Team

We are a research group at University College London working at the atomic scale. Our team shares an interest in quantum materials and nanoscience, and we aim to provide a collaborative environment where students develop expertise while contributing to cutting-edge research.

We also host long- and short-term visiting PhD students, who contribute to specific projects and collaborations.

Our work is centred on the ultrahigh vacuum low-temperature scanning tunnelling microscopy (LT-STM) laboratory in the London Centre for Nanotechnology. We also make frequent use of synchrotron facilities and collaborate with partners in theory and experiment in the UK and abroad.

Alumni

Postdoctoral

• Holly Hedgeland (2014 – 2015)
  Destination: Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship (UCL) and Senior Tutor at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge

PhD

• Rebecca Conybeare (2019 – 2025)
  Primary supervisor
  Thesis: Germanium-based donor systems
• Kieran Spruce (2020 – 2025)
  Secondary supervisor
  Thesis: Donor devices in silicon
• Jamie Bragg (2019 – 2025)
  Secondary supervisor
  Thesis: Reduced dimensional dopant systems in silicon
• Eric Lundgren (2017 – 2022)
  Primary supervisor
  Thesis: Toward atomic-scale doping of bismuth in silicon: the study of bismuth precursor molecules on silicon (100)
  Post-PhD Destination: Postdoctoral research associate, University of Bath, UK.
• Procopios Constantinou (2016 – 2020)
  Primary supervisor
  Thesis: Fabrication and characterization of metallic, two-dimensional dopant δ-layers in silicon
  Post-PhD Destination: Postdoctoral research associate, Paul Scherrer Institute, Switzerland.
• Emily Hofmann (2016 – 2022)
  Secondary supervisor
  Thesis: Chemistry and structural properties of adsorbates on germanium for optoelectronics and quantum computing
  Post-PhD Destination: Patent attorney, Venner Shipley, London, UK.
• Alexander Koelker (2014 – 2018)
  Secondary supervisor
  Thesis: Fabrication and characterization of nanoscale dopant devices in silicon
  Post-PhD Destination: Development engineer, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Germany.
• Elijah Lator (2014 – 2018)
  Secondary supervisor
  Thesis: Superconductivity in layered transition metal (di)chalcogenides: iron selenide and niobium diselenide
  Post-PhD Destination: ONRG post-doctoral fellow at IESL-FORTH, Greece.
• Manuel Siegl (2013 – 2017)
  Primary supervisor
  Thesis: Atomic-scale investigation of point defect interactions in semiconductors
  Post-PhD Destination: Consultant/manager at d-fine, a European consulting firm specialising in scientific innovation and future-proof solutions for technological sustainability.
• Asif Suleman (2012 – 2016)
  Primary supervisor
  Thesis: Atomic-scale studies of confined & correlated electron states on semiconductor surfaces
  Post-PhD Destination: Physics high school teacher at Ark Elvin Academy, Wembley, UK.
• Kitiphat Sinthiptharakoon (2010 – 2014)
  Secondary supervisor
  Thesis: Investigation of individual donors in silicon at cryogenic temperature with atomic-scale resolution for atomic electronic devices
  Post-PhD Destination: Research Scientist at National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), Thailand.
• Adam Rahnejat (2010 – 2014)
  Primary supervisor
  Thesis: Capturing complex reaction pathways step by step: organic molecules on the Si(001) surface
  Post-PhD Destination: Associate Consultant at Capco, a global technology and management consultancy specializing in driving digital transformation.

Visiting PhD Students

• Piotr Ciochoń (2019 (Feb. – May)) — Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
• Kim Akius (2018 (Aug. – Dec.)) — Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
• Mark Wentink (2017 – 2019) — UCL Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering
• Michael Sear (2017 – 2018) — La Trobe University. Now at: Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie.

MSci and MSc Students

• Zeyu Cheng (2024 – 2025) · MSc (Research Masters) — Molecular adsorption for atomic-scale device fabrication.
• Jay Patel (2024 – 2025) · MSci (Integrated Masters) — Machine learning for scanning tunnelling microscopy image recognition.
• Adam Klička (2024 – 2025) · Natural Sciences — Solid-state quantum computation (Review Topic)
• Daniel Waisman (2023 – 2024) · MSci — Machine Learning for Atom and Molecule Recognition
• Michael Ben Shem (2023 – 2024) · MSci — Atomic Placement of arsenic in germanium
• Luca Dell Antonio (2022 – 2023) · MSci — Machine Learning for Atom and Molecule Recognition
• Harry Youel (2022 – 2023) · MSci — Using Convolutional Neural Networks for Atom and Molecule Recognition from STM Imaged Surfaces
• Farah Sheikh (2021 – 2022) · MSci — Molecular Functionalisation of Molybdenum Disulfide
• Sulayman Desai (2020 – 2021) · MSci — Using Machine Learning to Identify Atomic Features on Scanning Tunnelling Microscope Images of the Si(001) Surface
• Yunqin Zhang (2020 – 2021) · MSci — Dissociation of Bismuth Chloride on the Si(001) surface
• Martyna Sienkiewicz (2019 – 2020) · MSci — Triphenyl Bismuth on Silicon
• Irene Micco (2019 – 2020) · MSci — Analysing Surfaces of MnBi4Te7 with STM
• Lily Pagano (2018 – 2019) · MSci
• Calvin Tran (2018 – 2019) · MSci
• Ernesto Zoffmann (2017 – 2018) · MSci
• Max Kirsch (2017 – 2018) · MSci
• Jack Trent (2016 – 2017) · MSci
• Lydia Gascoigne (2016 – 2017) · MSci
• Gabriel Warren (2016 – 2017) · MSc
• Akseyen Sellvarajah (2015 – 2016) · MSci
• Miguel Rivera (2015 – 2016) · MSci
• Rogel Aaron Regala (2013 – 2014) · MSci
• Muhammad Kamaludin (2013 – 2014) · MSci
• Maryam Abdur-Rahman (2012 – 2013) · MSci
• Mikaela Bryant-Meisner (2012 – 2013) · MSc

Summer Research Students

• Adam Klička (2025) · CMMP Bursary (4 weeks)
• Janos Revesz (2022) · CMMP Bursary (8 weeks)
• Sebastian Gorgon (2019) · CMMP Bursary (8 weeks)
• Jakub Mrozek (2016) · EPSRC Bursary (10 weeks)
• Nellie Marangou (2015) · EPSRC Bursary (10 weeks)
• Eric Lundgren (2014) · EPSRC Bursary (10 weeks)
• Andrew Hallam (2013) · CMMP Bursary (8 weeks)
• Noah Waterfield Price (2012) · CMMP Bursary (10 weeks)
• Charlotte Stokes (2012) · CMMP Bursary (10 weeks)