Prof David Dunstan

David Dunstan
ScD, FInstP, FRSA

Professor of Experimental Physics

School of Physical and Chemical Sciences
Queen Mary University of London
www.qmul.ac.uk/spcs/staff/academics/profiles/ddunstan.html
Centre for Experimental and Applied Physics
Centre for Chemical Research

Research

Interests

David Dunstan contributes to solid-state physics both as an optical spectroscopist and as a theoretician. He has several inventions exploited commercially. He published the definitive article on the mechanism of luminescence in amorphous silicon, the (then) promising new material for optoelectronics.

At Surrey, with Alf Adams, he added high pressure to his techniques and pioneered the miniaturisation of the diamond-anvil high-pressure cell. High-pressure experiments have gathered much important data for optoelectronic technology, particularly using structures with built-in strain.

He has pioneered the use of strained semiconductor structures to achieve breakthroughs in the mechanical properties of solids. His current work is extending critical thickness theory to soft metals, demonstrating quantitatively that a minimum volume is required for plastic deformation, that reducing stressed volumes necessarily makes materials stronger, and that built-in strain modifies the properties profoundly.

Dunstan’s theoretical work has been based on the need to understand experimental results, but has also introduced new insights, e.g. his work on distant-pair recombination kinetics and the nearest-available-neighbour statistical distribution, and his simple scaling or geometrical argument for critical thickness.

Work with industry includes assisting Absolute Action Ltd. with state-of-the-art applications of optical-fibre lighting in museums, stately homes, etc. This included designing and aligning the lighting for the Hope diamond in the Smithsonian Museum. A recent project required understanding the Alexandrite effect.