface-area BDD electrodes. Nanostructured Diamond for Antimicrobial Surfaces Nanostructured Diamond for Antimicrobial Surfaces - using spiky 'black diamond' and etched diamond nanopillars to mechanically kill bacteria.
Gammavoltaic Diamond Devices Gammavoltaic Diamond Devices - using gamma radiation to generate electricity. Studies of Novel n-type Doping of Diamond Studies of Novel n-type Doping of Diamond - including Co-Doping Experiments and Theory
Diamond Betavoltaic Devices and Nuclear Batteries Diamond Betavoltaic Devices and Nuclear Batteries - using beta radiation to generate electricity. Development of 'everlasting' nuclear batteries. Diamond as a Plasma-Facing Protective Coating Diamond as a Plasma-Facing Protective Coating in Fusion Reactors
Templated Growth of Diamond Templated Growth of Diamond - Diamond Nanostructures from Block Copolymer Micelles. Diamond Superconducting Devices Diamond Superconducting Devices - Studies of Superconducting BDD films and their use in Novel Superconducting Devices
Studies of Hydrogen Diffusion and Retention in Diamond Studies of Hydrogen Diffusion and Retention in Diamond - also deuterium and tritium. Diamond-based Tritium Detectors Diamond-based Tritium Detectors
Diamond-Fibre Reinforced Composites Diamond-Fibre Reinforced Composites - metal-matrix composites and plastic composites, reinforced to greatly improve stiffness using diamond-coated wires.

Later Work

From 2000-2020 we moved towards projects that were more applied, such as developing CVD diamond for electronic applications, fast photomultiplier tubes, micro-plasma arrays, and X-ray lenses, growth of CVD diamond on wires and fibres to make lightweight, stiff fibre-reinforced composite materials, field emission, as well as biosensors. Again, much of this work ceased when the funding dried up, but we still dabble in some of these activities if requested.

Diamond field emission Studies of Field Emission from Diamond - for use in Cold Cathode Devices including flat-panel displays. Diamond X-ray lenses Fabrication of diamond X-ray lenses - for use in high-power synchrotron beam-lines.
Neurons on Diamond Growth of Human Neurons on Diamond - culturing human pluripotent stem cells on a diamond substrate, then converting these to living neurons. Can form a 2D 'brain on a plate'. Secondary-electron emission from diamond Studies of Secondary-electron emission from diamond - for applications in photomultiplier tubes and night-vision goggles.
Diamond-based microplasmas Diamond-based microplasmas - operating at 10 atm pressure. Growth of Diamond on GaN Growth of Diamond on GaN - for thermal management applications.

Early work

Being a chemistry-based research group, our main aims are to try to better understand the physics and chemistry of diamond growth. Originally (1991-2000), this involved analysing the growth conditions for diamond CVD using a variety of in situ gas-phase diagnostic methods, such as laser spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, optical emission spectroscopy, as well as post-growth analysis such as laser Raman spectroscopy, SIMS and XPS. We complemented this experimental work with modelling of the plasma chemistry and kinetic Monte Carlo modelling of the growth process. Most of these activities have now ceased, although we occassionaly go back to some of them again if we have a specific request or funding.

CVD diamond film grown on Si Growth of polycrystalline diamond on unusual substrate materials e.g. Ti, Ge, W, WC-Co, SiC, SiO2, B4C, steels. Patterned CVD diamond film Patterning of CVD Diamond films and fabricating diamond membranes.
Growth of diamond using a microwave plasma reactor Growth of diamond using a microwave plasma reactor - deposition conditions and studies of different plasmas using various process gases, and studies of low-temperature growth. REMPI and CRDS Laser Spectroscopy Diagnostics of the gas Phase During Diamond CVD - REMPI and CRDS
Modelling the Chemistry of CVD diamond growth Modelling the Chemistry of CVD diamond growth. kMC simulations of diamond CVD Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of diamond CVD.
Laser Raman Spectrosopy Laser Raman Spectrosopy of diamond films - using UV, visible and NIR lasers. Laser Raman Spectroscopy and Modelling of Diamondoids Modelling and Raman Studies of Diamondoids.
Growth of Diamond using a high-power DC arcjet Growth of Diamond using a high-power DC arcjet - and spectrosopy of the plasma plume. Growth of Diamond in a DC Plasma Reactor Growth of Diamond in a DC Plasma Reactor.
Production of Doped and Undoped DLC Films Production of Doped and Undoped Diamondlike Carbon (DLC) Films using RF Plasma Deposition. Laser Ablation of Graphite in Vacuum and Liquids Laser Ablation of Graphite in Vacuum and Liquids - to Produce Undoped and Doped Tetrahedral Amorphous Carbon (ta-C) Films.
CVD Diamond Wires and Tubes Fabrication of CVD Diamond Wires and Tubes. Modelling of Diamond-like Materials Modelling of Diamond-like Materials.
MBMS analysis Analysing CVD Diamond Growth using In Situ Molecular-Beam Mass-Spectrometry. Growth of UNCD Growth of ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD).