Smart design technology enabling the mid-infrared revolution. While mid-infrared (MIR) lasers have become indispensable to key industries ranging from research and healthcare to defence, industrial deployment of this technology has been hampered by the lack of cost-effective MIR optical fibres. This project aims to overcome this barrier through the creation of an innovative design toolkit for the fabrication of complex optical fibre structures. This efficient and commercially viable concept-to-m ....Smart design technology enabling the mid-infrared revolution. While mid-infrared (MIR) lasers have become indispensable to key industries ranging from research and healthcare to defence, industrial deployment of this technology has been hampered by the lack of cost-effective MIR optical fibres. This project aims to overcome this barrier through the creation of an innovative design toolkit for the fabrication of complex optical fibre structures. This efficient and commercially viable concept-to-manufacture development process will pave the way towards the MIR fibre technology revolution and will yield significant economic benefits spanning industrial process controls and environmental monitoring to hazardous chemical detection and biological sensing.Read moreRead less
Next Generation Batteries: Exploiting Divalent Magnesium. This project aims to develop magnesium-based batteries with higher capacities and longer lifetimes. Modern society is increasingly demanding batteries that are safer, have higher capacities, and importantly, are cheaper than the ones available today. Magnesium-based batteries offer a tantalising prospect due to their intrinsic higher capacities and lower costs. And yet, their large-scale uptake continues to be a formidable challenge due t ....Next Generation Batteries: Exploiting Divalent Magnesium. This project aims to develop magnesium-based batteries with higher capacities and longer lifetimes. Modern society is increasingly demanding batteries that are safer, have higher capacities, and importantly, are cheaper than the ones available today. Magnesium-based batteries offer a tantalising prospect due to their intrinsic higher capacities and lower costs. And yet, their large-scale uptake continues to be a formidable challenge due to the poor reliability and lifetime of magnesium electrodes. This project plans to use the latest computational, electrochemical and metallurgical techniques synergistically to overcome the technical barriers in mitigating these issues. This work may lead to a targeted development of a new family of reliable, low-cost and high performance magnesium batteries.Read moreRead less
Ferroelectric piezoelectric materials and key problems associated with their applications in mechanical, electrical and optical energy transformations. This project aims to investigate the dynamic microstructure of ferroelectric piezoelectric materials in response to electrical fields or mechanical stresses, and therefore identify the factors enhancing the mechanical, electrical and optical couplings for intentional improvement and development of these materials for use in energy transformations ....Ferroelectric piezoelectric materials and key problems associated with their applications in mechanical, electrical and optical energy transformations. This project aims to investigate the dynamic microstructure of ferroelectric piezoelectric materials in response to electrical fields or mechanical stresses, and therefore identify the factors enhancing the mechanical, electrical and optical couplings for intentional improvement and development of these materials for use in energy transformations.Read moreRead less
Experimental validation of the strain invariant failure theory for carbon/epoxy composites. The project will be of national and international benefit, through providing a validated, enhanced design capability for advanced composite materials. Greater depth of understanding of such materials will allow more efficient structures to be designed in applications requiring high strength and stiffness, low weight, and resistance to corrosion and fatigue. Such applications include the aerospace, offshor ....Experimental validation of the strain invariant failure theory for carbon/epoxy composites. The project will be of national and international benefit, through providing a validated, enhanced design capability for advanced composite materials. Greater depth of understanding of such materials will allow more efficient structures to be designed in applications requiring high strength and stiffness, low weight, and resistance to corrosion and fatigue. Such applications include the aerospace, offshore and mining industries. There are, therefore, far-reaching benefits in industries important to Australia. In addition, the reputation of the Australian aerospace research industry will be promoted through a collaborative association with Boeing, a world leader in development of commercial aircraft.Read moreRead less
Controllable growth of magnetic semiconductor quantum dots for future spintronic and optoelectronic devices. This project aims to develop high quality magnetic semiconductor materials for next generation magnetic and optoelectronic devices. Outcomes of this project will lead to advanced applications in light-emitting diodes and information technology, such as high density hard drivers and low dissipation quantum computers.
