School of Physics & Astronomy

In our first Staff Spotlight Interview, we chat with Dr. Timothy Moorsom, an RAE Research Fellow starting at the School of Physics and Astronomy in August 2020. 

• Can you give us an overview of your career to date? 

I completed my PhD at the University of Leeds in 2016 and secured an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship to study novel nanocarbon technologies. During this time, I developed methods for turning non-magnetic metals into ferromagnets by controlling their electronic structure with organic molecules. I also designed a spin-capacitor, a device which stores spin polarisation like a capacitor stores charge, and discovered a novel form of magnetic anisotropy, which may provide an alternative way to make the permanent magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. After my fellowship, I was appointed as an Experimental Officer, working on the Henry Royce Institute’s new multi-functional deposition system. Using this system, I developed methods for growing hybrid materials incorporating the exotic class of alloys known as topological insulators. I also worked on organic superconductors, helping to discover a manifestation of the paramagnetic Meissner effect. I am now a Lecturer and RAEng fellow working on the development of novel computing architectures based on topological insulator-organic hybrid materials.

• What are you working on at the moment and what does your work involve?

I want to apply cutting edge advances in materials to computing, in order to solve fundamental scaling limitations in conventional electronics. It’s vital that we do this as the energy consumption of data centres and other communication infrastructure is expected to triple in the next two decades. I’m developing devices based on topological insulators, materials with a special conducting surface state, to reduce the heat dissipated by computers and save energy. I have explored a method for controlling the behaviour of these materials using organic molecules, in much the same way that a gate voltage controls the conductivity of a silicon transistor. My work currently involves the growth of very thin films of these hybrid materials and using electron microscopy to probe their surface properties.

• Is your current career as you originally intended?

I have always been focused on using advanced materials to solve fundamental issues in energy production and information technology. Developing this research as an academic at Glasgow is a dream come true.

• What choices did you make during your time at University that you feel contributed towards your success?

I learned as an undergraduate how important it is to have a passion for your subject which goes beyond career, grades and prestige. Science is not easy, and even the most successful academic careers suffer many setbacks and crises. Without a strong personal passion for one’s subject, it’s very hard to persist. For me, that driving force came from a desire to use advanced materials to fight the climate crisis, and that’s what gets me up in the morning.

• What is your favourite part about your job?

As part of my job, I work at synchrotrons and particle accelerators in order to use ultra-sensitive magnetic measurement techniques. There is nothing quite so exciting as learning to operate a piece of apparatus the size of an aircraft hanger in order to measure a device 10000 times smaller than a human hair. My favourite is the LEM system at PSI, where we have to grow a film of solid argon onto an ultra-cold mirror to act as an energy moderator for a beam of high energy muon particles. It’s hard sometimes to believe I’m not on the set of star trek.

• Tell us something no one knows about your job!

People are often surprised by how much manual labour is involved in being an experimental physicist. Throughout my career, I have spent far more time working on fixing machines with a spanner and soldering iron than I have solving equations on a blackboard. It’s actually a really hands on job and great fun if you love engineering and problem solving.

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First published: 17 August 2020