📣 Help Shape the Future of UKRI's Gateway to Research (GtR)

We're improving UKRI's Gateway to Research and are seeking your input! If you would be interested in being interviewed about the improvements we're making and to have your say about how we can make GtR more user-friendly, impactful, and effective for the Research and Innovation community, please email gateway@ukri.org.

Solid State Superatoms

Lead Research Organisation: CARDIFF UNIVERSITY
Department Name: School of Physics and Astronomy

Abstract

Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
 
Description We published a comprehensive study comparing the properties of natural gemstone quality cuprous oxide and state-of-the-art synthetic material. Previously, cuprous oxide had been seen as a lab curiosity because the interesting quantum properties had only been observed in natural gemstone quality material. We showed that is possible to produce large-scale bulk synthetic material with comparable optical properties to natural gemstone material. This represents a significant step change because it shows that there is a viable technological route towards harnessing the quantum optical properties of this extraordinary semiconductor material.

The findings of this award underpinned a new EPSRC grant which started in Autumn 2024 which aims to further develop the research for quantum technologies applications.
Exploitation Route Our work provides the foundation on which a viable technological exploitation route can now be built.
Sectors Electronics