Applied Physics

Atmospheric physicists study the atmosphere and climate of the Earth, and sometimes other planets. They want to understand the structure and dynamics of the atmosphere, how it evolves over time, and how humans and natural processes affect the climate. The weather has numerous direct consequences for everyday life.

This topic is highly interdisciplinary and overlaps with our other research in planetary astrophysics, fluid dynamics and microfluidics, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, and data science.

Most of our atmospheric science research is on the atmospheres of other planets in the Solar System - see our planetary astrophysics page for more information. More generally, we are interested in

• Atmospheric predictability
• Data assimilation
• The atmosphere as a chaotic system
• Atmospheric turbulence
• Synchronisation phenomena

Right: Breeding vectors in a rotating annulus forecast, quantifying the growth of ensemble perturbations in the amplitude vacillation flow regime. From Young & Read (2016).

Staff contacts: Roland Young, Nicolas Rubido.

In microfluidics, small amounts of fluid are manipulated through channels of microscopic size. Also called lab-on-a-chip or organ-on-a-chip, this is a state-of-the-art technology which offers tremendous experimental possibilities.

We have a microfluidics research laboratory in the Institute of Medical Sciences on the Foresterhill campus. The laboratory designs and fabricates organ-on-chip devices for biomedical research, which are applied in areas including neuroscience, myocardial infarction, and thrombosis. We also study cell mechanics, and perform photolithography, soft lithography and mathematical modelling.

Right: Examples of manufactured chips from the microfluidics laboratory. Image credit: Claudiu Giuraniuc.

Fluid dynamics is the study of how liquids and gases flow. It has many applications throughout physics, chemistry, engineering, geosciences, medicine, biology, and elsewhere. 

As an interdisciplinary topic, fluid dynamics underpins research in several of our other areas of interest. We are interested in fluid dynamics in the following contexts:

• Plasma phenomena
• Chaotic advection of flows
• Geophysical fluid dynamics
• Atmospheric turbulence

Staff contacts: Claudiu Giuraniuc, Scott Doyle, David McGloin, Alessandro Moura, Francisco Pérez-Reche, Roland Young.

Plasmas are a non-equilibrium soup of electrons, ions, neutral radicals, and molecular species, often referred to as the 4th state of matter. They play a critical role in modern society, including in semiconductor manufacturing and material synthesis, plasma solution activation for medicine, plasma driven solution electrolysis for agriculture, carbon capture and storage, plasma spacecraft propulsion, and nuclear fusion.

Our research in plasma physics is coordinated through the interdisciplinary Plasma Science Research Group, spanning the schools of Natural & Computing Science, Engineering, and Geoscience. We develop state-of-the-art numerical modelling techniques to address fundamental and applied plasma physics problems relating to energy storage, plasma materials processing, plasma propulsion, and nuclear fusion.

Collaboration with the Department of Chemistry and the Chemical Processes & Materials Group in the School of Engineering facilitates plasma source fabrication, experimental diagnosis, and industrial deployment.

Right: Electron density in a simulated plasma impinging on the wavy surface of a silver nitrate solution. From Doyle et al. (2025).

Staff contacts: Scott Doyle, Claudiu Giuraniuc.

Optics is the study of the propagation, manipulation, and detection of light, and its interaction with matter. The subfield of photonics deals with the propagation, manipulation, and detection of photons, and in particular the application of quantum mechanical principles to the development of practical optical devices.

We have a photonics research laboratory in the Fraser Noble building. This lab is dedicated to work on optical trapping and microscopy. We are interested in making use of these tools in biomedical and environmental sciences, particularly in aerosol analysis. Our research focuses on the use of optical manipulation and optical beamshaping approaches to trap and manipulate microscopic particles, including aerosols and biological cells. We are also interested in holographic microscopy for aerosol imaging, fibre based imaging and trapping systems using complex photonics approaches, and Raman spectroscopy for aerosol analysis and cancer diagnosis.

Another major area of research is integrated nanophotonics, a field that explores the development and application of nanoscale photonic devices for advanced communication, sensing, and computational technologies. These devices are critical components in modern optical communication systems, enabling high-speed data transmission and efficient signal processing within compact and scalable platforms. 

Finally, our work in cavity optomechanics investigates the interaction between optical and mechanical resonators via radiation-pressure coupling. This interdisciplinary field combines elements of photonics, mechanics, and nonlinear dynamics, offering exciting opportunities for both fundamental discovery and practical innovation.

Right: Spiral laser beam produced by passing a laser through a spatial light modulator (top), and the computer-generated phase pattern used to create it (bottom). Images: David McGloin.

Staff contacts: Kapil Debnath, David McGloin, Murilo Baptista.

Semiconductors are materials whose conductivity can be modified by adding impurities, resulting in a material that behaves somewhere between an insulator and a conductor. They are particularly crucial in electronic circuits.

Our semiconductor research focuses on the use of Monte Carlo modelling to simulate the behaviour of Gunn diodes, investigating the behaviour of Gallium Nitride (GaN) and Gallium Arsenide for the purposes of terahertz radio frequency power generation.

In parallel, we also explore plasma-assisted processing of advanced semiconductors, using detailed numerical modelling to understand the mechanisms that govern plasma-surface interactions. By linking microscopic reaction pathways to macroscopic device performance, we provide insight into etching, deposition, and surface modification under a wide range of operating conditions.

This research bridges fundamental plasma physics with industrial needs, supporting the development of next-generation materials such as SiC, GaN, and InP for emerging devices used in high-voltage systems, such as energy transmission and electric vehicle charging systems.

Right: Macroscopic properties of a simulated plasma above an aluminium oxide wafer from ongoing plasma surface studies within the Plasma Science Research Group. Image: Scott Doyle. 

Staff contacts: Ross Macpherson, Scott Doyle.