Current Research Project:

"Hard” metals: Looking for Alternative Materials for High Temperature Applications

Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording (HAMR) technology, developed by Seagate Technologies, employs localised surface plasmons (LSPs) to enhance storage density in hard drives. HAMR relies on a metallic near-field transducer (NFT) capable of sustaining high-quality LSPs to write on nanometer-scale magnetic domains.

My project applies real-time time-dependent density-functional theory (RT-TDDFT) to compute the plasmonic properties of candidate materials, capable of withstanding high operating temperatures, from first principles. Results can be validated using linear-response TDDFT or experimental data, enabling predictions for systems that cannot yet be reliably fabricated experimentally.

This research is conducted in collaboration with Seagate Technologies through the Enhanced Postgraduate Skills Doctoral Training Programme (EPS DTP).

Biography:

I graduated from QUB in 2025 with first class honours in Applied Mathematics and Physics, receiving the Raymond Flannery Prize for Applied Mathematics and the Seagate Solid State Physics Prize. My master's project investigated positron binding to the alkanes using diagrammatic many-body perturbation theory, which encouraged me to continue research in ab-initio simulations.

Research Interests:

Ab-initio materials modelling
Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT)
Plasmonic materials

Supervisors:

Dr. Lorenzo Stella & Professor Robert Bowman

Pure Profile