ARC Research Network for Advanced Materials. Materials science/engineering is decidedly interdisciplinary, covering all science and impacting on all manufacturing industry. This network will promote interactions that do not usually occur between materials researchers and students across Australia and internationally from diverse disciplines. The scope is broadly based on advanced materials production, processing and properties but focused in four areas, involving: i) innovative structural/functi ....ARC Research Network for Advanced Materials. Materials science/engineering is decidedly interdisciplinary, covering all science and impacting on all manufacturing industry. This network will promote interactions that do not usually occur between materials researchers and students across Australia and internationally from diverse disciplines. The scope is broadly based on advanced materials production, processing and properties but focused in four areas, involving: i) innovative structural/functional materials, ii) high-tech IT/communications/sensing materials, iii) materials solutions for manufacturing, iv) materials for a sustainable Australia, and v) emerging materials technologies. Key programs will promote interdisciplinary workshops and early career researcher interactions.Read moreRead less
Electronic topological materials. Discovery of new classes of materials with new functionalities or significantly improved performance has always been the driving force for the advance of modern science and technology, and the improvement of our daily lives. This project aims to discover a number of innovative materials, based on new strategies of materials design, discover their novel functionalities and novel quantum effects, and elucidate their underlying physics. It is expected that these no ....Electronic topological materials. Discovery of new classes of materials with new functionalities or significantly improved performance has always been the driving force for the advance of modern science and technology, and the improvement of our daily lives. This project aims to discover a number of innovative materials, based on new strategies of materials design, discover their novel functionalities and novel quantum effects, and elucidate their underlying physics. It is expected that these novel materials will provide a new platform for superconductivity, magnetism, spintronics, optical and multi-disciplinary sciences, and lead to future generations of advanced multifunctional electronic devices. Read moreRead less
Self-assembled surface arrays of mesoscale plasmonic devices for switchable control of coloured surfaces. This project has a well-defined outcome with potentially significant commercial interest. The proposed device is novel and the development of it will enhance the science and technology infrastructure within Australia, taking it into original and exciting directions. A successful demonstration of it will enhance Australia's competitive position in the field of nanotechnology and could conceiv ....Self-assembled surface arrays of mesoscale plasmonic devices for switchable control of coloured surfaces. This project has a well-defined outcome with potentially significant commercial interest. The proposed device is novel and the development of it will enhance the science and technology infrastructure within Australia, taking it into original and exciting directions. A successful demonstration of it will enhance Australia's competitive position in the field of nanotechnology and could conceivably lead to a manufacturing activity either located in Australia or in which Australian entities have an interest. Envisaged applications include optical circuitry, 'smart' windows and display surfaces on consumer devices.Read moreRead less
Self-cleaning thin films for anti-reflective solar cell coatings. This project addresses an important industry need by designing a new class of functional composite coatings for efficiency and durability improvement of solar cells. A successful outcome will provide an important breakthrough in thin film technology applicable not only to solar panels but also other coating applications.
Understanding the role of catalysts in the growth of epitaxial semiconductor nanowires and their hierarchical heterostructures. This Fellowship aims to comprehensively determine the role of catalysts during nanowire growth, solving the bottle-neck problem for growing device-applicable nanowires. In order to address this complicated scientific challenge, the project plans to collaborate with several world-leading researchers in different areas, such as growth, property measurements and modelling. ....Understanding the role of catalysts in the growth of epitaxial semiconductor nanowires and their hierarchical heterostructures. This Fellowship aims to comprehensively determine the role of catalysts during nanowire growth, solving the bottle-neck problem for growing device-applicable nanowires. In order to address this complicated scientific challenge, the project plans to collaborate with several world-leading researchers in different areas, such as growth, property measurements and modelling. The outcomes of this Fellowship will not only provide new science in terms of nanowire growth, but also provide guidelines for designing, developing and manufacturing nanowire-based nanostructures for future nanodevices and nanosystems. This is strategically important to place Australia at the forefront of developments on nanoscience and nanotechnology.Read moreRead less