Electronics
Electronics is a scientific and engineering discipline that studies and applies the principles of physics to design, create, and operate devices that manipulate electrons and other Electric charge, electrically charged particles. It is a subfield ...
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. He is a leading specialist in the theory of amorphous carbon and related materials.
Education
Robertson received his Bachelor of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Cambridge. His PhD was awarded in 1975 for research on electronic states in
amorphous
In condensed matter physics and materials science, an amorphous solid (or non-crystalline solid) is a solid that lacks the long-range order that is a characteristic of a crystal. The terms "glass" and "glassy solid" are sometimes used synonymousl ...
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity between that of a conductor and an insulator. Its conductivity can be modified by adding impurities (" doping") to its crystal structure. When two regions with different doping level ...
s.
Research and career
Following his PhD, Robertson worked at the Central Electricity Research Laboratories for 18 years, and in 1994 returned to Cambridge. He has published over 600 journal papers with around 33,000 citations. His main topic of research is theory of carbon materials. Other research interests include: carbon nanotubes, graphene,
chemical vapour deposition
Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a vacuum deposition method used to produce high-quality, and high-performance, solid materials. The process is often used in the semiconductor industry to produce thin films.
In typical CVD, the wafer (subst ...
, electronic applications (experimental and calculation); modelling of CVD mechanisms; carbon interconnects, carbon conductors, carbon for
supercapacitor
alt=Supercapacitor, upright=1.5, Schematic illustration of a supercapacitor
upright=1.5, A diagram that shows a hierarchical classification of supercapacitors and capacitors of related types
A supercapacitor (SC), also called an ultracapacitor, ...
s;
high-κ dielectric
In the semiconductor industry, the term high-κ dielectric refers to a material with a high dielectric constant (κ, kappa), as compared to silicon dioxide. High-κ dielectrics are used in semiconductor manufacturing processes where they are usual ...
InGaAs
Indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) (alternatively gallium indium arsenide, GaInAs) is a ternary alloy (chemical compound) of indium arsenide (InAs) and gallium arsenide (GaAs). Indium and gallium are group III elements of the periodic table while ...
, Ge (modelling); transparent conducting oxides, amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOS) such as indium gallium zinc oxide, their thin film transistors, instability mechanisms (calculations); density functional calculations of semiconductors, oxides, carbon materials, and hybrid density functional calculations for correct
band gap
In solid-state physics and solid-state chemistry, a band gap, also called a bandgap or energy gap, is an energy range in a solid where no electronic states exist. In graphs of the electronic band structure of solids, the band gap refers to t ...
American Physical Society
The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of ...
Materials Research Society
The Materials Research Society (MRS) is a non-profit, professional organization for materials researchers, scientists and engineers. Established in 1973, MRS is a member-driven organization of approximately 13,000 materials researchers from academi ...
, and an Emeritus Editor of the journal ''Diamond and Related Materials''. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 2015, his certificate of election reads: "In recognition of his sustained contribution to the production and development of electronic devices". He was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Academy of Engineering
The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering.
The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...