Prof Robert Taylor

Introduction

I am one of the two physics tutors at The Queen’s College. After completing my DPhil at Hertford College in 1983 I was elected to a Junior Research Fellowship at St. John’s College here in Oxford. In 1986 I was elected to a Royal Society University Research Fellowship, which I held until 1990, when I was elected to a Fellowship at Queen’s, and to a University Lectureship at the Department of Physics. I was awarded the title of Professor of Condensed Matter Physics in 2008. I was Head of Condensed Matter Physics from September 2017 until September 2022.  I am the Entertainment Secretary and Wine Steward here at Queen’s. Physics is part of the Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences Division, and I was Associate Head of this Division from October 2011 until September 2016, in charge of academic matters. I am currently the Tutor for Admissions at Queen’s, please find all information about admissions on our main website under the menu item Admissions.

Teaching

At Queen’s I teach a range of topics to the undergraduate physics students, including electromagnetism and optics, thermal physics and condensed matter physics.

Research

I am interested in the optical properties of materials, and have been working in the areas of nanotechnology , nanophotonics and quantum computing for the past 10 years. Full details of my research can be found at my departmental web page.

Publications

Some of my recent publications include:

• Enhanced and Polarization-Dependent Coupling for Photoaligned Liquid Crystalline Conjugated Polymer Microcavities
  F. Le Roux, R.A. Taylor and D.D.C. Bradley
  ACS Photonics, 7, 3, 2020. DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.9b01596.
• Photocatalytic Water Splitting by N-TiO2 on MgO(111) with Exceptional Quantum Efficiencies at Elevated Temperature
  Yiyang Li, Yung-Kang Peng, Liangsheng Hu, Jianwei Zheng, Dharmalingam Prabhakaran, Simson Wu, Timothy J. Puchtler, Mo Li, Kwok-Yin Wong, Robert A. Taylor and Shik Chi Tsang
  Nature Communications, 10, 4421, 2019. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12385-1.
• Photonic molecules defined by SU-8 photoresist strips on a photonic crystal waveguide
  Stephen. A. Lennon, Frederic. S. F. Brossard, Luke P. Nuttall, Jiang Wu, Jonathan Griffiths and Robert A. Taylor
  Optics Express, 26, 32332, 2018. DOI: 10.1364/OE.26.032332.
• A Nanophotonic Structure Containing Living Photosynthetic-Bacteria
  David M Coles, Lucas C. Flatten,Thomas Sydney, Emily Hounslow, Semion K Saikin, Alan Aspuru-Guzik, Vlatko Vedral, Joseph Kuo-Hsiang Tang, Robert A Taylor, Jason M Smith and David G Lidzey
  Small, 13, 1701777, 2017. DOI: 10.1002/smll.201701777.
• Carrier trapping and confinement in Ge nanocrystals surrounded by Ge3N4
  Youngsin Park, Christopher C. S. Chan, Benjamin P. L. Reid, Luke Nuttall, Robert A. Taylor, Nam-Suk Lee, Young Mi Lee
  Scientific Reports 6, Article number: 25449, 2016. DOI: 10.1038/srep25449
• Observation of a biexciton Wigner molecule by fractional optical Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in a single quantum ring
  Hee Dae Kim, Rin Okuyamaa, Kwangseuk Kyhm, Mikio Eto, Robert A.Taylor, Aurelien L. Nicolet, Marek Potemski, Gilles Nogues, Le Si Dang, Koo-Chul Je, Jongsu Kim, Ji-Hoon Kyhm, Kyu Hyoek Yoen, Eun Hye Lee, Jun Young Kim, Il Ki Han, Wonjun Choi, and Jindong Song
  Nano Letters 16, 27, 2016. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02419.
• Surface Effect Induced Optical Bandgap Shrinkage in GaN Nanotubes
  Young S. Park, Geunsik Lee, Mark J. Holmes, Christopher C. S. Chan, Benjamin P. L. Reid, Jack A. Alexander-Webber, Robin J. Nicholas, Robert A. Taylor, Kwang S. Kim, Sang W. Han, Y. Jo, J. Kim, Hyunsik Im, Woochel Yang 
  Nano Letters, 15, 4472, 2015. DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b00924.
• Hyperspectral imaging of exciton photoluminescence in individual carbon nanotubes controlled by high magnetic fields
  J. Alexander-Webber, C. Faugeras, P. Kossacki, M. Potemski, X. Wang, H.D. Kim, S. Stranks, R.A. Taylor and R.J. Nicholas
  Nanoletters 14, 5194, 2014. DOI: 10.1021/nl502016q.
• Photoluminescence mapping of coupled and detuned states in photonic molecules
  F.S.F. Brossard, B.P.L. Reid, C.C.S. Chan, X. L. Xu, J. P. Griffiths, D.A. Williams, R. Murray, and R.A. Taylor
  Optics Express, 21, 16934, 2013. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.21.016934.
• Optical studies on a single GaN nanocolumn containing a single InxGa1-xN quantum disk
  M.J. Holmes, Y.S. Park, X. Wang, C. C. S. Chan, B. P. L. Reid, H.D. Kim, R. A. Taylor, J. H. Warner and J. Luo
  Applied Physics Letters, 98, 251908, 2011. DOI: 10.1063/1.3601856.
• Strongly coupled single quantum dot in a photonic crystal waveguide cavity
  F.S.F. Brossard, X. L. Xu, D.A. Williams, M. Hadjipanayi, M. Hugues, M. Hopkinson, X. Wang and R.A. Taylor
  Applied Physics Letters, 97, 111101, 2010. DOI:10.1063/1.3487937.
• Acuminated fluorescence of Er3+ centres in endohedral fullerenes through the incarceration of a carbide cluster
  S.R. Plant , G. Dantelle, Y. Ito, T.C. Ng, A. Ardavan, H. Shinohara, R.A. Taylor, G.A.D. Briggs, K. Porfyrakis
  Chem. Phys. Lett. 476, 41, 2009.
• Mapping cavity modes of ZnO nanobelts
  X. Xu, F.S. Brossard, D.A. Williams, D.P. Collins, M.J. Holmes, R.A. Taylor and X. Zhang
  Applied Physics Letters, 94, 231103, 2009.
• Control of the oscillator strength of the exciton in a single InGaN/GaN quantum dot
  A.F. Jarjour, R.A. Oliver, A. Tahraoui, M.J. Kappers, C.J. Humphreys and R.A. Taylor
  Phys. Rev. Lett., 99, 197403, 2007.