James Collins, former PhD student, Monash University

James Collins was a postgraduate researcher working within FLEET’s Research theme 1: topological materials under the supervision of Michael Fuhrer and Mark Edmonds at Monash University. As an experimentalist, James used facilities at Monash (thin-film growth, low-temperature electron transport, and scanning probe techniques) and Synchrotron science (angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy) to shed light on the electronic structure of low-dimensional and topological matter.

James’s PhD project tackled electrostatic control of topological phase transitions, aiming for a prototype topological transistor. James also studied low-energy physics in topological semimetals, and investigated new, wide-bandgap topological insulators, aiming to achieve dissipationless electronic transport at room-temperature.