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Dr. Christopher Broderick

Biography

Chris was born in London, U.K. and grew up in Cork, Ireland. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons.) and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from University College Cork in 2010 and 2015, respectively. His Ph.D. – supervised by Prof. Eoin O’Reilly and supported by an Irish Research Council EMBARK Postgraduate Scholarship – centred on the theory of the electronic and optical properties of highly-mismatched semiconductor alloys containing bismuth. His doctoral research was recognised via the award of the BOC Postgraduate Bursary in 2014.

After obtaining his Ph.D. he was a Postdoctoral Researcher with the Photonics and Quantum Group at Bristol University, U.K. from 2015 – 2016. At Bristol he worked on the theory and design of semiconductor photonic devices based on highly-mismatched alloys and metamorphic heterostructures, for applications at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths.

He returned to Ireland in 2017, joining the Photonics Theory Group at Tyndall National Institute as a Postdoctoral Researcher. From 2018 – 2020 he was the National University of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sciences, focusing on theory and multi-scale simulation of the electronic, optical and transport properties of direct-gap group-IV semiconductor alloys using a combination of first-principles and empirical methodologies. In 2019 he was one of five young researchers chosen to represent Ireland at the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.

From 2021 – 2024 he was a European Commission Marie-Sklodowska Curie Individual (Global) Fellow, during which time he undertook a two-year secondment to the Van de Walle Computational Materials Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara, U.S.A. At Santa Barbara his research focused on first-principles analysis of the properties of metastable hexagonal semiconductors for photonics applications.

Chris is currently a Royal Society-Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellow at the School of Physics and a Staff Researcher (Senior Researcher) at Tyndall National Institute, where he is a member of the Photonics Theory Group. 

 

Research Interests

Chris's current research interests centre on the theory of novel and emerging semiconductor material systems for photonic, electronic and photovoltaic applications, with a view to delivering enhanced performance and new capabilities in next-generation semiconductor technologies. This involves techniques including multi-scale simulation combining first-principles and empirical methodologies in addition to the development of models and software to enable predictive calculations of technologically relevant material and nanostructure properties.

Professional Activity

Chris is a member of the Scientific Programme Committee of the International Conference on Numerical Simulation of Optoelectronic Devices (NUSOD), has served on several National University of Ireland panels to develop national supports for early-career researchers, and has twice been recognised as an Outstanding Reviewer by Institute of Physics Publishing 

Teaching Activity

PY3105 - Introduction to Condensed Matter Physics (Semester 1)

PY4115 - Research Project (Semester 2)