Gabriel Clarke

I am a PhD student at the University of Warwick based at the Materials and Analytical Sciences centre as part of the Chemistry department. I joined the Senn Group as part of its first intake at Warwick in October 2017 and my research is focused on investigating multiferroic properties, such as the coupling between ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity, in a variety of different ceramic structures. By varying the stoichiometric ratios of different elements in these structures, I aim to use crystallographic techniques such as X-ray diffraction, neutron diffraction and synchrotron experiments to characterise novel ceramics and identify the connection between structure and property. I am additionally investigating in-situ polarisation switching in hybrid improper ferroelectric Ruddlesden-Popper oxides. This work involves a combination of experimental work performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) and simulations of distortion modes, with the aim of experimentally identifying the mechanism by which the polarisation is switched in these structures.