Robert Taylor

I am interested in the optical properties of materials, particularly in the areas of nanotechnology and quantum computing.

The dynamics of photoexcited electrons and holes can be measured on the timescale of ~100fs by using ultrafast optical spectroscopy. In my experiments I make real-time measurements of fundamental optical properties such as absorption and luminescence using pulses generated by modelocked lasers. These measurements are important from a fundamental point of view, since they provide basic information about electron-electron and electron-phonon interactions, and they are of great practical significance since the speed of these processes limits the speed ultimately obtainable in electronic and opto-electronic devices.

My main interests have been in making measurements on wide- and narrow-bandgap semiconductors and low-dimensional systems such as quantum wells, wires and dots. Topics currently being investigated include coupling of single quantum dots to photonic crystal cavities, dynamics of single quantum rings, coherent electron-hole dynamics and excitonic dynamics in wide band gap materials such as GaN and InGaN.

For more information, please visit my group website or send me an email.