Chris Phillips (professor)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Chris Phillips is the former Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and head of the
Optoelectronics Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radi ...
section at
Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
.


Career

Phillips travelled in the developing world and worked for the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
before taking up a faculty position in the Physics department of
Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
in 1985, at the age of 27. He was a visiting researcher at the Quantum Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara in 1997–98. He was elected a
Fellow of the Institute of Physics Fellowship of the Institute of Physics (FInstP) is "the highest level of membership attainable" by physicists who are members of the Institute of Physics (IoP), "for those with a degree in physics or related subject (or equivalent knowledge gaine ...
in 2006, and served as Dean of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Imperial College London from 2008 to 2011. His research centres on the optical properties of semiconductor nanostructures. He is known for his work on
electromagnetically induced transparency Electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) is a coherent optical nonlinearity which renders a medium transparent within a narrow spectral range around an absorption line. Extreme dispersion is also created within this transparency "windo ...
(EIT), a quantum optical effect whereby a crystal can be made to effectively disappear when it is illuminated by a sufficiently powerful invisible laser. Most recently he is applying the techniques and devices developed over his research career to make ultra-efficient
solar cells A solar cell, also known as a photovoltaic cell (PV cell), is an electronic device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by means of the photovoltaic effect.
, and "Quantum
Metamaterials A metamaterial (from the Greek word μετά ''meta'', meaning "beyond" or "after", and the Latin word ''materia'', meaning "matter" or "material") is a type of material engineered to have a property, typically rarely observed in naturally occur ...
" . The latter can be used to make new types of optical components, e.g. " superlenses" that beat the normal limits to image sharpness imposed by the laws of diffraction. In a departure from physics into the world of medicine he is developing, and now clinically trialing, a new " Digistain" imaging technology. This enables one to image human tissue in a new way that reveals the chemical changes that accompany the onset of cancer. It promises to be a better way to detect and monitor the disease. Phillips takes particular interest in the dissemination of knowledge to his students and to the public at large. He is known for using practical demonstrations in his lectures to illustrate critical points; for example illuminating the nature of quantum operators through their likeness to sausage machines. He believes that the fruits of scientific research should be made accessible to all, and he regularly gives media interviews and public demonstration lectures at schools and science fairs at home and abroad. In 1997 he won the Imperial College Excellence in Teaching Award. Phillips takes a close interest in his students lives, both in and out of academia - frequently described by former students as an inspiring and motivating father figure.


Personal life

Phillips grew up in
Cullercoats Cullercoats is a coastal settlement in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Historically in Northumberland, it has now been absorbed into the wider Tyneside conurbation, sitting between Tynemouth to the south and W ...
, a coastal town of population 10,000, in the North East of England, but his family moved south for work at an early age. He lives in West London and he has two grown-up children from a previous partner. He enjoys adventure, music and travel. He lists his interests as Family, Cycling, distance rowing, hill-walking, catamaran racing, skiing and snowboarding. He occasionally 'performs' in a Latin jazz ensemble, and it is rumoured that he also prolifically releases solo work under a pseudonym. He has cycled from John O’Groats to Land's end in 2011 and sailed the Fastnet race in 2015. He has rowed across the English Channel 3 times for charities, most notably in 2013, when he was part of a crew that won a non-stop 7-day 500 mile London-to-Paris rowing race, which he often cites as his greatest achievement.


References


External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20110225020305/http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/people/chris.phillips {{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, Chris British physicists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academics of Imperial College London Fellows of the Institute of Physics Metamaterials scientists British optical physicists