Doctor of Philosophy [Ph.D] [Electrical and Electronic Engineering] From Newcastle University

Our research groups cover four areas of expertise:Nanomaterials and electronicsOur research in this area includes:

• strained Si technology for high-speed low-power integrated circuits
• SiC for high-temperature, high-power electronics
• reliability of interconnects
• high-k dielectrics and developing novel electrical characterisation
• ferroelectric materials for tunable capacitance and integration with silicon technology
• biomedical devices
• sensors and electronics for hostile environments
• Si-based photovoltaics
• nm scale material characterisation
• diffusion in semiconductors
• Atomic Layer Deposition
• device fabrication
• technology CAD
• molecular electronics
• integrative systems and applications
• first-principles simulation of defects in semiconductors
• theoretical modelling of the properties of materials

The group has many international collaborative research programmes and has been successful in placing PhD students at other world-leading research laboratories for periods of three to nine months, including IMEC and SEMATECH.ÊMicroelectronic system designOur research in this area includes:

• asynchronous systems design and test
• design automation, synthesis and verification
• concurrent systems modelling and implementation
• metastability modelling and characterisation
• on-chip synchronisation
• dynamical systems methods in IC design
• networks-on-chip
• wireless sensor design
• secure IC design
• logarithmic scale computing
• self-timed FPGAs
• variability analysis and variation-tolerant IC design
• power scavenging and power elastic computing
• fault tolerant systems
• design for testability and testing
• biomedical interface electronics
• optical-electronic interface
• 3D stacked IC design

The group has international leadership in asynchronous systems design and a successful track record of research collaboration with industry. This includes multinational microelectronics giants, EDA start-ups, and world leading laboratories such as IMEC, where the group's students have three to nine month placements. All students have access to Europractice CAD tool training and chip fabrication facilities.Power electronics, drives and machinesThe group's activity is principally directed in the renewable energy, aerospace, automotive and consumer product sectors.Ê All aspects of power electronics and drive systems are covered including:

• stand-alone and grid-connected converters for renewable generation
• fault-tolerant machines and drives
• ultra high-speed machines/low cost drives
• exploitation of insulated, compacted iron-powder for novel and improved performance machines
• novel power converter topologies and thermal management
• novel energy storage systems
• sensors and drive controllers for safety-critical applications
• power semiconductors
• drive configurations
• advanced nonlinear modelling, control and optimisation strategies and applications

The group is recognised as one of the leading European research groups in this sector, working in areas from 'blue sky' research to product applications. Projects may involve one or more of the following themes: electrical machines, power electronics or control engineering.