The Femtosecond Research Centre studies physical, chemical and biological phenomena on extremely short time scales. The Semiconductor Spectroscopy Group combines fundamental studies of optical processes in advanced semiconductor materials and the realisation of practical optoelectronic devices. A variety of experimental techniques, including optical spectroscopy and imaging, cathodoluminescence and scanning probe microscopies, are used to make comparisons of the optical properties of materials with their composition and morphology. Carefully designed semiconductor heterostructures, incorporating features such as quantum dots and elastic strains, are being employed for the understanding and improvement of devices such as lasers, LEDs and photovoltaic cells. The Collective Radiation-Matter Interactions Group .
Collective processes underlie many of the important phenomena in physics.
The TOPS facility provides an ideal collection of sources for the evaluation of these collective phenomena.