Introduction to Research Facilities

The School's research fields are in the areas of experimental and theoretical physics and astronomy. All are supported by the library within the building, and by the workers in the School's office. Substantial computational power is available in the form of networked Unix workstations as well as PCs and Macs.  The experimental work benefits from themechanical and electronics workshop facilities, which are able to cater for most of the groups' needs. Liquid helium is used by several research groups; the gas is collected and re-liquified on site. A cleanroom was constructed in 2000-2001 for our work in miniature photonic devices.  Our electron microscope is shown on the right.

The University observatory is used for both research and teaching in astronomy, and currently houses the largest optical telescope in the UK, shown alongside. Our astronomy researchers are also awarded observing time at major observatories overseas.

The well equipped research laboratories in the School include equipment for use in magnetism, solid-state physics, semiconductor physics, laser physics, and terahertz technology.   A helium 3-4 fridge used for taking samples to ultra-low temperatures for studying magnetic and superconducting properties is shown on the right.

For more information on the research programmes themselves please click here.

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10 July 2003