Education Background

• BEng and MSc in Materials Science and Engineering, Swansea University, 2014–2019
• EngD in Photonic Integration & Advanced Data Storage, Queen’s University Belfast & University of Glasgow, 2023–present

EngD Project:

Ultimate Thermal Stability of Semiconductor Lasers for Heat-Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR)

Supervisors:

Prof Stephen Sweeney (University of Glasgow)

Prof Robert Bowman (Queen’s University Belfast)

Aidan Goggin (Seagate Technology)

Project Description:

Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) is an advanced technology for extending magnetic storage density, achieved by using stable and efficient semiconductor lasers to locally heat the recording medium during the write process. This project focuses on the design, simulation, fabrication and characterisation of near-infrared GaAs-based semiconductor lasers for HAMR applications. The work investigates Type-I multiple quantum well lasers around 830 nm as benchmark devices, while exploring novel Type-II and W-shaped quantum well heterostructures for longer wavelengths. The aim is to mitigate efficiency loss due to Auger recombination and carrier leakage and achieve improved temperature stability device design.

General Research Interests:

• Semiconductor laser physics (Type-I, Type-II, W-QW structures)
• Strain engineering and band structure modelling
• Semiconductor device fabrication and characterisation
• Simulation tools (LaserMOD, Kpymod)

Contact:

Email: qchen22@qub.ac.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/qixuan-chen-0aa03b104/