Department of Physics & Atmospheric Science

Faculty of Science

Applied Physics

Scientists working in applied physics are aiming to have the results of their research be used toward developing new materials or technologies. It is often considered to be a bridge between "pure" physics and another branch of science, such as engineering.

Many applied physicists are conducting research that also falls under another area, such as biophysics or condensed matter and material physics.

Faculty and Research

Jeff Dahn

The research in Dr. Jeff Dahn's lab focuses on developing new materials for advanced lithium-ion batteries and polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Such devices will be crucial in the next few years, as demand for electric vehicles and storage capacity for renewable energy (solar and wind) increases in the next decade.

Kimberley Hall

Dr. Hall's research group uses femtosecond lasers to investigate charge and spin dynamics in semiconductor materials. The broad objective of this research is to develop new semiconductor technologies, including spintronic devices and a solid state quantum computer using semiconductor quantum dots.

Ian Hill

In Dr. Hill's research lab, students and researchers work on developing materials for new solar cell technologies, including organic, hybrid organic/inorganic, and dye-sensitized solar cells, as well as organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs) and thin-film transistors (OTFTs). Dr. Hill's lab is one of many in the Department that is part of the Dalhousie Research in Energy, Advanced Materials and Sustainability (DREAMS) program, part of NSERC's CREATE program.

Michael Metzger

Our lab works towards enabling high-energy lithium-ion batteries, developing long-lived lithium metal batteries and creating novel devices for energy-efficient water desalination, so-called “desalination batteries”. See Dr. Metzger's profile page for more information.

Michael Robertson (Adjunct)

Dr. Michael Robertson's primary research interest is in developing the nanoscience framework necessary for the characterization and inter-relation of the physical, electronic and optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures. The primary experimental tools for this research are the transmission and scanning electron microscopes and, theoretically, the Beowulf parallel computing cluster.

Chongyin Yang

Dr. Yang's group works very closely with Dr. Jeff Dahn and Dr. Michael Metzger's groups as a big research team. Sponsored by our industrial partner - Tesla Inc., our groups focus on material physics and chemistry of energy storage materials, aiming to build Li-ion battery with higher energy, longer life time, and lower cost.