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Physics and Astronomy

Photo of  Joe Shields

Joe Shields

Postgraduate Researcher (Metamaterials CDT 2018)

 js1116@exeter.ac.uk

 (Streatham - Lab) 4187

 (Lab) 01392 724187


Overview

My interest in Physics and Mathematics stems from a deep curiosity about the world that we live in and how we can better understand it to solve problems and create solutions. This interest led me to studying a Masters in Physics at the University of Oxford in which I specialised in Astrophysics and Condensed Matter Physics. In my final year I worked in the area of superconductivity and my Master thesis was entitled: "Pulse field magnetisation of bulk high temperature superconductors (GdBCO) with a variety of sample and split coil geometries."

In 2018 I started studying for a PhD at the University of Exeter in the area of metamaterials. A metamaterial is a material that is engineered to have novel properties that are not usually found in nature. This is done by fabricating structures on the same scale as the wavelength of the phenomenon they are design to influence. I am specifically looking at materials that influence light which means fabricating devices at the nanometer scale. My specalism is in using chalcogenide phase-change materials to create active metasurfaces that can be switched or dynamically controlled with a focus on controlling reflected and transmitted wavefronts.

I have a passion for sharing my love for Physics and Mathematics and have been an educator for three years teaching in schools in London and Exeter. My other interests include sustainable building techniques focused on straw bale building and passive house design, long distance cycling, juggling, climbing and salsa!

Conferences:

UK Metamaterials Network, Special Interest Group for Active Metasurfaces, 6th Dec2021

European Phase Change and Ovonic Symposium E\PCOS2021, Online, 13th - 15th Sep 2021. 

CLEO®/Europe-EQEC 2021, 21st - 25th Jun 2021

Materials Research Exchange, London, 19th -20th Feb 2020. Poster Presentation.

European \ Phase Change and Ovonics Symposium, Minatec, Grenoble, France, 8th  - 10th  Sep 2019, E\PCOS 2019

International OSA Network of Students (IONS) Exeter July 2019 (Exeter, UK).

AMOLF Nanophotonics. 17th – 21st Jun 2019. (Amsterdam, Netherlands).

Light in Complex Materials 8th – 10th Apr 2019 (Exeter, UK).

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Publications

Copyright Notice: Any articles made available for download are for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the copyright holder.

| 2021 | 2020 | 2019 |

2021

  • Shields J, Ruiz de Galarreta C, Bertolotti J, Wright CD. (2021) Overcoming diffusion issues in hybrid phase-change metasurfaces, European Phase Change and Ovonic Symposium E\PCOS2021, Online, 13th - 15th Sep 2021.
  • Shields J, Ruiz De Galarreta Fanjul C, Bertolotti J, Wright CD. (2021) Overcoming optical performance and diffusion issues in thermally tunable phase-change metasurfaces, CLEO®/Europe-EQEC 2021, 21st - 25th Jun 2021.
  • Shields J, Galarreta CRD, Bertolotti J, Wright CD. (2021) Enhanced Performance and Diffusion Robustness of Phase-Change Metasurfaces via a Hybrid Dielectric/Plasmonic Approach, Nanomaterials, volume 11, no. 2, pages 525-525, DOI:10.3390/nano11020525. [PDF]

2020

2019

  • Shields J, Ruiz de Galarreta C, Bertolotti J, Wright CD. (2019) Simultaneous modulation in the O and C communications bands using hybrid dielectric-plasmonic phase-change metasurfaces, European \ Phase Change and Ovonics Symposium, Minatec, Grenoble, France, 8th - 10th Sep 2019, E\PCOS 2019, pages 178-179.

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