Andrew Johnson

• materials chemistry for energy harvesting, storage and conversion
• precursor design
• chemical vapour deposition (plasma, low pressure, atmospheric pressure and aerosol assisted)
• atomic layer deposition (plasma assisted and thermal)
• graphene science
• nanoparticle synthesis

Thin film materials

Thin films have applications in optics, electronics, healthcare, magnets, mechanics and chemistry. Every piece of electronic or optical equipment needs thin films.

We make thin films by arranging conducting, semiconducting and insulating materials in specific ways. This allows electrons to flow through them in the way we want them to.

Producing these thin film materials is a major challenge. They can have exotic compositions and can range in thickness from fractions of a nanometer (monolayer) to several micrometers.

Molecular precursors

My group's research centres on development and synthesis of new molecules called molecular precursors. We use these to produce thin films of metals, oxides, chalcogenides and nitrides by two processes:

• chemical vapour deposition (CVD)
• atomic layer deposition (ALD)

Our aim is to develop new precursors which are highly volatile and non-toxic. Using CVD or ALD we can then use these precursors to grow thin films.