Dr David Binks - personal details

I am a senior lecturer in physics and part of the photon physics group, which is based in the Photon Science Institute.

Career history

My doctoral studies in Manchester were sponsored by Urenco plc and concerned the development of lasers suitable for laser isotope separation; a new technique for enriching nuclear fuel. After receiving my PhD, I continued my laser research in Manchester, developing an airborne ultra-violet laser system for environmental studies in the stratosphere and investigating novel frequency conversion techniques.

My next research topic was the photorefractive effect in polymer composites. Initially, I produced a series of publications that allowed the transient photorefractive behaviour of this material to be analyzed for the first time. I then began a successful collaboration with Prof Paul O'Brien of the School of Chemistry, who syntheses colloidal quantum dots - crystals comprising only a few hundred atoms. These quantum dots are a very flexible way of improving the light sensitivity of photorefractive polymers. My collaboration with Prof OBrien has also notably led to the demonstration of ultra-violet lasing from a film of chemically-grown ZnO nanocrystals.

Current research

Currently, my main area of interest is 'Multiple Exciton Generation' (MEG) in colloidal quantum dots, which is a process with the potential to signficantly improve the efficiency of solar cells. I study using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy and also seek to build demonstrator solar cells that utilise it for improved performance.

Publications

To date, I have published more than 45 journal papers and presented at numerous national and international conferences. I am the co-author of The Physics of Photorefractive Polymers and contributed a chapter the 'Handbook of Laser Technology and Applications'.

PhD in physics - 1998

BSc (Hons) in physics - 1992