Materials and Physics

Welcome to the website of the Materials and Physics research group!

Our research focuses on understanding and applying the fundamental properties of materials to address real-world challenges. This spans areas such as advanced materials, nanotechnology and physics under extreme conditions, including high temperatures and pressures. We have expertise in both experimental and theoretical approaches exploring how materials behave at the microscopic level, with applications in sustainable and nuclear platforms, energy systems and quantum technologies.

We are open to support applications for postgraduate study and can also support public engagement events across the Greater Manchester area.

Explore below to learn more about our research areas, facilities and recent publications.

Recent publications

Group publications January 2023 to date

2026:

• D. Dyer, W.R. Fieldhouse-Allen, S.A. Church, M.J. Kappers, M. Frentrup, P. Vacek, D.J. Wallis, R.A. Oliver and D.J. Binks, Wide tunability of zincblende InGaN/GaN quantum wells grown by metal–organic vapour phase epitaxy, Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics 59, 115107 (2026).
• G. Boras, H. Zeng, S. Church, R. Juluri, A. Velichko, H. Deng, H. Jia, F. Alvarado, Z. Yin, C. Chen, J. Park, M. Tang, D. Mowbray, A.M. Sanchez, P. Parkinson and H. Liu, Self‐catalyzed AlGaAs nanowires and AlGaAs/GaAs axial heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy, Advanced Materials Interfaces 13, e00938 (2026).
• M.A. Hughes, H. Liu and Y. Dan, Quench rate dependence of the center formation in Er-implanted Si, Journal of the Optical Society of America B 43, 366 (2026).
• A.D. Daramola, M.N.H. Parekh, J.S. Loveday, J.E. Proctor, G.J. Ackland and C.G. Pruteanu, DensEst: an automated empirical potential-based means of determining the densities of disordered materials from total scattering data, Nanotechnology 37, 095701 (2026).
• G. Mappa, P. Miklavc, M. Cummings, R. Oliver, H. Pyrah, C. Freer, H. Alzahrani, T.H. Shen and N.M. Orsi, Polarimetric imaging of collagen in histopathology specimens: an investigation of congo red and picrosirius red-stained placenta and skin, Scientific Reports 16, 12441 (2026).

2025:

• Z. Yin, H. Zeng, G. Boras, R.R. Juluri, H. Deng, H. Jia, C. Chen, S. Church, A. Velychko, F. Alghamdi, J.S. Park, M. Tang, D. Mowbray, P. Parkinson, A.M. Sanchez and H. Liu, As-flux-induced diameter control in GaAs nanowires, The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 129, 17607 (2025).
• C.G. Pruteanu, A.D. Daramola, M. Kirsz, C.E.A. Robertson, L.J. Jones, T. Wang, J.S. Loveday, G.J. Ackland, O.L.G. Alderman and J.E. Proctor, Subcritical determination of the Frenkel line in liquid nitrogen, the emergent final picture, and a universal equation for the coordination number of real fluids, The Journal of Physical Chemistry B 129, 3420 (2025).
• L. Nie, K. Wang, W. Zhao, C. Zhang, T.H. Shen, Enhanced performance of hierarchical porous HKUST-1/g-C3N4 heterostructure in the degradation of antibiotics with and without light, Separation and Purification Technology 376, 133894 (2025).

2024:

• J.E. Proctor, C.E.A. Robertson, L.J. Jones, J. Phillips, K. Watson, Y. Dabburi and B. Moss, All-optical method to directly measure the pressure-volume-temperature equation of state of fluids in the diamond anvil cell, Physics of Fluids 36, 087145 (2024).
• J.E. Proctor and K. Trachenko, Generally applicable physics-based equation of state for liquids, Reports on Progress in Physics 87, 098001 (2024).
• K. Huo, B. Li, H. Jia, J.M. Christian and R. Yang, Families of exact similaritons with flexible modulations in N-coupled homogeneous and inhomogeneous systems, Physics Letters A 527, 129997 (2024).
• M.A. Hughes, H. Liu, A. Brookfield, T. Wang, I.F. Crowe, Y. Dan, Rapid quench annealing of Er implanted Si for quantum networking applications, Optics Express 32, 48353 (2024).

2023:

• K. Huo, R. Yang, H. Jia, Y. He and J.M. Christian, Exact similariton solution families and diverse composite waves in coherently coupled inhomogeneous systems, Nonlinear Dynamics 111, 14435 (2023).
• J.E. Proctor, C.G. Pruteanu, B. Moss, M.A. Kuzovnikov, G.J. Ackland, C.W. Monk and S. Anzellini, A comparison of different Fourier transform procedures for analysis of diffraction data from noble gas fluids, J. Appl. Phys. 134, 114701 (2023).
• M. Burkitt-Gray, M. Casavola, P.C.J. Clark, S.M. Fairclough, W.R. Flavell, R.A. Fleck, S.J. Haigh, J. Chun-Ren Ke, M. Leontiadou et al., Structural investigations into colour-tuneable fluorescent InZnP-based quantum dots from zinc carboxylate and aminophosphine precursors, Nanoscale 15, 1763 (2023).
• K. Huo, R. Yang, H. Jia, Y. He and J.M. Christian, Exact similariton solution families and diverse composite waves in coherently coupled inhomogeneous systems, Nonlinear dynamics (2023).
• J.E. Proctor and H.T. Gould, Derivation of the field due to a magnetic dipole without use of the vector potential, The Physics Teacher 61, 40 (2023).

Our participation in Athena Swan and Juno

The Athena Swan Charter is a programme established by Advance HE (formerly the Higher Education Academy) to advance gender equality within higher education and research. We are part of the University of Salford School of Science, Engineering & Environment, which holds the Athena Swan Bronze award. We have also been awarded Practitioner status in the UK Institute of Physics Project Juno, working to address gender equality in physics.