Group Members
Dr Alex Ramadan (she/her)
Group Leader
Dr Alex Ramadan is a Lecturer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Sheffield. Alex received a MSc in Chemistry in 2011, a MRes in Plastic Electronics in 2012, and a PhD in Physics in 2016 all from Imperial College London. For her PhD research she worked under the supervision of Professor Sandrine Heutz (2016). In 2017 she received a UK-US Fulbright Scholarship to study highly crystalline organic solar cells at Princeton University. She worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford with Professor Henry Snaith FRS on perovskite semiconductors and their optoelectronic devices. In 2022 she was awarded the Rank Prize Research Visionary Award in optoelectronics. Her research looks at developing and understanding new semiconductor materials for next generation photovoltaic devices. She predominantly works with perovskite and organic semiconductors with a particular focus on understanding and optimising the surfaces and interfaces of these semiconductors within optoelectronic devices. Her work is interdisciplinary ranging from surface science, device fabrication and development, and advanced imaging characterisation.
Alongside her research Alex is passionate about improving research culture and making physics a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive research field. She is currently the co-lead for research culture in her department and is involved in a wide range of EDI activities.
Sophie Tucker
PhD Student
Sophie grew up in Cornwall and completed her MPhys at the University of Oxford in 2023. Her master’s project focused on exploring different fabrication routes for 2D perovskites, with an emphasis on photovoltaic applications. She moved to Sheffield in 2023 to begin her PhD with Dr Alex Ramadan, to continue working on perovskite photovoltaics. Sophie is passionate about making physics more accessible for those disproportionately underrepresented in the field, and in her free time enjoys painting, wild swimming, and writing bad movie reviews
Rehmat Goodwin
PhD Student
I am a PhD student in the Department of Physics, University of Sheffield, taking part in research within the New and Emerging Semiconductors Group. I am interested in the behaviour of semiconductor materials, and how they can be applied across various technologies. I completed my BSc in Physics at the University of Surrey in 2022, and my final year project was on light-emitting devices and the different solutions for improving efficiency and colour rendering for commercial and domestic use. I have also recently completed my PG Diploma in Quantum Photonics and Nanomaterials in 2023, where I studied polariton non-linearity in 2D inorganic semiconductor photonic lattices, specifically 2D micropillar Lieb lattices. I am interested in making the jump to looking at new and emerging semiconductors, specific to applications in solar cells, with a wider goal of improving renewable energies. This includes ensuring that renewable energies are more sustainable in terms of materials and manufacturing, as well as making sure they are accessible to a wider range of the world population. As well as my research interests, I am passionate about outreach, with a goal of increasing equality, diversity and inclusion, in physics and the wider STEM community. I believe fostering passion for STEM subjects, especially those such as maths, physics and computer science is the key to building a more diverse, and therefore a stronger STEM community overall.